Evil: It isn't just a show

“The devil divides the world between atheism and superstition.”

                                                                                                George Herbert

This Halloween if you want to risk a friend rolling their eyes, tell them that you believe that Satan is real. About 50% of Americans don’t believe in the existence of the devil. The latest surveys indicate that born-again Christians are the most likely to believe in the devil (86%).

  Yet, nothing delights Satan more than when people do not believe in him or take him seriously. Years ago liberal theologian, Rudolf Bultmann dogmatically stated, “it is impossible to use electric light and the wireless, and to avail ourselves of modern medical and surgical discoveries, and at the same time believe in the New Testament world of demons and spirits.”

  Many believe the devil is a fable, just a bit of fiction, some cartoon character dressed in red with a pitchfork and tail. They contend that truly educated and thinking people don’t believe in a literal devil.

  If Satan is only a myth, how do you explain evil? One can’t turn on the evening news without being repeatedly confronted with the reality of evil. Evil is very real! No honest person can deny the problem of evil. Because of that any world-view, religion, or philosophy that acknowledges evil is real, and as a really evil thing, present in our world – is a thousand times more plausible and livable than a religion or world-view or philosophy that denies the reality, or the evilness, of evil. One of the most undeniable facts of our existence, is that evil is real, and evil is evil, too often very evil.

  To attempt to deny that evil exists is to live with your head in the sand and to attempt to deny reality. Yet, trying to deny reality – whether related to evil or any other aspect of reality, doesn’t work. Reality is like gravity – sooner or later, it catches up to you. The longer that you pretend it isn’t there or try to deny it, the harder and more forcefully it crashes in on you.

  For example, some religions tell us that suffering (a type of evil) is just an illusion and you can escape this illusion by achieving a certain frame of mind. This, though, denies the reality of evil. But when the evilness of suffering, sickness or death hits you, you find that any “truth” that tells you that suffering is merely a state of mind or a figment of your imagination and that you should be unbothered by it, is an offensive and unlivable lie.

  While atheism doesn’t fit with the unavoidably moral universe in which we undeniably find ourselves, it’s often accompanying “privation theory,” (that evil is only the lack of good,) doesn’t do justice to the fact that evil is an objective and often horrible real entity. Evil is not merely the “lack of good,” it’s positively vile.

  Even most atheists acknowledge the reality of evil. Yet, if you claim there is evil and injustice in the world, where does one find a moral standard of justice? Doesn’t it seem logical that if there are moral laws, there must also be a moral Law-Giver? For there to be a judgement of evil, it must be based on more than one’s own subjective and benign moral feelings.

  C. S. Lewis’s response to this idea is worth pondering: “My argument [as an atheist] was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. But how had I got this idea of just and unjust. A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line…Of course, I could have given up my idea of justice by saying it was nothing but a private idea of my own. But if I did that, then my argument against God collapsed too…” If there is “evil,” that argument presupposes “good” and some standard of what is good and what is evil. Otherwise neither exists or it is all subjective. The most logical argument is that both exist and God is the moral Law-Giver.

  In his book, The Death of Satan, noted scholar and professor at Columbia University, Dr. Andrew Delbanco, argues that “a gulf has opened up in our culture between the visibility of evil and the intellectual resources for coping with it.” He goes on to argue that many secularists attribute all human cruelty and evil to psychological deprivation or social conditioning, and, in so doing, trivialize the heinous evil that humans are capable of.

  He then recounts the story of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who along with many American elites during the Holocaust gave “no priority to the rescue” of the victims. Later on, after the evidence for the atrocities became too great to disbelieve, the President was given Kiergegaard to read and said that, for the first time, the Christian philosopher gave him, “an understanding of what it is in man that makes it possible…to be so evil.” Dr. Delbanco contends that secular liberals (a group of which he considers himself a member) had lost any concept of radical evil.

  It’s been often said that one of Satan’s greatest tricks is to make people believe that he doesn’t exist — and that’s true. When we deny his existence, we become blinded to the reality of evil, and we fall for his lies about God and about ourselves. Satan is real; the cruelty and vileness of our headlines scream it every day.

  Yet, the most important truth about the devil is this: He is a defeated enemy! By His death on the cross Jesus overcame Satan’s charges against us, and by His resurrection from the grave Jesus conquered Satan’s rule of sin and death. Someday, and I hope soon, Christ’s victory over Satan will be complete. Satan and his evil horde of demons will be banished forever.

  Jesus has won the victory! He died to set us free from Satan’s power. While we need to be wary of Satan, we do not need to fear him – he’s a defeated foe. He may tempt and attack us, but the grace of God in Christ will always make us victorious over him. As 1 John 4:4 promises, “But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world” (NLT). We must turn to and rely on the Lord Jesus, who defeated our great Enemy. As we build our lives on Him and His truth, He gives us hope and power, both now and forever.

Can we help you spiritually? Can we help you know Jesus better? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or, call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address.