Why are we so Evil?
My day job was at Howard University. Back in the Summer of 2023, we all received an email note from the Department of Public Safety - the campus police. It included the following:
Two students residing in off-campus housing reported being robbed of wallets and other personal property by a Black male. The suspect is described as 5'5" in height, dark complexioned and wearing a black mask.
The email note then gave guidelines to students, faculty, and staff on how to be safe and hopefully avoid such encounters.
Howard University is one of the nation's premier historically black colleges and universities (HBCU). Thus, it is highly probable that the two students who were robbed were black. Many call this a black-on-black crime. If you know me, you know that I am black and I am saddened by what a significant number of young black people in my community are doing with their lives. I hate the lies from Satan about human sexuality, drinking, and marijuana. I hate the lack of control surrounding the normal passions of all humans for sex and fun that easily entangle the young (as well as many of the old!). I am sad by the despair and lostness that many young people - especially young black people, actually endure. I am also saddened by the lack of knowledge and general ignorance many young black people have about how the world really works. This is true about the young, in general. Oh sure, many understand that the history of slavery, Jim Crow, and racism in our country was evil, but to extrapolate that to hating all white people is ridiculous. To be sure, many white Americans lack cultural and social awareness about other cultures but it is a logical fallacy to categorically associate racism with all white people, or any given person based on a general lack of cultural and social awareness of Americans.
Reason 1 - The Fall (Genesis 3)
So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life. (Genesis 3:23-24)
The curse (See Genesis 3:16-19) somehow affected Adam and Eve physically (they would now experience death - which, theologically, is a type of separation, their being banished from God's presence was a type of immediate death), but all of creation was also cursed. As it is written, "Cursed is the ground because of you..."
Reason 2 - Rebellious Watchers Group 1
Most Christians understand Reason 1 as The Fall and tend to see it as the only reason the world has so much crime, evil, pain, and suffering. However, two more incidents impact humanity's tendency to lean towards darkness. Reason 2 is the dividing of the nations in Genesis 11 at what is commonly known as the Tower of Babel. It's subtle, but one should remember that the scattering of the nations based on different languages was a curse. Humanity was arrogantly building this city and this tower/ziggurat to make a name for themselves. They did NOT want to be scattered over the face of the whole earth (Genesis 11:4) In response to this selfish, ego-driven arrogance, God said the following:
If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other. (Genesis 11:7)
Thus, the confusion of the languages and the resulting scattering is also a curse. (By the way, the pronouns in this passage are plural, and so who else God was talking with is debated amongst biblical scholars). What is NOT explained is that in the ancient Near East and the ancient world in general, "gods" were territorial and so with the scattering, God had assigned spiritual beings to oversee various territories. Many years after this incident, Moses warns Israel not to lift up their eyes to the "gods" in the land they will possess. (Deuteronomy 4:19–20). In Psalm 82, God judges these other "gods" because they allowed, maybe even encouraged people to worship them and not worship the one true God most High, Yahweh, the creator of heaven, and earth, the creator of people, and the creator of the other spiritual entities. God says that because these beings did not care for the people in their territory, they would "die like mere mortals, ... fall like every other ruler." (Psalm 82:7)
Thus, these other spiritual beings, these "gods" were not doing what they were supposed to do - watch over and care for the people in their territories. Instead, they wanted to be worshiped as gods, and thus they are being condemned. This is the second reason the world is filled with pain, suffering and sorrow. And now, onto the third and final reason there is so much evil in the world.
Reason 3 - Rebellious Watchers Group 2
There is one final reason man is violent, hate-filled, evil, and sinful toward each other, robbing, raping, enslaving, and killing each other and constantly having bloody and terrible wars. That reason is mentioned in Genesis 6:1-8 but it is very strange. The text explains that the sons of God married the daughters of men who were beautiful and had children who became "the heroes of old, men of renown." (Gen 6:4). These great heroes and men of renown from the very ancient world - remember, this is before the flood of Noah - were half-breed human and "gods" if you accept that "Sons of God" is a reference to angelic or supernatural beings - and I do.
What is amazing is that there are New Testament references to these sons of God doing this thing - marrying and having children with humans, but it's subtle. 2 Peter 2:4-5 makes a reference to this, as the text sequentially places the "angels when they sinned..." right before the flood. Jude, likewise refers to "the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling..." (Jude 1:6) Jude goes so far as to actually reference the book of Enoch (Jude 1:14).
1 Enoch, Section II goes into great detail about this situation. You can download a copy of the text from the website, "https://www.holybooks.com" and read it for yourself here ==> [The Book of Enoch]. Section II starts on page 33 in the PDF. See chapters 6 through 10 add lots of detail to Genesis 11 and the entire flood story. In this text, these beings teach women charms and teach men how to make war. They teach mankind all kinds of things including how to make and wear "bracelets and ornaments, and the use of rouge, and the beautifying of the eye-brows." (1 Enoch 8:1) Amazing!
Now, as a Christian, I do NOT accept Enoch as God's word, and I'm sure Jude didn't either. But I do think there is something very ancient about the narrative, handed down in writings that we don't have and in oral tradition that we don't have. In addition, there are many things in the Bible that we will simply not fully understand. However, there are plenty of things that we can understand, including lying, stealing, robbing, cheating, killing and raping is wrong. We can easily understand that showing love, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and offering grace are all good. We can also know that wisdom must be applied to life because people will take advantage of you if you let them - a reference to the fact - yes, the fact - that human beings can do really evil and terrible things to each other.
Where did Reason 2 and 3 Come from?
These last two theological reasons for pain and suffering, rebellion, crime, hatred and other terrible things - these last two reasons are not talked about in church and are minimized in academic circles. The late Dr. Michael Heiser strongly promoted these other two influences for evil, but many in the academy minimized or even rejected his arguments. Jewish writings from around the year 300 BCE until the time of Christ explained these issues clearly, especially 1st Enoch. In this text, the first part, the Book of the Watchers, we get detailed explanations of the Genesis 6 narrative. The Ethiopic Beta Israel community of Haymanot Jews (or simply Beta Israel) accepts this book as canon - to them, it is a part of sacred scriptures. In addition, The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church also accept 1 Enoch as legitimate scripture.
There are other writings from this same period, specifically, Jubilees where the last part of Jub 4:15 explains that the Watchers were "the angels of the Lord [who] descended on the earth that they should instruct the children of men, and that they should do judgment and uprightness on the earth." However, all the details are in 1 Enoch as referenced above
All of this - Reason 1, 2, and 3 are purely supernatural in essence. Modern non-Christian scholars who reject religion in general, and specifically reject the idea of a supernatural realm see all of this as ancient Jewish mythology. It is put in the same categories as Greek and Roman mythology.
Yet, although the writings may be only from the 3rd century BCE, the stories are much older. Most cultures have creation myths and flood stories. Most cultures have Noah figures and super-men, "heroes of old, men of renown." If Noah's flood actually dates back, say, 100,000 years ago, and not 5,000 BC as some Christians who hold a young-earth creation view believe, then these stories are linked to something that happened in real history a very long time ago, where according to the scriptures, the "gods" may likely have overtly interacted with mankind. It does not sound scientific, and it does not sound comfortable to our modern sensibilities, but according to the Bible, these events occurred at some time in the ancient past.
Conclusion
So then, why are people so evil? Because we were cursed by God through Adam, and now much of life is hard and we don't like that, so we rebel. Not to mention, that curse somehow changed our base nature so that we are bent towards doing bad things - It's like we can't help it! You really don't have to teach a baby to be selfish or greedy - they come by it naturally! As adults, we crave things that our maturity and sensibilities, with a little self control, ensure that we don't act on those cravings. Unfortunately, many people do act on those more base human desires, but we all have the desires, even if they are relatively benign where we want to sleep a bit longer or eat junk food. Then, there are evil forces that in some kind of supernatural way, take advantage of our cursed base nature. These beings wanted to take the place of God. They taught women how to beautify themselves to make men want them, and they taught men how to make war. We have learned the lessons well and we have strong desires that trigger our hearts and our behavior to rob, steal, hurt, fight, and do all manner of evil against each other.
I am convinced that the only hope is Jesus Christ and him crucified. As it is written, "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." (1 Corinthians 1:18) This is "a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade." (1 Peter 1:3-6)
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