Good Vs. Evil – Does Man Have Control?
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Good vs. Evil:
Does man have control?
“We believe that all things in existence are from the one God, though He is not the author of sin.
St. Augustine (Abel, 1992)
Where did evil begin? Did God create evil? If God didnt create evil, how did it creep into the common man and what is the true source? These questions perplex me as I study past and present Philosophers and their philosophies on good and evil. This examination will look into three philosophers and their views of good versus evil. Although many philosophers ask the same questions, their search may lead them through times of questioning themselves, as I have done recently. These questions provoke deep thinking about the true birth of evil.
If you put your faith in the Holy Bible, the book of Genesis explains that God created goodness. He is the all mighty author and creator of everything including good. In Genesis 3:2, evil is born and introduced by the serpent to Eve. Is this the true beginning of evil? If so, we need to look at the serpent, jezebel, or the devil. This fallen angel introduces evil to Eve in the form of a forbidden fruit. He tricks Eve to believing she can know good and evil, as God does. As the story goes, Eve believes the serpent and eats the forbidden fruit. Did God allow sin to be introduced by the devil? Did this allow the Anti-Christ to gain more power over man? I dont know, but it is interesting to note that evil is prevalent everywhere and anywhere.
“Is evil just the absence of good”, as St. Augustine wrote? St. Augustine philosophical reasoning was that God is all-wise and omniscient, thus knowing the future. If this is true, God must be able to design the future, thus the future must unfold exactly as God planned in accordance with his plan. If he is in charge of the future, then there is no freedom to man, thus man is not responsible for his acts or sins. He substantiates this by stating the following:
There is not past or future for God and He is outside of time, thus God is Eternal.
Gods knowledge of the world entails necessity, but to deny that necessity is incompatible with freedom.
Because man controls freedom, he can do whatever he wants even if God knows what that person wants.
Gods foreknowledge of a decision does not determine mans decisions (Palmer, 2010)
I dont buy into this notion at all. How can man not be responsible for his actions or sins? Even if God did create evil, which he didnt, it does not give man the excuse to dismiss it because he is not accountable for evil deed he has committed.
St. Augustines journey through his own spiritual views changed over his lifetime. He was raised by a father that was an atheist and a devout Christian mother. How confusing is that? His mother did have a large influence of him, though. I think that he rebelled as a teen, as most teens do, then after studying and learning from Christianity teachings and the scriptures of the Holy Bible; he started to doubt philosophical values that he followed under Manichaeism. (This philosophy believed that the soul represented good and the body represented evil; separate from each other). Thus, Augustine could say that his sins were outside himself. He was not taking true ownership of his actions and sins under this thinking. Over time he knew that this philosophical thinking was not right. Thus, turning his attention and focus on Neo-Platonism (Palmer, 2010).
Later in life, once he became an ordained priest, Augustine came to the conclusion that sin is the result of excessive self-love from the sinner and lack of sufficient love for God (Abel, 1992). Now this I agree with. I believe that if you turn your attention away from God, light, and goodness, you put the focus on your wants and desires. Because of this, it is hard to serve Gods will for yourself and others. Darkness has a way of creeping into your life, causing sin, mayhem, destruction, and doubt.
“Socrates and Plato are right; whatever a man does, he always acts for the good; that is, in a way that seems to him good (useful) according to the degree of his intellect, the prevailing measure of his rationality.”
Friedrich Nietzsche (Able, 1992)
This statement means that man has free will to either do good or evil acts. Whether the person wants to or not, his intentions are always towards the good. Does this mean that man must be sane in order to do good acts? What about disturbed or schycotic people that have no soul or wish to do harm to others? I somewhat disagree his views. I know that the he is speaking in generalities, but the sane man has complete control his behavior of evil or good.
It doesnt matter what part of society you are in, there is evil and goodness everywhere.
As a society, do we put a different value on evil or sin, such as rape or murder? Or is evil just evil and any sin a sin? I believe we are all accountable for our actions, plans and thoughts. God has given us the ability to make decisions at any moment, either for good deeds or evil deeds. He has allowed us this free will. However, we are accountable to him. If I make a decision today, how will it affect a stranger tomorrow? Can the deeds of today, good or bad, affect someone who is on the opposite side of the world?
Nietzsche states in Human, All Too Human that “All morality allows the intentional infliction of harm for self-defense; that is, when it is a matter of self preservation” (Abel, 1992). Does that allow man to kill another if he is in danger or if they are in war? How does this apply for a country that wants to secure nuclear weaponry for their self defense? Under this philosophy, a dictator or ruler may want to seek this type of defense in order to protect their country. I believe God has implemented in man, the will to do good. When we take our focus away from God, we tend to focus on our wants and not the needs of others. This may manifest itself and ripple through the lives of people we will never even meet.
We are responsible for our own actions and the actions of those who cannot protect themselves or have the mental capacity to defend themselves. I believe these