BRETT J. ANDERSON
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2020
Lenten Reflection Series

Evil

3/6/2020

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What is evil? Is it simply the absence of good, the void which lacks the presence of God? Or is it a particular thing in itself, to be held up in contrast to good? A thing which can be positively willed and worked toward, and a thing that can drive and motivate us, as good can? In other words, are good and evil just two sides of the same coin, where one cannot exist without the other?

Nowadays, we often don’t even bother thinking about it. We live in a sea of relativity, where everything is permissible and acceptable, and to say otherwise is derided as insensitivity. That’s not to say we don’t have room in ourselves to be more sensitive. Of course we do. It’s purely to say that we seem to have lost the sense that there is a “the good” which ought to be willed, and against which all ethics and morality ought to be judged.

This sense of “the good” is certainly present in Scripture. Reading the Gospels, we are made acutely aware that there is a war at place—there is an ongoing spiritual battle between God and His enemy. In the desert, Jesus faces this enemy directly. Psychology tells us that no man actually wills evil. Man wills good, or whatever distorted or selfish idea of “good” he has at the time. But here stands The Enemy, who wills evil with every fiber of his being. Not just a distorted “good”, but literally wills the destruction of “good” itself, the destruction of all that is—the overthrow of God.  This is who Jesus came to do battle with, for our sake.

This war is easy to dismiss as pure folklore and fairy tale. The incidents we see in the Gospels of Christ casting out demons are discarded as simply ancient ignorance—as a lack of modern medical knowledge. Had Jesus lived in the present day, he would have reacted quite differently to these people who were clearly ill, and not possessed at all. Guardini tells us this attitude is ultimately driven by the very same enemy that Christ wages battle against. Unable to defeat God in direct conflict, the enemy turns to us and sows doubts hostility toward the very idea that God is on our side—to the very idea that there could be an enemy who stands against all that is. Like he tempted Jesus in the desert, the enemy whispers in our ear that there is no “good” at all. And by tearing down our conception of “good,” by turning us away from “The Good,” which is God, the enemy moves closer to his goal of total destruction. Only having failed to bring about that destruction on his own, this time he uses man as the agents of that destruction.

“Jesus brought Satan to a standstill. He alone was able to stare him down. To the extent that we succeed in looking with Christ’s eyes, we too shall see him; to the extent that Christ’s heart and spirit become alive in us, we shall dominate him.”

-Romano Guardini ("The Lord")
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    Series Info

    Every day of Lent, I am writing a reflection piece on two chapters of "The Lord" by Romano Guardini. If you'd like to read or follow along, you can find the full calendar of where we're at below, or Click Here for the main landing page.

    Archives

    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020

    Categories

    All
    Part 1; I-II: History & Destiny
    Part 1; III-IV: Love Does Such Things
    Part 1; IX-X: Walking In Infirmity
    Part 1; VII-VIII: Accepting The King
    Part 1; V-VI: The Offer
    Part 1; XI-XII: Fools For Christ
    Part 2; III-IV: Impossible
    Part 2; I-II: Love & Reward
    Part 2; IX-X: Sin And Death
    Part 2; VII-VIII: Evil
    Part 2; V-VI: Miraculous Mystery
    Part 2; XI-XII: The Jesus Of John
    Part 3; III-IV: Lawful Evil
    Part 3; I-II: The Blind Sheep
    Part 3; IX-X: Help My Unbelief
    Part 3; VII-VIII: Inner And Outer Life
    Part 3; V-VI: Attachment
    Part 4; I-II: Get Behind Me Satan
    Part 4; III-IV: Life Eternal
    Part 4; IX-X: Ordinary And Extraordinary
    Part 4; VII-VIII: Christian Maturity
    Part 4; V-VI: Prophets & Community
    Part 4; XIII-IX: Forgiveness
    Part 4; XI-XII: Font Of All Blessing
    Part 5; I-II: Hosanna!
    Part 5; III-IV: Judgment
    Part 5; IX-X: Mysterium Fidei
    Part 5; VII-VIII: Unmasking Judas
    Part 5; V-VI: The Measure Of Love
    Part 5; XIII-XIV: United In Sin
    Part 5; XI-XII: The Pain Of Sin
    Part 6; III-IV: The God Who Comes And Goes
    Part 6; I-II: The Resurrection
    Part 6; IX-X: Christian Personality
    Part 6; VII-VIII: Pentecost
    Part 6; V-VI: The Holy Spirit
    Part 6; XI-XII: Christian Anticipation
    Part 7; III-IV: Without Ceasing
    Part 7; I-II: Visions And Dreams
    Part 7; IX-X: Judgment Fire And Annihilation
    Part 7; VII-VIII: So Much Stuff!
    Part 7; V-VI: The Ultimate Flood
    Part 7; XI-XII: Faith

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  • Lenten Reflection Series
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