Rethinking Faith: A Constructive Practical Theology

2: The Reality of Evil and Sin

29 TwO The Reality of Evil and Sin Human beings are made in the image of God as loving and powerful. God calls humanity to exercise power in loving ways to advance the creative purposes of God. However, the history of human life shows that humans distort the image of God in their hearts and create institutions and ideologies that promote destruction of bodies, persons, and the ecology of the earth. Human sin becomes systemic evil that leads to abuse of power, violence, and the destruction of war and environmental catastrophe. Systemic evil promotes individual sin through apathy, sloth, greed, and other deadly sins. The problem of evil leads to the question of salvation: What cooperative work of God and humans will rescue the world from self-destruction and the loss of meaning, value, and beauty? Process theologian Daniel Day Williams has stated clearly the basic formulation of Christian theology: “[Humans] bear the image of God who is love. [Human] love falls into disorder; but there is a work of God which restores [human] integrity and power to enter into communion. Every Christian theology is an elaboration of this theme.”1 The intentions of God discussed in Chapter 1 are challenged by the reality of evil. That is, God desires an increase in harmony and beauty through greater love and power. But tragedy based in accumulated human decisions for evil frustrates the intentions of God. In the previous chapter, I discussed the relationality, ambiguity, and resilience of God. Much of that discussion depended on a theology about God’s intentions and an understanding of human evil. In this chapter I develop a more systematic discussion of human evil and its characteristics by looking at Scriptures about evil, process theological reflections about evil, and witness to the reality of evil among survivors of violence. 30 Rethinking Faith EvIl ANd ThE bIblE In the Scriptures, God frequently poses a version of this question: “I blessed you and made you prosperous. Yet you turned away from me and followed after other gods. What am I going to do with you?” God seems to waver between destroying the people of Israel and loving them until they change. In the flood story in Genesis 6:13 God says to Noah, “I฀have฀determined฀to฀make฀an฀end฀of฀all฀flesh,฀for฀the฀earth฀is฀filled฀ with violence because of them; now I am going to destroy them along with the earth.” The prophets name Israel’s sins in detail and tell the people that these sins will lead to great punishments. The destruction of the Temple and the captivity of the people in Babylon seem to express the wrathful God who brings punishment for evil and destruction of human bodies and spirits. Yet there are many Scriptures that speak of the love of God, the agony for God of human sin, and the mercy that God shows toward the people of God, even in the midst of their sin, such as this from Hosea 11:8-9: How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, O Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I treat you like Zeboiim? My heart recoils within me; my compassion grows warm and tender. I฀will฀not฀execute฀my฀fierce฀anger; I will not again destroy Ephraim; for I am God and no mortal, the Holy One in your midst, and I will not come in wrath. In the Hebrew Scriptures, human sin is a violation of the covenant between God and Israel. Sometimes this is interpreted as disobedience to฀the฀laws฀that฀defined฀the฀covenant.฀But฀humans฀are฀clever฀enough฀to฀ interpret the laws so that they favor the powerful over those with less power. Many of the prophets interpreted sin as a violation of love, the spirit of the law, which is captured in what we call the Golden Rule “You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but The Reality of Evil and Sin 31 you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord” (Lev. 19:18). Jesus said in Matthew 7:12, “In everything do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the prophets.” These two principles,฀“Do฀no฀harm”฀(nonmaleficence)฀and฀“do฀good฀to฀others”฀ (beneficence)2 ฀are฀affirmed฀in฀many฀world฀religions฀and฀philosophies฀ from as early...