From fear to irony Machiavelli's Belfagor

Abstract

 The paper first seeks to answer the question, how can the concept of an infinite and infinitely good God be reconciled with the often successful activities of the Evil, who is everywhere in the world? The historical overview of the problem traces the ideas of the Platonic line of Christian theology (Dionysius Areopagite, Eriugena, and later Saint Anselm). The essence of this is that God has no real rival, there is no preexistent evil, that evil is hidden in man's wrong choices. However, that is an indispensable part of man's dignity (his likeness to God), the freedom of his will. The second part is about how it disappears from the docta religio of the 15th century Neoplatonic thinkers and, having lost its fearlessness, becomes the figure ironically depicted in Machiavelli's instructive tale.