Thursday, August 29, 2019
Powerlessness in the face of evil Essay
Most People have experienced, at one time or another, the frustration of simply not being able to escape a thought. If it is merely a song that keeps going through our mind, or a positive or neutral image, the problem is just that: frustration. But when it is an evil idea, our inability to throw it off, no matter what a person do, may drive into great inner need. For some people, it is a question of envy or jealousy; others are tormented by mistrust and spiteful thoughts; still others seem to struggle unendingly with lustful images and ideas.            Two things are very important in our life. First, we should remember that we are not alone in our struggle. It is easy to forget this, especially when our inner struggle is long or intense. The struggle is a universal one, and may be overcome at least in part by sharing it with someone the afflicted person trusts, whether a pastor or priest, a spouse, a mentor, or a close friend. Second, people must remain reassured that there is a way out. Once people give in to the demons of self doubt and fear, the battle has already been lost. It is a general belief that the feeling of paralysis or powerlessness in the face of evil lies, close to being possessed. It may even be possession. One needs to exercise caution in using the wordâ€â€there is a state in which people might feel besieged by evil spirits, yet do not let them take full possession of us. What the New Testament calls possession comes about when a person is completely dominated by the power of evil. But one must recognize that there are people today in such a condition.            In a world where everything is explained away by psychology and psychiatry, it seems tempting to dismiss the idea of possession. People have a medical label for every ill and, it seems, a cure. Yet there are so many people for whom psychiatry is ultimately of no help! One has often wondered that would happen if Jesus were to visit our overflowing mental hospitals. Suppression            Though some evil thoughts can be easily dismissed (or overcome by a short prayer), others are much harder to expel. In the case of such â€Å"besetting†evil thoughts, our natural reaction is often suppression: to push the offending idea back down, deep into our subconscious, in order to rid ourselves of it quickly. But that never works. As Freud and countless others have shown, a suppressed thought will always resurface, just like a corked bottle that is pushed below the water but bobs up again as soon as it is released. The only alternativeâ€â€to continue with the picture of bottleâ€â€is to grasp it and throw it out of the water altogether. In other words, the most effective way to truly rid our mind of a suppressed thought is to face it squarely and reject it. God the Creator and Creation            As a weak, despised, persecuted community who followed a crucified Messiah, the first Christians knew all too well in their own experience that after Easter Sunday the powers of darkness were still at work in and around them. But because they remembered the power of God that raised Jesus form the dead and made him to be not only their Lord but the Lord of the whole world, they were sure that however powerful the forces of evil may be, however much damage they may still do, they are doomed to failure in their attempt to take a throne that does not belong to them. These Christians, therefore, looked forward to the future with the absolute certainty that the justice and love of God that had been victorious would finally be victorious both in their own lives and in the world around them.            The early Christians’ memory of Jesus’ resurrection also led them to remember the cross of Christ in a new way. It became for them a sign not only of Jesus’ (and God’s) powerlessness in the in the face of evil but also a sign of love of Jesus (and God), which was so great that he (and the God who sent him) was willing to suffer and even die for needy, suffering, sinful people. If the memory of Jesus’ resurrection meant confidence in God’s liberating power over the powers of evil, the memory of Jesus’ cross meant confidence in the self-giving, suffering love of a Christ (and God) that was present with them even in the depths of their suffering and dying. It meant that nothing could separate us from the â€Å"love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord†           James Charlesworth, with many others, sees apocalypticism as resulting from a collapse in the world of meaning. The apocalyptic texts are a lament over the failure of ordinary historical process to resolve human problems. They are a eulogy over an exhausted, worn-out earth and the present age of suffering, and they culminate in a vision of a new age in which â€Å"the wolf shall live with the lamb†and peace will prevail throughout the world. One side of Hebraic apocalypticism is irenic and conciliatoryâ€â€the nations will finally be at peace with one anotherâ€â€while the other side is warlike and vengefulâ€â€the enemies of god’s people (either all Gentiles or some of them) will suffer ultimate defeat and receive punishment for their sins. Reactions to apocalypticism have varied, but a common modern repose is to see it as escapist. It tells that though the present world is filled with incredible evil, there is a realm beyond where God triumphs, the righteous flourish, and the wicked suffer. Once again, the lines are somewhat blurry in as much as the classical Hebrew prophets all announced that ultimate salvation was God’s work and not a human accomplishment. Apocalypticism is in effect an intensification of the sense of human powerlessness in the face of evil. Discerning the Divine            The first Christians remembered Jesus, the tragic and innocent victim of evil who cried, â€Å"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?†only to remember also that Jesus later had been raised by God’s power, victorious over the worst that evil could do. Christ is risen! From the beginning there were signs among believers that the Spirit of Jesus was inaugurating the kingdom of life in the face of the still present kingdom of death. The reality if resurrection provided a new way of viewing the cross of Jesus. More than a sign of God’s powerlessness in the face of evil, the cross became a sign of God’s amazing love that transforms the worst of evil into the fullness of life. Faith in a just and loving God is not based on good or bad experience in the immediate present.            One helpful answer to the troubling question Why is there evil if God is good and all-powerful? It is called the â€Å"logic of love†theodicy. This logic presumes that God originally created for the sake of enabling loving relationships, a purpose requiring the granting of real freedom to the created. God will love, but in the process open the door to the potentially wrong use of freedom, which is evil (â€Å"live†spelled backward). Thus, â€Å"though God does not protect us from ourselves, God is there redeeming every situation, though exactly how, we may not yet always know. Works cited Arnold, Heini. Arnold, Heinrich, J. Freedom from Sinful Thoughts. Plough Publishing House1997. pg. 33-35 Callen, L, Barry. Discerning the Divine: God in Christian Theology. Geneva: Westminster John Knox Press 2004. pg. 134 Guthrie, C, Shirley. Christian Doctrine. Geneva: Westminster John Knox Press pg. 186 McClymond, James, Michael. Familiar Stranger: An Introduction to Jesus of Nazareth. WM. B. Eerdmans Publishing 2004. pg. 70
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