Divine retribution is a supernatural punishment usually directed towards all or some portions of humanity by a deity.

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.

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 family were saved in a great flood.

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).

Popular culture

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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.

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.

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!"

Religious philosophy and doctrine