Four Types of Evil, Part III

Spiritual evil and the violence in nature cause people to lose their faith in God. Can this be prevented?

By Brian Lowther

Editor’s Note: Over the past few weeks here on the RWI blog, we’ve been exploring Ralph Winter’s Four Seeds of Destruction. Today, Brian Lowther finishes his three-part series examining Seed #1: The Seed of the Problem of Evil.

In my last blog entry I looked at a few examples to substantiate my hunch that when we battle certain kinds of evil, it shows that God is not the source of these evils, that he does not condone these evils, and that he is actively and visibly opposing these evils through us. I think this idea and these examples go a long way in preventing people from walking away from faith. Today I’ll continue in that vein, with some examples from the categories of Spiritual Evil and Violence in Nature.

1. Spiritual Evil

I think it's safe to say that believers are doing what they can to address the roots of Spiritual Evil by casting out demons and delivering people from demonization through the name of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit.

I won’t pretend to know much about the prevalence of this kind of demonic activity or the ins and outs of deliverance ministries. When the demonic activity described in the New Testament happens today, my initial response is to categorize it in a medical or psychiatric sense (e.g., seizures, self-harming behavior, schizophrenia, muteness, etc.) rather than demonic activity. I’m admittedly out of my depth when deciphering between demon possession and medical or psychiatric maladies. Having said that, I know there are legitimate deliverance ministries out there. Chuck Kraft’s Heart’s Set Free ministry is the first one that comes to mind. And to me, the existence and earnestness of these ministries says something about God. 

What do these things say about God? When believers are active in conquering the roots of this kind of evil, it says that God does not intend for people or the world to be infested with evil spiritual beings. And this allows believers to trust in God’s goodness, which prevents them from losing their faith.

For an fascinating blog entry about demonic activity and our response to it, see Roger Olson’s Should Western Christians Rediscover Exorcism?, including the comment thread. I also recommend the dispassionate way this man shares about his own experience in The Washington Post: How a scientist learned to work with exorcists.

2. Violence in Nature

In Part I of this series, I brought up the common assumption that violence in nature is normal and necessary and thus the way God intended things. I think this causes scores and scores of people to lose their faith in God, one prominent example being Charles Darwin.[1]

However, I’m not convinced that it was always necessary for animals to kill one another to survive. It doesn't seem that was the case in Eden. Even from an evolutionary perspective, life appears to have evolved for over 3 billion years without the violence and the killing normally associated with evolution.[2] Perhaps it is necessary now. But that doesn't mean it is how God intended or wanted it to be,[3] or how it will be in the future when the wolf will live with the lamb (Isaiah 11:6), or how we should foresee the kind of world God wants us to work towards.

Am I asking Christians to refocus all their attention on genetically re-engineering wolves so they won’t hunt, kill and eat lambs? No, I’m asking whether God wants us to do anything about a much more potent and efficient killing machine: the mosquito. Bill Gates—who is spearheading efforts to eradicate malaria—has said that the mosquito is the deadliest animal in the world.[4] When it comes to killing humans, no other animal even comes close. Actually, if we are talking about malaria, the plasmodium parasite in the gut of the mosquito is the real culprit. And, while Christians are noted down through history for being kind to people who are sick and helping them get well, we are not well known for fighting the viruses, the bacteria, and the tiny parasites—as in the case of malaria—that cause some of our most harmful diseases. We mount no offense against the pathogens themselves .

While treating the symptoms of diseases like malaria is necessary and perfectly good, ignoring its roots says something about God. It proclaims loudly and embarrassingly that “our God can merely get you a hospital bed to lie on [with a bed net perhaps] and a ticket to heaven,” [5] but either he does not know of the real cause of malaria, does not care, or does not have the ability to do anything about it.

One solution to this problem is a very public, top-to-bottom stance against disease at its roots, both in our theology and in our practical efforts. Otherwise I think people will continue to assume that God intended and created diseases like malaria and all violence in nature and thus will continue to lose their faith. 

Conclusion

As I said before, I think God has called us, commissioned us, and prepared us (i.e., he has given us the wisdom, ingenuity and the ability to work together, plus a Wonderful Counselor) to battle the four types of evil I've covered in this series. When we do, I think that says that God is not the instigator of these evils, that he does not approve of these evils, and that he is unmistakably opposing these evils through us. Being convinced of this, and being aware of and partnering with those who are attempting to fight evil at its roots, will go a long way in ensuring that people never turn their backs on God’s goodness and his powerful love.

But that’s just my speculation. What do you think?

Endnotes

[1] http://philosophiesofmen.blogspot.com/2012/01/charles-darwin-not-atheist.html

[2] This was during the pre-Cambrian era when life forms were very primitive. See: http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/cambrian/camblife.html

[3] See Genesis 1: 29, 30: Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.

[4] https://www.gatesnotes.com/Health/Most-Lethal-Animal-Mosquito-Week

[5] Ralph D. Winter, “A Blindspot in Western Christianity?” in Frontiers in Mission.

Photo Credit: U.S. Army medical researchers take part in World Malaria Day 2010, Kisumu, Kenya US Army Africa/Flickr

Brian Lowther is the Director of
the Roberta Winter Institute

Four Types of Evil, Part I

The Problem of Evil undoubtedly causes people to lose their faith. But, are some kinds of evil more to blame than others? And, what does our battling those evils say about God?

By Brian Lowther

Editor’s Note: Over the past few weeks here on the RWI blog we’ve been exploring Ralph Winter’s Four Seeds of Destruction. Today, Brian Lowther begins a three-part series exploring Seed #1: The Seed of the Problem of Evil.

I’m convinced one of the main reasons people lose their faith is the Problem of Evil, which asks, if God is all-good and all-powerful, why is there so much evil and suffering in the world? But, as I’ve considered the Problem of Evil, I recognize that not all evils cause the same amount of suffering. Chicken pox causes suffering, but not nearly as much as if a child is kidnapped. Chicken pox isn't likely to cause someone to lose his or her faith, but if someone's child is kidnapped, tortured, raped and murdered, well that's another story.

Four Types of Evil

In my way of thinking there are four types of evil. First is human evil such as war, hatred, murder, lying, corruption, etc. Second is spiritual evil such as demons and demonic possessions. Third is natural disasters, such as hurricanes and earthquakes, and fourth is violence in nature, such as animals hunting and killing each other or parasites eating their host from the inside out while the host is still alive.

1. Human Evil

Now, in regard to human evil, do you know anyone who has lost his or her faith in God because of the amount of lying human beings engage in, or because of corruption, or because they are hated by another person? In my opinion, these evils cause people to lose their faith in humanity, not God.

Having said that, we can all imagine someone who would say, “I walked away because God could have prevented that person from killing my loved one and he didn’t.”

Along these lines, a close friend once asked me, “Why does God allow the church—his representatives on earth—to perpetrate so much evil?” He was referring to debacles such as the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, the Salem Witch Trials, the Catholic Child Abuse Scandal of the last few decades, and dozens of other examples. I had to agree with him that the pages of church history are pretty ugly.

His question brings to mind two of Jesus’ parables about seeds and birds from Matthew 13. First is the parable where Jesus likens the kingdom of heaven to the smallest of seeds, the mustard seed that grows into the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree so that the birds come and perch in its branches. This is a pleasant picture – birds perched in the shade of a tree. But when read in the context of a parable that precedes it, these birds take on a new meaning. One of the preceding parables describes a sower spreading seed that is quickly devoured by birds. The birds are later identified as Satan. And, while the mustard seed is commonly understood to represent the progress of the body of Christ from small beginnings, it is easy to see how the birds that perch in the branches could symbolize demons led by the prince of the power of the air who have continually tried to infiltrate the Church throughout its existence.

2. Natural Disasters

Undoubtedly natural disasters are blamed on God. Think of insurance policies protecting against ‘acts of God,’ or how the governor of Tokyo said the 2015 tsunami was divine retribution for national egoism,[1] or when an American Christian broadcaster explained that the 2009 earthquake in Haiti was provoked by the Haitians' "pact to the devil,"[2] or when people said Hurricane Katrina was God’s punishment on New Orleans for embracing gay pride events. If natural disasters are thought to be from God, it seems perfectly logical to me for people to lose their faith. Only a vicious, arbitrary and severe god would do such a thing. Who wants to trust in a god like that?

3. Spiritual Evil

Many of us in the West don’t take much notice of the spiritual evil that swirls around us. But I’ve heard numerous missionaries describe how demonic activity is taken much more seriously on the mission field. Whatever our cultural background may be, when we do encounter demonic activity such as terrifying nightmares or paranormal occurrences, I think most would assume it comes from a malevolent source, and not God. Because of this, I don’t think this is a main reason people lose their faith.

4. Violence in Nature

The common assumption is that violence in nature is normal and necessary. A pride of lions mercilessly hunting down and killing an elephant calf as it whimpers for its mother is called the “circle of life.” We’re used to it. Animals have to kill each other to survive. They don't seem capable of making a choice NOT to kill. We’re so accustomed to it that we assume that this is the way God created things. I can completely understand a person wondering, if God designed all this violence and cruelty and suffering, is he really worthy of my allegiance?

My Hunch

But here’s my hunch: I think God has called us, commissioned us, and prepared us to battle these four types of evil. When we do, I think that says something about God. I think it says that he is not the source of these evils, that he does not condone these evils, and that he is actively and visibly opposing these evils through us. My belief is that if someone could be convinced that God is not the source of evil, and if he or she were acquainted with numerous examples of God’s people attempting to overcome the roots of evil (and not just the fruits of evil) as a demonstration of God’s will, he or she would be far less likely to walk away from the faith.

In my next installment, I’ll explore a few examples to substantiate that hunch.

Endnotes

[1] http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/03/15/tokyo-governor-apologizes-for-calling-quake-divine-retribution/

[2] http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/01/13/haiti.pat.robertson/index.html?iref=allsearch

Photo Credit: Heather Paul/Flickr

Brian Lowther is the Director of
the Roberta Winter Institute