The Good and Evil

(Part 1)

Get rid of the evil we will instruct us and practicing Christian charity. The study will allow us to discern what is in accordance with the laws of God and what is not
 

1.            INTRODUCTION

Since the most ancient times, man has been questioned about the existence of evil. In this small study will seek to explain the different explanations given to the question of evil throughout history, showing that the difficulty of being human to understand it was due to the lack of a prior understanding of how we had been and why of life, understanding this which the Doctrine came to offer. 

2.            THE MYTH OF ADAM AND EVE 

According to the biblical book of Genesis, the couple lived in the primeval Garden of Eden, where he was happy and carefree, having been seen in all their needs by divine providence. However, the myth that God had forbidden Adam and Eve to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, telling them that if they did, they would die (Gen 2:17). It turns out that when Adam and Eve tasted the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, they were not killed by God in the strict sense of the verb to kill. They were, rather, expelled from Eden and forced to "eat the bread by the sweat of their brow." 

The interpretation of the myth is clear in the light of Spiritism, as expounded in our article Adam and Eve, published by International Magazine of Spiritism, in October 2004. The souls that animated the humanoids living the happy lives of other beings of the animal kingdom, living with them in the harmony of nature, each species evolved in its own way, interacting with others and developing their emotional and rational intelligence. When the moral conscience of these souls reached maturity, they become spirits, entering the human’s realm. What is the maturity of conscience but the knowledge of good and evil, the fruit of the forbidden tree, according to the myth of the primeval couple? 

Having entered the human’s realm, the souls, turned into spirits, began to submit to the Law of Causality, becoming responsible for their actions. The loss of innocence is represented in the myth of Adam and Eve by conditioning the evolution of the need of work, food obtained "by the sweat of the brow." The evolution in the animal kingdom does not depend on merit, since the species do not have a mature conscience. Humans, however, is responsible for their actions, only to evolve, so their improvement efforts in the light of knowledge of good and evil have purchased. 

3.            MANICHAEISM 

The name "Manichaeism" derives from the fact that this religion was created by a philosopher named Mani, who lived in Persia (now Iran) in the second century and who said he received it from an angel who had visited. The Manichaeism was one of the major religions of the region of ancient Persia (now Iran) and has a dualistic view of the world, whose domain, for it was in eternal conflict between two opposing forces, good and evil. Although extinct in its original form since the thirteenth century, Manichaeism religion still survives as a small scale under the name of neo-Manichaeism. 

However, in spite of Manichaeism, as a religion, find themselves today restricted to small communities around the world, the dualistic view of reality that he preaches is far from having disappeared, having been found present in various moments of history from ancient remote until our century and in all cultures. Manichean are all views that reduce any aspect of life to pairs of opposing ideas and views as mutually exclusive, such as: 

- In politics, "right" is placed in opposition to "Left"; 

- In religion, "true" is set up against "infidel", "pure" to "impure", "sinner" to "holy", "good" to "evil" and "saved" to "damned." 

- Social relations: "white" is placed in opposition to "black", "superior" to "low", "rabble" to "elite", and so on. 

Sectarian religions are Manichean when they teach that the individual or the following or is condemned to hell. Both the foreign policy of the U.S. government in relation to Al-Qaeda and the Al-Qaeda in the United States were political Manichean, like so many before had been throughout history, the cause or the pretext of war, persecution and all sort of violence among men. 

The existence of opposites is what characterizes the Manichaeism, a dualistic view of the world, but the belief that such opposites are in perpetual struggle and that are irreconcilable and mutually exclusive forever, leaving no room for differences, which are by everywhere and are visible to all those who have eyes to see. 

In the words of psychoanalyst and teacher Raymundo de Lima: "Manichaeism does not hold for long, because of its dogmatism, that is, their inability to put to the test of reality or logic, its truths simplified. As your thinking is reduced to a pair of antagonistic truths, accepting the reasoning of the other, inconsistent means being dragged into the domain of evil and be engulfed by it. The life of Manichean becomes a readiness surveillance (paranoia), appearing not to be fooled with the "seductive speeches. St. Augustine, who was initially Manichean, having moved away, wrote in the Confessions (Book 7) that this doctrine "had not found peace and only expressed opinions of others."

Although the teacher has said that "Manichaeism does not hold for a long time," what we saw was that it survives today and is strongly present in social relations in different cultures. But what is certain and indisputable, however, is that it will disappear when our beloved Earth promoting the world of regeneration. In these worlds there is no room for sectarian dogmatism, is predominant everywhere in the tolerance of differences, because everyone will know that such differences are inherent in the diversity of evolutionary levels between humans. 

4.            AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO 

Augustine of Hippo, the St. Augustine of our fellow Catholics, puzzled at the existence of evil in a world created by God, supremely good, conceived the notion of evil that prevails today among siblings of Catholic and evangelical belief. He said that everything that exists is necessarily good, because the idea would be consistent and the idea of being there. The evil would thus be deprived of real existence, being reduced to homelessness, corruption of good. 

Evil, for Augustine, is a transgression of divine law, since the soul was created by God to govern the body, and man, misusing the free will, makes the soul to the body. Focusing on the matter, the soul degenerates, and deluded by the sensations, it is considered itself as body. 

So far, we can say that the doctrine of Augustine has several points of contact with Spiritualism. For us, spirit, everything God created, that is their sovereign and immutable laws, is good. As we shall see, Spiritualism also teaches us that evil is a transgression of God's laws. The continuation of the doctrine of Augustine, however, is totally opposed to the understanding spirit, as we shall see. 

For the bishop of Hippo, in this state of decay in which the soul is, she cannot save themselves by their own forces. The fall of man is the responsibility of man, as a result of their free will. However, the free will that caused the fall of man is not enough to make it back to divine origins. This power is the privilege of God. This is the Augustinian doctrine of predestination and grace. 

Let us, therefore, the understanding Spiritist. 

5.            UNDERSTANDING SPIRITIST 

5.1.   In The Spirits' Book 

629. What definition can be given of the moral law? 

"The moral law is the rule for acting aright, that is to say, for distinguishing practically between good and evil. It is founded on the observance of the law of God. Man acts rightly when he takes the good of all as his aim and rule of action; for he then obeys the law of God." 

630. How can we distinguish between good and evil? 

“Good is whatever is in conformity with the law of God; and evil is whatever deviates from it. Thus, to do right, is to conform to the law of God; to do wrong, is to infringe that law." 

631. Has man of himself the means of distinguishing what is good from what is evil? 

“Yes, when he believes in God, and desires to do what is right. God has given him intelligence in order that he may distinguish between them.” 

632. As man is subject to error may he not be mistaken in his appreciation of good and evil, and believe himself to be doing right, when, in reality, he is doing wrong? 

“Jesus has said: 'Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye even so to them.' The whole moral law is contained in that injunction. Make it your rule of action, and you will never go wrong.” 

633. The rule of good and evil, what may be called the rule of reciprocity or solidarity, cannot be applied to a man's to personal conduct towards himself. Does He find, in natural law, the rule of that conduct, and a safe guide? 

“When you eat too much, it hurts you. God gives you, in the discomfort thus produced, the measure of what is necessary for you. When you exceed that measure, you are punished. It is the same with everything else. Natural law traces out for each man the limit of his needs. When he oversteps that limit he is punished by the suffering thus caused. If men gave heed, in all things, to the voice which says to them 'enough!' they would avoid the greater part of the ills of which they accuse nature.” 

634. Why does evil exist in the nature of things? I speak of moral evil. Could not God have created the human race in more favorable conditions? 

“We have already told you that spirits are created simple and ignorant (115). God leaves man free to choose his road; so much the worse for him if he takes the wrong one; his pilgrimage will be all the longer. If there were no mountains, man could not comprehend the possibility of ascending and descending; if there were no rocks, he could not understand that there are such things as hard bodies. It is necessary for the spirit to acquire experience; and, to that end, he must know both good and evil. It is for this purpose that souls are united to bodies.” 

(This article will be concluded in the next edition of this magazine.) 

References: 

1. COSTA, Renato. Adam and Eve In International Journal of Spiritualism, October 2004.

2. Kardec, Allan. Genesis, the Miracles and Predictions According to Spiritism. 36. ed. Rio de Janeiro: FEB, 1995.

3. Id The Spirits’ Book. 76. ed. Rio de Janeiro: FEB, 1995.

4. LIMA, Raymundo. Manichaeism: The Good, Evil and its Effects Yesterday and Today. Space Magazine Academic Year I, 07, December 2001.

5. SAMPAIO, Rudini. St. Augustine, Key Elements of the Doctrine. Retrieved on 29/05/2006 from http://www.ime.usp.br/~rudini/filos.agostinho.htm.