The Human Problem

Evil comes in many forms, and it isn't only a human problem. While there are different ways to categorize evil, one simple way that ethicists use is to separate natural evil from moral evil. Natural evil has to do with natural disasters like floods or hurricanes and also disease. Moral evil is the wrong that is done by a human being. This form of evil can be against another human being, the world or themselves. This form of evil is the basis for the human problem.

I've given a short explanation of the problem of evil earlier on this blog, and if you accept that the misuse of free will is the basis of the problem of evil for humanity, let's see if we can go a little further with this. Evil is a problem, and if we can understand human evil as a misuse of free will or freedom, then we have to say that we have a human problem of our own making. Moral evil actually presents us with a few problems.

One is the destructive force that we exert when we participate in moral evil. It is common to separate our wrongdoing into sins of omission and sins of commission. We can harm others, the world, or ourselves, by overt acts of evil or by withholding the power we have to do good. One classical way to categorize our wrongdoing is the seven deadly sins, yet we must realize that there are far more ways to the human problem than those seven!

Psychiatrist Karl Mennninger offers a list sins that goes well beyond the seven so-called deadly ones. There are sins of sensuality: lust, fornication, adultery and pornography. There are sins of anger, violence and aggression. There are the sins of envy, greed, and selfish affluence. There is dishonesty in many forms, three common forms being lying, cheating and stealing. There is cruelty, betrayal, and sloth. There is waste, hate, and theft. There are what we could call sins against the environment. The granddaddy of all sin may be pride. As you must recognize, even this is not an exhaustive catalog.

As I have alluded to above, the destructive power of moral evil is not only directed outward; it also harms the perpetrator. As Menninger writes in his book, Whatever Became of Sin?, "Sin must be dealt with in the private courts of the individual heart, sometimes with self-indulgence, sometimes with symbolic cancellations, sometimes with stern self-punishment" (p. 209).

How does evil in its many forms fit into our view of reality? For Christians, evil is real and has consequences that reach beyond the negative effects on us in this present life. From a Christian perspective based on what the Bible says, evil destroys our relationship with God. This cosmic consquence means that evil separates us from the One who has created us, who has the power to assist us in this life, and who can grant us life forever. The Christian answer to the human problem is that God has provided a way out for us.

That way out is called divine forgiveness. Divine forgiveness is free to us, but it was not free to God. Justice requires that wrongdoing receive an adequate punishment. That penalty was Jesus, the Son of God, dying on a cross outside of Jerusalem nearly 2,000 years ago. Evil done by human beings is the human problem; the solution given to us by God is to accept the gift of His Son's life on the cross as the necessary payment for our sins. We do this by acknowledging our sins to God through prayer (prayer is simply talking to the God who is always present with us). Second, we ask for God's forgiveness and accept His Son as our Savior (the One who paid the price for our sins). This is God's solution to the human problem, and as one who has received God's forgiveness, I can say that God's solution works.

Have you ever asked Jesus Christ to be your personal Savior? If you will do so, Jesus Christ will accept you and give you the power to live a better life. The power that Jesus gives to all His followers is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is God's presence that comes and lives in all of God's people. If you would like this power in your life, pray a simple prayer to God. A simple prayer to receive Jesus Christ as your Savior might look like this (and you can use this prayer if it expresses what you want to say to God):

Jesus, I acknowledge that I am a sinner. I have sinned in thought, word and deed, in the wrongs that I have done and the good that I have failed to do. I realize that I have no power in myself to make myself acceptable to you. I ask for your forgiveness for my sins. I want to live my life in a way that is pleasing to you, and so I ask that you will come into me by your Spirit and change me from the inside out. Come, Lord Jesus, and be the Lord of my life. Amen.

If you prayed this prayer, or a prayer like it of your own devising, please let me know. You can email me at: tseel at stny dot rr dot com.