Unraveling The Mystery of Evil in The Human Condition - A Biblical Perspective

1. The Human Fall

2. Hell on Earth

3. The human condition Goodness, joy Conscience People Struggle Evil mind Evil, guilt

4. “I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is in my flesh. I can will what is right but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do.” Romans 7:15-19

5. God would not create us with opposing purposes Evil Inclination Good Evil Good Inclination 2 contradictory purposes Like a broken cup

6. The mystery of evil • If everything God created was good, where does evil come from? • If God is good, almighty and knows what is going on, why does He allow people to suffer?

7. The story of Adam and Eve Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil Tree of Life Fruit Serpent Adam Eve

8. Biblical language Much of the Bible is written in metaphor and symbol. We need to understand how the people who wrote it understood it. E.g. A tree is a symbol for a person “For the vineyard of the Lord is the House of Israel, and the men of Judah are his pleasant planting . . .” Proverbs 11:30 “I am the vine, you are the branches.” John 15:5

9. What was the serpent? Literal? Serpent Symbol? “Now the serpent was more subtle than any other wild creature that the Lord God had made.”Genesis 3:1

10. Serpent = Devil = Angel Lucifer “And that great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world; he and his angels were thrown down with him.” Revelation 12:9

11. Did God create Satan? • Everything God created was good • Evil did not exist from the beginning • Lucifer was created as a good angel • He became an evil being • The Principle rejects dualism • Good and evil ‘gods’ always existed • Spiritual is good; physical is evil

12. Where do angels fit in? • Created first • Helped God with the creation and development of the universe “Let us make man in our image . . . .” Genesis 1:26 • Servants and messengers of God • Take care of Adam and Eve • To be servants of Adam and Eve • “Do you not know that we are to judge the angels?” I Corinthians 8:3

13. God’s commandment “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.” Genesis 2:16-17

14. What was the fruit? Literal? Fruit Symbol? “Here and understand: not what goes into the mouth defiles a man, but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.” Matthew 15:10-11

15. Fruit in the Old Testament “As an apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among young men. With great delight I sat in his shadow, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.” Song of Solomon 2:3-5

16. “A garden locked is my sister, my bride, a garden locked, a fountain sealed. Your shoots are an orchard of pomegranates with all choicest fruits.” Song of Solomon 4:12-13

17. “Let my beloved come to his garden, and eat its choicest fruits.”Song of Solomon 4:16 “Under the apple tree I awakened you. There your mother was in travail with you.”Song of Solomon 8:3

18. Eating - a metaphor for sex “And to him who is without sense she says, ‘Stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.’ But he does not know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of Sheol.” Proverbs 9:16-18

19. “This is the way of the adulteress, she eats, and wipes her mouth and says, ‘I have done no wrong.’” Proverbs 30:20

20. The meaning of the fruit Trees multiply through fruit People multiply through love represents sexual love The fruit was good and necessary for God’s plan to be realised

21. The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil The tree could produce either good or evil fruit depending on whether love was God-centred or self-centred ‘To know’ a woman - a Biblical metaphor for sex

22. When should the fruit be eaten? Mature and married Goodness God gave the commandment to protect Adam and Eve The fruit Evil Immature and unmarried

23. Our highest values – realized through sexuality • Love • Life • Lineage

24. What should have happened? • Adam and Eve should have achieved individual maturity – the First Blessing • Then God would have blessed them in divine marriage – the Second Blessing • They would have had children and established a happy family

25. G A E C Blessed in marriage Free to “eat” Spiritual maturity Period of Growth Do not “eat” Adam Eve

26. What did happen? • Adam and Eve had children – Cain and Abel • It was not a loving family – Cain murdered Abel • Adam and Eve did not have a happy marriage • Adam and Eve had a sexual relationship without being blessed by God in marriage • Adam and Eve did not fulfil the First Blessing before they had a sexual relationship

27. G A E C Spiritual Perfection Free to “eat” Adam Eve Fall Do not “eat” Adam Eve

28. What happened at the fall?

29. What was the sin of the angel? “Remember too the angels, how some of them were not content to keep the dominion given to them but abandoned their proper home; and God has reserved them for judgement on the great Day, . . . Remember Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbouring towns; like the angels, they committed fornication and followed unnatural lusts; . . .” Jude 6-7

30. What was the sin of Lucifer? Lucifer committed fornication – illicit sexual relationship – with Eve

31. What does the Qur’an say? Children of Adam! Let not Satan deceive you in the manner he deceived your parents out of Paradise, pulling off from them their clothing to reveal to them their shame. He and his host surely see you from whence you do not see them. We have made satans the guardians of those who do not believe. Surah 7:27

32. Possibility of sexual relationship between humans and angels All the emotions and sensations felt between a person and a spirit are exactly the same as those felt between earthly people. EDP, 63 • Records of substantial interaction between human and spirit beings

33. What was the sin of Adam and Eve? Before the Fall:“And the man and his wife were both naked, and they were not ashamed.”Genesis 2:25 After the Fall:“Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons.”Genesis 3:7  Adam and Eve had an illicit sexual relationship

34. Other evidence that the fall was an illicit sexual relationship • ‘Picking a fruit’ - euphemism for sexual love • God is love yet sexual love which is holy and wholesome is often thought of as shameful • Sexual immorality led to the downfall of great men and nations • Many social problems traced to broken homes

36. Immorality the worst sin “Shun immorality. Every other sin which a man commits is outside the body; but the immoral man sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God?” I Corinthians 6:18-19

37. Why did the fall take place?

38. What should have happened? God God God Closest to God Adam & Eve I Cor. 8:3 Adam & Eve Children of God Lucifer Lucifer Lucifer Servant of God Angels Angels Angels Universe Universe Universe

39. Adam was a child, not yet having his understanding perfected. It was necessary that he should grow and so come to perfection. SaintIrenaeus (130-200)

40. Lucifer’s responsibility • Love Adam and Eve • Receive love through Adam and Eve • Serve Adam & Eve • Multiply goodness with Adam and Eve Lucifer would have been very happy and his desire for love completely satisfied

41. The process and motivation of the fall

42. How did it all start? God loved his children much more than he loved his servant Lucifer. God’s love for Lucifer did not change. It was the same before and after the creation of human beings. When Lucifer saw that God loved Adam and Eve more than him, he felt as if there had been a decrease in the love he received from God. EDP, 63

43. What was the motivation for the fall? Lucifer, feeling as though he was receiving less love than he deserved, wanted to grasp the same central position in human society as he enjoyed in the angelic world, as the channel of God’s love. This was why he seduced Eve and this was the motivation of the spiritual fall. EDP p. 64

44. Rebellion in heaven “How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low. You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; . . . I will make myself like the Most High.’”Isaiah 14:12-14

45. What does the Qur’an say? We said to the angels: 'Prostrate before Adam.’ They all prostrated except Iblis: he was not one of those who fell prostrate. Allah said: 'What prevented you from prostrating, when I commanded you to do so?' He said: 'I am better than he. You created me from fire, and him You created from clay.’ Surah 7:11,12

46. God Adam Eve Lucifer Origin of the fall Parable of Labourers in Vineyard Mt. 20:1-15 Closest to God Felt less love Jealousy The fundamental motivation . . . lay in the envy the Archangel felt towards Adam, the beloved of God. EDP p.72 Wanted to rule humans

47. God Eve Lucifer Lucifer tempts Eve When Eve responded to his temptation, the angel felt the stimulation of her love to be deliciously enticing. EDP, 64 Adam Wanted to experience love and become like God before time was ripe Desire for unprincipled love

48. Lucifer’s lie “ ‘You will not surely die’, the serpent said to the woman. ‘When you eat it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God…’ ” Genesis 3:4

49. Fall between Lucifer and Eve Illicit sexual relationship Eve before the Fallwas open to sensing the spiritual dimension • Eve received from Lucifer • Feeling of dread from guilty • conscience • Lucifer’s wisdom that Adam • was intended spouse Spiritual only Eve Lucifer

50. Adam and Eve