This post has been on my mind to write for nearly 2 years. It is the product of many hours of reflection, and a lot of prayer. It speaks with finality — by that I mean, this is something you can count on, it is a certainty, it is sure to happen… indeed, it will happen. And never has there been a time more rife with warning signs as our day and age.
About 2 months ago I began the final stages to the posting of this serial conclusion. I posted up two posts, back to back, regarding what the Bible calls “Evil.” I followed those two posts with a re-posting of the original 4 chapters of this topic.
Regarding the posts on what the Bible calls “Evil”, I chose English as my language, not the original Hebrew or Greek — I just wanted to keep it simple. I chose the NIV as my biblical standard simply because it is the most common version of our day and it is the version I am most familiar with. I chose to avoid pulling in extraneous words like “Wicked” or “Vile” or “Despised” — and I looked to define every single passage that used (in English) the term “Evil” in some manner…. by the simplest of hermeneutics, namely: What is the simple context of the passage. No historical setting, no review of the totality of Scripture, no grammatical setting…. none of the myriads of manners by which a proper interpretation could be rendered.
Thus it was just me, a bible, and nothing more. All comments that were posted were simply pulled from surrounding context of the passage. No commentaries, not scholarly reviews… just my simple comments.
The Old Testament was dealt with in this post: Link here. And the New Testament was dealt with in this post: Link here. Judgement comes Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 , Part 3.5 and Part 4 respectively linked.
I did all that on purpose. I wanted to know what the Bible said was “E-V-I-L” and I wanted to understand it on the most basic level. The same way any child or adult could conclude under a similar basic reading.
I did all this on purpose because —- today, the only thing we view as “Evil” are serial killers and people like Adolf Hitler.
SIDE NOTE: As part of the research for this post, I subjected myself to nearly 30 hours of documentaries on Serial Killers, looking to understand just how the world views “Evil”. Ironically, though nearly every serial killer I reviewed was at some point called “Evil” by someone — many were simply seen as misguided or misdirected or some other psychological term which would thus excuse them of their actions. “My parents made me do it.” Really… they told you to plunge the knife into someone?
“The parents eat bitter grapes and sets the children’s teeth on edge” (Jeremiah 31:29) was a proverb in Israel that God specifically despised…. Each man shall be judged for HIS OWN ACTIONS, was God’s reply then (Jeremiah 31:30)…. just what do you think God would say today when we similarly say “My parents were to blame“?
Anyway, the world views only people like Adolf Hitler and Jeffrey Dahlmer as “Evil”…. and only these sort of people…. and nothing could be farther from the truth.
Let me give you two statements from Jesus…. and draw a simple conclusion.
If you, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more so will your Father in Heaven give good gifts to those who ask of him? (Matthew 7:11 NIV)
This is the verdict: Light came into the world but men preferred the darkness because their deeds are evil. (John 3:19 NIV)
Simple conclusion: Jesus viewed mankind as evil. Is that so large a leap?
And yet when I first started to run with this post 2 years ago, a “Christian” argued with me here on Xanga that obviously either I was wrong in my conclusion, or Jesus statement was wrong in it’s interpretation…. cause men are basically good. (Comments section of this post from October 2011)
(As an aside regarding this topic, one could likewise turn to Romans 3:10-18, Jeremiah 17:9-10, Psalms 51:5 and a whole host of other bible verses to draw the same conclusion — to a Calvinist, this is simply the Total Depravity of man, in a nutshell.)
All of what I just said is merely the introduction on what led into my review of “what does the bible call evil” before I could write this post.
Look around you.
I mean it…. Look at the TV shows you watch, the Hollywood movies you watch, the books you read, the music you listen to (not Christian music, but secular), the conversations you overhear at work, or with friends, or with others…. look around you and ask yourself if you’ve ever once heard the following things called “evil.”
Greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance, adultery, murder, theft, sexual immorality, prostitution, sorcery, witchcraft, boasting, slander, civil disobedience, disobeying your parents, foul or coarse language…… just to list a few….
On TV, in music and in modern fiction novels, almost every one of these things are used as the normal state of human existence. You’ll find people having sexual relations with just about anyone. You’ll find adultery, greed, arrogance, envy, witchcraft, and a fair number of other things on that list — showing up in almost every aspect of media (Print, audio or visual) as something normal, something OK, something banal. George Carlin can make humor of foul language — and people laugh… because what once was considered foul, now is commonplace, mundane, in regular use.
I am not singling out the Western Hemisphere on this one… sadly, this is now a global matter. But it is precisely this aspect of things which God pronounces his harshest judgments — indeed, He has torn apart kingdoms, leveled nations, displaced rulers and authorities, burned entire cities to the ground and even once exacted universal condemnation on the entire world…… because men have reversed what is evil with what is good and pursued evil with wholehearted abandon. (Genesis 6:11-12)
Woe to those who call evil good
and good evil,
who put darkness for light
and light for darkness,
who put bitter for sweet
and sweet for bitter.
Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes
and clever in their own sight.
Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine
and champions at mixing drinks,
who acquit the guilty for a bribe,
but deny justice to the innocent.
Therefore, as tongues of fire lick up straw
and as dry grass sinks down in the flames,
so their roots will decay
and their flowers blow away like dust;
for they have rejected the law of the Lord Almighty
and spurned the word of the Holy One of Israel. (Isaiah 5:20-24)
Isaiah was writing about Judah and Israel, he might as well have been looking down the corridors of time at our age. You can compare this to Paul writing to Timothy —
You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that! (2 Timothy 3:1-5)
and see that Paul also seemed to think that a time would come when men would love evil more than they would pursue things good. Men would reverse the natural for the unnatural and reject entirely all things that pertain to God and godliness.
Within Christian circles it is often cited that the Homosexual revolution is a direct condemnation from God on people bent on doing evil things. It is said that this is God abandoning these men over to their debased / deprived natures and giving them over to their sins. Romans 1 is the favored passage in making this reference clear. Yet…..
One of the points that is regularly missed, though, when Christians plot out or read through Romans 1, esp. that part which deals with condemnation (1:21-32), is that this is humanity as a collective whole that Paul is talking about. This is not individuals on a person to person level, this is the course of a whole nation turning it’s back collectively on God. Thus…. when homosexuality, lesbianism, or general debauchery becomes the normative standard within a society or nation…. when men no longer call these things evil, but rather pursue them with whole-hearted abandon… THAT is when judgment falls upon that nation or government.
It’s precisely when men choose evil over good — collectively — that God abandons men over to their passions and gives them up to depraved minds. God may yet do this to individuals who spite him, but the bent of this passage is to show the downward spiral of a society that has uniformly turned it’s back on God and started calling “evil” things “good”.
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men (Greek Term: anthrōpōn from which we get “Anthropology. Used here and again in Verse 23. Collective term, used regarding all of Humanity. Every pronoun that thus follows collectively refers to all of mankind, as well as individual men, in all times and all eras), who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.
Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.
And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them. (Romans 1:21-32)
Look around you today. Look at the bent of our nation — indeed of every nation in the world today… Even Taiwan was “gay pride” parades and tolerance laws… and you’ll find that we’ve dangerously crossed that line wherein things God calls “Evil” men now call “Good”.
When a nation confuses Good and Evil… not when individuals do so, but when an entire nation does so… it’s a sure indication that God’s judgment is dangerously close.
Look around you today…..
What do you see?
All these things which God labels “Evil” are affronts to God’s holiness. This is why Proverbs often calls them “Abominations”. We thumb our noses to God’s standard of holiness and instead revel in foul pollution pretending we’re the emperor in his new clothes. All of today’s era can be summed up thus: “God’s law be damned… he made me this way and I’m gonna live however I want.“ (Judges 21:25)
But here’s a final nail to this coffin.
Remember back to the opening two verses where Jesus calls mankind’s natural bent “Evil.” Ask yourself this — do you see YOURSELF as “evil”? Do you understand what Jesus is talking about when he makes that proclamation? Do you see that every act that you put your hand to is defiled by your corrupted human nature? Even your worship? Even your “good deeds”? Do you view yourself as Jesus viewed you, indeed viewed all of humanity. Or do you see yourself as basically good…. just occasionally doing “bad” things.
When was the last time you heard anyone around you label themselves as “evil”… and not as the butt end of a joke?
The Holy Spirit transforms us, indeed, but even one as mighty as Paul counted all those things he once viewed as “Valuable”, as things worth putting confidence in, instead as worthless “Dung” before God. (Philippians 3:3-9) His self-view wasn’t “I’m OK, you’re OK.” — Paul saw that “In me dwells not one good thing.” (Romans 7:8) and rightly understood that “apart from (Christ) (I) can do nothing.” (John 15:5)
Mankind is evil. We just don’t believe it. And today Christianity has bought into the lie that basically we’re all “good people”, thus denying the truth that God and Christ spell out plainly to us. We’re not buying it… because we think we’re pretty decent….
When men call that which is evil, good….
It’s not merely the actions we do or the sins we participate in…. it comes right down to a proper view of humanity as a whole and our selves in particular. It comes down to agreeing with God or disagreeing with God… and when the bent of the entire world is to spit in the face of a holy God…
When men call that which is evil, good…. even down to their very selves…
Judgment is right around the corner… because a “good man” has nothing to repent of.
I thank you, God, that I am not a sinner like everyone else. (Luke 18:11 — prayer of the Pharisee)
Judgment…. comes.
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