by jimwalton » Thu Oct 19, 2017 11:46 am
Interesting comments. Thank you. My view is not that evil is beautiful, but it has its place as a necessary force to make this the best possible world. I don't consider evil to be a thing (as if God created it), but more of an option for a free agent. The entire concept and gamut of evil is difficult to capture under a single umbrella. There is the evil perpetrated by choice by humans, and there is perceived evil in the destructive qualities of natural disasters as well as that of disease that have nothing to do with the choices of humans. Some would conclude that any suffering is "evil" because it involves pain endured by people; and therefore even accidents with machinery are "evil." There is also societal evil, like the Holocaust, political evil (in oppressive regimes), and spiritual evil (Satan and demons and whatever other spiritual forces try to wreak havoc on the planet).
I can at least carve a distinction between moral evil (evil that is the result of people's choices) and natural evil, though natural "evil" is only generally considered such if there is collateral damage. In other words, a volcano that doesn't kill anyone is an event of scientific inquiry, but if a person gets killed or injured, it is interpreted as natural evil. This is a mistake, because for the latter to be truly evil, there has to be an immoral intent from a personal cause in creating the lava flow with the specific objective of bringing about suffering. Therefore "natural evil" is a misnomer, and if people get caught in natural events as circumstantial victims, we cannot accuse the volcano, or nature at large, of being evil. We can only attribute the title of "evil" to that which has been perpetrated by a personal force against what is understood as "good." Therefore moral evil is the only true kind of evil.
At its purest, then, evil, in my opinion, is the outworking of a conscious and personal will in opposition to an objective standard of "good" and "right." (After all, if everything in the world is just natural, and we are nothing more than the current end of an evolutionary sequence, the word "evil" is meaningless because matter, chemistry, physical laws, and biological structures assembled by chance cannot be deemed evil, but only "existent." Events either are or are not, that's all.) By the same token, natural "evil" can only be construed as evil if one assumes (or can prove) a moral agent perpetrated the action without the possibility of there being a greater good at stake.
> However, wouldn't this imply that we are serving God's purposes by doing evil as much as good?
At times God uses those who are perpetrating evil to serve His purposes. This is unquestionable in the case of the Babylonian Empire destroying Judea in 586 BC (the book of Habakkuk shows how God used the Babylonians to accomplish his purposes, for instance). I would not, however, contend that God is behind all evil, that God causes evil, creates evil, or perpetrates evil. He is free to use it on occasion to suit his purposes. Your statement argues a general truth, and it's that generality with which I would disagree. Nor do I feel it's generally true that we serve God's purposes by doing evil as much as good. According to the Bible, the perpetration of evil is contrary to God's purposes (though, as I said, at times God uses that to bring about, for instance, a judgment). That just means God sees it there and makes use of it, not that he was in any way instrumental in it.
> I imagine people would have mixed feelings about realizing their suffering wasn't necessary beyond suiting God's "tapestry of beauty".
I never claimed that suffering was just a tapestry of beauty. Suffering is hurtful and at times outright horrific. What I claimed is that God is able to bring good even out of the most horrible things. That doesn't mean God planned them, it doesn't mean "God had a purpose in it" (because He didn't perpetuate it), nor does it mean "Suffering is good." What it means is that God's goodness is able to redeem even the worst of awfulnesses.
> That being said, I doubt God wants humanity to forget its place and start abusing its creative talents for the sake of self-worship, hence why He interfered with the construction of the Tower of Babel. He is only willing to let us "play God" to a limited extent.
I agree. In the exercise of our wonderful gifts and blessings, we are never to forget their source and to where the ultimate credit and honor belongs.
Last bumped by Anonymous on Thu Oct 19, 2017 11:46 am.