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WHAT
PRESBYTERIANS BELIEVE ABOUT EVIL
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What
is evil?
Evil
is no easy concept to embrace. Perhaps the simplest
definition of “evil” is that which causes destruction
and suffering. Evil is the antithesis of all which
is good and is the principle or force behind every event
or action which afflicts harm—evil is that which
corrupts the good.
Theologically, Christians have understood evil to manifest
itself in two forms: natural evil and moral evil.
“Natural evil” refers to the suffering which results
from natural causes—causes which stem from nature and
not from human agency. Earthquakes, tornados,
tsunamis, hurricanes, cancer, floods, viruses, droughts,
and death are among those natural phenomena which are
often considered natural evils.
“Moral evil” refers to the suffering which results
from human agency. This form of evil does not stem
from pain, affliction, and death which human beings
naturally endure but from pain, affliction, and death
which human beings inflict on each other. Perjury,
extortion, persecution, theft, terrorism, prejudice,
slander, hatred, war, and murder are among those actions
of human agency which are often considered moral evils.
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What
is the problem of evil?
Presbyterians,
like most Christians, believe that God is omnipotent (all
powerful), omniscient (all knowing), and wholly benevolent
(perfectly good). These attributes of God seem to
imply that there can be no evil. For, if God is
omnipotent, then He has the ability to destroy evil.
If God is omniscient, then He certainly knows whether or
not evil exists. And, if God is wholly benevolent,
then He desires to destroy evil.
But, we also believe that there is indeed evil in the
world. And this is the problem of evil. For,
given that evil exists, God, it would seem, is either not
omnipotent (unable to destroy evil), not omniscient
(ignorant of evil’s existence), not wholly benevolent
(indifferent to evil), or possibly some combination of
these three.
There have been many attempts throughout history to solve
this problem of evil. Most of the proposed solutions
have been rejected as contrary to the Christian faith.
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Is
God evil?
One
such attempt to resolve the seeming contradiction of the
existence of both God and evil is to challenge the
affirmation that God is wholly benevolent. By
denying that God is perfectly good, the existence of evil
can be explained as a principle which originates from God
Himself. God would be the inevitable source of this
evil principle in that God is the Creator of everything
which is.
This explanation for the existence of evil, however, is
incompatible with a Biblical account of creation—an
account which affirms the goodness of God’s creation.
According to the book of Genesis, “God saw everything
which He had made, and indeed, it was very good”
(Genesis 1:31).
Presbyterians, like all Christians, reject the notion that
God is the Creator of evil. For, if God were the
Source of the evil principle at work in the universe, then
God would not be God. God must be a God Whose
goodness is beyond compromise. If God were not
wholly benevolent, then evil itself would be declared
good—the principles of good and evil would become
indistinguishable. But, despite its existence, we
Presbyterians believe that God is not the Author of evil. |
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Is
God powerless to destroy evil?
Another
attempt to resolve the seeming contradiction of the
existence of both God and evil is to challenge the
affirmation that God is omnipotent. By denying that
God is all-powerful, the existence of evil can be
explained as a principle which is powerful enough to
frustrate God’s benevolent designs. This evil
principle would be equal to God in power in that evil can
thwart God’s will to create and govern a good universe.
This explanation for the existence of evil is commonly
referred to as “dualism.” Dualism claims that
there are two equal principles at work in the universe: a
Good Principle (God) and an Evil Principle (often
identified with Satan).
Like most Christians, Presbyterians reject the doctrine of
dualism. For, if there were two equal principles at
work in the universe, then God would not be God. God
must be a God Whose sovereignty is beyond contest.
If God were not omnipotent, then there would exist the
possibility that evil might be victorious. But,
despite the existence of evil, we Presbyterians believe
that God’s goodness shall prevail.
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Is
God unaware of evil?
One
other attempt to resolve the seeming contradiction of the
existence of both God and evil is to challenge the
affirmation that God is omniscient. By denying that
God is all-knowing, the existence of evil can be explained
as a principle which arises as a flaw in creation itself
because God could not foresee and does not know of its
emergence. This evil principle would emerge from the
goodness of creation as a consequence of the Creator’s
ignorance.
This explanation is sometimes employed to account for
certain angels (whom God created good) who chose to defy
that goodness by their own agency and have consequently
fallen from God’s grace. Among these angelic
rebels is Satan (whose name in Hebrew means
“adversary”). Also, this explanation is
sometimes employed to account for the evil agency of human
beings who, like fallen angels, defy God’s goodness.
Accordingly, unforeseen by God, some of God’s creatures
chose to defile the goodness of creation. In effect,
God’s good creation turned against itself (and against
God) because the Creator failed to recognize the risk of
creating potentially rebellious creatures.
Although we acknowledge the existence of Satan and of
human malevolence, Presbyterians do not believe that the
creation of willful agents (whether angelic or human) is
the result of a “less-than-omniscient” act of God.
We have historically rejected the notion that God created
the universe from a position of ignorance—that the
Creator was unaware of evil’s existence and of
creation’s potential to turn against itself.
For, if evil exists as a result of divine ignorance, then
God would not be God. God must be a God Whose
knowledge is beyond deficiency. If God is ignorant
of evil, then He would also be ignorant of creation’s
need for redemption. But, despite the existence of
evil, we Presbyterians believe that God intentionally
saves us from our sins and reconciles creation to its
intended goodness.
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So,
where does evil come from?
So,
if God is omnipotent, omniscient, and wholly benevolent;
then how do we account for evil? The answer to this
question is found, not in rejecting the attributes of God,
but in considering the nature of evil’s existence.
Presbyterians believe that, although we experience the
existence of evil, evil does not exist in the same way
that creation itself exists. If we were to make a
list of all the things which God created,—rocks, trees,
stars, oceans, angels, mountains, animals, emotions,
nations, comets, ideas, human beings, etc.—evil would
not be among those things listed. Indeed, nothing on
the list would in and of itself be evil because everything
in all of God’s creation is good. Evil, therefore,
is not real in the same way that creation is real.
That which we call “evil” is actually that which lacks
creation. And, given that every created thing is
also created good, evil is nothing other than the absence
of goodness.
We can better understand evil as the absence of goodness
by referring to a Biblical illustration. In John’s
gospel, Jesus compares good and evil to light and
darkness.
Jesus
spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world.
Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will
have the light of life.” (John
8:12)
The
relationship between good and evil is similar to the
relationship between light and darkness. Darkness is
not really a thing but, by its nature, is the absence of a
thing. Darkness is nothing more than the absence of
light. We can illustrate the relationship between
light and darkness by imagining two rooms—one lit and
one unlit—connected by an open doorway. We might
notice that light from the lit room shines through the
doorway into the room unlit; but we never observe darkness
casting itself into the lit room. The reason for
this is that darkness is not a real thing in the same way
that light is real. As the apostle John writes in
the opening of His gospel: “The light shines in the
darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it” (John
1:5).
By analogy, evil is not really a thing but, by its nature,
is the absence of a thing. Evil is nothing more than
the absence of goodness. We can illustrate the
relationship between good and evil by imagining a Good
Principle (God) which creates the things which exist and
an Evil Principle (perhaps Satan—perhaps human sin)
which corrupts these things. We might notice that
goodness has the power to bring things into existence, but
we never observe evil corrupting things into existence.
Goodness may be able to give existence to things which had
no prior existence, but evil must have existing things in
order to corrupt them. The reason for this is that
evil is not a real thing in the same way that goodness is
real.
So, where does evil come from? Like darkness, it
doesn’t come from anywhere. Evil exists wherever
God’s good creation is corrupted. |
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Who
is responsible for evil?
Traditionally,
Christians have understood evil, not as an impersonal
force, but as a principle which lives through the
intentions of any willful agent. This understanding,
of course, begs the question: if evil expresses itself
through someone’s intentions, then who is responsible
for evil?
Concerning moral evil, Presbyterians believe that we human
beings are the agents who are responsible. Whenever
we choose to injure others, to abuse nature, or to harm
ourselves, we are giving life and form to evil.
Whenever we choose to act in such a way that we inflict
suffering and destruction upon God’s creation, we are
corrupting that which is good—we become agents of moral
evil.
Concerning
natural evil, the responsible agent is not so easy to
discern as with moral evil. Some have suggested that
God is the responsible agent behind natural evil.
After all, we human beings are not all-powerful—we
cannot destroy lives with earthquakes, nor save lives by
preventing them. We are not all-knowing—we do not
know how to create hurricanes so as to destroy lives, nor
how to divert them so as to save lives. To suggest
that God is responsible for natural evil is to suggest
that natural evil is actually a special form of moral
evil. Accordingly, God would be the responsible
agent who, at best, chooses not to avert a natural
disaster or, at worst, chooses to create it.
Presbyterians
do not believe that God is the moral agent behind natural
evil. We believe that natural disasters (although
undesirable and even painful) are not evil in themselves.
Tornadoes, diseases, and even death, are simply part of
the natural order—part of God’s good creation.
Death, for example, is not evil in itself; but the fear of
death is
evil. By fearing death, we human beings strive to
fight death—to cheat death—to deny that we are
destined to die. The natural order is not evil in
itself; evil is imposed upon the natural order by human
beings because we are unwilling to accept our
finitude—our limitations—as creatures of God.
Natural evil is not evil because of God; it is evil
because we refuse to accept that the natural order applies
to ourselves as well as to the rest of God’s good
creation. We human beings are responsible for
natural evil because we want to believe that we are
exceptions to nature. |
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Isn’t
Satan responsible for evil?
Occasionally,
a person might try to account for immoral behavior by
declaring, “The Devil made me do it!” But, we
believe that blaming the Devil for our actions is nothing
other than an attempt to disavow our responsibility as
agents of evil.
Although Presbyterians do not refute the existence of
Satan (also known as “the Devil,” “the Evil one,”
or “the Tempter”), we do refute the claim that Satan
forces persons to inflict suffering upon the rest of
creation. Each person is accountable to God for his
or her own actions. Satan is not to blame.
Satan cannot make persons evil. This fallen angel
does not have power in itself to corrupt God’s creation.
Creation was not placed under Satan’s dominion, but
under the dominion of humankind.
Then
God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according
to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish
of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the
cattle, and over all wild animals of the earth, and over
every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.” (Genesis
1:26)
So, if Satan does not cause persons to do evil things,
what role does Satan play in the world’s ills?
We believe that Satan has no inherent power over us.
The only power which he has is that power which we give
him over us. Satan is often called “the Tempter”
because he represents those temptations which entice us to
act in ways contrary to God’s goodness. These
temptations cannot make us do evil, but they can make evil
things seem good to us. Temptations are not
inherently evil, but yielding to them is.
So, whenever we choose to give in to the enticement of
temptation, we are giving life and form to evil. In
other words, we are imbuing Satan with power over us which
he did not inherently have. |
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So,
why doesn’t God do something about evil?
The
answer to this question is that God is indeed doing
something about evil. But, all too often, God’s
response to evil is not the response which some persons
might expect. Some might say, “If we human beings
are responsible for evil in the world, why doesn’t God
make it impossible for us to choose evil?” To
assume that God must take away our choice to do evil, is
to assume that the ability to choose (with which humankind
was created) is not part of God’s good creation.
In fact, “choice” is part of being human—it is part
of God’s goodness. But, by its very nature as a
good thing, “choice” (which has the possibility of
choosing goodness) must risk the possibility of choosing
evil.
So, what is God doing about evil? God addresses the
problem of evil in the world by bringing His perfect
goodness into the arena of human agency. The good
Creator becomes His own good creation in the person of
Jesus Christ. God preserves the goodness of human
choice by becoming a human being. As the goodness of
God—as the grace and love of God—Jesus Christ chooses
that which is good rather than evil.
Presbyterians believe that we participate in the goodness
of creation and the goodness of the Creator by uniting
ourselves through faith to the grace of Jesus Christ.
As the Gospel of John put it:
The
true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the
world. He was in the world, and the world came into
being through Him; yet the world did not know Him.
But to all who received Him, who believed in His name, He
gave power to become children of God, who were born, not
of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of
man, but of God. (John
1:9-10, 12-13) |
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"What We Believe."
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