Calling a spade a spade and a shovel a different thing.

I form the light and create darkness: I make peace and create evil: I the Lord do all these things.  Isa 45:7 (KJV)

 

I expect that some will point out that the Hebrew word that is translated as ‘evil’ has also been translated as adversity, affliction, calamity, distress, misery and woe as is evidenced by other English translations of the Bible.  In any case, take your pick.  But remember, other English translators are legally obliged to ensure that their translations differ significantly from each other and from the King James Version which is still under copyright in Britain.  Also we should remember that there is no thing in this world that was not created by God and that includes sin which is evil.

 

Evil is evil is evil is evil (with apologies to Gertrude Stein).  We are all captives of evil for we are all sinners.  “As it is written, There is none righteous [good], no, not one:” Romans 3:10 King James Version (KJV).    God created evil to demonstrate he was a just God; that He could dispense justice to preserve and protect His people and righteously punish His enemies.   He also had to ensure that those who worship Him did so as a result of a free choice.  They had to be free to ignore His word and give themselves up to the selfish desires of this world and turn away from the opportunity to gain an everlasting life with Him.  The time will come when they will recognize, with wailing and gnashing of teeth, the folly of such a cultivated ignorance.

 

Nevertheless we must ask: is there such a thing, as philosophers and theologians would have us believe, as natural evil?  Are earthquakes, tsunamis and landslides evil? Are such events brought about by Satan to trap and destroy God’s people thereby undermining his power?  Was the iceberg that sank the Titanic manipulated by Satan?  Did he also create the white-out phenomenon that greatly contributed to the crash of Air New Zealand flight 901 into Mt Erebus on Ross Island, Antarctica killing all on board?  Merely because we cannot describe such events as good, it does not follow that we can describe them as evil.

 

Some may wish to argue: no, they were not done by Satan but they are still evil.  While we may describe such events as distressing disasters causing misery and woe, it would be misleading to describe them as evil.  Describing such events as evil disguises the immoral personification of evil.  Satan gains nothing by destroying people. His task is to turn people against God; to turn people into destroyers.  God accommodates the suffering and death such events cause.  It is true many lives are cut short by such tragic events but those who worship Him will enjoy freedom from suffering and pain at the end of days.   There is no evil to be blamed if some live shorter lives than others.  

Contrary to natural disasters, evil is a demonic personification.  It is Satan’s influence on all of us.  We must continuously be aware that the potential for evil resides in all of humanity.  We are the perpetrators of evil; we are sinners.  Sinners transgress God’s Commandments.  Satan works to undermine God’s authority and he uses his influence over people to accomplish his treacherous deeds. 

 

But are all of our sins demonic?  Was the pilfering of a few table grapes at the market, as we passed by, a demonic sin?  We were merely tasting them to determine their sweetness.  It wasn’t stealing exactly, it is a common practice in every supermarket.  Surely it had nothing to do with Satan?  Could it be described as immoral?  Think on it for a moment.  Did you buy the grapes after you tasted them?  And did you buy the bunch from which the pilfered grapes came?  That bunch would have been purchased by someone.  Alright, it was a sin but it was a little sin.  Compared to the abominations some people commit this sin is hardly noticeable on the sin scale.  Why, because many people do it?  No, of course not, it is because no one is hurt by it.  The market proprietor gets their money and the other purchaser agrees to pay for what they receive.  Are not you hurt by it?

 

The question is, is there a degree of sinning?  Are some sins less or greater than other sins?  Admittedly, the contexts add confusion to the issue but pilfering grapes is stealing.  Is this a lesser sin than, say, embezzling thousands of dollars from the firm you work for?  Is it a lesser sin to murder one person than a thousand persons?  Surely we describe some sins as more deplorable than others and we recognize the treatment of some humans as unconscionable and disgusting because we believe they are heartless acts.  We recognize a difference between sins that come about as a result of thoughtlessness and those that are perpetrated through a heartlessness.  It is the heart; the selfish urges and desires directing our sinful behaviour that determine the measure of our wrongdoing.  But grape pilferers should not rest comfortable because their deed is seen to be merely a thoughtless one.  Such deeds give the personification of evil a foothold.  We remember what James had to say: “For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.”(James 2:10 KJV)  While some scholars accuse the author of James of indulging in a bit of hyperbole, it is not at all clear that there are lesser and greater sins.  A sin is a sin is a sin is a sin.  It is true that we commit some sins and are ignorant we are doing so but who has the responsibility in such cases?  Do not we all have the responsibility to weigh our actions against the Word of God?  Can we afford to be slack in this respect? What do we risk?

 

Jesus Christ often speaks of a greater sin or a greater commandment which lead some to conclude that some sins are greater than others.  For example Christ says to Pilate “You would have no authority over me, unless it had been given you from above; for this reason he who delivered me up to you has the greater sin." (John 19:11)  But here Jesus is drawing a distinction between the culpability of Pilate and the high priest Caiaphas who should have known scripture.  Both are equally guilty of the persecution of Jesus but Caiaphas’ jealousy and fear of Jesus marks his role as a selfish and heartless one.  Pilate’s rule was compromised because Caiaphas was the leader of the Jewish peoples in Jerusalem. Caiaphas stumbled over the first commandment; “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.” (Matt 22:37).  Jesus describes this as the great commandment in the law for obvious reasons.  This commandment is the sine qua non (that without which) of commandments.  If we cannot hold by this commandment all the other commandments are without substance or purpose for they were created to promote our unselfish love of God.  Remove this commandment from the Ten Commandments and the others are merely examples of what some would see as admirable behaviour.  They have no bite, no necessary conclusion for the human spirit.  They become like all other rules conjured up by humanity; you follow them if it is convenient and/or they serve your immediate plans.  But we live under the Grace of Jesus Christ because we love God.  To presume that God is not sovereign or relevant returns a consequence many will endure for eternity.

© 2018 Launt Thompson                                                                                                              Auckland