Posted on 01/01/2007 9:10:09 AM PST by ventanax5
I have long been preoccupied by the problem of evil. Not being a philosopher, I have no satisfactory explanation of evil to offer, nor even, indeed, a satisfactory definition of it. For me, evil is rather like poetry was for Doctor Johnson: easier to say what it isn’t than what it is. All I know for certain is that there’s a lot of it about - evil, I mean, not poetry.
Why? Is the heart of man irredeemably evil, or at any rate inclined to evil? What are the conditions in which evil may flourish?
My medical practice, admittedly of a peculiar kind, in a slum and in a prison, convinced me of the prevalence of evil. I was surprised. I had spent a number of years in countries wracked by civil wars and thereby deprived of even minimal social order, precisely the conditions in which one might expect evil to be widely committed, if only because in such situations the worst come to the fore. But nothing prepared me for the sheer malignity, the joy in doing wrong, of so many of my compatriots, when finally I returned home. Every day in my office I would hear of men who tortured women - torture is not too strong a word - or commit the basest acts of intimidation, oppression and violence, with every appearance of satisfaction and enjoyment. I would once have taken the opening sentence of Adam Smith’s Theory of Moral Sentiments for a truism:
(Excerpt) Read more at newenglishreview.org ...
The author of the article strains so hard to understand evil.
This is so sad for so many.
Indeed only islam is truly evil. Even naziism can be seen relativistically as ok. If you were a nazi at the time, it can seem rational. islam however, is intentionally, willfully evil.
Maybe so.
I was thinking perhaps Williams was involved in point shaving.
Time may tell.
Either one would be a manifestation of evil.
Alternately, one can view our actions as a statement to the universe about our concept of self--of who we are and who we choose to be.
Get some help, Tolsti. Might I suggest you be quick about it.
"islam however, is intentionally, willfully evil."
Very true. Islam teaches virtue in telling lies, virtue in terrorizing and torturing citizens, and even teaches virtue in committing murder on innocents.
No thanks. If you disagree, you need the help. Badly. I feel sorry for you.
Interesting perspective.
Temptation or a thought in the mind, prior to volition is not yet a sin.
Good and evil are issues resolved over time, whereas sin is an issue that has been settled once and for all on the Cross.
A man is defiled by what comes out of his heart, but the mind is a place for GNOSIS or rationalism. EPIGNOSIS is resident in the heart, both portions of the soul.
This is why remaining in fellowship with God through faith in Christ, the mind of Christ is so important. Our souls, our thinking processes are scarred from past thinking as unbelievers and our attempts to make order out of disorder (defn of Greek word COSMOS = World). Worldly sins are basically where we fall back into making order out of disorder without faith in God. It might be for other people, for ourselves, for loved ones, but whenever it is independent of God it falls under the category of a worldly sin.
Once a believer, God the Holy Spirit begins working on us in our thinking processes to further sanctify us.
It begins with saving faith (just a little more faith than absolutely no faith in Him) and God creates a living human spirit in us. This is not understandable to an unbeliever, because they have never had such a spirit. Once we have the spirit, God the Holy SPirit makes His Word (LOGOS) spiritually and supernaturally perceptable to the human spirit. The Holy Spirit then makes the LOGOS (pertinent portions which God knows we're ready to learn) understandable to the soul in our mind as GNOSIS (an intellectual knowledge similar to rationalism of Plato). While we remain in fellowship, dont sin, God the Holy SPirit will begin to make that GNOSIS then known to our heart as EPIGNOSIS or outward teachable knowledge. Whenever we are then tested by problems or situations in life, when we exercise our spirit and heart, through faith in Him, we are able to manifest that which is divinely good in our heart. If we backslide back into a soulish perspective from the old man, the natural man, the old sin nature, we fall out of fellowship with Him and the process begins again upon our return to Him on our own volition (repentenece).
No matter what the temptation, even with evil intent, if we remain in faith in Him, there is no temptation too great than that which may be resisted. In other words, temptation and sin are impotent to our faith in Christ. Good and evil though are different issues whcih are still being resolved for the angelic conflict, some say, through the testing and trial of the evidence of humankind.
Where are hearts are still scarred from the natural man, we have a propensity to sin and reflect evil. There might also be a physical dimension of evil embedded in genetics, nonetheless, it is still overcome through faith in Christ. (e.g. things like alcoholism passed from generation to generation, homosexuality,...enjoyment of PepsiCola as opposed to righteous softdrinks like CocaCola ;^)
My sense is the Nazis were semiotically coopting Christ. Hitler struck messianic poses. He larded his speeches with divine providence messages. He lacerated Jews with allusions of satanic imagery and allusions. If you looked at Nazi propaganda they stopped just short of putting horns and tails on Jews.
mooselimbs, in the hadith, say the same things about Jews as the nazis. Perhaps worse. I don't think Hitler ever said god himself would kill of the Jews like mohammed did.
wow my mind is tired right now- will have to reread your post a bit later after nap-
Temptation is an inkling brought on by already established evils- without hte evils being already established, there probably would be no temptations present, and therefore no tests of devotion one way or the other- True- tempt. is not the evil itself, but it is a regulator of our affections- which will we choose- the good or the evil- where do our desires lay?
Gonna have to noddle this over a bit later- losing my trains of thought- you wrote:
"This is why remaining in fellowship with God through faith in Christ, the mind of Christ is so important. Our souls, our thinking processes are scarred from past thinking as unbelievers and our attempts to make order out of disorder (defn of Greek word COSMOS = World). Worldly sins are basically where we fall back into making order out of disorder without faith in God. It might be for other people, for ourselves, for loved ones, but whenever it is independent of God it falls under the category of a worldly sin"
Good points
Wow....You gotta be a pastor or graduate student in theology. Sorry for the expression but I enjoy the hell out of your posts.
About that Gnosis/Epignosis split. I have always wondered what Christianity would be like if early intellectual purges had not occurred. The Gnostics were labelled heretics and thus all we know of them is what those who reviled them thought. I have this theory that had the Gnostics survived as a viable form of Christian belief Christianity would be more reflective ( Buddhist?) like. The Epignotic victory meant that evil becomes THEM and good is US. Made for great nation/culture building material but not sure it made good spiritual sense. ( this making much sense?...as you can tell number crunchers don't make good discussers of theological issues)
What did Lucifer declare when he became HaSatan? In his 5 'I wills', he wanted to become like God himself. It isn't surprising if somebody like Hitler tried to appear as though he thought he were a messiah. Only problem with that plan is that the real Messiah already exists and also happens to be King of the Jews.
Actually, I agree Gnosticism is heretical in that it fails to place faith in Christ. Interestingly, though, much of science in Chemistry, Physics, and even the Cartesian Cogito Ergo Sum, have their etymology in very basic Gnostic perspectives.
Too bad empiricists ignore faith so much, there might be more Nobel prizes handed out to them if it was.
I doubt if they were that insane that they thought they could make up a religion on the fly and it was real to them. But we will never know what really went on in their minds.
The point I was making was not that all religious regimes are immune from doing evil, but that atheist ones have a dismal record. Regimes that are hostile to religion have turned quite murderous. America was founded by men who saw the value of Christian tolerance. With Christians, you don't need to exercise fascist means to maintain order because Christian faiths have mechanisms to recognize and control evil within themselves. If you can control evil without suppressing freedom you can have a prosperous nation.
But if you actively persecute religious belief, you end up with nations such as China, the Soviets or North Korea.
And today in Europe the new modern agnostic cowards are creating a resurgence of hostility to Jews and Christians and submission to Islam.
Islam will be destroyed. God does it Himself and it is called Armageddon. He does it Himself so everyone will know there is a God. It won't happen until all of God's Elect have been sealed. There is a lot for us to learn before then. As terrible as things are now please don't wait too long. There are so many answers in the Bible when you are given eyes to see and ears to hear. Until then, let's fight against the evil
The Nazi regime was unsustainable. Like anthrax it needed a constant supply of fresh meat to survive. They enslaved people and worked them to death. Even plantation owners in the American South knew that they needed to treat slaves well enough that they could reproduce.
Dan...I a bit baffled here. The very point about faith is it is never required to be rational. That's why they call it faith. All that is required is that it be internally consistent ( and even then only under duress). You say that people can't make up a faith on the fly and actually believe it. People do it all the time....The Mormons, Scientologists, Hale Boppers etc...All faiths begin as cults until such time as their constituency is large enough to make it politically or economically dangerous to be called a cult. I can assure you that if the Scientologists ever garner 10 million adherents in the US they will cease being a cult and will become particpants in Congressman's Thetan Appreciation Day....or some such thing.
I Think you may have missed my point. We don't really know with any certainty what Gnostics thought because all we know of them is what those who won the debate said they were. Since they were labelled heretics what little of their beliefs exist comes through the filter of those who abhorred them. It would be like asking a Yankees fan to describe the Boston Red Sox and that becoming the official view of the Red Sox for eternity.. ( sorry for the poor analogy but I'm a tad whoozey from the festivities)
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