Ethiopian Philosopher Zera Yacob, Theodicy of the

The first being whose existence Zera Yacob posits, not as a logical necessity in the manner of Descartes, but through the spontaneous and immediate bent of this thought, is God. As the circle of light grows in his own philosophy, Zera Yacob passes, with the greatest of ease and naturalness, from criticism to theodicy. Now, the term theodicy (from the Greek theo, “God” and dikè, “right, custom, usage, manner”) was coined by the philosopher and mathematician Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646–1716) who used it in his Essays on Theodicy to express the justice or the righteous manner of God’s dealings with mankind, which he defended against those who felt that the evils of life are an argument for atheism. The term theodicy thus literally means “God’s justice” or “God’s righteous way.” This original meaning was quickly broadened to include not only God’s Providence, but the whole of the philosophy of God: nature, attributes, and operations. Theodicy thus became a synonym for natural theology....