“Who knows what evil lurks in the heart of men?” Even today,
decades after radio detective shows have left the airwaves, people remember
this phrase from the 1930’s. (The answer, incidentally, was “The Shadow Knows.”)
But what is “evil?” Is it a “thing” that can hide, undetected for a period,
only to be unleashed when a person’s guard is down? If so, can it be located,
identified and eradicated? Or is it an ethereal spirit, an invisible cloud that
somehow infects all with whom it comes into contact?
This question has perplexed the minds of thinkers, great and
small, since man first recognized his own seemingly endless capacity to do
harm. In a recent conversation, a skeptic posed the question: is evil a
personal being or is it some type of ethereal force?
Many people are inclined to identify evil as a thing, often
without giving the question much thought. As the famous phrase implies, evil must be a thing if it can lurk somewhere. And viewing it that way can help to excuse
one’s conduct. A popular gag from the 60’s
summed it with the phrase “The devil made me do it.” But is it as simple as
that?
As a Christian, I have no doubt that a personal agent of
unquenchable evil exists and that, for a time at least, he has been given
access to the Earth and its inhabitants. But he does not create all evil, nor
can he force evil upon us. For “evil” is
not a thing. If it were, the question
would rightly become: “How could an all-good God have created evil?” Doesn’t
this make Him evil as well?
St. Augustine did groundbreaking work on this in the Fourth
Century. He constructed a syllogism that helps make better sense of the
question:
1. God created all things;
2. Evil is a thing;
3. Therefore, God created evil.
By stating it this way, he was able to see where the problem
lay. The logic is sound, but is premise
2 true? Is evil a thing, something that is created? He answered that in the
negative, and his exploration of the topic makes for intriguing, though
sometimes difficult, reading. Evil is not a “thing” at all. It is the measure of the departure of a
thought or action from the perfect good. Evil exists only to the extent that
there is first an identifiable good from which it departs or falls short. Evil,
therefore, is always volitional because it involves a thought or an intentional
action. For example, trying to push someone over a cliff is evil, even if you
fail; while unintentionally bumping someone is not, because there is no
volition involved, even if injury is inflicted. Similarly, evil can only be
committed by human beings. A lion
devouring its prey is acting on instinct, as is the family dog that protects
his master. A human being who acts in a
similar manner will be judged based on his motives and ultimate ends,
regardless of how similar his actual behavior might be to that of an animal.
Augustine spends considerable time developing this concept,
and it would take a book to fully convey his views. He realizes that what we
see as evil is never a positive quantity of a thing; it is always a perversion
of a good. We can add light to a room,
but we cannot add darkness. To achieve darkness, we must remove the light. So too with evil. We cannot heap quantities
of “evil” onto a workbench and examine it. No, we use the word evil to describe
what we perceive as a diminution of the good.
For example, betrayal is a departure from the good of loyalty or love;
violence is a departure from the good of peace; deception is a departure from
the good of honesty; rape is a departure from the good of mutual consensual
love. It is simply not possible to come
up with an “evil” that is self contained, self generated. It is always a
falling short, a perversion, from the norm or the good.
Reflecting on the discussion, the skeptic asked if "it is
necessary for evil to decide to
pervert something." Because evil is volitional, it would seem that the answer
must necessarily be yes. But I would substitute “personal agent” for “evil” because
“evil” is the product – again, the measure of the movement away from, the
perversion of, the good, while the personal agent is the one who acts.
Earthquakes, for instance, are tragedies, because of the harm caused. But I
would not call them “evil” because they serve an important purpose for the
viability of life on earth and because (presumably) they are not intentionally
caused. If, however, a mad scientist created a device that could cause
earthquakes, hoping to terrorize or to gain some advantage, that would indeed be
evil.
While the devil is real, he does not embody all “evil” and
evil is not itself a spirit. It is the product of a personal agent, a manifestation
of the will to rebel against God and against his perfect good. Does it lurk in the hearts of men? Perhaps,
but not in the sense of something hiding; rather, it would seem, in the sense
of something continually welling up within us, and spewing forth at times unbidden
to wreak havoc, far and wide.
Thankfully, however, this affliction is not permanent.
Through his grace, God has provided the means to cap that well, and to be
reconciled with him. And he’s given us the means to choose him. It is
essential for us that we choose wisely.
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