Merciful Ambiguity Meta-Theodicy

Merciful Ambiguity is proposed as a meta-theodical framework within the philosophy of religion. Rather than offering a first-order theodicy aimed at explaining particular evils or instances of suffering, the framework concerns the epistemic and moral conditions under which divine justice, mercy, and human moral responsibility remain coherent in a world marked by religious disagreement, epistemic inequality, and morally opaque suffering. Epistemic ambiguity, understood as genuine but non-coercive access to truth, is treated not as a defect in a theisticworld but as a morally intelligible feature of one structured to preserve freedom, accommodateunequal epistemic access, and permit just judgment. Ambiguity does not amount to divine deception or neglect, but reflects the situation of finite, morally responsible agents.