Monday, August 21, 2006
When Good Scholarship Goes Bad
I linked to this piece on Saturday, but feel it needs further comment. It's about a UCLA prof that's publishing a book on the Evil One.
Now, I have to confess, there is much about the Christian view of Satan that I find just weird. As the prof points out in excruciating detail, most Christian "thought" on the subject is legendary and extra-scriptural. The Bible is pretty quiet on the guy. But what needs comment is this conclusion the prof draws:
When you get down to it this is an examination, from a different angle, of the old question, "If God is in control and all powerful, how come there are bad things?" This guy essentially concludes that God is all powerful and in control, therefore He is the author of "evil," therefore, evil isn't really evil. Uh-huh, and free will fits into this precisely where? Just because I am in control of the car, doesn't mean I can't let go of the steering wheel and let the car "decide" where to go.
In the end, does the concept of good and evil really rest on the presence of a satanic figure? Most Christians that give it a second thought know that most of what is said and portrayed about the devil is more mythical than scriptural. Catholics have an extremely well-developed mythology, but most Protestants do not and yet most Protestants do understand that there is evil.
I've often thought of Lucifer as our heavenly parallel. He's not the reason I sin, I'm the reason I sin, he just shows me that sin is not limited to humanity.
Now here is the real crux of the issue, regardless of how you arrive at the conclusion, if there is no battle between good and evil - What precisely was the crucifixion and resurrection all about? Was that just God showing off?
Related Tags: Satan, Lucifer, good, evil, Christianity, devil
Now, I have to confess, there is much about the Christian view of Satan that I find just weird. As the prof points out in excruciating detail, most Christian "thought" on the subject is legendary and extra-scriptural. The Bible is pretty quiet on the guy. But what needs comment is this conclusion the prof draws:
"If Satan isn't really in opposition to God and he isn't really evil, then that means the fight between good and evil isn't an authentic part of Christianity," Kelly said. "What I'm saying will be scandalous to some people."Here is his reasoning, in a nutshell:
"A strict reading of the Bible shows Satan to be less like Darth Vader and more and more like an overzealous prosecutor," said Kelly, a UCLA professor emeritus of English and the former director of the university's Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies. "He's not so much the proud and angry figure who turns away from God as [he is] a Joseph McCarthy or J. Edgar Hoover. Satan's basic intention is to uncover wrongdoing and treachery, however overzealous and unscrupulous the means. But he's still part of God's administration."Now, my readng on this subject is pretty limited, but this is just unbelievable. The devil was , in fact, an "overzealous prosecutor" - he sought to use God's power over God's grace and our freedom - but to make the assertion that such makes him "not evil" is a leap I cannot see justified.
When you get down to it this is an examination, from a different angle, of the old question, "If God is in control and all powerful, how come there are bad things?" This guy essentially concludes that God is all powerful and in control, therefore He is the author of "evil," therefore, evil isn't really evil. Uh-huh, and free will fits into this precisely where? Just because I am in control of the car, doesn't mean I can't let go of the steering wheel and let the car "decide" where to go.
In the end, does the concept of good and evil really rest on the presence of a satanic figure? Most Christians that give it a second thought know that most of what is said and portrayed about the devil is more mythical than scriptural. Catholics have an extremely well-developed mythology, but most Protestants do not and yet most Protestants do understand that there is evil.
I've often thought of Lucifer as our heavenly parallel. He's not the reason I sin, I'm the reason I sin, he just shows me that sin is not limited to humanity.
Now here is the real crux of the issue, regardless of how you arrive at the conclusion, if there is no battle between good and evil - What precisely was the crucifixion and resurrection all about? Was that just God showing off?
Related Tags: Satan, Lucifer, good, evil, Christianity, devil
