Taking Evil Seriously
Grab your cup and buckle in. This part of the ride is a bit bumpy. The question of how it is that Jesus saves leads to another puzzling question: if there is a God who is good, why is there evil from which we need to be saved?
Even if we conclude there is a god responsible for creation then what kind of god is it that designs a world fraught with danger? And if god is indeed responsible for the design and is in control of keeping that design working then it is not hard to conceive of god as being vengeful, unjust, or just plain fickle. Considering the world’s chaos and suffering it is not illogical to conclude there is no reason, no good, and no god behind the working of creation.
But first, let’s identify what we mean by evil. We humans create tremendous evil for ourselves and for others by the self-serving, shortsighted choices we make. A child is killed by a drunk driver and we say, “Why did God allow that to happen?” If God has culpability the culpability is limited to giving humans the freedom of choice. I’ll say more about that a little later.
Then there is the evil that some still believe is an “act of god” rather than what science would call “natural disaster”. The power of nature to cause good or harm seems to be a matter of scale: too much or too little of a good thing spells disaster. Modern science and technology have given us a better perspective on the working of creation so we no longer consider it chance or in the hands of a whimsical and unpredictable creator.
One of my favorite books is When Bad Things Happen to Good People by Rabbi Harold Kushner in which he addresses suffering of the innocent at the hands of nature. Kushner suggests that just as humans have freedom of choice so too does nature have a degree of freedom to do what it does best. When circumstances reach an extreme, wind can become violent, rains can make floods, lightning does kill, and when the Earth’s plates slip it literally shakes our foundation. All of these natural features that possess both beauty and danger are in some way responsible for making earth inhabitable. Thus it would seem evil and good are partners in a creative dance.
Perhaps freedom is too generous a term for what happens in nature though random is not exactly right either since nature’s wrath is predictable. Some years ago a tragic flood swept through a river basin in Colorado wiping out homes and killing innocent people. At first the horrible news was deemed to be one of those “acts of god”. But after the initial tragedy it was quietly noted in the news that the temptation to build along this fantastically beautiful canyon was so great that many ignored the warning about the sites being in a hundred-year-flood plain. Those who made the choice to live in this particular canyon were literally gambling with their lives that that such a flood would not occur.
Close in proximity to natural disasters are pestilence and disease. Through medical science we continue to discover the causes of disease, learn how to prevent future diseases, and develop the means to eradicate such evil. Affects of culture, life style, stress, diet, the use of chemicals and other aspects of our social fabric both cause or limit disease. And of course, once introduced into our DNA heredity can makes disease a ticking bomb.
Science gives us understanding and method for controlling much of what is labeled as “natural” evil in our world. The lesson is a hard one but we are ever so slowly progressing towards bringing our human behavior into harmony with that of the natural world. The potential for eliminating evil is one element of rescuing humanity that requires a lifetime of perfecting our method.
Human evil is addressed by the Christian writer we know as Paul in his credo to the Church at Rome as he says, “That which I know to do I don’t do. And that which I know not to do is what I most often do. Woe is me.” The more we know the greater the challenge to get it right.
But knowing what is evil, what are the causes of evil and how to avoid or control evil does not answer the question, why evil at all? Oops, that’s the coffee maker beeping. Must be ready; let me get a cup and I’ll tell you what I think.
Even if we conclude there is a god responsible for creation then what kind of god is it that designs a world fraught with danger? And if god is indeed responsible for the design and is in control of keeping that design working then it is not hard to conceive of god as being vengeful, unjust, or just plain fickle. Considering the world’s chaos and suffering it is not illogical to conclude there is no reason, no good, and no god behind the working of creation.
But first, let’s identify what we mean by evil. We humans create tremendous evil for ourselves and for others by the self-serving, shortsighted choices we make. A child is killed by a drunk driver and we say, “Why did God allow that to happen?” If God has culpability the culpability is limited to giving humans the freedom of choice. I’ll say more about that a little later.
Then there is the evil that some still believe is an “act of god” rather than what science would call “natural disaster”. The power of nature to cause good or harm seems to be a matter of scale: too much or too little of a good thing spells disaster. Modern science and technology have given us a better perspective on the working of creation so we no longer consider it chance or in the hands of a whimsical and unpredictable creator.
One of my favorite books is When Bad Things Happen to Good People by Rabbi Harold Kushner in which he addresses suffering of the innocent at the hands of nature. Kushner suggests that just as humans have freedom of choice so too does nature have a degree of freedom to do what it does best. When circumstances reach an extreme, wind can become violent, rains can make floods, lightning does kill, and when the Earth’s plates slip it literally shakes our foundation. All of these natural features that possess both beauty and danger are in some way responsible for making earth inhabitable. Thus it would seem evil and good are partners in a creative dance.
Perhaps freedom is too generous a term for what happens in nature though random is not exactly right either since nature’s wrath is predictable. Some years ago a tragic flood swept through a river basin in Colorado wiping out homes and killing innocent people. At first the horrible news was deemed to be one of those “acts of god”. But after the initial tragedy it was quietly noted in the news that the temptation to build along this fantastically beautiful canyon was so great that many ignored the warning about the sites being in a hundred-year-flood plain. Those who made the choice to live in this particular canyon were literally gambling with their lives that that such a flood would not occur.
Close in proximity to natural disasters are pestilence and disease. Through medical science we continue to discover the causes of disease, learn how to prevent future diseases, and develop the means to eradicate such evil. Affects of culture, life style, stress, diet, the use of chemicals and other aspects of our social fabric both cause or limit disease. And of course, once introduced into our DNA heredity can makes disease a ticking bomb.
Science gives us understanding and method for controlling much of what is labeled as “natural” evil in our world. The lesson is a hard one but we are ever so slowly progressing towards bringing our human behavior into harmony with that of the natural world. The potential for eliminating evil is one element of rescuing humanity that requires a lifetime of perfecting our method.
Human evil is addressed by the Christian writer we know as Paul in his credo to the Church at Rome as he says, “That which I know to do I don’t do. And that which I know not to do is what I most often do. Woe is me.” The more we know the greater the challenge to get it right.
But knowing what is evil, what are the causes of evil and how to avoid or control evil does not answer the question, why evil at all? Oops, that’s the coffee maker beeping. Must be ready; let me get a cup and I’ll tell you what I think.
Comments
Post a Comment