There was a discussion sometime back on Prosblogion on 'counterpart theodicy'. I was browsing the various proverbs of ben Sira (i.e., the book of Sirach or Ecclesiasticus) last night, and came across this:
Chapter 33
7 Why is one day more important than another,
when all the daylight in the year is from the sun?
8 By the LORD's wisdom they were distinguished,
and he appointed the different seasons and festivals.
9 Some days he exalted and hallowed,
and some he made ordinary days.
10 All human beings come from the ground,
and humankind was created out of the dust.
11 In the fullness of his knowledge the Lord distinguished them
and appointed their different ways.
12 Some he blessed and exalted,
and some he made holy and brought near to himself;
but some he cursed and brought low,
and turned them out of their place.
13 Like clay in the hand of the potter,
to be molded as he pleases,
so all are in the hand of their Maker,
to be given whatever he decides.
14 Good is the opposite of evil,
and life the opposite of death;
so the sinner is the opposite of the godly.
15 Look at all the works of the Most High;
they come in pairs, one the opposite of the other.
It occurred to me that this is actually something vaguely like an aesthetic argument (focusing on God's right to do this). I don't really have anything to say about it, but I thought it interesting.
