Construction of the Idea of Evil: Theological Criteria

April 04, 2009

Dear Friends,

Situating my few words
I consider it a privilege to address this distinguished gathering. The topic we are considering is of utmost importance, “Construction of the idea of Evil”. What is evil? Where does it originate? How does it appear in a thousand and one form? Among the many forms of evil what is social or structural evil? Can evil be explained away? Is the mystery of evil something difficult to understand, or is it something impossible to grasp fully, humanly speaking?


What exactly is going to be the goal or the purpose of our coming together? Are we going to help to diminish the power of evil to help construct a more humane society? I am aware that the concept of evil will be looked at from various angles as we see from our programme. Since I am coming from the Khasi Hills I could look at it from the point of view of the Khasi mythology of Lumsohpetbneng. We can try to understand evil in the light of the different sacred Scriptures. We can philosophize it, we may review it in the different opinions on it, etc. However, in these few introductory words of the inaugural session, let me look at evil briefly from a theological point of view.

Theological Criteria
The fact of evil is undeniable. It is enough to look into ourselves, see around us, read the daily newspapers. But why is there evil at all? Let me affirm right away that none of the greatest minds of human history has devised a compelling answer to it. Here we can only identify some of the principal options we have in response to evil, and especially to innocent suffering.

The first option before the idea and the reality of evil is to rebel, revolt and shake an angry fist, if not at the real God, then at some conventional idea of God. This is the way of Ivan Karamazov in Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov and Albert Camus in his Rebel see it. Second, we can try to bear up evil stoically, tight lipped, avoiding the question “Why?” We simply accept what we can neither understand nor change. Third, we can stand with Job in the Bible placing our compete trust in God even in the face of an incomprehensible situation of evil, and continue to place our hope in the same God who loves us and who can indeed deliver us from all evil and from its consequent suffering. For ours is a God of love who can turn evil into good.

Again, theologically speaking, sin is the greatest evil, since it strikes man in the heart of his personality. Evil – both individual and structural – has its roots in the mind and heart of free and responsible persons. Injustice and exploitation are due to sin. For example, I may not be far from the truth, if I say that at the centre of the world-wide economic recession today is mainly the greed of a few individuals. In the measure in which justice is practiced evil and suffering can be diminished.

Reflecting on the idea of evil let me add immediately, that even Jesus did not explain suffering. He endured it, an innocent Lamb in the sight of God (1 Peter 1:19). He who fed the hungry, healed the sick, and raised the dead to life teaches us that suffering though in itself and per se has no meaning, it can have a meaning or can acquire a meaning – think of a mother at the bedside of her son who is a victim of someone else’s evil deed. She is close to him, suffers night and day, without sleep, without food, if need be! She is like God who in Jesus Christ suffers out of love, pure love. This God I am referring to is literally a sympathetic (suffering with) God. The reality of evil and suffering notwithstanding, this God is a God of mercy, of forgiveness, of compassion for all. He will “wipe every tear from our eyes. (In Him) death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more...” (Revelation 21:4). That we may experience God’s love that knows no death, we are told, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Rom 12:21). Ghandiji, the father of our nation was theologically correct when he affirmed, “I am prepared to give my life for any cause, but there is no cause for which I am prepared to kill!”.

Conclusion
Let me conclude this brief reflection by saying that we can do nothing about evil in general, that is, we cannot completely eliminate it from the world, and we can do relatively little about it in the concrete (as our everyday experience attests). But what is under our control is the manner in which we respond to what is so frequently inevitable. We are free. And our freedom is, in turn, a condition which makes evil lessen or increase. All religions are one in acknowledging evil’s wretched factuality, notwithstanding the agony of interpretation of it of different kinds in the various religions. In the face of evil a truly theological vision demands that we do our best to diminish it with love and forgiveness and handle it in faith, faith in a God who took upon Himself the sins of the world and expiated it by dying on the Cross, and who brightens mankind’s vision by overcoming sin and death by rising from the dead. In other words, the God I know of challenges me to transcend evil with good and to bring good out of the inevitable suffering we have to endure with faith in His love by getting involved in the construction of a better world to live in. This vision of Hope is basic to understanding the idea and the reality of evil.

The world, as we know, is a wonderful place full of life and hope. At the same time, it is full of pain and suffering, illness and death. It can seem frightening and out of control: Wars break out, drought threatens the lives of missions, a friend dies in a senseless car accident, terrorists attack and kill innocent people; we can be left wondering why God allows such things.

The sacred writings of all religions tell us that God is in control. This same God can do the same for us too. There will come a time when the just will be rewarded and the wicked punished. And although God’s reign is not yet fully realized, as members of that reign, we are called to be people of justice, peace, and hope to a world desperately seeking these things.

I wish all of us two days of fruitful and enjoyable seminar.

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An address to participants at a Seminar held on March 31-April 1, 2009 in Kohima, Nagaland.

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