Basically explaining why the world is how it is, and God takes the fall.
Edit: NOT a story where Earth IS Hell.
“I Am Returning” by Ray Russell. It explains the entire mythology, making clear that Satan will win in the end, in a science fiction context. And in only about 1500 words.
The INCARNATIONS OF IMMORTALITY series was built around the idea that the world is basically one big contest between God and the Devil to see which of them can wind up with the most souls: we’re told that there’s a compact of noninterference, such that neither can take a direct hand in worldly affairs – a compact which God, being good, obeys; and which the Devil, of course, ignores, busily stirring up all sorts of stuff in hopes of getting more souls hellbound.
We eventually find out that, no, it’s not some compact keeping God on the sidelines; it’s that He’s so enraptured in contemplating His own greatness and beauty that He no longer responds to – or even notices – stuff like “devout petitioners” or “worldly affairs”. So the reason the world is ‘going to hell’ is that God simply doesn’t understand human frailty, and so couldn’t relate to or properly address it; while the Devil, who understands just fine, puts in the hours accordingly.
Not sure it fits your criteria exactly, but John Carpenter’s Prince of Darkness is based on the idea that Satan IS God.
I came here to mention that movie too. Not Carpenter’s best (that would be The Thing), but worth watch.
In the Empire of Man series there’s a version of Satanism where God was bound by the angels, and Satan was cast out of Heaven for taking God’s side, not rebelling against him. So Satan is more powerful since he’s free and God isn’t.
Well, there’s The Advocate, where there’s a lot of sheet talked about God by the Devil but He never actually appears. (Pacino is at his mischievous and eloquent best as the Devil, btw.)
I’m honestly not trying to be a smartass, but I’ve always read the Christian Bible that way.
God takes a week to create the universe and mankind, and when he’s finished, he pronounces it “good.” A modern liberal Christian would do some hand-waving about allegories and say it’s not a literal week, despite it clearly saying “an evening and a morning, one day” six times. But if it took God millions or billions of years, that only makes it worse, because Satan takes just five minutes to ruin it all.
(Or if you now suddenly want to be literal, it was just some random Serpent, but again, that only makes it worse, because now God has been outwitted by a snake.)
Then God goes to Plan B, which is to have some manifestation of Himself tortured and killed, because … never mind why that should do any good for anyone, just go with it. And it takes him a full four thousand years to accomplish this, for some reason.
Happily, two thousand years after the fulfillment of this wonderful plan, evil is just a distant memory, and there is peace and harmony all over the world.
Oh wait, I lied in that last paragraph. There is still evil and misery and suffering all over the world. The only bright spots are the places where religion has lost control of the government, and is losing its hold over the general population as well.
So Satan is still winning.
Imaginary conversation:
Satan: “Tony, every time I make this argument to God, he whips out “All according to My will…divine plan…move in mysterious way…blah blah blah.” It’s God’s Godwin (Heh God Win) Card. There’s simply no talking to the Man.”
“Black Easter” by James Blish (aka “Faust Aleph-null”) ends with one of the 3 top demons stating, “God is dead”.
But a few years later he wrote a sequel: “The Day After Judgement”. Very contrived in parts, and not as good as the earlier book.
Not Satan per se, but in Jose Rivera’s play Marisol, the title character’s guardian angel abandons her in order to join an angelic rebellion against an old and senile God.
In the first 10 seasons of Supernatural God isn’t weaker than Lucifer who is one of his archangels but he is completely AWOL and has been for some time.
What about “The Omen”? Satan seems to hold all the cards in that story (and the sequels).
Spoilers inevitable, right?
DOGMA technically qualifies, as there’s a demon with at least some supernatural power, and fallen angels with at least some supernatural power – and while God would surely have more power on tap, He temporarily assumed human form to walk among us for a while and enjoy the simpler things for a bit. Because, hey, what could possibly go wrong? I mean, if the body dies, He just returns to His regular status with His full powers; and if it doesn’t, then He can, y’know, do that anyway.
After all, it’s not like He’s going to get beaten into a coma; that’s just crazy talk.
Second sequel-Godwins.
There is Harlan Ellison’s “The Deathbird” novelette, which imagines God as a mad cartaker with a good PR Department. In the end, Earth is taken away from him because of mismanagement and is put out of its misery.
(bolding mine)
It took me a minute wondering how Nazis figure into this, but then I realized you just missed a space.
Or did you? :dubious:
She. 
I was honestly wondering what a “sequel-Godwin” was.
Spaced out, space in.