Good and Evil: Revision Guide

Key ideas and issues:

  • The concepts of good and evil – what is ‘good’ and ‘evil’? The ideas of God and the Devil as supernatural beings or the personifications of good and evil.
  • The significance of the Fall and beliefs about Original Sin. (Adam and Eve rebel against God in the Garden of Eden. The role of the ‘serpent’.
  • The problem of evil: If God is omnipotent, omniscient and good, why does evil and suffering happen?
  • How do Christians explain and cope with suffering?
  • Christians and Moral Behaviour. How do Christians decide how to behave? Sources of moral (good) behaviour: Prayer, Conscience, Holy Spirit as ‘councillor’, Bible, Church, Family, Elders, Christian friends.

Key terms to remember and use

Conscience (inner voice of guidance on rightness or wrongness of behaviour), free will, Golden rule (do unto others as you would have them do unto you), Job (Biblical character who overcomes suffering through his faith to God), Moral evil (evil caused by people), natural evil (evil resulting from natural hazards/events like earthquakes and tsunamis), omniscient and omnipotent God, Original Sin (The sin brought on the world by the rebellion of Adam and Eve against God at the Fall), Redemption (the idea that sins can be forgiven and the person saved or redeemed by Jesus), Sacrifice, The Devil/Satan, The Fall, Augustinian and Iranean theodicies (Christian theories on the origins of evil)

Some Useful references and quotes

  • “No-one is good except God Alone”. Jesus in Mark
  • “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” John 3.16 (Redemption or salvation through faith in Christ)
  • “the serpent said to the woman, God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God…” Genesis 2 (Eve is tempted by Satan – Original Sin)
  • “Stretch out your hand and strike… Job …and he will curse you to your face.” Satan to God in Job (Job is tested bySatan, but remains faithful to God.)
  • “Because he himself was tested by what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested.” Hebrews 2.18 (Christians can overcome temptation by putting their faith in Jesus.
  • "The safest road to Hell is the gradual one—the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts."
    - C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters
  • “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” The Golden Rule
  • “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as in Christ, God forgave you.” St Paul in Ephesians 4.32
  • “You have heard it said, ‘Eye for eye and tooth for tooth’… But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” Jesus in Matthew.