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EVIL How can a good God create a world in which evil so obviously flourishes? There can be no dodging the question. It must be answered, if we are to have any peace of mind, if we are to be reassured that God is indeed good, that there is no duality of good and evil in His nature. At times in the past people have believed in a superstitious way that the Creator is a mixture of good and evil, have ascribed wilful maliciousness to spiritual powers that rule the world, e.g. the mythological gods of ancient Greece. A Christian cannot entertain such an explanation. God alone is perfectly good. He is pure love. The world is a reflection of His goodness and love. The Nature of Good and Evil But if God is perfectly good, and created the universe out of this goodness "and saw that it was good" (Gen. ) how is it that evil entered into the universe? Surely a truly good God, totally in charge of the universe He creates, would have ensured that no evil would ever afflict it? This is how we humans may view the matter. It seems very simple: a good, omniscient God, creating the universe out of pure goodness should have made it with built-in protection. But He did not, for horrors of sickness, pain, death and natural calamity exist. Worse than this, His creatures, made in His image and likeness, are prone to inflict malicious hurt upon each other. These creatures, with a capacity to know and love and a limited power to make things, have a tendency towards evil. So, while courage and love of truth and beauty do exist, along with a marvelous creativity of spirit, some men and women are corrupted by a range of evil attitudes: pride, envy, greed, hatred, malice and lust, resulting in murder, fornication, adultery, child-abuse, torture, extortion and cruelty - on such a scale that upon occasion one might be tempted to think that there is little goodness in the world. There is, of course, but even the majority of us (hopefully) who attempt to live good lives, are aware that we are not perfect. In fact, we can be downright bad at times, if we are honest, despite good intentions. The Christian faith, with its root in Jewish history, provides the only rational, acceptable explanation, viz.: God created the universe, a perfectly good product, but it could go wrong, and it did, because men chose to be their own tin-pot little gods: i.e. our representatives chose "to eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil" – no apples involved! "Knowledge of good and evil" is the desirable fruit. Adam & Eve - a Myth? Some people are inclined to view the story of the Garden of Eden, along with Adam and Eve and the Serpent, as yet another myth, to be consigned to that part of our childish memories where we store Hans Christian Anderson, Aladdin and a Thousand and One Nights. Pinocchio’s growing nose and ultimate transformation into a donkey illustrates the consequences of lying debauchery, and to this extent illustrates a truth about human nature; but we cannot for an instant imagine that Pinocchio is a real individual. Similarly, the Gods of Ancient Greece are Homer’s imaginative attempt to explain the capricious elements earth, fire and wind, and Aladdin panders to the perennial wish of men to win the lottery or have magical control over the world, with a genie of the lamp to fulfill dreams of wealth and power. This creative mythology tells us much about ourselves - even if it is only that we have a need to have things explained, create or find a pattern to the universe and human behaviour, which will, of course, only truly satisfy if it is true. So what is different about the Adam and Eve story? Why should we believe that this is true? There are other attempts, in cosmological mythology, to explain the origin and nature of things, as in Hinduism and the ancient gods of Egypt and Babylonia. What makes the God of the Jews so special, so believable? Why should we trust the creation story as recounted in the book of Genesis? Partly from an analysis of the story: realising that the authors are trying to convey a series of truths in the only way imaginable at that time, using rich metaphor and symbol. The writers relate, after all, something that is utterly unimaginable and unknown to man - information regarding the unseen God and His actions as Creator of the universe. He creates the physical universe where there was nothing, and sees that it is good. He creates mankind in his own image and likeness. He tells men clearly and unequivocally that there is only one condition attached to the maintenance of their special status: they are not to eat the fruit of the tree of life "the tree of knowledge of good and evil". That they are able to disobey is because they are true, living likenesses of the living God, with intellect and will, with a real freedom to choose, regardless of the consequences. The consequences of disobedience are dire: the gift of unending natural life is withdrawn. Mankind opens the door to death and suffering. It is Man's fault that this is so, not God's. Men - the family of men - have abused the great gift of freedom. Acceptance of the story is reinforced, for me, by the beautiful, unforced economy of the language used. The Hebrew words adamah, meaning creature of the earth and eve, mother of the living, contain their own message, and "the tree of knowledge of good and evil" easily conveys the superior status that the first men wished to attain. This is the only proposed explanation of creation and the origin of evil that makes sense. The language may be mythological and figurative but the meaning is clear and truthful. The use of powerful symbol is the only way in which such a mystery can even begin to be understood. Adamah, or Man, with a real freedom of choice, choose to make himself, rather than God, the judge of what is right and wrong: and through this act of pride sin and death entered the world. We may reject this explanation if we wish. There is no compulsion to believe. But if we do we have no explanation of evil, and must live our lives in partial blindness, and die in blindness - in a worse state than a blind dog, for the dog is blind by birth or accident, while we, if we fail to discern and accept truth, regardless of the type of language in which it is presented, choose to remain blind. I repeat: there is no other acceptable explanation for the existence of evil. My final reason for accepting the basic truth of this account of creation and falling away from friendship with God is based upon my acceptance of Christ as true man and true God. It is in the light of this gift of faith that what once seemed doubtful is recognised as totally truthful - reliable and in accord with reason because God, revealed in Christ, guarantees that it is so. Evil as a Lack Essentially evil is the lack of something: We all know something of evil and its catastrophic results. But where does it come from? Initially from mankind’s betrayal of itself as depicted in the Book of Genesis. No use complaining that the situation would be different if we had been the first men and women. We can be certain that this is not the case. God deals with the human family on a cosmic scale, in my view through aeons of evolving time, and we can be certain that our remote ancestors were no less in character than ourselves. Had we been the first men we would have behaved exactly as they did. But did we humans do this to ourselves, without any assistance? No. The Genesis tale tells us of a spirit of evil that tempted the woman, and through her the man. Evil as an Intelligent Force "Tosh!" You may be tempted to exclaim. If so, look at the monumental scale of evil in the world: millions of people dead through war, disease and natural calamity. The source of such cosmic evil must have a cosmic source. We could guess and speculate about this until the pubs close and the Universe explodes in a final big bang – and some of us probably will: those of weak mind and unsure disposition. The rest of us, who sincerely seek reliable guidance and find this in the Son of Man, Jesus, the new Adam, will know with absolute certainty that cosmic evil does exist. Jesus tells us that evil on this scale exists not in some abstract entity but in the form of malicious personal evil, a being whom He calls the Devil, a monstrous angelic presence who "roams the world like a raging lion" seeking whom he may destroy. I would prefer to avoid acknowledgement of the existence of such a power. I would prefer that there were no spirit of evil. But evil is there, and its existence must be explained. We must know the truth. The thought of a spiritual being with superior intellect and will twisted by hate is obnoxious. Jesus, the only reliable source of such information, tells us that there are a number of such beings, possessing powers of mind infinitely greater than ours; originally created by God, also in His image and likeness, but greater than us by virtue of their angelic, spiritual nature; beings who deliberately chose to be separate from Him, chose power for self, hatred rather than love. Such hatred is hard to imagine. But it exists. "Rubbish!" you may cry! If this outline of the nature of evil were mine I might well support your position. But it is not my outline. It is Christ’s; and we ignore what He says at our peril – to the grim satisfaction of those malicious, pride filled, evilly motivated spirits who actively seek the physical and spiritual death and despair of each one of us. The devils are happy to see our disbelief, maliciously pleased to see that we are prepared to share in their blind pride. Our pride in self makes us easy meat, whereas a real humility, an awareness of our identity as created beings, acknowledging a creative and loving force beyond and above us, is indestructible armour. But be not afraid, death has no more dominion over us. Evil has been put to flight – through the power of the Holy Spirit of Christ, sent out over the world by Him and His Father, protecting us and giving to us participation in the divine life of Christ through baptism and the gift of faith. All that we need to do is believe, and lead our lives in love and faith. You don’t believe? Nothing I can do about that; you probably would not believe even if someone came back from the dead. I wonder where I have heard that before! It is a dreadful truth that some, through pride and fear, and dullness of hope and heart, will actually refuse to believe in the love that God has for them. The clouding power of evil is great, until dispersed by an act of faith. After this the devil is reduced to a snarling menace, kept at bay by faith and love: the true spirit of love and obedience which evil cannot endure. Listen to the Man. Be wise. Be happy. Summary It is part of the Christian faith, and the experience of many millions of people, that God is infinitely good, possessing within Himself no shade or shadow that is not perfectly loving, for He is love, as His beloved disciple John says. Of course God knew, or more properly ‘knows’ (for He views events outside the restrictions of time) that men, given a true likeness of Himself, including real freedom, would rebel (will rebel). Of course he knew of the dire consequences - the suffering and death mankind would bring upon each and every member of the human family, but could He permit the foreknowledge of such evil prevent and negate His intention, His life-giving plan? Certainly not, especially as He also knew that he personally would enter His created world, become a full member of the human family, and as proof of His love subject himself to the same terrible conditions that all men experience as a result of the sin of Adam. In justice the gulf created between God and Man had to be bridged by men, but by nature we were inadequate to the task. Only God could repair the breach caused by such disobedience, but reparation was due from man. In Christ, the new Adam, a man who is also God, the atonement was made - the at-one-ment - and we are offered a share in His divine life - a much greater life than mankind was first given. Do we begin to see a plan emerge? Method in God’s madness? Sense being made out of our nonsense? A greater gift being given, despite our foolishness? I hope you do. It is the truth: not because I say so, or Christians say so. It is the truth that God reveals, through His Christ, a truth that Christ even now is putting into effect. All honour and praise and thanks to Him, throughout eternity. |