Problem of Evil Part 2 of 4: Evil and The Devil

So below is a quote from one of my favorite authors (an Orthodox Priest and scholar) Alexander Schmemann from his book on Baptism:

​"the Church has never formulated it [teaching concerning the Devil] systematically, in the form of clear and concise 'doctrine.' What is of paramount importance for us, however, is that the Church has always had the experience of the demonic, has always, in plain words, known the Devil. If this direct knowledge has not resulted in a neat and orderly doctrine, it is because of the difficulty, if not impossibility, rationally to define the irrational. And the demonic and, more generally, evil are precisely the reality of the irrational. Some theologians and philosophers, in an attempt to explain and thus to 'rationalize' the experience and the existence of evil, explained it as an absence: the absence of good. They compared it, for example, to darkness, which is nothing but the absence of light and which is dispelled when light appears. This theory was subsequently adopted by deists and humanists of all shades and still constitutes an integral part of our modern worldview. Here the remedy against evil is always seen in 'enlightenment' and 'education.' For example: explain to teenagers the mechanics of sex, remove the 'mystery' and the 'taboos,' and they will use it rationally, i.e. well. Multiply the numbers of schools and man, who is naturally good, will ipso facto live and behave rationally, i.e. well.

​Such however is certainly not the understanding of evil in the Bible and in the experience ofthe Church. Here evil is most emphatically not a mere absence. It is precisely a presence: the presence of something dark, irrational and very real, although the origin of that presence may not be clear and immediately understandable. Thus hatred is not a simple absence oflove; it is the presence of a dark power which can indeed be extremely active, clever and even creative. And it is certainly not a result of ignorance. We may know and hate. The more some men knew Christ, saw His light and His goodness, the more they hated Him. This experience of evil as irrational power, as something which truly takes possession of us and directs our acts, has always been the experience of the Church ...

[Further down he speaks of the person behind Love (God) and the persons behind Hate (Devil and demons)] ... Who are these persons? ... Thus the answer is veiled in symbols and images, which tell of an initial rebellion against God within the spiritual world created by God, among angels led into rebellion by pride. The origin of evil is viewed here not as ignorance and imperfection but, on the contrary, as knowledge and a degree of perfection which makes the temptation of pride possible ...

If there is one thing we learn from spiritual experience, it is that evil is not to be "explained" but faced and fought. This is the way God dealt with evil.

[on the Baptism rite] The moment that the celebrant's hand has touched the head of a child of God and marked it with the sign of Christ, the Devil is there defending that which he has stolen from God and claims as his possession. We may not see him but the Church knows he is there. We may experience nothing but a nice and warm family 'affair,' but the Church knows that a mortal fight is about to begin whose ultimate issue is not explanations and theories but eternal life, or eternal death."

​

So I share all that because I think this is a very biblical and valuable perspective on the topic. This in no way helps me to answer the question that was asked to Andy, but it does remind me of the fight and some of what Larry mentioned about the temptations and their dangers. Somewhat like that bit from Screwtape Letters about how his master's greatest modern success (Screwtape is a demon, so his master would be the Devil) was becoming invisible. "No one believes in the devil anymore." ​