“Evil”
One of the things lost in the last couple of years for most people is the sense that history only moves forward. We can feel untouchable due to advances in human rights and scientific accomplishment. Now, we have been faced with the truth that terrible things can happen, and that we might not be able to easily fix such terrible things, and that we ourselves may be affected by the terrible things. Our veneer of invincibility (for those who were insulated enough to have it) has been shattered.
And again this week.
War in Europe? War in Europe is something that we read about, something that we study and learn from as systems are built to avoid such things ever again. In the late 1930’s there was a sense of European war not being possible again even as Czechoslovakia and Poland were invaded. Is the world still this terrible? Are diplomacy and democracy naïve? Is there such a thing as evil?
In 1 Samuel 21 and 22 there is a David story that features a character willing to perpetrate what we would call evil. David and his followers are fleeing from Saul the king, and in haste they make their way to a holy place. In that holy place there are a number of priests, some consecrated bread, and the sword of Goliath who David had defeated some time before. David is frantic and he forcefully requests some help from Ahimilech the priest. David wants bread and Ahimilech says that only the consecrated bread is there. David takes it. David wants weapons and is told that only the sword of Goliath, somewhat of a religious relic, is there. David says, “Perfect!”. If there is desperation in David’s encounter with Ahimilech, what comes next is worse. Ominously, the text tells us that as David is frantic he fails to see that there is another person present. Doeg the Edomite, a servant of Saul, is in the shadows and after David leaves, Doeg reports back to Saul. Saul demands to see Ahimelech and the other priests. When they follow the orders to appear, Saul accuses them of disloyalty and demands of his military men that all the priests be killed. Interestingly, the soldiers defy Saul’s order. But Doeg doesn’t. Doeg takes out his sword and kills 85 priests. We are told that others are cut down as well, “both man and woman, child and infant, ox, donkey and sheep.”
We hear of one survivor, a son of Ahimelech named Abiathar. Abiathar escapes and makes his way to find and tell David what has happened. It’s not in the narrative of 1 Samuel 21 and 22, but in response to the terrible news, David writes a Psalm.
You can look it up if you like.
I’ll include a section as I think about Vladimir Putin and the invasion of Ukraine.
Psalm 52 (Message Version)
A David Psalm, When Doeg the Edomite reported to Saul
Why do you boast of evil, “Big Man”?
God’s mercy carries the day.
You scheme catastrophe;
Your tongue cuts razor-sharp,
artisan in lies.
You love evil more than good,
you call black, white.
You love malicious gossip,
you foul-mouth.
God will tear you limb from limb,
sweep you away and throw you out.
Pull you up by the roots
from the land of life.
I have often thought of Vladimir Putin as a caricature of the bragging “Big Man” written about by David so long ago.
There is plentiful video of Putin walking into large rooms.
So often his gait is ridiculous, like an insecure junior high boy desperately trying to look impressive. Like the archetypal small man trying to look big. Putin has had numbers of people killed simply for the reason that they don’t recognize his charade of bigness.
Doeg was the smallest of men. Vladimir follows in his footsteps.
In my many years in the evangelical church, the concept of evil is one that came up quite a bit. At its worst evil was defined as anything that was “not us”. This is a tribalism and a misunderstanding of evil that can itself work to cause terrible damage. While I acknowledge that the evangelical church could have distorted views of evil, I remain grateful that the church was a frame in which to consider the important topic. It’s fair to say that whatever evil was, Jesus was seen as its opposite and that’s not a bad way of seeing things.
How might we think through, pray through the realities of the events of this week, the invasion of Ukraine in relation to what evil is?
Some thoughts that might be of help, particularly for those familiar with evangelicalism:
There is no theology of evil or the devil in the Bible. That is, there is no systematic way of saying, “This is what evil is. Here is just how evil works. This is the proper way to understand ‘the devil’, etc.” Anyone who claims to be an expert on evil is usually trying to convince you that someone other than them is evil and must be dealt with.
Evil is not personal or creative. What I mean in saying this is that God’s nature to be personal, to have to do with humanity. It is God’s nature to create, and creation and creativity are ongoing. Evil cannot make anything. Evil cannot truly relate to anyone.
Evil is a distortion and apparent (though in faith, never final) destruction of that which is personal and creative.
Anyone who has been called a theologian has wrestled with the concept of evil.
Karl Barth, said that strictly speaking, evil can be recognized as nothingness and nothingness as evil. Evil is thus a kind of negation. For Barth, evil is only understandable as something which is overcome and for Barth evil is overcome, fully, in Jesus.
This means that God and evil are not dualistic. Good and evil are not two equal and opposing forces. Rather, in Barth’s words, “God has broken evil in Jesus Christ.” This is one of the reasons that Putin, even as he wreaks terror and havoc and brazenly orders the killing of others, looks so small and pathetic.
Evil can screech and scream and distort and confuse. It can cause actual death and destruction, but it is not real like goodness is real.
Here is evidence:
Today in Russia thousands of Russian citizens are protesting against what Putin is doing. They are standing for good. What they are doing can seem small in comparison to the rolling tanks and flying missiles, but it is heartening precisely because it is life instead of “no-life”. It is actual dignity instead of the ridiculous stride of a small, weak man. There is a beauty to it because it is actually something of substance, while evil can only pretend to be something.
Conversely, there are now images of residential buildings in Kyiv utterly destroyed. There are pictures of people lying dead and of others bewildered amidst the destruction. It’s a mark of the nothingness of evil that its perpetrators somehow convince themselves that destroying things makes them big.
I will read and pray the 52nd Psalm:
“Why do you brag of evil, “big man”?
And I’ll pray from not only a hope, but from a confidence that good overcomes evil.
All is not what it seems. What looks bad is just our preception with the limited knowledge given to us by the news and government. There is always more behind the scene. We are in the End Times and soon things will be set right and the full Truth will come out. Be at peace, what is has all been planned. God wins.
Thanks for these viewpoints - such a difficult topic to tackle in today's world. You've done a great job.