Christians believe God is in all of us and all around us, guiding us through life. They call this the Holy Spirit. Some Christians believe that it is this Spirit that is our conscience and teaches us how to distinguish what is the right and morally correct thing to do. This brings in the Nature versus Nurture dilemma. Is a criminal born a criminal or does his upbringing make him what he is? Most modern Christians would argue nurture, rather than nature. This is backed up by the fact that most criminals come from a bad background and have had a troubled childhood. Although, the concept of Original Sin suggests that we are evil by nature. Christians believe that through the Holy Spirit, God can influence people and give them the power to do Good. For example, the great works of Mother Theresa in tending to the sick and preaching God’s message. Also, in the Bible the Disciples came into contact with the Holy Spirit after Jesus’ death, it touched them and they could speak in many tongues so they could spread God’s word across all the Earth. Acts (2:4): ‘They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to talk in other languages as the Spirit enabled them to speak’. These are very extreme cases and Christians believe that God works through ordinary believers also. They believe that God enters them when they take the holy bread and wine during the Eucharist. They believe this gives them spiritual strength and guidance in their every day lives.
The Power of Evil is also very prominent in Christian life. Christianity offers many perspectives on Evil. Firstly there is the idea of Original Sin, which is put forward mainly by Fundamentalist Christians. They believe we are born already scarred with the sin of our oldest ancestors. According to Genesis 3, ‘the fall’ of Adam and Eve introduced Sin in to the world. The story is that there were no rules in the Garden of Eden, except that God told them never to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. A serpent tempted them and they ate, disobeying God. As a result they were expelled from Paradise. Fundamentalists believe that this act of disobedience caused all humans to be born with a tendency for evil. They get around this obstacle by having the baptism ceremony. They wash the baby’s head with Holy water and celebrate his coming into a new, good Christian life and leaving the sinful one behind. However, many Liberals and more modern Christians now take the Genesis part of the Bible as being purely symbolism. They do not believe that the Adam and Eve story is literally true, but is a story with hidden meanings and morals.
Secondly, some Christians believe that evil is the ‘absence of Good’. St. Augustine put forward this argument and it is still argued by many contempory Christians from most denominations. He said that as a result of God’s choice of giving us free will, things could grow away from God, and hence become evil. It is argued that God did not want mindless robots; he wanted humans to be able to make their own choices. This means that we are able to perform great acts of true compassion and kindness. However there are obvious disadvantages to this choice. We are also able to commit great acts of cruelty and cause great suffering.
Thirdly, there is the idea of ‘Satan’. This idea is put forward by most denominations, yet it quite outdated in my opinion. Satan is the accuser, he is meant to be pure evil and the opposite of God. In the Bible, Satan tempted Adam and Eve to eat the fruit, in the form of a serpent. As well as this he tempted Jesus in the desert as he fasted for forty days and forty nights. This has given rise to the modern Christian festival of Lent. I quote from Matthew (4:1-4): ‘Then the Spirit led Jesus into the desert to be tempted by the Devil. After spending forty days and nights he was hungry. Then the Devil came to him and said ‘If you are God’s Son order these stones to turn into bread’’. The dictatorship of Saddam Hussein could be offered as extreme examples of the Devil’s work.
Also, in the past, people believed that evil daemons could possess you. This was an especially popular point of view during the Middle Ages, although the alleged daemon possessors were probably driven mad by their own squalor and poverty. As well as this, sickness was thought of as punishment for sin or evil you had committed. Having said these ideas were outdated, they are still supported by some people today. For example, Glenn Hoddle was forced to resign as the Manager of the English football team as a result of supporting these views. He said that he believed disabled people were being punished for things they had done in their previous lives. Also, some Christians still feel the need for exorcism, and practise the driving out of evil spirits.
As well as this some Christians believe that sin ‘has a power over us’. They believe that it is human nature for us to want to do Evil, as it is more exciting. They believe it is much like teenagers rebelling against their parents; we want to rebel against God’s rules.
Also, with the huge advance in the study of the human psyche, some modern Christians define the Power of Evil as our psychology, while others suggest it is just part of God’s plan which we simply cannot comprehend.
