All Comments (10)

I think the assumption that Gnostics believed that the material world is particularly "evil" because of the carnal creator is a little misleading. The gnostics were definetly in the Unintelligent Design camp that most scientists are in today. We live in dying universe, with decaying matter in which all life dies, and most species are extinct.

The ancient gnostics also noted the homologous organs such as "male nipples" that atheists also joke about even today, although modern gnostics point out that the Demiurge, who calls him/herself Jehovah is a young girl "Yaldoboath" and an horrible and cruel Fool "Saklas", also created the prostatic utricle which acts as G-spot in the rearends of men. Proof that the Creator is an idiot, because he hates gays.

Its important to note that church father Origen argued "Biblical hermeneutics" which is that without the blessings of the holy spirit, the bible with appear confusing and evil to the non-believer.

Origen read the bible, filled with the holy spirit, and castrated himself.

The answer is very simple actually, and is found in the scriptures. Look at Isaiah 45:7, which says, "I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things." Thus, by creating "light", darkness (or the absence of what was created) came into being. God, as an agent of ALL that is good, and as the creator of ALL that is good, when He created that good, caused the absence of that good, or evil, to exist. He didn't "create" evil; it simply exists as the absence of good, or as the absence of God, similar to what some previous posters have already said. This also ties in with the LDS idea that there MUST be an opposition in all things, otherwise, nothing (i.e. no existence) is possible. We can see evidence of this same idea beautifully expressed in science as well: think protons and neutrons; matter and anti-matter; light matter and dark matter; etc. There IS one single truth that ties all of these ideas together. It is when we remove any part of that truth (whether it be the "God" part, or the "science" part) that the whole begins to crumble into nonsense and nothingness.

My understanding of evil, as a liberal Protestant, is that it is a corruption of good. That is to say: lust, the animalistic drive for sexual contact based on appearance alone, is a corruption of love (in the "eros" form) and drives us apart not only from those that we love, but also from God. In fact, as I understand it, the most insidious aspect of evil is the degree to which it convinces the person it is acting on that he or she can exist (or achieve whatever task is set before them at that time) without God. It's not an exterior force with horns or a tail, but it prevents us from hearing the voice inside us that reminds us that God is with us always. I disagree with the idea that it is an independent force-- the literature (from the Bible on) on the topic often provides excellent allegorical studies on how evil is born from good, but perverted.

My understanding of evil, as a liberal Protestant, is that it is a corruption of good. That is to say: lust, the animalistic drive for sexual contact based on appearance alone, is a corruption of love (in the "eros" form) and drives us apart not only from those that we love, but also from God. In fact, as I understand it, the most insidious aspect of evil is the degree to which it convinces the person it is acting on that he or she can exist (or achieve whatever task is set before them at that time) without God. It's not an exterior force with horns or a tail, but it prevents us from hearing the voice inside us that reminds us that God is with us always. I disagree with the idea that it is an independent force-- the literature (from the Bible on) on the topic often provides excellent allegorical studies on how evil is born from good, but perverted.

You misunderstand the non-Mormon Christian understanding of evil. Your statement "humans...brought evil into being by their action" seems inaccurate - how then do you explain the snake in the Garden of Eden? From what I've heard in my husband's Catholic Church, the non-Mormon Christian understanding of evil seems to be identical to the one espoused by the Latter-Day Saints; that is, our capacity for free will is what allows evil to flourish.

This was wonderful. Thank you Katleen. I will Carry these words with me for a long time.

But what if there really was no pony?

To me, it is the behavior of believers (who afterall put Dubya in office) that is proof their belief system is based on Hooey... with no pony.

I would have liked to have seen scripture passages to back this up.

Thank you sister Flake for your eloquent and insightful comments. I hope to see you continue to post often!

Bravo! Very well said!!!