Where did Christian beliefs about evil come from?

Answer 1

Evil began when the world was created. Before the first man ever even sinned, we saw the existence of evil in the temptation of Eve. This type of evil comes from the devil. The devil, according to the Bible, is the fountainhead of all unbelief and all moral and spiritual evil in the world. All evil comes from him and is expressed through us as well as through circumstances that occur such as disease, famine, etc. Many believe that the devil is not an actual being, that he is merely a personification of evil. However, this would mean that evil had no source other than God, who created everything. In a sense, God did create evil, but it was all in the plan, thought up by God before the foundations of the world were ever laid, to save us all from it. God used that evil from the devil to show his awesome love for us and to save us through his son Jesus. Therefore, there must be a personal being from whom all of the evil in the world streams. God may punish us for our sins, as a father punishes his child, but he would never create such evil as is seen in the world simply for our destruction, as The Bible teaches that God truly does want us to be happy. Punishment from God is not evil, though most would see it that way. Our God is a wrathful God, and this is to be feared by believers, but is not to be considered evil.

Christianity teaches that the devil is a fallen angel. He was originally at the throne of God serving him in Heaven. God had created may of these angels, and they all had great wisdom and strength. They also had free will and decision-making abilities. They were fully able to reject God's will and rebel against him at any time. After some time, Satan became prideful and jealous of God. He refused to submit to the will of God and relied on self-sufficiency. These are the roots of all human sin on earth as well, and therefore the root of earthly evil.

The existence of evil is really very essential for our salvation. What would we be saved from if there was no evil? In the beginning, Adam and Eve surely loved God because He was all they knew, but did they truly realize their need for Him until after they sinned? After Adam and Eve experienced evil and sinned for the first time, they realized that they were unworthy of God's love, just as all of us are. This caused them to feel a greater need for his forgiveness and salvation. So in a way, while the devil is most definitely not a pleasant creature, we can thank God for him, that he forces us to grow stronger in and closer to God, makes us realize our deep need for Christ, and appreciate our salvation in Him and our victory over the devil.

There are few greater feelings than that of victory over something that you have been constantly battling. Humans thrive on victory. If you are a Christian, you can stand in renewed victory every day knowing that you have conquered the devil through Christ! You will not need any other earthly form of victory if you have this.

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

James 4:7

Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.

Ephesians 6:11

As far as I am concerned, there is no better victory than over evil itself. Without this victory over evil that Jesus has accomplished for us, we would probably begin to place our hope in something else. Why would we ever put our hope in Christ for salvation if there was no evil in the world? We would surly begin to place all our hope in ourselves, as most other World Religions do. The evil in the world helps us to realize that we are, in fact, completely powerless without God. Again, this may sound crazy, but thanking God for something in your life that seems terrible is not such a far off thing to consider. These are the things that really strengthen our faith, for it is when we are at our lowest points that we see God most clearly.

Answer 2

According to the Christian faith, God made evil or at least allowed it to form because without it there wouldn't be a 'choice'. We wouldn't be able to effectively choose God if there wasn't an alternative.

Answer 3

There has always been evil and the world, and to that extent, Christianity is realistic in accepting it. Christians have tried to explain evil, believing that it is the work of Satan. In Judaism, Satan is not really evil, but is the loyal assistant of God, tasked with testing the righteousness of the faithful. The Jewish concept of Satan appeared during the Babylonian Exile and could arguably have come from the Zoroastrian religion of the Persian liberators. If so, Judaism did not formally accept the Zoroastrian notion of Satan as an evil adversary of God, but this could be the source of the Christian view.

Saint Augustine developed the concept of original sin, and held that man was inherently bad.

Answer 4

Most religions have their demons, but only four major religions have had a real Devil. These are Zoroastrianism, ancient Hebrew religion (but not modern Judaism), Christianity and Islam.

The Mesopotamian world was filled with hostile demons. There were demons of plagues, nightmares, windstorms, drought, warfare, and every human ill. Such demons were everywhere, and people had to protect themselves by enlisting the aid of a more powerful spirit: "The man who has no god as he walks in the street, the demon covers him as a garment."

The early Christians associated all the pagan deities with demons, but Pan more than others. Pan was feared for his association with the wilderness, the favourite haunt of hostile spirits, and for his sexuality. The Middle Ages were a time of heightened superstition, when Christians saw evil spirits all around them and feared for their influence in this life and the next.

Most importantly, evil spirits come from our minds. Humans choose to believe in spirits and choose to attribute the power of evil to them, no matter what the evidence to the contrary.

Answer 5

1 John 5:19 says that "the whole world is lying in the power of the wicked one". So the evil that we see originates from the wicked one or Satan the Devil.