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The Christian worldview is the only way of life that gives a cogent and consistent explanation for the cause and persistence of evil in the world. Eastern religions, with their doctrine of reincarnation, should by now, it would seem, have improved the lot of most of their kind, by successive reincarnations into higher states of goodness. Islam, insisting that sharia law is the way to a just society, has been able to persuade almost no one that this is true, except those it manages to cow at the point of a sword. Marxism? We know where that’s been filed. Materialistic secularism? Reference Hitler, Stalin, Mao. Pragmatic capitalism? Do the words greed, corruption, oppression, and the like ring familiar? Postmodernism? Sorry, but postmodernism, on its own terms, can’t explain anything. None of these worldviews – each of which either assumes or teaches that it can overcome the evil of the world – only adds to it, without the bridling power of a Presence none of them recognizes, but to which all them yield.
So how does the Christian worldview account for the evil in the world? We know the answer: evil entered through the devil’s temptation of our first parents, and it continues to spread and take root wherever his lying, deceitful alternatives to God’s truth are embraced and obeyed. The evil of sin affects the whole cosmos, which groans under the burden of evil, waiting for the sons and daughters of God to liberate it from sin’s baleful effects (Rom. 8:20, 21). Evil invades every human system – politics, family life, commerce, industry, international affairs – and plants the seeds of self-interest, greed, and violence wherever it can. Evil corrupts the arts, derails education, undermines relationships, and even hinders the work of the Church.
Spiritual forces of wickedness in high places wage unremitting warfare against unsuspecting or unguarded human beings, presenting that which is contrary to the good and perfect will of God as most desirable and to be gained at any cost. Sin cannot be eradicated by more education, economic reforms, or political schemes; it perseveres in the human soul and, unless supplanted by the good seed of the Kingdom, will overgrow, strangle, and destroy everything in its path. Evil must be uprooted, and this is what the Gospel of the Kingdom does as the good seed of the Kingdom seek that realm in every aspect of their lives and proclaim it boldly and without apology to every lost soul.
This, in fact, is why there is not more evil in the world. Jesus Christ has bound the strong man, and He and the good seed who grow up into His image are advancing the rule of righteousness, peace, and joy with ineluctable force, and not even the counsels of hell can prevail against them (Matt. 12:22-29; 16:18).
Yes, there are abundant tares in the Lord’s wheat field. They take root wherever the good seed of the Kingdom yields ground or fails to occupy it with deep roots. For the greatest cause of the continuing increase of evil in the world is the inexplicable lethargy and the faulty worldview of the putative followers of Jesus Christ. The apostle John insisted that the darkness of sin and evil was retreating before the advancing light of the Good News of the Kingdom of God (1 Jn. 2:8, 17). If this is not true in our lives, cultures, and societies, if instead we wring our hands at the continuing advance of immoral, indecent, wicked schemes and people, it can only be because the good seeds of the Kingdom have yielded the ground to evil or are stunted in their growth by failing to take deep root and strain, strain daily toward the true Light of the world.
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Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture references are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Good morning and Praise the Lord. I am trying to get the PDF series so much evil by T. M. Moore. The link for the series is no longer available cna you email me the series or send me the link. I want to thank you also for all the hard work you do on behalf of the Christian Community.
Charles Austin
Pattern of History
Charles Austin makes this comment
2010-03-23 06:13:34