Urban Fantasy and Theodicy: When Holy Power Actually Works
Urban fantasy often lets holy power work without deciding what, precisely, has been proved. A religious symbol repels a vampire. Faith gives an object protective force. An angel intervenes, a demon bargains or a sacred weapon chooses its bearer. These events establish that the world contains powers our own does not appear to contain, but they do not all establish the same theology. A working cross might demonstrate Christianity, the supernatural force of sincere belief, a particular vulnerability in vampires or merely the existence of beings willing to answer religious symbols. The distinction matters because the problem of evil requires more than supernatural evidence. Theodicy in the stricter sense asks how the justice and goodness of God can be upheld in the face of suffering. That problem becomes especially acute when a setting presents a deity as powerful, knowledgeable and morally perfect. A finite spirit that fails to rescue everyone may be weak, selfish or constrained. An ...