Divine retribution is a supernatural punishment usually directed towards all or some portions of humanity by a deity. Look up deity in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

This theological concept exists in virtually all major religions. Many cultures also have at least one story about how a deity exacted punishment on previous inhabitants of their land, causing their doom. Theology (Greek θεος, theos, God, + λογος, logos, word or reason) means reasoned discourse concerning religion, spirituality and God. ... The word culture, from the Latin colo, -ere, with its root meaning to cultivate, generally refers to patterns of human activity and the symbolic structures that give such activity significance. ...

An example of Divine retribution is the story found in many cultures about a great flood destroying part or nearly all of mankind. As described in the Book of Genesis (6:9-8:22), one man (Noah), together with his wife, sons and daughters-in-law and a representative selection of all the animals in the world at that time, were saved while the rest of humanity perished. References in the Qur'an to a man named Nuh who was commanded by God to build an ark also suggest that one man and his followers were saved in a great flood. The Deluge by Gustave Doré. The story of a Great Flood sent by God or the gods to destroy civilization as an act of divine retribution is a widespread theme in myths. ... Genesis (Greek: Γένεσις, having the meanings of birth, creation, cause, beginning, source and origin) is the first book of the Torah (five books of Moses) and hence the first book of the Tanakh, part of the Hebrew Bible; it is also the first book of the Christian Old Testament. ... Noahs Ark, Französischer Meister (The French Master), Magyar Szépmüvészeti Múzeum, Budapest. ... The Qurān [1] (Arabic: ‎ , literally the recitation; also called The Noble Quran; also transliterated as Quran, Koran, and Al-Quran), is the central religious text of Islam. ...

Other examples of divine retribution include the dispersion of the builders of the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9), the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 18:20-21, 19:23-28), and the Ten Plagues visited upon the ancient Egyptians for persecuting God's chosen people, the Children of Israel (Exodus, Chapters 7-12). The Confusion of Tongues by Gustave Doré (1865): the artist has based his conception on the Minaret of Samarra According to the narrative in Genesis Chapter 11 of the Bible, the Tower of Babel was a tower built by a united humanity to reach the heavens. ... In the Bible, Sodom and Gomorrah (עֲמוֹרָה, Standard Hebrew , Tiberian Hebrew , ) —were two cities destroyed by God for their sins. ... The book of Exodus (שמות), chapters 7:14 - 12:42, recounts the story of ten plagues (Eser Ha-Makot עשר המכות in Hebrew): 10 disasters, executed against Egypt by God, in order to convince Pharaoh to let the Hebrews go. ... Khafres Pyramid (4th dynasty) and Great Sphinx of Giza (c. ... // The Children of Israel (Hebrew: בני ישראל Bnai Yisrael or Bnei Yisrael or Bnei Yisroel or Bene Israel;) is a Biblical term for the Israelites. ...

The concept of divine retribution is controversial because stories of divine retribution often depict God as acting in an irrational way, punishing the innocent, and killing even children and babies in his fury.

Popular culture

Some parody religions, such as Flying Spaghetti Monsterism, parody the concept of Divine retribution. These religions assert that their own clearly absurd deity has a hand in the creation of natural disasters. A recent parody religion, Pastafarianism was created in 2005 to protest a decision by the Kansas State Board of Education to allow intelligent design to be taught in science classes alongside evolution. ... Flying Spaghetti Monsterism (FSM) is a satirical parody religion created in 2005 to protest the decision by the Kansas State Board of Education to require the teaching of intelligent design as an alternative to biological evolution. ...

Divine retribution is the driving force of Shakespeare's War of the Roses tetralogy, comprising the plays 1 Henry VI, 2 Henry VI, 3 Henry VI and Richard III, in which the Houses of York and Lancaster are made to atone for the sin of deposing a rightful king, Richard II. The War or Wars of the Roses may refer to, or have been referred to by: The historical Wars of the Roses, the civil war that took place in Mediæval Britain between the House of York and the House of Lancaster. ...

In the movie The Divine Enforcer (1992), a priest becomes a vigilante in response to increased crime in Los Angeles. He falls for a young lady who has visions of a serial killer murdering people. But when she gets kidnapped by the killer himself, the priest speaks these words, "Open the gates of Hell! For I am the right hand of God!"