Talk of demons or the devil is out of fashion nowadays, even among Christians. The desire is to psychologize demons as symbols for our own moral evil and mental struggles. I understand this impulse but...
The problem with rejecting the reality of demons is they have vast explanatory power. The problem of evil is solved if there is some free-willed spiritual or cosmic force external to is that works against God. Since the Bible primarily struggles with the problem of evil in terms of natural evil, i.e. diseases and disasters, and moral evil is not considered a huge theological problem, psychologizing the idea of satan is problematic. Now, does it make sense to talk about guys with wings who rebelled? No. But the symbol cannot be totally psychological but must point to something metaphysical or it loses it's power and purpose. The world was full of suffering before humans got here. If evolution shows us anything, it shows us that. Wherefore all the evil, if not acts of free will?
The bible is very concerned with the moral problem of evil. The OT sacrificial system is based on moral evil. The necessity of the cross is based on moral evil. The nature of man and God's dealing with the nature of man is really one of the main themes from the start of the bible to the end. Early in Genesis you have evil enter the world. Shortly after you have the first human murder. Really most of the OT books in some sense deal with the theme of God's frustration with the sin of his people. The ton does not change much when Jesus enters the scene other than that he offers a better solution.
ReplyDeleteBut the "Problem of Evil" is not a problem at all when it comes to moral evil. When we talk about the 'problem of evil' we are of course talking about that branch of theology that deals with theodicy, not just evil as a problem that needs solving, but evil as a problem when it comes to maintaining faith in God. Moral evil is not seen as a 'problem for God'. There is no need for theodicy there. The Bible's primary struggles with the "problem of evil' and with theodicy, Ecclesiastes and Job, are little concerned with moral evil as some challenge to the existence or goodness of God. It is natural evil, the lightning and storms, the boils and the cycles of life and death, that presents a 'problem' that these books try to reflect upon (but give no real answers to). I would not deny for a moment that the Bible doesn't deal with moral evil, and it primarily. But that isn't what most people mean when they talk about 'the problem of evil'. They are talking about the way in which the evils of the world make faith in God difficult and what theodicy we should use to mitigate or remove that difficulty. When the Bible struggles with that question, it primarily focuses on natural evil, not moral evil.
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