Evil and the Light of Christ

Logging onto a public computer at work can sometimes be an interesting experience. Today I made sure that some photos of someone's waterbirth were promptly removed (why on earth would anyone leave these on a public computer?) but also came across a little gem I couldn't resist sharing with you. It was a powerpoint file entitled "Does Evil Exist?" consisting of a slideshow of incredible photography (example above) by a "Marcel Cohen." Even more interesting was the narration using a little fictional(?) story that went something like this:

Does evil exist?

The university professor challenged his students with this question: "Did God create everything that exists?"

A student bravely replied, "Yes, he did!"

"God created everything?" The professor asked.

"Yes, sir," the student replied.

The professor answered, "If God created everything, then God created evil, since evil exists, and according to the principal that our works define who we are then God
is evil."

The student became quiet before such an answer. The professor was quite pleased with himself and boasted to the students that he had proven once more that the Christian faith was a myth.

Another student raised his hand and said, "Can I ask you a question professor?"

"Of course", replied the professor. The student stood up and asked, "Professor, does cold exist?"

"What kind of question is this? Of course it exists. Have you never been cold?" The students snickered at the young man's question.

The young man replied, "In fact sir, cold does not exist. According to the laws of physics, what we consider cold is in reality the absence of heat. Everybody and every object is susceptible to study when it has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body or matter have or transmit energy. Absolute zero (- 460 degrees F) is the total absence of heat; all matter becomes inert and incapable of reaction at that temperature. Cold does not exist. We have created this word to describe how we feel if we have too little heat."

The student continued. "Professor, does darkness exist?"

The professor responded, "Of course it does".

The student replied, "Once again you are wrong sir, darkness does not exist either. Darkness is in reality the absence of light. Light we can study, but not darkness. In fact we can use Newton's prism to break white light into many colors and study the various wavelengths of each color. You cannot measure darkness. A simple ray of light can break into a world of darkness and illuminate it. How can you know how dark a certain space is? You measure the amount of light present. Isn't this correct? Darkness is a term used by man to describe what happens when there is no light present."

Finally the young man asked the professor. "Sir, does evil exist?"

Now uncertain, the professor responded, "Of course, as I have already said. We see it every day. It is in the daily example of man's inhumanity to man. It is in the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world. These manifestations are nothing else but evil."

To this the student replied, "Evil does not exist sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is not like faith, or love, that exist just as does light and heat. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God's love present in his heart. It's like the cold that comes when there is no heat or the darkness that comes when there is no light."

The professor sat down.

Strangely enough, this story has been reproduced with the closing line "The student's name was Albert Einstein" which is one of those internet myths that is, of course, a silly rumour. I like this story particularly because it touches on people's anxiety and fear towards religion. They feel that it is ridiculous to suppose that there can be anything truly good about life from their own bitter experiences. Many eastern philosophies which have become popular in our contemporary culture explain the world away in terms of Ying and Yang - that there are always opposing forces in nature, and many extend this to assume God cannot be an absolute good.

This logic is flawed, and the above analogies help to explain why. I particularly like the use of light to explain how evil is the darkness where God's light does not shine. It resonates in me with allusions to the opening chapter of St. John's Gospel, read at the end of every Traditional Latin Mass:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him: and without him was made nothing that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to give testimony of the light, that all men might believe through him. He was not the light, but was to give testimony of the light. That was the true light, which enlighteneth every man that cometh into this world.

He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, he gave them power to be made the sons of God, to them that believe in his name. Who are born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as it were of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

This Gospel, and particularly these opening words, convicted me so strongly when I first read them, that I came fully into a practising Faith in the Church. St. John's Gospel is not a mere account of the life of Christ, it is the "Beloved Disciple" recalling, at an old age, those events which shaped his youth and changed his life forever.

All the rich symbolism and sacramental character of events has been exposed to St. John upon writing his account. Having led a life of sharing in Christ's sufferings, he reflects with eyes that have been privileged to see the greatest Revelation, recounted in the Book of the Apocalypse. He writes with such love and poetic understanding that it was enough to completely bowl over my cynical agnosticism and force me into a making a decision for or against Christ and His Church.

If you have never read the Gospel of John, then I challenge you to do so; you will not fail to be moved!