The problem of Evil Chapter 7.
After having worked as a serving Police Officer
in the London Metropolitan Police for 30 years I have become increasingly convinced
in the reality of evil within our world. I am quite convinced that I have experienced
it’s presence on numerous occasions. I have also, I believe, experienced the presence
of evil within the context of my Christian ministry as a Priest. I therefore do
not personally have any issue with the idea of the existence of evil its
presence and influence within our lives, within society or for that matter its
influence within the Spiritual lives of believers within the Church.
The big questions for me are: firstly, what is Evil, that is, how should we define it? Secondly, from where does it come?
The answer to these questions is by no means a simple one. For example, evil is described in some cases as simply the ‘absence of good’. In others, in terms of a ‘destructive morality’ or as ‘actions which cause harm to others’ the roots of which find their ‘basis’ within such human motivations as anger, jealousy, rage, suffering, selfishness, hatred, psychological illness and the like.
In religious terms, evil, in addition to this, is often described as the presence or influence of a spiritual force outside of humanity, which corrupts humanity influencing people to carry out ‘the evil that we do’. This is generally speaking the view of most Christians to one extent or the other.
These questions of definition and genesis also raise issues of consistency, cause, and responsibility. Is it really possible, for example, to consistently define the meaning of ‘good or bad, right or wrong’? Can morality be universally agreed or is it relative to culture and the accepted norms of any particular society or group? If it is, which seems to be an inescapable fact, then how can we truly know if something is right or wrong? As I have argued earlier on in this book we all have to accept, regardless of whatever definition or decision we make on these issues, that all of us without exception have already been conditioned to believe in ‘what we choose to believe’ by the ‘communities’ within which we have existed since birth. Those communities could be our family, our school, our friends, our society, or our Church. This explains, also, why our moralities differ even within any single society or group like the Church community for example. There is, then, and will always be to some extent or another a diversity of morality within any community and within the world. The best hope we can have towards achieving a wholesome and constructive morality, (that is, to be able to ‘correctly’ define what IS actually good or bad, right or wrong) is to hope that the communities in which we have lived and do currently live are communities that have promoted and communicated the most constructive loving and positive moral standards into our lives so far. We are all products of where we have been, where we are and of those by whom we have been influenced.
This also raises issues in relation to the second question addressing the ‘nature and origin’ of ‘the evil that some do’ and to the questions of ‘ownership and responsibility’. For example, it is commonly believed that those who have suffered from abuse are also more likely to become abusers themselves; that children who have grown up in an emotionally damaging environment will exhibit destructive and aggressive behaviour; that damaged people in general terms damage others. In some cultures, marrying and having sex with children under 16 is perfectly acceptable, whereas in Western society it is illegal!
As a serving Police officer, I arrested and prosecuted huge numbers of criminals most of whom essentially saw nothing expressly wrong with the crimes they had committed. They were convinced, as a result of their circumstances and upbringing that what they were doing was justifiable for one reason or another and morally acceptable because of this. This would be the case even for those who committed the most heinous of crimes, crimes like rape, paedophilia and even murder!
On one occasion, whilst working in North West London my colleagues and I attended a call to a domestic disturbance. On arrival at the property, we found the lady of the household in her kitchen calmly drinking a cup of tea. On enquiring if she was O.K. she replied “Yes, fine thanks, he’s in the bedroom, he’s dead, I stabbed him to death with a kitchen knife”. Sure enough there was the husband lying on the double bed, dead as a dodo, with a large kitchen knife sticking out of his Chest. It transpired that for a number of years he had been beating his wife and finally she had had enough. So, when he came home drunk that evening, she had waited till he fell asleep on the bed and then, with no sense of conscience or regret, stabbed him to death. Now, I can hear many of you already saying, ‘well he got what he deserved’. But she could have just had him arrested and / or left him or taken some other course of action prior to Murder, she didn’t and felt perfectly O.K. about the situation because her circumstances had conditioned her to quite ‘happily’ commit the crime and to see murder, wrongly but understandably perhaps, as justified and her only viable option. In other case’s I have seen paedophiles who ‘easily’ justify their crimes along with burglars, robbers and rapists.
Many of these people would be, in my understanding at least, carrying out acts which I would define as evil as ‘anti God’. The difficult questions are: why are they doing this? Where does this propensity for evil come from? How do we set the standard by which we attempt to successfully judge what is acceptable and what is evil? If we are all products of what our experiences have made us, or indeed if the influence to do evil comes, at least in part, from a spiritual force outside ourselves then, what moral guidelines or basis do we use in order to hold people accountable for the evil that they do?
Within the Penal system of the United Kingdom these issues are addressed in number of ways:
Firstly: there is a national standard of acceptable behaviour, namely, the Law, which in this country, thankfully, is based on Cristian Biblical precepts.
Secondly: again, thankfully, as a result of this, U.K. society in general has a well thought out and fairly consistent moral code based on the majority of society’s acceptance of the Law. Deep down we all really know that to steal, for example, is unacceptable to most of society and therefore wrong.
Thirdly: within our penal system the emphasis is on rehabilitation rather than primarily on punishment. This reflects the acceptance of the belief above, that we are all, including criminals, to some extent, products of our circumstance and upbringing. Therefore ‘blame’ for criminal behaviour, although not removed from the offender completely, is recognised as not to be focused entirely on the offender.
There is then, within the U.K. penal system, a very real degree of what we as Christians might call grace and understanding. The aim of our penal system is to bring reformation, healing, and repentance. Our system is judged on how successful it is in preventing offenders continuing in their acts of evil post-conviction. It is this generally Christian moral structure which makes it ‘comfortable’ for Christians to also be Police officers. At least that was very much the case for me throughout my whole service.
Where, however, in my opinion the current system fails society and therefore fails in its ‘battle’ against the ‘evil that we do’ is in its lack of consideration of the danger that evil (whatever its genesis or cause) poses to its victims. In the quest to recognise the human ‘corporate’ responsibility for criminal behaviour, that is, for evil, and in the over presumption of and desire for the possibility of reformation, the system allows ‘the evil that people do’ far too much freedom and access to society. As a result, this causes tremendous and preventable harm to it’s citizens. There are too numerous cases to list which demonstrate clearly how many victims of terrible crimes have become victims simply because offenders were released without having, in any way, achieved any real reformation. The consequences of this lack of judgment are frankly too horrendous to quantify: houses burgled, people robbed in the street, women raped, innocents defiled and murdered. All this is because the moral prerogative of protecting the innocent and vulnerable has been overwhelmed by the desire to ‘share’ the responsibility for evil, by the belief that reformation of the offender should be society’s Primary concern and by the belief that such reformation can be achieved through minimal penal, financial and psychological investment. Furthermore, of course, the system fails to give any due consideration to the possibility that there could be an outside and malignant spiritual force at work within people’s lives which drives them into committing acts which we would describe as evil and which of course secular society’s systems have no means or power to influence.
It seems to me that however we understand the meaning of evil or whatever we feel may be the roots of the evil that humanity does, we have a genuine problem to discuss and one which needs an answer. Evil impacts on all of us in one way or another and on some in the most horrendous ways both as victims and as those who become ‘possessed’ or ‘influenced’ by it.
It may be helpful at this stage before we try to look into evil from a biblical perspective to have a go at defining what we believe evil might be from our thoughts so far. Initially I would define evil as more than simply the absence of Good. Evil deserves, in my view, a more pro-active definition.
Evil, then, in my experience consists of actions and behaviour which cause or inflict significant harm or distress to another human being, society, or community. Evil itself, at this stage of our discussion cannot be separated from the ‘acts’ which it produces. Acts of evil committed have their genesis in the damaged emotional, mental and psychological states of those who commit them. This damage will have been caused by the ‘evil-doers’ previous experiences of suffering, neglect, pain, trauma and by the more subtle and perhaps less specific effects of their damaged or inadequate treatment as a child and young adult.
We may extend this definition and classify ‘acts of evil’ further as any behaviour (not necessarily criminal) which contradicts or defiles the ‘humanity’ of another. This naturally widens the scope of what we might consider to be ‘acts of evil’ considerably.
Acts of Evil from a Biblical perspective.
Biblically speaking we may also describe ‘Acts of Evil’ as actions which would be considered to be ‘anti God’ or likewise in opposition to the morality of the ethics of the kingdom of God. Which of course embraces all of the above.
The Apostle Paul certainly takes such a view.
Galatians chapter 5
16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
Romans Chapter 1
God’s Wrath Against Sinful Humanity
18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.
21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.
24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25 They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen…………………..
28 Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. 29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31 they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. 32 Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.
It is quite clear then, from these and other similar passages that ‘acts of evil’ can be defined, biblically speaking as acts which contradict the morality and nature of God. They result within the experience of humanity, in Biblical terms, essentially because of humanity’s fundamental rejection of and consequent separation from God himself.
This rejection and separation has led directly to the corruption of humanity on the most basic of levels by something that here, the Apostle calls ‘The Flesh’ but which can be more aptly described as the corruption of humanity’s very nature by the power of sin. This is of course what the story of the Fall of Adam is meant to convey. Because of humanity’s rejection of God, it has become utterly corrupted by a malevolent power (sin) and pre-conditioned because of that corruption to be by nature ‘anti God’ or ‘evil’! No-one is exempt!
The continual quest of the moral human endeavour is to create systems and paradigms that contradict this pre-condition to evil and prevent individuals and societies from descending into chaos and self-destruction. We may also of course quite rightly from a religious perspective see within the moral endeavours of humanity the power of God drawing us back to himself through his gracious continued presence within the world; the power of his new kingdoms influence in Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit still at work within our world. All of which act as a counterbalance to the power of sin that we have so foolishly allowed to enter into God’s original creation.
It is absolutely no surprise to me that when we look at the constructs and attempts by humanity throughout the ages and currently today to counteract humanity’s ‘sinfulness’ that organisations of faith whether Christian or not have been and are always at the forefront of humanities attempts to bring a greater morality into our world. It is clear that despite our rejection of him God has never given up on us.
It is also of interest to note that in many cases, as the rejection of religion has increased so have the acts of evil that we do! Nazi Germany during World War 2 would be the most obvious example of this, although there are many others.
So far, then, we have considered the definition of Evil and considered in the main its human roots. We have also now, however, introduced the idea of the corrupting power of sin into the equation which, of course, adds a further fundamentally religious dynamic into the discussion.
Sin.
In Classic Christian thought ‘sin’ is described as an act which is contrary to God’s laws and to his nature. St Augustine of Hippo, for example, described sin as “a word or deed, or a desire which is in opposition to the eternal law of God”. For Christian scholars such behaviour can be viewed as either ‘a breaking of the law’ or, in terms of our relationship with God, as a lack of love for God for example and the promotion of our own ‘self-love’ in its place. Sin is seen fundamentally in terms of actions, thoughts or desires held or committed by human beings.
Sin as a disease.
In Genesis 1 we are told that when Adam sinned ‘sin entered the world’ that ‘sin’ then corrupted everything within the created order. Adam and Eve become afraid of God, they become aware of their own vulnerability and nakedness and they become distrustful of each other. Even the very earth itself is damaged.
Genesis 3:8-22
8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”
10 He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”
11 And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”
12 The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”
The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
14 So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this,
“Cursed are you above all
livestock
and all wild animals!
You will crawl on your belly
and you will eat dust
all the days of your life.
15 And I will put enmity
between you and the woman,
and between your offspring[a] and hers;
he will crush[b] your head,
and you will strike his heel.”
16 To the woman he said,
“I will make your pains in childbearing
very severe;
with painful labour you will give birth to children.
Your desire will be for your husband,
and he will rule over you.”
17 To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’
“Cursed is the ground because
of you;
through painful toil you will eat food from it
all the days of your life.
18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
and you will eat the plants of the field.
19 By the sweat of your brow
you will eat your food
until you return to the ground,
since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
and to dust you will return.”
20 Adam named his wife Eve because she would become the mother of all the living.
21 The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. 22 And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat and live forever.”
Clearly the ‘picture’ of ‘sin’ here is of something powerful, something apart from humanity, something that seems to have a corrupting influence on everything within the created order, rather than ‘sin’ being defined as ‘simply’ action by humankind. It has a powerful life of its own. The best analogy that I can come up with, which seems to reflect this image, is that of the virus which comes and infects everything it touches.
The Depravity of Humanity and Original Sin.
This sense of complete and total corruption, in turn, brought about within Christian thought the idea of what Christian theologians call ‘Original Sin’.
Within the theology of original sin, sin is seen as a ‘condition’ or as a ‘corruption’, rather than being defined solely as an action which comes about because of the selfishness or self-obsession of humankind. It takes on more of this ‘infectious’ characteristic.
Sin is something which has infected and pervaded humanity, corrupting the human condition to its very core. In Christian thought the effects have been described in some cases as an inherent ‘slight self-deficiency’. In other cases, as a ‘human tendency towards immorality’ and in the most extreme case as the ‘total depravity’ of humankind which in turn, leads to humankinds automatic guilt and collective guilt before God.
St Augustine, for example, followed this view basing his teaching on such passages as Romans chapter 5 vs 12-21, 1 Corinthians Chapter 15 vs 21 -22 and from the Old Testament passages like Psalm 15 vs 5,19 -23. You may well find it slightly surprising that I also tend towards this idea of our ‘total depravity’ but sadly it seems to reflect very well my experience of humanity throughout my life. If I consider the 30 years I spent as a serving Police Officer; the news reports that fill our T.V. screens every single day, the general experience of humanity within my own Christian and private life it seems clear to me that all of us to one extent or another have a preference to indulge in ‘sinful’ behaviour. Now please don’t misunderstand me. I am by no means someone who has lost faith in humanity. I recognise deeply, that alongside all the selfishness, pride and evil that we demonstrate as humanity, there are also many people who manage to overcome this propensity to some extent or another. Those who fill our world with lights of kindness, selflessness, love, joy, courage and fortitude. In every community within which I have ever lived, worked or served there have been people who have accomplished this and who still do. I hope very much that I am also personally one such person. I have spent my life in the service of others either as a Police Officer or as a Priest. I have spent all of my life trying to bring peace, healing, comfort and hope to my fellow human beings. If I am to be perfectly honest, however, even within my character and after 40 years of being a committed Christian I find the battle between my own ‘sinful self-interest’ and my desire and commitment to be ‘good’ has never completely gone way. I still believe that despite all I have done for my fellow human beings and all that I still desire to do, my sinful nature crouches at the door of my life waiting to pounce! I refuse to believe that this is not a characteristic shared, if we are honest, by all of us however good we may be.
I would also ask any parent whether they have ever had to teach their children, however young, to be ‘bad’? In my experience, as a parent of a wonderful 29-year-old son and two equally wonderful 5 and 4-year-old girls, the constant struggle is to show them, by example, through love and kindness how to be ‘good’. ‘self-interest’ and ‘naughtiness’ seem to me, to be all children’s natural default setting. Both my wife and I know already that our daughters are a mixed bag and that both are in constant need of direction, encouragement and love in order that they may ‘become good human adults’.
Our ‘battle’ then as human beings, as parents, as communities and as society does indeed seem to be a battle against our own propensity to ‘Sin’. This propensity, if we are honest, seems to emanate from the very core of our nature reflecting the Genesis picture stated above.
The ‘old and new natures’ within the New Testament.
In the New Testament this concept of our ‘battle’ for goodness is clearly represented in the teachings of St Paul in his discussion of the tension between our ‘old nature’ which is seen as corrupt and the ‘new nature within us’ which has been brought about by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit through faith in Jesus. Paul clearly links this whole concept to the fall.
Romans chapter 6 vs 5 - 7
5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with,[a] that we should no longer be slaves to sin—because anyone who has died has been set free from sin”
Ephesians Chapter 2 vs 2 -9
Made Alive in Christ
2 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh[a] and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Ephesians Chapter 4 vs 22
22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
Colossians Chapter 3 vs 9 – 11
9 ‘Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11 Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all’.
The reception of the Holy Spirit, then, through faith in Jesus introduces into our ‘nature’ a new and reformative ‘power’ or dynamic namely, the power of the Holy Spirit after which, we become engaged in an inner ‘spiritual battle’ between the old nature, which owes its ‘genesis’ within humanity to the corruption of Sin caused by Adam’s fall and our new nature which owes its ‘Genesis’ within us by the indwelling of God’s Holy Spirit. Again, ‘sin’ is identified not as ‘inanimate’ simply as the ‘things that we do, feel or desire, but as a powerful force or virus which has contaminated us to our very core. As the Spirit indwells us now, so the force of ‘sin’ indwelt us first!
In our discussion, then, on the meaning of evil we find now that the ‘evil that we do’ we do because of the presence of a powerful ‘force’ or ‘corruption’ that has infected our humanity at its core. This drives us towards committing acts of evil within our lives, within our communities and within the world, on both a personal and corporate level.
Is there more? Thus far, then, we have decided that evil consist of actions that we do which are anti the nature and law of God and which damage the humanity, rights, peace, comfort, security, wellbeing, of other human beings. We have also suggested that the root of such behaviour lies in the fundamental corruption of the original God given human nature caused by the decision of humanity to betray God. This led to the introduction into our human nature and the created order of a powerful and corrupting force, infection, which the Bible calls Sin.
The Architect of Evil.
We now ask whether there is an ‘architect’ of this situation, a single figure, a malevolent being who stands as the ultimate anti God or evil influence and who has managed since the creation of the universe to orchestrate the destruction of all that God originally created and whose malevolent presence and power still pervades our existence continually seeking to manipulate and damage God’s creation. This is, of course, naturally a uniquely religious question.
In my own experience both as a Christian Police Officer and a Priest it seems quite clear that any and all of humanity’s own secular paradigms, structures and techniques despite the obvious and laudable effects they have on our personalities, communities and world seem, to a significant degree, to be incapable of dealing effectively with the problem of the ‘human condition’ that is, with the propensity, within our personalities, communities and world to contain the ‘Evil that we do’. The penal system fails, the psychologist and psychotherapists fail, governments and lawmakers fail, community consciousness of right and wrong fails.
As a police officer my colleagues and I were always very conscious that the best we could do for society, despite our greatest efforts, was to ‘hold back the darkness of human nature’. Our aim was always to try our best to keep the ‘evil that we do’ in check! We never expected to prevent crime completely, or rid the community of evil, it was here to stay. We just tried our best to keep it under some form of control!
In the medical field it is clearly apparent that the techniques for dealing with those with violent and destructive personalities are ‘managed’ in the same way. People with ‘broken’ personalities are, in the vast majority of cases, controlled by drugs rather than cured.
Within the recent corona virus epidemic rational pleas and community pressure fell on such deaf ears that laws had to be introduced to control the selfishness of those who chose to ignore the rules around social distancing.
I am not saying here that some do not learn by their mistakes, or do not get reformed by the penal system, or do not find relief through the medical systems or do not heed the power of the majority community consciousness, that would be inaccurate and unfair. Regardless of this, however, I am quite convinced that all of these successes simply add up to the same ‘holding back the dark’ management, that we succeeded in, to some extent as police officers.
The truth is that none of these systems or structures manage to effect any fundamental change in the nature of those they impact on. They are effective because they put in place barriers and disincentives that convince the population that to do good is more beneficial than to do harm or conversely that to do harm will simply ‘cost’ us too much. Likewise, on a more positive note, they create incentives which persuade us that doing good can bring us more benefit than doing bad.
In essence the majority of us live ‘good’ lives because.
1. We have been lucky enough to have been conditioned to do so by our communities from childhood.
2. Because we believe that being good brings higher rewards than being bad.
3. Because we are afraid of getting caught and punished.
It goes almost without saying that we should be grateful to all those involved in providing these incentives which prevent us, our communities and our world from plunging into the inevitable chaos that would exist if these structures were not in place. Nevertheless, it is just a fact that despite thousands of years of social, legal, governmental, and medical influence the ‘evil that we do’ seems to carry on. The people, structures, and paradigms simply ‘hold back the dark’ that lives within us all. Just watch the news every day!
This inability then, of all the worlds efforts to deal with evil leads me, as a Christian, to the question we are attempting to address here.
We accept, from a Christian perspective, that there is an inbuilt infection within the human condition which we have called ‘sin’ against which we all battle. Is there also then an Architect of our situation who not only orchestrated the original infection but who also continues to influence humanity towards the ‘evil that we do’ and against whom secular humanity has no power?
This idea of an ‘architect of evil’ is common within many religious belief systems. We will deal with this belief as held within the Christian tradition.
The Devil or Satan.
In the Christian tradition the figure of this ‘Architect’ is the Devil or Satan. He is described as a ‘Fallen Angel’ who rebelled against God and was cast out of heaven to walk the earth. He is the antithesis of truth. He terrorizes the world and shall be condemned at the end of time judgment, together with the ‘angels’ that follow him. The biblical witness to his reality is clear.
Revelation 12 vs 7-10
7 Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. 8 But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. 9 The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.
In addition to this, within the Biblical narrative, the Devil is identified as.
The architect of the fall of man, the serpent who tempted Adam and Eve. Revelation Chapter 20 vs 2. ‘He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.’
He is the Dragon who leads the world astray in Revelation Chapter 12 vs 9.
‘The great dragon was hurled down--that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.’
He is the prince of this world in the Gospel of John Chapter 12 vs 31 and 14 vs 30.
‘Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out.’
‘I will not say much more to you, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold over me,’
He is the spirit who works in the Children of disobedience in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians chapter 2 vs 2. ‘in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.’
He is the God of this world in Pauls second letter to the Corinthians Chapter 4 vs 4. ‘The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.’
He is the Tempter of Jesus in Mathew Chapter 4 vs 1.
‘Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.’
Jesus and the Devil
In perhaps his most significant treatment of the devil Jesus equates his victory over the devil at his temptations directly to his ability to carry out his new Kingdom ministry.
Jesus and Beelzebul Matthew Chapter 12.
22 Then they brought him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, and Jesus healed him, so that he could both talk and see. 23 All the people were astonished and said, “Could this be the Son of David?”
24 But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons.”
25 Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. 26 If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? 27 And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. 28 But if it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
29 “Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can plunder his house.
Clearly within this passage Jesus makes several points.
Firstly, he acknowledges the presence of a man possessed by Demons.
Secondly, that the author of this possession is Satan or the Devil.
Thirdly, that the Devil has his own kingdom.
and finally, and perhaps most importantly, that the Devil’s ‘house’ or ‘kingdom’ has been invaded by Christ. He has been ‘Bound up’ and rendered powerless against the presence and power of Jesus’s own new ministry of the kingdom of God.
In this passage we see that not only does Jesus believe in the devil but that at sometime prior to this encounter Jesus had defeated him. This has resulted in Jesus ability to bring into people lives (Satan’s property) the redeeming, liberating power of his Kingdom. It is clear on this timeline that this victory occurred as a result of Jesus’ resistance to Satan during the temptations.
The issue for those Christians and Theologians who do not wish to believe in the presence of this ‘living architect’ this one personality who instigated, designed and continues to play a part in the ‘evil that we do’ seems to be simply that Jesus clearly did! For Jesus, the one divine Son of God, Satan, the Devil is a real and powerful character whose aim is to continue to corrupt and destroy the quality of our human existence as he seeks to possess our souls. As the Apostle Peter reminds us, he roams the earth looking for those whom he can devour.
1 Peter Chapter 5 vs 8
Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls
around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist
him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of
believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
Conclusion
In conclusion, then, evil consist of actions that we do which are anti the nature and law of God and which damage the humanity, rights, peace, comfort, security, wellbeing, of other human beings. The root of such behaviour lies in the fundamental corruption of the original God given human nature caused by the decision of humanity to betray God. This led to the introduction into human nature (and the created order) of a powerful and corrupting force, infection, which the Bible calls sin. Finally, we maintain that the ultimate ‘Architect’ of this corruption, in Biblical terms, is the Devil, a Fallen Angel, whose malevolent presence continues to poison and corrupt humanity. He is active. He is real.
We take supreme comfort however in the knowledge that he is also and already a defeated enemy whose power base has been successfully infiltrated and overcome by the victory of our Messiah. He has conquered the power of sin and death through his victory at the Temptations, his life of ministry, his death and Resurrection.
Through faith in him we, as Christians, are able to step out of the dominance of Satan’s power over us, resist the power of Sin and find redemption, reformation and new Spiritual life through the power of the new Kingdom of God within us by the presence of God’s Holy Spirit now given to the Church. We live in a place of victory.