“For good to exist, there must be evil – otherwise how would we recognise good

when it happened?”

Why do we have evil

and suffering in our world?

Where does evil come

from?

There are 3 explanations you’ll need to know for the exam

1.1. The DevilThe Devil

2.2. A forceA force

3.3. A psychological phenomenonA psychological phenomenon

1. Christians

believe that there

is a force of evil that

goes against

everything God

represents.

He is called… Satan Devil Prince of

Darkness The Deceiver Beelzebub Lucifer Prince of Hell The evil one Old Nick The enemy Antichrist

Belial The Dragon Leviathan Ruler of this

world Unclean spirit

Satan is totally opposed to God and everything that God

stands for.

He is jealous of humans and wishes to destroy us using

our own weaknesses and sin.

He convinces us that our own way is

better than God’s.

Satan can take on any form.

Lucifer to Satan

God created angels with free will. Lucifer was his most perfect

angel but was jealous of human and ambitious.

He began a rebellion in heaven and

turned many angels against God.

Lucifer transformed himself into ‘Satan’ (the accuser) and launched a war

in heaven.

  By accusation, lies and deception, he intended to bring

God down and destroy Him

In his anger, God cast Satan out of

heaven where he fell like lightning to rule

over this world.

Christians believe that here, Satan

tempts people to sin then overwhelms

them with shame and

discouragement.

“Get thee behind me, Satan!”

The Bible says that Christ was temptedby the devil in His mission to savethe world – Christians believethis story shows that we can all

come under the devil’sspell.

The movie line, "Never underestimate the power of the Dark Side," wasn't far off the mark.  The Bible puts it this way:  "Your enemy the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour."

Summing up No. 1Summing up No. 1

Christians believe in a powerful, evil being called the devil.

The devil causes evil in our world and is the constant enemy of God and mankind.

Some problems with this theory . . .

If God is GOOD, why does He allow the devil free reign over earth?

If God is OMNIPOTENT (all powerful), why doesn’t He just crush the devil?

ALSO … The Christian idea of Satan has largelycome from early Christian missionaries trying towipe out Paganism. (see following slide)

The Pagan god, Pan

had hoofed feet and was half

goat.

Christians accused

anyone who worshipped Pan of being

a devil worshipper.

You can see the

similarities with

images of the devil.

2. Evil is a force

Many people believe that evil is a

spiritual force.

Humans can use their spiritual power for good or for evil.

We can choose which force to

follow.

Since evil is 'done' by human beings, it is up to each of them to eliminate evil. Evil acts are committed by choice. We are free to choose not to do evil.

God gave human beings the 'gift' of free will. Human beings choose to use this gift for good or for evil.

3. Evil is a psychological phenomenonThis idea is that some people have an imbalance in their mind from birth.

These can be inherited or simply triggered through events in childhood.

When a person is so mentally unbalanced that they perform evil deeds, we must look at the root causes of their problem.

We will nearly always find that they themselves have been the victims of evil or abuse.

So what’s the answer to evil?

ONLY good can destroy evil.

God works through PEOPLE, not magic wands or thunder bolts.

People can defeat evil with their own goodness – if they use their FREE WILL to choose to do so.