Knowledge 4

Explaining the process of evil

Most theologians, not just Christian ones, attribute the causes of evil to events that occurred at the beginning of humanity's existence. Symbolically, this is referred to as the fall of the first humans, who participated in the origin of evil. The theologies of the major religions, known as revealed religions, attribute the origin of evil to the existence of freedom within humans, that is, to actions stemming from free will. Theologians of these religions argue that the Creator gave humans free will, with which He does not interfere. In a religious interpretation, this means that in the biblical Garden of Eden, the Heavenly Father left humans a free choice between good and evil. This concerned eating or not eating the "forbidden fruit." Because humans chose to "eat the fruit," thus disobeying the prohibition against eating it, according to this reasoning, the fall and spiritual death of humans occurred. Hence, the conclusion is that free will, or human freedom, led to the fall. This contradicts my analysis, based on essenceism, that the cause of evil was the misdirected power of love.

According to essenceism, free will is necessary for each of us to experience true love from the Creator. It is from Him that the source Primordial Force of Love, constituting the fundamental value of the world as conceived by Him, originates. In this conception, it is from Him that we inherit the power of love based on free will. In the creative plans of the Primordial Being, the entire organization of life in the world under His dominion was based on the action of His Force of Love. According to the Creator, this is the only force necessary for the functioning of human society. Such a world under the Creator's dominion can be called the Kingdom of Heaven. The proper functioning of the Force of Love precludes the existence of authority, because the force imposed by it destroys free will. The main claim of essenceism is the definition of the force of authority as a phenomenon inverse to the force of love. Just as the force of love is associated with good, so the force of authority is associated with evil. These two opposing forces stand at opposite poles. The force of love is the force of the Creator, the creator of good, while the force of authority is the force of anti-God, the creator of evil. It is the latter that fuels evil in our world.

Within this framework, we must seriously consider the existence of an anti-God, or "executive god," of our world, who acts in opposition to the primordial reality emanating from the true Creator of all things. I am referring, of course, to Satan.

To explain the above, it should be stated that the tragedy at the beginning of human history consisted in the reversal of the power of love. As a result, the power of power arose, the various forms of which permeate our reality. Power in our reality is a mechanism that not only initiated evil but also continues to function. Therefore, the Son of God, Jesus Christ, used the term "ruler of this world" to refer to Satan as the personal source of evil, and consequently, the source of the power of power. I have presented the entire argument concerning the circumstances in which the desires for a higher level of love, unchecked by the guardian of the first people, the Archangel Lucifer, led to his fall in the chapter entitled "The Origin of Evil" in the book "A Touch of Eternity." Below, I will present only the basic arguments explaining my point of view.

Freedom is a specific state of human functioning, that is, the sphere in which one operates, exercising one's free will. Therefore, it is not a force that can cause a fall. So what proves that freedom was not the cause of the fall?

First, freedom can only create a state of readiness to make a decision that leads to a fall, but making this decision requires the action of a force that is not inherent in freedom. For example, freedom can lead us to the brink of a precipice, but crossing its edge ends freedom, because the force of gravity begins to act, pulling the person into the abyss.

Second, Adam and Eve's eating of the fruit was a conscious act. God, as a caring Father, took care to clearly explain to them the danger associated with the forbidden fruit. Since Adam and Eve knew that eating the fruit would bring them death, this meant they committed a kind of suicide. This can be said because the first humans consciously made a decision despite the mortal threat. Suicide is not committed in a state of freedom, but in the absence of it, when there is no other way out of a difficult situation or there is no hope for any other solution.

Third, since a form of suicide occurred, it must have been caused by a force greater than the power to preserve life, and the only force greater than that is the power of love. I need hardly remind you how many suicides have resulted from disappointed love.

In God's defense, I would like to add further arguments that counter the claims that He tested His children or presented them with a free choice resulting from their free will. This would seem to be a test of loyalty or obedience.

First, after creating His creation, God does not test it, because then it would mean He is testing Himself. God is perfect and makes no mistakes, and only things about which there are doubts are tested.

Second, after being created by God, Adam and Eve were innocent and did not know evil, because they came "from the hand" of a perfect God who does not know evil and did not create it. Such beings are not tested, because one would have to suspect the existence of evil within them; and this is inconsistent with Fatherhood and the perfection of God.

Thirdly, God is Omniscient, so He does not use tests, because He would always know the results of each test in advance.

Fourthly, God, as a Loving Father, would not expose His children to a possible negative test result, especially since this supposed test was "for life and death" ("...in the day you eat of it, you shall surely die" – Genesis 2:17). Every loving father always protects his children from the consequences of every danger and does not subject them to death-threatening tests.

Finally, I will add one more point. Many Christian theologians, explaining the fall of Adam and Eve, claim that God gave man free will and therefore did not intervene in Lucifer's temptation. The problem is that these same theologians, forgetting their explanation of the situation in the Garden of Eden, claim that God intervenes in our fallen world, that is, influences our actions, and therefore our free will. These two statements are incompatible. Only a clear separation of God from evil properly explains the current state of the world.

Thus, the current state of the world is completely different from that originally envisioned by the Creator - that is, it is a world dead to the Creator.

Therefore, after the spiritual death of the first humans, the spiritual world seemed to come to a standstill, and the universe lost its anchor, meaning its meaning. This happened because humans, the hosts of the universe, died. Currently, the universe awaits the return to life of its host, humanity, freed from evil. It was he who was to develop the universe, manage it, and transform it in accordance with his original nature. Humanity arose to transform the universe into an ever-better environment for the people who would create civilizations within it.