What is evil?
I’m working on a message on Genesis 3:1-10. A few days ago, I posted a link to a John Wesley sermon about this famous chapter in the Bible. Today, I’m wrestling with the question of evil.
Specifically, from where does the serpent in Genesis 3 come? The first verse of chapter 3 specifically says God created the serpent. Since I am reading this passage with the New Testament in mind, I conclude that the serpent is some sort of representative of the Accuser, or Satan. This raises a whole set of questions. What is God’s role in the existence of evil?
To find some clarity, I turn to the saints…specifically St. Augustine. In Confessions, he wrote these thoughts about evil:
“Whatever is, is good. Evil, then, the origin of which I had been seeking has no substance at all; for if it were a substance , it would be good. For either it would be an incorruptible substance and so a supreme good, or a corruptible substance, which could not be corrupted unless it were good. I understood, therefore, and it was made clear to me that you made all things good, nor is there any substance at all not made by you. And because all that you made is not equal, each by itself is good, that the sum of all of them is very good, for our God made ‘all things very good.’ To you there is no such thing as evil, and even in your whole creation taken as a whole, there is no; because there is nothing from beyond it that can burst in and destroy the order which you have appointed for it. But in the parts of creation, some things, because they do not harmonize with others, are considered evil….
… And I asked what wickedness was, and I found that it was no substance, but a perversion of the will bent aside from you, God, the supreme substance, toward these lower things, casting away its inmost treasure and becoming bloated with external good.”
Not sure what to think about this and how to relate this to my experience. But it is a good reminder not to confuse God’s good creation with the presence of evil in the world. It also reminds us of our own authority and responsibility in participating with evil.
Reading your last two posts reminds me of a sermon that John Piper gave (it was in two parts) at Passion a couple of years ago. He was talking about suffering (and having just recently been diagnosed with cancer he was speaking with some conviction). He was discussing how God uses suffering and was working his way backwards to origin. His position (at least at that time) was that God ordained suffering AND sin. First time I had ever heard that (someone from the seats shouted “You’ve lost your mind Piper”; akin to the congressman during Obama’s speech). His argument was that becuase of sin God was able to send Jesus to atone for that sin and that atonement allowed God to be glorified in a way he would not have been otherwise. Certainly you can substantiate some of that through Romans, but I have a very difficult time with the idea that God ordained sin. Thoughts?
Yeah, this is a very, very difficult concept. Wesley would argue (see my post from Monday or Tuesday) that Adam had to sin so that Christ could die… and in that we have the opportunity to experience more of God on earth than the first people did in the garden (very Wesleyan in ideas of sanctification). That’s a hard concept to grasp as well, but so much of sanctification is difficult to grasp… how much freedom from sin can we experience now?
Did God ordain sin so that we might be able to experience grace? Looking at Romans, this grace is more powerful than any sin… even so much that God is glorified b/c of the ways grace conquers sin.
Did God cause cancer, in Piper’s case? I don’t think so. Did God allow sin into the world, maybe so. Maybe we needed sin so that grace would reign and God would be glorified.
First, we cannot take Genesis literally. Once we accept that it is a story we can understand it in much deeper terms. Myth is a wonderful learning tool if used correctly. Unfortunately, too many people want to take ancient stories and make them actual history which in turn destroys their deeper meaning.
The story of Adam and Eve is a wonderful myth but that is all it is. Of course, you will ask where sin comes from and it comes from us not based on some silly notion of a birth right but based on our free agency and actions.
Sin simply means “missing the mark” which we humans do all the time. Missing the mark means that our actions are not those that insure the health and welfare of the community. For obvious reasons, evil falls into this category.
The concept of sin as practiced today is completely false from what the ancient Jewish people viewed it as. Sin hurts individuals and communities and therefore should be avoided. It produces separation from God because the actions themselves do not foster human development.
Gods convenant with mankind is based on connectedness which sin destroys as it produces separation.
Now, on to evil. Ultimately, evil is the action of humans not God. Evil is not a tornado or other natural event even though they are incredibly destructive. No, evil come from humans. Evil is a thought or act not a thing that floats out there in the ether that sometimes comes down to inhabit us.
Evil is not the absence of good but as I stated above it is a thought or action just as good is. Having love and compassion for others as Jesus told us is good. Evil is the act of harming others in the community (or in todays terms, society).
I have never understood the reason why so many have such a problem with the concept of evil. So many worry that it is from God but as I have pointed out if generates from within us so it is not of God. God does not tell us what do to in regards to our actions but trys to guide us in those actions that will be best for oursevles and society. We simply don’t listen and want to do what we want to do regardless. This may simply lead to selfishness or to evil depending on what we do.
Jesus goes beyond saviour as he is also a guide on how to live our lives. By following the example of Jesus we can transcend sin and evil if only we listen and observe the will of God.
Thanks for your comment, Joe. I’ll try to respond to most of what you wrote.
First, I don’t think you have to take Genesis 1-11 as any sort of literal history in order to take serious the theological questions this text is raising. The Genesis story sets the stage for so much of the Christian message.
You brought up ancient Jewish perspectives of sin. You’re right, sin is more often communal than it is individual in this ancient perspective. Even with a communal perspective, there is still individual responsibility. I don’t think I can agree with you that sin is only that which harms the community in terms of general welfare. I say that because of the strong laws on liturgical and activity. Sacrifices, for instance, do not seem to do much to foster as you would say “human development.” There are two aspects to what is required for the Hebrews one is based on the worship of God and one is on the communal requirements of a covenant people. Or as Jesus would say the law and the prophets are summed up in love of God and neighbor.
I would also agree with that there evil is not this “substance” that appears out of nowhere. It is not something that exists apart from God’s creation… which is what Genesis 1-3 reminds us of (again, doesn’t have to be literal history in order to make a theological point). But I still have to wrestle with the nature of that existence of evil. God’s creation is good. God is good. The biblical witness is consistent on these parts, as is the tradition of the saints. How then do we explain this evil that we participate in? I tend to agree with Augustine that all of God’s creation is good, including us, but somewhere along the way (don’t read that literally) we “missed the mark” and participated with evil and now evil is part of all of our lives. The Genesis story is true because it is still happening.
I think it comes down to the problem of free will. Humans were given free will by God but with that comes the responsibility to use it correctly.
God made the creation good and of course God is good. However, when you add free will to the mix, we humans can mess up that good by making bad decisions and producing bad actions. Thus, the good of the creation is not the problem. The problem is that evil which is contradictory to God’s design is brought into the world not by God but by us.
God goes beyond what is required and gives us ethics and morality. God goes even further and offers Jesus as reconciliation so that man and God can once again come together. However, we are still responsible for how we use one of the greatest gifts God has given us which is free will.
Evil is man-made and unfortunately we are the creator and cause of it. God is not responsible for our decisions. If God does intervene in our decision making then it is no longer free will. Then where will God stop. God could force all of our decisions to be good but free will would no longer exist. Then existence would no longer have any point to it and neither would the human race. We would simply be puppets.
Instead, God trys to influence and persuade us to make proper decisions and make the world a better place. However, at the end of the day it is up to us to follow and listen correctly.