Evil is an enduring enigma that has captivated human minds throughout the ages. The concept of evil exists in various forms across cultures and religions. Summarizing evil in a single tidy definition proves to be hard because this multifaceted concept can vary according to worldview. The assumptions behind the questions that people tend to ask must be factored in as well.
When speaking of evil, some people focus on the deliberate moral transgressions of individuals. Others have the malevolent actions of societies or societal systems in view. Still, others focus on “natural evil,” the seemingly indiscriminate natural disasters that destroy life or hinder flourishing. We approach the question “What is evil?” from the unique vantage point of Christian theology.
A Christian Perspective
Christianity provides a framework of narratives, interpretations, and resulting doctrines that offer insight into the nature and origins of evil. In the Bible and its orthodox teaching interpretations, we discover a nuanced perspective on “the problem of evil.” More specifically, we can understand how evil exists in a world created by a benevolent, omnipotent God.
The notion of evil presents a profound challenge for individuals who have encountered intense personal suffering. In a larger sense, evil must be factored in for any meaningful grappling with the purpose of human existence. For Christians who believe in an all-powerful, all-loving God, the existence of evil seemingly presents both theological and philosophical quandaries.
How one understands evil shapes one’s worldview, aligns one’s ethical compass, and provides profound insights into the human condition. For the Christian, evil points to the need for redemption and reconciliation with God, which we find through Jesus Christ. Christians believe Jesus conquered evil on behalf of humanity once and for all in an eternally significant way.
The Redemptive Example of Christ
In addition to redeeming humanity from the effects of sin and evil, Christians also view Christ’s suffering as a worthy example and a source of hope when facing pain. Christ’s willingness to suffer in a world marred by evil illustrates several important points. It validates the human experience and gives us hope in the face of suffering. It also demonstrates the depth of God’s love and shows the lengths He went to in order to save humanity. Believers find comfort when encountering suffering and evil as they’re reminded of Christ’s redemption and ultimate victory.
Types of Evil
Christian theology gives insight into the reality of evil by distinguishing between two primary categories: moral evil and natural evil.
Moral Evil
This category of evil relates to human actions and choices. It encompasses acts of cruelty, deception, violence, and other forms of harm or injustice committed by individuals or societies.
Christians see moral evil as a result of inborn moral imperfection in humanity, i.e., the sinful nature. They don’t see this sin-stained human nature as something God originally placed inside people. Rather, humans unwittingly bring sin and evil on ourselves through our own free will as autonomous creatures. Human freedom means humans have the capacity to make wrong or harmful choices, and we often do. Such evil includes both individual and corporate actions and attitudes. Examples range from lying to cheating to hurting innocent people, and even harmful totalitarian regimes and mass murder. One doesn’t have to look very far into history to find instances of evil empires. Whether intentionally or not, individual human beings still commit evil actions. Why do good people do bad things? It’s because no matter our standard of moral relativism, we still have the capacity for evil.
Different Christian traditions have various understandings about how this sinful nature came to affect humanity in the first place. How one interprets the account of Adam and Eve’s fall in the Garden of Eden influences one’s understanding of sin and evil.
Natural Evil
In contrast, natural evil encompasses the suffering and calamities that are unrelated to human choices and beyond human control. Natural disasters like droughts, earthquakes, hurricanes, and floods are classic examples. Natural evil also includes harmful things like diseases, birth defects, cancer, and other causes of pain and suffering. Christian theology seeks to reconcile the existence of natural evil with the benevolence of an all-powerful God. Believers still grapple with how various kinds of evil fit within the plan and will of God.
Sin and Evil
Both the Old Testament and New Testament describe how moral evil is intrinsically tied to the concept of sin. The Bible illuminates the manifold dimensions of evil and its impacts and points to Christ’s role for sin atonement. The metaphors for sin often align with the need for and provision of atonement through Jesus Christ.
The Bible depicts sin metaphorically as a disease or sickness, a contaminant or pollutant, or a failure to meet a standard. Other examples include a slavemaster or kidnapper, an adversary, a predatory force, a manifestation of filth or uncleanness, a perilous path leading to a negative destination, vandalism against God’s creation, a menacing beast, a lost animal, criminal behavior, and unfaithfulness to God.
Some of the sin remedies depicted feature healing, a path to life, a ransom or liberation from slavery, triumph, purification, cleansing, acquittal, rescue, safety, a bride price securing union with God, being found, and being declared innocent.
Suffering
Christianity doesn’t shy away from addressing the reality of human suffering caused by sin and evil. Beyond preaching that the atonement offers the solution to evil, Christian theology emphasizes the importance of compassion, empathy, and tangible support in response to human suffering. Believers stand in solidarity with those in pain and work in Jesus’ name to right some of the resulting wrongs.
The Fall of Lucifer
The traditional Christian understanding of evil begins with an event known as the fall of Lucifer, understood to have occurred before Creation. This understanding draws on an interpretation of texts including Ezekiel 28 and Isaiah 14. In Ezekiel 28 we find a prophecy directed at the king of Tyre, comparing him to an angel who rebelled against God in heaven and was cast down to earth as punishment:
You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone adorned you: carnelian, chrysolite and emerald, topaz, onyx and jasper, lapis lazuli, turquoise and beryl. Your settings and mountings were made of gold; on the day you were created they were prepared. You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you. You were on the holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you. Through your widespread trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned. So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled you, guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones. Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings. (Ezekiel 28: 12-17, NIV)
In Isaiah 14:12-15, we read a similar prophecy, this time directed at the king of Babylon:
How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart, “I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.” But you are brought down to the realm of the dead, to the depths of the pit.
This passage gives the source of the name Lucifer. “Lucifer” derives from Latin, literally translated as “light-bearer.” Lucifer refers to the morning star (Venus), and in scripture, equates to Satan, this being who fell from heaven. As God’s adversary, Satan embodies temptation and attempts to undermine God’s will for creation. From the Biblical text, some Christian theologians propose that Satan led a rebellion in heaven. The army of angels who joined him in his rebellion (referred to as demons or unclean spirits) are now present on Earth and interact with people in supernatural ways.
Not all scholars agree that these texts were referring to the Adversary (the Satan), however. Some say the poetry of Isaiah and Ezekiel simply draws links between the connection of prideful earthly rulers and spiritual rulers.
In the Garden
The earliest recorded Biblical instance of a spiritual being rebelling against God the Creator features in the first chapters of Genesis. According to Genesis 1-2, God fashioned the world and its inhabitants, and deemed His creation “very good.” But then we meet the serpent in Genesis 3.
Scripture identifies this personified serpent as a creature who rebels against God’s harmonious creation. Subsequent Biblical narratives reveal the serpent as a spiritual being that challenges God’s word, enticing humans to distrust Him and instead rely on their own desires.
Following this rebellion, God addresses the serpent and foretells a perpetual enmity between the serpent and the woman, as well as between their respective offspring. A prophecy emerges, promising that an offspring from the woman will ultimately rise to crush the serpent’s head. This individual will bring an end to the rebellion and the devastation inflicted upon God’s creation and creatures (Genesis 3:15).
The Satan
The term “sin“ makes its first appearance in Genesis 4, describing the desires found within humans that lead to their own harm. Subsequent Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament passages) refer to the spiritual entity/entities seeking to tempt humanity toward self-destruction as “the satan,“ derived from the Hebrew word for “the adversary“ or “the accuser.“
Although there are uncertainties surrounding the origin of this adversary and its supporters, it is evident that they actively engage within creation, exert influence over worldly powers, and stand in opposition to God’s good creation. Just as humans created in God’s image have rebelled and misused their power and authority to cause destruction, these spiritual beings have similarly rebelled, leveraging their power and authority to sow chaos and devastation.
Many Christian traditions today view “the satan” as a proper noun, “Satan,” and equate Satan with Lucifer.
The Power of Satan
Theologians share different perspectives on how much power and influence Satan and his demons have in the world and on people. Some question whether they should be understood as real entities or simply a personification of spiritual forces opposed to God. In any case, mainstream Christian theology teaches that Jesus Christ’s death on the cross and resurrection to eternal life defeated Satan and all forces of evil once and for all. At the same time, the full effect of this victory won’t be realized until Christ’s return.
While Christians believe they have been freed from the power of sin and evil, they must still struggle with the presence of sin and evil in this present life. In the end, Jesus will return to initiate a newly created order in which evil no longer exists.
Satan as Archetype
Satan’s rebellion against the divine order becomes an archetype of defiance against God’s will and creates a cosmic rift that introduces evil into God’s creation. In Genesis God calls His creation “very good” and is pleased with all He has made. But then the serpent slithers into the picture and immediately attempts to undermine God’s loving rule.
The Fall of Humanity
We find the account of the first temptation of Adam and Eve in Genesis 3. God told Adam and Eve that they could eat from any tree in the Garden of Eden, save one: the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. But the serpent led them to choose otherwise, assuring them that everything would be fine.
When Adam and Eve gave in to the temptation to disobey God’s command, this disrupted the unstained relationship between God and humanity. Christian doctrine (as seen in Romans 12) teaches that sin enters the world, causes spiritual death, and becomes a corruptive influence on all human society.
Since humans were originally created in God’s image and tasked with caring for His creation, this rebellion (i.e., the Fall) introduced suffering to the entire created order.
Christians who follow a strict interpretation of these Genesis accounts believe there was no suffering or physical death in nature until Adam and Eve sinned. They posit that the Fall initiated all forms of evil, including natural disasters and diseases, and all forms of death, including predation, in the animal world. Some others feel the effects of the Fall were limited to the spiritual condition of humanity and aren’t necessarily the source of natural evil and physical death.
Separation from God
Whether one takes the fall of Adam and Eve as literal history or a symbolic way of explaining the human condition, the act of disobedience marks humanity’s separation from God. Known in Christian theology as “the Fall of humanity,” this event marks the introduction of the concept of moral evil and our subsequent separation from God.
When Adam and Eve assert their will over God’s will and eat the forbidden fruit, it symbolizes the defiance of divine command and the entrance of sin into the human experience. The narrative of Adam and Eve’s fall echoes throughout scripture and throughout Christian theology. Among other things, it underscores the profound responsibility of human choice and the consequences of pride, selfishness, and moral failure.
The Problem of Evil
The theological concept of theodicy seeks to explain why evil exists if a loving and powerful God could have foreseen it and prevented it. Throughout history, Christian philosophers and theologians have proposed different theodicies that attempt to solve “the problem of evil.”
Simply put, the problem of evil states that there’s no such thing as an omnipotent, benevolent, all-knowing God that can co-exist with evil. In this limited construct, God is either not powerful enough or loving enough to prevent evil, or else He didn’t know evil would result from the freedom He gave creation.
Free Will
Christianity upholds the significance of free will as a fundamental aspect of human existence. The exercise of free will allows individuals to make their own moral choices, and these choices can be either good or evil.
The capacity to choose between good and evil is central to a Christian understanding of human agency. Even so, some argue that giving humans this choice calls into question either God’s benevolence, power, or foreknowledge.
The paradox of the problem of evil goes beyond being just a philosophical challenge; it is a question that lies at the heart of the Christian faith. Exploring this paradox requires grappling with the nature of divine providence and the role of free will in a world where moral evil exists. Believers and theologians have wrestled with this issue throughout history, seeking to reconcile their faith in a benevolent God with the harsh realities of a world marred by evil.
St. Augustine
St. Augustine, one of Western Christianity’s most influential thinkers, offered a significant perspective on theodicy. According to Augustine, evil finds its roots in human sin, and all humanity is guilty of “original sin.” Roman Catholic and Reformed Christianity see original sin as a central theological concept, while others (like Eastern Orthodox Christians) view it somewhat differently.
According to Augustine, all of humanity shares in the guilt of the sin that Adam and Eve committed in the Garden of Eden because humanity’s “fallen” nature and state of rebellion against God is inherited by all of their descendants. Augustine’s view posits that evil results as a consequence of human free will. Humanity’s choice to deviate from God’s divine order thus introduced moral evil into the world. Augustine’s theodicy focuses on the moral dimension of evil and the importance of human accountability in the face of suffering and moral imperfection.
St. Irenaeus
In contrast to Augustine’s viewpoint, St. Irenaeus proposed a theodicy that perceives evil as a crucial element in human spiritual development. Irenaeus believed that the existence of evil allows individuals to exercise their free will and make moral choices that lead to spiritual growth and maturity. In this view, the struggle against evil serves as a catalyst for personal transformation and the refinement of one’s character, which is necessary for goodness to exist.
Irenaeus’ theodicy introduces a more optimistic perspective on evil, highlighting its potential for fostering resilience, moral development, and spiritual enlightenment. It reframes suffering as an opportunity for individuals to draw closer to God through their responses to adversity.
Alvin Plantinga
Christian philosopher Alvin Plantinga offers a more recent attempt to propose a coherent theodicy. His ideas incorporate theorizing about the best possible world, and his approach has been influential on many Christian thinkers.
In short, Plantinga proposes that God aims to create a world that rises to a certain magnificent level of value, but that level of value can only be achieved by the Incarnation (God becoming a human in Jesus Christ) and Atonement (Christ redeeming humanity from sin and conquering evil and death). To Plantinga’s way of thinking, these two tremendous goods also require the Fall, sin, and the resulting consequences of suffering. In other words, it establishes the value of a certain amount of necessary evil.
Christian Perspectives on Overcoming Evil
While Christians live in the hope that God will initiate a new creation where there is no evil, suffering, or pain, they still must reckon with the effects of evil and the temptation to participate in evil in the here and now.
Prayer
Christianity teaches that prayer is a potent weapon in the battle against evil and temptation. When Jesus taught his followers how to pray, he instructed them to pray that God would deliver them from evil and keep them from yielding to temptation.
In addition to providing personal moral fortification and the power to make good choices, many Christians understand prayer to be an element of “spiritual warfare.” Prayers made in faith carry the power to weaken or incapacitate spiritual entities or forces opposed to God that have an influence on people and the world.
Community
Christ calls his body — the church — to play an active role in addressing and combating evil in the world. When functioning according to Jesus’ teaching and example, the Christian community serves as a source of support, guidance, and spiritual nourishment as we seek to navigate the complexities of life in a world corrupted by moral failure and natural evil.
Christian Action in Light of Evil
In John 17, Jesus teaches his disciples to live in the world, but not of the world. This means we should be present and active in the world while not living according to the moral terms of its fallen nature.
Acts of compassion, such as providing food, clothing, and shelter for people, tangibly express Christian love and empathy. These serve as responses to the moral evil inherent in a world where poverty, oppression, and inequality persist. Many Christians also believe we should seek to address systemic injustices in the modern world, work to alleviate suffering, and advocate for the vulnerable. They feel that Christian ethics necessarily includes both personal morals and social ethics, calling for the transformation of societal structures that perpetuate injustice and lead to suffering.
In this perspective, fighting evil goes beyond resisting personal temptation to make immoral choices. It also extends to a collective responsibility to change society. Christians should live as agents of positive change, drawing inspiration from their faith to help shape a more just and compassionate society.
The End of Evil
Christianity exhibits the hope that we can engage in the fight against evil, because we believe our ultimate destiny is to dwell with God in a renewed creation where evil will be banished forever.
The Bible depicts the eventual defeat of the Satan, the chief adversary of God and the embodiment of evil. Satan’s rebellion — including all who join with him in perpetuating evil against the divine order — is a futile rebellion that will ultimately be crushed.
The Book of Revelation provides vivid imagery of the final battle between good and evil, where Satan is ultimately cast into the lake of fire, marking his ultimate defeat. This biblical portrayal underscores the Christian belief in God’s ultimate victory over evil, offering believers a profound source of hope and assurance.
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