As far as I know we just don't have any intrinsic instincts for
evil. Abraham Maslow
Slide 7
Slide 8
The gas chambers of Auschwitz were the ultimate consequence of
the theory that man is nothing but the product of heredity and
environment, or as the Nazi liked to say of blood and soil. I am
absolutely convinced that the gas chambers of Auschwitz were
ultimately prepared not in some ministry of defense in Berlin, but
rather at the desks and lecture halls of Nihilistic scientists and
philosophers. - Victor Franko
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Old Testament Survey on Moral Evil "Then the Lord saw that the
wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of
the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. (Genesis 6:5)
The fool has said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt,
they have committed abominable deeds; There is no one who does
good. The Lord has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men To
see if there are any who understand, Who seek after God. They have
all turned aside, together they have become corrupt; There is no
one who does good, not even one. (Psalm 14:1-3) "Behold, I was
brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me.
(Psalm 51:5) "Indeed, there is not a righteous man on earth who
continually does good and who never sins. (Ecclesiastes 7:20)
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I do not find thatevil is inherent in human nature Carl
Rogers
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New Testament Survey on Moral Evil For out of the heart come
evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false
witness, slanders. (Matthew 15:19) "for all have sinned and fall
short of the glory of God, (Romans 3:23) "Therefore, just as
through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin,
and so death spread to all men, because all sinned (Romans 5:12)
"If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the
truth is not in us. (1 John 1:8)
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Did Jesus Think Mankind was Evil?
Slide 13
If each one of us is born without a sinful nature, how do we
account for the universality of sin? If four billion people were
born with no inclination to sin, with no corruption to their
nature, we would reasonably expect that at least some of them would
refrain from falling.... But if everybody does it, without
exception, then we begin to wonder why. - R. C. Sproul
Slide 14
The doctrine of original sin is the only empirically verifiable
doctrine of the Christian faith. - Reinhold Niebuhr
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Ev il ?
Slide 16
The words image, appearance, and outwardly are crucial to
understanding the morality of the evil. While they seem to lack any
motivation to be good, they intensely desire to appear good. Their
goodness is on a level of pretense. It is, in effect, a lie. This
is why they are the people of the lie. - M. Scott Peck People of
the Lie
Slide 17
Is Evil a Genetic Defect? John Wayne Gacy was put to death by
lethal injection in the early morning hours of May 10, 1994 for the
rape and murder of 33 young men and boys, 29 of whom he buried in
the crawl space beneath his own Chicago home between the years of
1972 and 1978. After his death, he was delivered into the hands of
Dr. Helen Morrison to perform a very unique autopsy. Dr. Morrison
had previously interviewed Gacy, along with many other serial
killers, in an attempt to isolate personality traits that were
common among such ruthless murderers. Now at the request of Gacys
family, Dr. Morrison was going to remove the brain of the notorious
serial killer in hopes of discovering some sort of physical
abnormality that would provide answers for why Gacy destroyed so
many innocent lives.
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"He is a serial killer when he is a fetus, even as soon as
sperm meets egg to create the genes of a new person Dr. Helen
Morrison
Slide 19
Is Evil a Genetic Defect?
Slide 20
One of the most disturbing facts that came out in the Eichmann
trial was that a psychiatrist examined him and pronounced him
perfectly sane. We equate sanity with a sense of justice, with
humaneness, with prudence, with the capacity to love and understand
other people.... And now it begins to dawn on us that it is
precisely the sane ones who are the most dangerous. -Thomas
Merton
Slide 21
Total or Radical Depravity
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Radical Depravity Effects
Slide 23
We are the wild animal. - G. K. Chesterton
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Ev il ?
Slide 25
A Monsters Conclusion
Slide 26
That children generally lie and steal and cheat is routinely
observable. The fact that sometimes they grow up to become truly
honest adults is what seems the more remarkable. Laziness is more
the rule than diligence. If we seriously think about it, it
probably makes more sense to assume this is a naturally evil world
that has somehow been mysteriously contaminated by goodness, rather
than the other way around. - M. Scott Peck People of the Lie
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Rousseaus Conclusion
Slide 28
Man Created in Gods Good Image "Then God said, Let Us make man
in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the
fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle
and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps
on the earth. God created man in His own image, in the image of God
He created him; male and female He created them. (Genesis
1:26-27)
Slide 29
Man Falls in the Garden of Eden The Lord God commanded the man,
saying, From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from
the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for
in the day that you eat from it you will surely die. (Genesis
2:1617) When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and
that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable
to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave
also to her husband with her, and he ate. (Genesis 3:6)
Slide 30
The primal sin in humanity consisted in putting the knowledge
of good and evil before the knowledge of God. Dietrich
Bonhoeffer
Slide 31
Fallen Man begets Fallen Man
Slide 32
"Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother
conceived me. (Psalm 51:5)
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Moral Evil Begins its Journey So it came about in the course of
time that Cain brought an offering to the Lord of the fruit of the
ground. Abel, on his part also brought of the firstlings of his
flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel
and for his offering; but for Cain and for his offering He had no
regard. So Cain became very angry and his countenance fell. Then
the Lord said to Cain, Why are you angry? And why has your
countenance fallen? If you do well, will not your countenance be
lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door;
and its desire is for you, but you must master it. Cain told Abel
his brother. And it came about when they were in the field, that
Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him. (Genesis
4:38)
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www.confidentchristians.org Ev il ?
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www.confidentchristians.org [Lets say] youve been rock climbing
and have sustained injuries to your knee. You mention it to a
physician friend, who predicts the pain will leave of its own
accord. Meanwhile, he says, theres nothing he can do, short of
amputating your leg above the knee to remove the pain, Now the pain
in your knee is an evil state of affairs. And it is within the
power of your friend to eliminate this evil. Does his failure to do
so mean that he is not a good person? Of course not; for he could
eliminate this evil only by bringing about another, much worse
evil. - Alvin Plantinga
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www.confidentchristians.org It is entirely possible that a good
person fail to eliminate an evil state of affairs that he knows
about and can eliminate. This would take place, if, as in the
present example, he couldnt eliminate the evil without bringing
about a greater evil. - Alvin Plantinga
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www.confidentchristians.org Such is the generosity of Gods
goodness that He has not refrained from creating even that creature
which He foreknew would not only sin, but remain in the will to
sin. As a runaway horse is better than a stone which does not run
away because it lacks self- movement and sense perception, so the
creature is more excellent which sins by free will than that which
does not sin only because it has no free will. - Augustine
Slide 38
www.confidentchristians.org The Worlds God Could Have Made This
world may not be the best possible world; it may be the best way to
get to the best possible world
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www.confidentchristians.org If only there were evil people
somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds and it were necessary
only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the
line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human
being. And who wants to destroy a piece of his own heart? -
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Slide 40
www.confidentchristians.org Ev il ?
Slide 41
www.confidentchristians.org Step 1: Be Born Again Jesus
answered and said to him, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is
born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus said to Him,
How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time
into his mothers womb and be born, can he? Jesus answered, Truly,
truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he
cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the
flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do
not be amazed that I said to you, You must be born again. The wind
blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know
where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is
born of the Spirit. (John 3:38)
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www.confidentchristians.org
Slide 43
Can Sin now vs. Cant Sin now
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www.confidentchristians.org Step 2: The Glorified New Body So
also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body,
it is raised an imperishable body; it is sown in dishonor, it is
raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it
is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is
a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. (1 Corinthians
15:4244) Just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we will
also bear the image of the heavenly. (1 Corinthians 15:49) Beloved,
now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we
will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because
we will see Him just as He is. (1 John 3:2)
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www.confidentchristians.org Step 3: The New Heavens and Earth
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the
heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be
destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be
burned up. (2 Peter 3:10) And He who sits on the throne said,
Behold, I am making all things new. And He said, Write, for these
words are faithful and true. (Revelation 21:5)
Slide 46
www.confidentchristians.org Conclusions If God were to wipe
evil completely off the map, He would have to remove us as well To
remove evil would be to remove human choice and freedom Being evil
means we are radically depraved; it goes to the core of our being
The cure for moral evil is to be born again by the Spirit of God,
receive a glorified new body, and be free of the corrupted
world