Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-857557d7f7-fn92c Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-11-20T15:24:13.282Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
Coming soon

Origen on Demonic Executioners and the Problem of Evil

Expected online publication date:  12 January 2026

Ky Heinze
Affiliation:
Our Lady Seat of Wisdom College

Summary

Origen believed that God's providence makes good use of everything, including the actions of wicked demons, which serve to discipline sinners and test the righteous. This Element, which focuses on the disciplinary function of demons, will show that Origen's position was the synthesis and development of a long Jewish and early Christian tradition — a fact not recognized in most scholarship. Disciplinary demons were an important part of Origen's theodicy. According to him, the suffering sinners experience is not the direct action of supposed divine anger, but the wicked attack of demons that is directed (but not caused) by God. Origen's belief that even rebel demons do not escape from fulfilling the divine purpose avoids dualism. This contradicts the frequently expressed view that early Christian intellectuals (particularly Origen) overemphasized Satan's autonomy and endangered the supremacy of God.

Information

Type
Element
Information
Online ISBN: 9781009543750
Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Accessibility standard: Unknown

Why this information is here

This section outlines the accessibility features of this content - including support for screen readers, full keyboard navigation and high-contrast display options. This may not be relevant for you.

Accessibility Information

Accessibility compliance for the PDF of this Element is currently unknown and may be updated in the future.

Save element to Kindle

To save this element to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Origen on Demonic Executioners and the Problem of Evil
  • Ky Heinze, Our Lady Seat of Wisdom College
  • Online ISBN: 9781009543750
Available formats No formats are currently available for this content.
×

Save element to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Origen on Demonic Executioners and the Problem of Evil
  • Ky Heinze, Our Lady Seat of Wisdom College
  • Online ISBN: 9781009543750
Available formats No formats are currently available for this content.
×

Save element to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Origen on Demonic Executioners and the Problem of Evil
  • Ky Heinze, Our Lady Seat of Wisdom College
  • Online ISBN: 9781009543750
Available formats No formats are currently available for this content.
×