“Felix Culpa”

 The necessity of evil & the struggle between light and darkness

10/12/2008

Foreword 

This is a work of fiction.  The names of people and places are only product of the author’s imagination. 

Introduction 

When Catholic people talk about the nature of evil in the midst of human life, the conversation doesn’t go very far, for inevitably it ends with the maxim, “It is a mystery that we will never understand.” 

That may be so.  However, why stop there?  Anyone with a probing mind could ask: “Why should people give up investigating; why not ask the appropriate questions such as, why did God - after creating Lucifer with the rebellion that followed - allow him to tempt Eve in the Garden of Eden?  And why does God still allow Satan and his demons to maraud the earth creating chaos and misery among human beings?   

As the Apostle Saint Peter wrote:   

Now before we face those questions, I would like to relate a conversation which I happened to overhear on the train some time ago about ‘the necessity of evil’ in one’s life. I will call the two men Dismas and Joe. 

Part one

Dismas: You know, Joe, the other day you made me think about the nature of evil in the world.  Do you really believe that evil was a necessity after all, and not just a sort of accident? 

Joe: Well Dismas, my statement that evil, with its consequent suffering, pain and misery, is a necessity, was prompted by Saint Augustine’s phrase, "Felix culpa."[2]  

Dismas: But wasn’t Saint Augustine referring in that phrase to Jesus Christ. Wasn’t he saying, ‘had Adam and Eve not sinned, Jesus Christ, the divine Son of God, would never have been incarnated?’ 

Joe: Yes, and later on, Saint Thomas Aquinas actually developed that idea even further. But I see the concept of ‘the necessity of evil’ per se, as intrinsic in everything.  I mean, it is not only, as Saint Augustine said in his ‘Felix culpa,’ that we should be glad for the first sin, because we now have Christ with us and in us...’  but as evil being inherent...” 

Dismas: But are you implying that God created evil?   

Joe: No, Dismas, I am not implying that God created evil.  I am trying to expound that the nature of evil as we know and experienced it everyday in our lives, has become part of life itself.  Now, before I say anything else, I want to clarify that I see the concept of evil here mainly on a metaphysical level rather than as a merely moral issue.  Do you understand that? 

Dismas: Yes, I think I do.  Go on. 

Joe: Now, to illustrate my thought on what I call the nature of evil, I will use this allegory: the image of a house.  But before that, I have a question for you, Dismas.  What is the definition of evil?    

Dismas: In my understanding, evil is the absence of good.  

Joe: Good answer.  But in practical terms what does that mean? 

Dismas: If we believe in original sin, then everybody is lacking in good.  In practical terms it is obvious - when one’s deeds are against God’s Commandments, for example: murder, robbery, adultery, deceit, lying, etc. 

Joe: Inversely, we could say, one is evil, because he is lacking in good, or better still, lacking in love.  As the Apostle Paul said: 

 Joe: In the Bible, often evil is associated symbolically with darkness and vice versa.  Here are some passages from the New Testament: 

 Joe: And what is the definition of darkness? 

Dismas: Just as evil is the absence of good, then darkness must be the absence of light. 

Joe: Good response.  Now allow me to use these parallels, evil and darkness, to describe - and explain - the nature of evil. So going back to the image of a house...   

Joe: As we know, a house has windows and doors. The windows of the house allow the light from outside to enter and so to illuminate its interior.  Naturally, the doors of the house are to allow access to the people who live therein.   

And as everybody knows, there are windows and windows.  Some houses have small windows, some medium size and some larger - the bigger the windows the more light will enter the house.   

Also, it depends on the owner’s management how much light a house receives during the day; because, if the windows are not open wide enough no, or very little, light will get inside the house. 

So you see, Dismas, while the light from outside is always available, if the owner of the house makes little use of it, then it is his doing and not the light’s.

Part two  

Joe: So Dismas, the house is you.  Remember you told me some time ago, you were born a healthy child - with “windows and doors,” nothing was missing in you.  However, how much ‘light’ did you allow to enter during your lifetime?  That is the question to ask.  I don’t think, there is an easy answer to that question, do you? 

Dismas: I see now where you are leading.  You are saying that although the light is always available, because of our fallen nature we aren’t.  Am I right? 

Joe: Yes, but go on... 

Dismas: So I am what I am today, somehow, thanks to the light my parents, relatives, teachers etc., allowed me to receive as a child.  But later on, as an adult it has been up to me to carry the torch. 

Joe: You mean you are responsible for what you are now. 

Dismas: Yes.  If I failed in my life, there are no bad feelings in me such as regret or resentment.  Nor I can blame anybody for what happened to me, say for example, pursuing a different career later in life, than what I had in mind when I was in my twenties. 

Joe: So coming back to the house, how much light do you think you allowed to penetrate?  

Dismas: I must say, first that my house is not much different from anyone else’s house.  Absence of light is in everyone, just as the absence of good is in everyone; for all of us are descendents of Adam.  Therefore, to the question, how much light I allow in me, it’s hard for me to say; because there is no worse judge than myself.  It is up to you, or to others, and God of course, to judge that. 

Joe: Fair enough.  If I ought to judge you, from what you told me about yourself, I would say, although your house is in fair order, there are a few dark corners which need some more light. 

Dismas: Do you mean that inside the house should not be any dark corners at all? 

Joe: Yes, that would be the ideal. However, humanly speaking, it would be almost impossible.  

Dismas: Why? 

Joe: Because mankind, no matter how much he is struggling in this world to achieve anything in life, he is, more or less, always in the dark.  Darkness – the absence of light - is in his nature.  But once - willingly or not - light enters his abode to the fullest extent, his time on earth then will be accomplished.  Don’t you think? 

Dismas: Do you mean, I will be dead? 

Joe: Yes. 

Dismas: But to come back to your notion of the necessity of evil, how do you reconcile these two apparently contradictory ideas: the necessity of evil and the necessity of light, at the same time? 

Joe: It is a sort of paradox.  You, as a Christian, know that the light is an absolute entity, that is, it is not relative, or dependent on anything or anyone, except itself.  Actually, the light that I am implying here is Jesus Christ himself who is God.  In John 8:12, Jesus said: 

 As we have said many times before, darkness is the absence of light in us.  Hence, the necessity of light and good – that is God Himself - is paramount for us; for without it, we would be dead both physically and spiritually.  Because in this valley of tears, we find ourselves as at the end of the road, we can’t go any further, we can’t go back... we are stuck.  Then we know this is the time when we must ask for help.  Because, we know that we are lacking in good.  We need God.  Also God, since Jesus Christ took flesh as one of us, needs us - the house - in order to shed His light and save us. 

Dismas: If I understood you correctly, you are saying: because we, as sinners, are lacking in good, Good (that is, Jesus Christ) fills us - the house – with Himself.  But in order to do that Jesus needs our consent for Him to enter, because without our cooperation there is nothing He can do to save us. 

Joe: Yes.  So you see what I mean by “the necessity of evil?”  

Dismas: I think I do.  If I had to put in my own words I would say: The Son of God, the second person of the Holy Trinity, would not need to become a man, had man not sinned in the first place.  But because man did sin, we needed a Redeemer.  Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God and our Savior, wants us to open the door to him[3] for Him to enter and be with us until the end of time.  

Joe: Yes, Jesus Christ, the Redeemer and the light of our soul, is knocking at our door.  He wants to dwell with us; and swathes us with His divine light.

Conclusion 

Dismas and Joe alighted from the train and so I was left with my own thoughts and meditations about what had been articulated by those two out of the ordinary Christian men. 

Several images confronted me in regard to the necessity of evil in the world:  ” The War on Terrorism”  with its ongoing wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Southern Sudan, Pakistan, and in particularly, the endless conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, among many others.    

“Are all these wars really necessary?”  I asked myself.  Those conflicts are global.  But what about the local conflicts and crimes, such as robberies, break-ins, murders, vandalism, dysfunctional families, divorce, abortions, homosexuality, child-abuse, prostitution, pornography, political corruption, the corporate controlled media favoritism, the breakdown of the social structure, the fraud of the banking system etc.?  

By the same token, do we actually need more darkness to enhance the light?  Or do we want more evil doing, in order to foster good[4] amid the human race? Perhaps that is not what our two travelers meant to say regarding to ‘the necessity of evil.’ 

Notwithstanding, for God’s sake and for my fellows, I would like rather to make mine these words of Milton: 

 And, lastly, this is my prayer: 

************

Further readings from the New Testament: Light & darkness  

Luke 2:20-32; John 1:4; John 1:9; John 8:12; John 9:5; John 12:36; John 12:46; Acts Of Apostles 26:18;  1 Corinthians 4:5; 2 Corinthians 4:6;  Ephesians 5:9; 1 Thessalonians 5:5; 2 Timothy 1:10; 2 Peter 1:19; John 1:5;   1 John 2:9;  Apocalypse 22:5.