Yes. There is real evil being done by people in the world. Real evil does befall people and God allows it. Consider a little kid who is abducted, brutalized, and murdered. Do you really think the kid asked for that? But it does happen. It is a fact. So God, being all powerful and all knowing, does allow it to happen.Can anything be really evil if God works it out to the good? I don’t think God would allow evil to befall anyone would he? And if he did let “evil” befall someone it’s nothing that they haven’t at some point asked for which brings us back to God allowing things to go back to the good.
This is my opinion on this one. As far as victims I don’t believe there’s ever been a victim. If people were “innocent” then they wouldn’t be being born here. There are far better places to be born than here. We come into this life with blood on our hands. Unless some highly spiritual person like Jesus or another chooses to come here for the betterment of mankind. This is an act of love on it’s own. The majority of us, well we being born here deserve what we get. I also believe there is agreement made on a higher spiritual level between perpetrator and victim for their mutual better circumstances. I have my sources and reasons I guess.Sure, there’s real evil in the world, look around. After an evil act occurs, as pp described, there could be good as in maybe the family becomes closer, or laws are enacted that protect others. There are way too many innocent people who become victims of evil and never “asked for it” or did anything to bring it upon themselves. God allows evil because people have a free will and choose to harm others. It’s not like He’s happy about it.
So what is the difference in trial and temptation and how do you know the difference?Opinions really don’t matter. Pope Francis made it clear that there is a being called the devil or satan, and we will be tempted always. Yes, God has put his people through hardship and each of us will go through trials in our lives, for our benefit if we accept them. From a young age, I was taught that “in every life some rain must fall.”
There is real evil out there.
Peace,
Ed
I don’t know. This is something I confess I’ve always had a problem with. Are you sure this isn’t some kind of excuse for not taking responsibility? Modern medicine, midwives, witches, all were in with the devil. I’m really not concerned or afraid of the devil. I want to work on my problems. And I use mariology to come to our Lord. Do people do anything because their confused or mentally ill or anything. Or is it all the devil. I have some moles too. Maybe it’s the mark of the devil. BTW if you will look at Abraham you will see that as a cannanite he wasn’t a monotheist until made into one(it’s a little more complicated than that. All really have been monotheists) but believed in a head god and subservient gods. I know that’s not quite the question though.bill
I think that Satan and his devils can be really evil. He is malevolence personified. He wants nothing more than to be surrounded by a vast empire of like-minded spirits. We can choose to be one of those spirits, or we can choose to become friends of God. Christ said of the devil that he was always a liar and a murderer. So yes, someone can be really evil, even if the someone started out really good.
People talk so much about evil spirits. I do believe in them and many other forms of life too. But I don’t think so much of them as a cause of problems at least in many situations as a result of our weakness. They are attracted to thoughts and just make things worse. I can tell when I’m being “visited” in my sleep by them and even get names. Names that are accurate. But it is surely the truth they are deceitful. I don’t know about no salvation for them though that doesn’t sound like a merciful God. It sounds cosmologically inaccurate to me. I could expound. But I know I need to get back to Mass. That I believe strengthens us. I get so tempted by the flesh that’s my battle inside. And a lot of what Ignatius of Loyola said about the good and evil spirits inside fighting is so true. I believe in the beginning all that caused this is ignorance.There are two equal and opposite fatal mistakes people make regarding the devil.
Disclaimer: I’m pretty sure that isn’t my own idea (read it somewhere).
- To disbelieve he even exists and thus make oneself an easy target.
- To believe he exists and take an unhealthy interest in that existence.
It’s good to refrain from using the devil as scapegoat for one’s own failures and sins. It’s bad to suppose that we need not be on guard against his tricks.
How do you know their choice was not muddled with some kind of “ignorance”? God knows all things. Not angels. Lucifers interference I have read and his sin was to get involved in man’s creation not intending to do a bad thing but it was his interference that was wrong. He thought according to his thinking he was doing a good thing. But he created ambition in man. That’s “the big sin”. As it’s always been written it always sounds worse than what it is. The old scriptures were intentionally written like that.CS Lewis’ work “The Screwtape Letters” is perhaps the best work on the nature of demons and their interaction with man.
In regards to repentance, I suspect that angels (including those that chose to be demons) were created by God before what WE think of as “creation” meaning before time itself was created. Their choice, unlike ours, was not muddled by incomplete knowledge, slowly gained experience, etc. If they chose evil, it was an eternal choice.
Because I truest the character of a God who loves me enough to become a puny man and die a horrible death to save me from my sins. Such a character doesn’t cast a being into eternal darkness and misery unless the entity in question truly and freely chose that destiny.How do you know their choice was not muddled with some kind of “ignorance”?
Is Hell outside of time? Then it is not part of creation. I’m not thoughly convinced by my studies that there are evil beings that are in an “eternal” darkness and misery. And it seems to me that the character of God would allow such a thing but he himself “casting” into outer darkness? I don’t know. Like I say the Jews in their scripture writings always make it sound worse than it is. Darkness and misery comes from ignorance. All misery is self inflicted because of ignorance.Because I truest the character of a God who loves me enough to become a puny man and die a horrible death to save me from my sins. Such a character doesn’t cast a being into eternal darkness and misery unless the entity in question truly and freely chose that destiny.