Jesus asked them, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans?” (Luke 13:2).
In this passage from Luke, Jesus warns
his disciples not to make superficial connections between sin and suffering in
the world. By doing so, he teaches them an important lesson about the
complexity of evil.
Within the Hebrew Scriptures/Old Testament,
evil was a complicated idea. As indicated in Genesis, evil originated with a
deliberate and known action against God. Its spread throughout Creation made it
a universal experience for humans and led to the destruction of nearly all life
on earth. Stories like Saul’s disobedience to God’s command to destroy the
Amalekites and David’s adultery with Bathsheba and murder of Uriah the Hittite stressed
the direct connection between evil and its consequences. However, others
stories such as that of the Maccabean Martyrs and the suffering endured by Job,
a righteous man, disputed this linkage. Jesus used this second approach on the
connection between evil and its consequences in his conversation with the crowd
and his disciples. Those killed by the collapse of the tower (natural evil) or
executed by Herod (human evil) were likely no more or less guilty of evil than
the people around them. Although a just God punished evil and rewarded good actions,
the process by which this happened was a mystery. A person’s judgment about
evil used limited human knowledge. God’s judgment utilized unlimited Divine Wisdom.
In addition, it was possible some apparently evil consequence was part of a
plan for the achievement of some greater good by God. This meant human
judgments about the links between evil deeds and their consequences were sometimes
wrong.
As the ability of humans to
understand and explain how the universe works has grown, so has their
confidence in their capacity to solve mysteries. The reality of evil and its
consequences are now explained as the result of unjust social conditions,
unhealthy psychological development or proof of the meaninglessness of life.
For Catholics and other people of faith, it poses awkward questions. How can a
just God allow evil? How can a loving God permit suffering? The lack of a
simple answer to such questions challenges their faith and weakens its
credibility in our Secular Society. However, the Secular responses to the
reality of evil also have their flaws. No credible blueprint for a perfectly
just society has ever been produced. An evil act requires the perpetrator to
know it is wrong and intend to do it which an unhealthy psychological
development inhibits. If there is no meaning to life, why are people searching
for it? Experience teaches everyone that life is complicated and simple answers
are often wrong. Jesus taught his disciples they must learn to be comfortable
with the reality that evil is a mystery beyond human understanding. Yet, they
do not stand helpless before it. They can reduce the suffering caused by it.
With their knowledge of right and wrong they can often stop it before it happens.
From their past experiences with evil, they can place it into perspective to
see if some good can result from it. These responses require people of faith to
recognize their need for God’s help whenever they are faced with evil and be
open to it.
As the woman whose sister was dying
of cancer learned, evil is often a powerful force we can neither understand nor
control. I wanted to give a simple answer to her question “Why?” but that would
have been dishonest. However, in a way she made some sense of it. The woman
went to visit her sister almost daily so she would know she was not alone. She
made sure all the family was there when her sister died. She proved the mystery
of evil cannot overpower the ability to do good.
March 20, 2022
No comments:
Post a Comment