Often we clergy are asked about the nature of evil—is evil a substance, a kind of positive negativity? Or is it the mere absence of good, as darkness is the absence of light?
Strict dualists (like the ancient Zoroastrians) would say that evil is a power co-equal with goodness. Christians, while acknowledging the power of evil in this fallen world, say that evil is not co-equal with goodness, but rather evil is goodness which has been perverted and twisted, goodness gone wrong. Thus, for example, sexual desire is good, since it has been created by God. But sexual desire can be pursued as an end in itself, and pursued in illicit ways. When this occurs, we call it “lust”, which is an evil. Thus evil has no life in itself. It is essentially parasitic, and needs to draw its power from outside itself.
One can, of course, parse and analyze evil, as the philosophers do. But evil is like Ebola: scientists need to analyze it and understand its nature and peer at it under a microscope. The rest of us just need to learn how to avoid it. In the same way, looking at the nature of evil under a philosophical microscope is okay, but more important is the knowledge of how to avoid being involved in it. As usual, the Church has some saving advice. It tells us that evil is found in three forms: the World, the Flesh, and the Devil. We need to learn how to avoid all three if we are to stay healthy and safe.
The evil power of the Flesh is not subtle, but it makes up for its lack of subtlety by its potency. In North America the Flesh calls to us in two main ways: in the temptations to alcohol excess and in pornography. Regarding the temptation to abuse alcohol, it is important to remember that Christians, unlike Muslims, are not tee-totallers, those who abstain completely from the consumption of alcohol. Indeed, God made wine not only to gladden the heart of man (Psalm 104:15), but also as a part of His saving Eucharistic sacrament. But drunkenness is forbidden to Christians (see Ephesians 5:18), and so we must use alcohol with moderation. Think of all alcoholic products as bearing the invisible label: “Caution: over-use of this product will result in sin. If this occurs, go immediately to Confession”.
The proper use of pornography is more straight-forward: it has no proper use. Like all poison, it should simply be avoided. Unlike poison, however, it is addictive, and the addiction to pornography has now become a pandemic in North America. We all know how to find pornography online. That means that we also know how to avoid it. Let us begin our online time by making the Sign of the Cross over our computer screens and do our online surfing like the saints we are called to be.
The evil power of the World is more subtle. If the Flesh shouts, the World whispers, and sweetly intones in our ears how popular and cool and happy we would be if we would just drop all the things which distinguish us as Christians and think and act like everybody else. The power of the temptation is in its truth-telling. For the World is correct—we would be more popular if we would act like everyone else around us and say all the politically-correct things. Unlike addictions to alcohol and pornography (the price tag for which comes due fairly quickly), the bill for being worldly does not come due until we die and stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ. Only then do we discover how we have bartered away the eternal things for the temporal, and made a terrible bargain. Of course by then it will be too late. It is wiser to realize that now, and refuse to trade our eternal reward for a fading and brief temporal one. The World is lying to us when it sings to us its siren song.
The evil power of the Devil is the strongest of all, and all the stronger for remaining hidden. Our culture pours contempt on the notion that Satan and the demons exist, and there are many who say that the devil is just “evil” with a capital “d” in front. Clever, but fatally wrong. A malevolent supernatural power does exist in the world, and seeks to invade our lives and contaminate us with its darkness. And when one hears about radicals beheading children in the Middle East, is the existence of the demonic really so hard to believe? The question is how to avoid such contamination. Fortunately it is not hard. One cannot get a demon like one gets a cold. To become infiltrated by the demonic one needs to actively pursue the darkness, by engaging over and over again in the addictive sins of the Flesh, or by serious and sustained involved in the occult. And by “occult”, I mean real participation in occult rituals. Reading Harry Potter is fine. Attending a séance or a Wiccan coven or using a Ouija board is not.
Avoiding evil is part of the daily life of the disciples of Jesus. But it is important not to dwell on evil, or let ourselves become obsessed by it. Our focus should not be on evil and how to avoid it, but on Christ, and how to please Him. It is a bit like driving: I am told that one steers the car where one looks, so that if one wants to avoid a collision, it is best not to look at the back end of the car in front when one is braking to avoid a rear-end collision. Better to look at the place beside the car, and steer around it. It is similar here. Let us not fix our gaze upon the evil we want to avoid, but on the Lord we want to serve. It is His face we long to see. It is His Kingdom that we long to enter. Evil is simply a distraction to avoid as we journey toward that blessed destination.
About Fr. Lawrence Farley
Fr. Lawrence serves as pastor of St. Herman's Orthodox Church in Langley, BC. He is also author of the Orthodox Bible Companion Series along with a number of other publications.