Linnaeus'' mature theodicy, his attempt to reconcile the
suffering and evil of the world with the omnipotence and goodness of
God, is presented in a condensed form in the final editions of his
Systema Naturae (1758/68). In this comprehensive
compendium of our knowledge of the three great realms of organic
nature, he outlines the significance of the sub-conscious, social
awareness and theological orientation in the spiritual life of man,
and indicates how fate, fortune, and Providence interrelate within his
conception of the Deity.

In the Nemesis Divina this general undertaking is developed into
an experimental theology'', which is exactly analogous to Linnaeus''
work in the natural sciences, in that it involves the collecting and
classifying of concrete and carefully described case-studies. He never
prepared the manuscript for publication, however, and for many years
it was regarded as lost, and it is only very recently that any attempt
has been made to publish it in its entirety.

This is the first English translation of all the relevant manuscript
material. It is also the first attempt to analyse the case-studies in
the light of what we know of Linnaeus'' general taxonomic principles,
and to relate each of them to its historical context.