Can man be evil?

[Q the Ninja]

Can man be evil?

[Colleen]

I would say no, because man was created by God, and God can't create evil. People can choose to do evil things, but aren't evil themselves.

[JP2Iloveyou]

Colleen, I agree with you, but I voted yes because I misunderstood the question. I thought it meant, "Can man choose to do evil?" Of course, evil is only a privation of good, so it could be argued that evil doesn't really even exist. Even Satan is not pure evil. He was created good.

[Socrates]

Of course everyone is greated good.
But in common language, one who chooses evil is considered "evil."
Evil refers to someone's moral status, not his created essence.

One who chooses good in his actions is considered good, one who chooses evil is considered evil.

The Church traditionally refers to Satan as "the Evil One" - not "the Good One Who has Chosen to do Evil Things"

Evil is real, and the Church has always acknowledged and taught this.

[Q the Ninja]

In saying no, no one denies the fact that evil exists.

I'm surprised no one wanted to start with a defintion of evil...but oh well.

Also, I believe the Scholastics say that a person cannot be evil. I'm curious why people say that they can.

[spathariossa]

Man is inherently evil.

[JP2Iloveyou]

What do you mean by man being inherently evil?

[MagiDragon]

wow, i've never seen a vote this close on phatmass before: 5-5 split. I'm gonna have to watch this one closely.

[Theoketos]

[quote name='spathariossa' date='Jan 23 2005, 01:35 PM'] Man is inherently evil. [/quote]
Sounds like a personal problem not a theological stance.

God created all things. Only good things are created by God. All creation is good.

This is not say that Men (and angels), who have free will, can not do evil things.

[Q the Ninja]

I'm surprised that more people didn't respond, so many people have said yes...but I think my posts are getting old.

BTW, I agree with Theoketos.

[aloha918]

i think that protestants believe man is evil becasue of "the fall"....but i dunno for sure.......and i voted "no"

[Archangel]

Under the influence of the Evil One, man can be evil too.

[spathariossa]

God is omnipotent, therefore He can create evil. He just chooses not to. Unless you feel that His being all good prevents Him from having the ability to create evil. In that case, God wouldn't be omnipotent.

[Rich*]

Romans 3:9-18
[quote]9What shall we conclude then? Are we any better? Not at all! We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin. 10As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one;
      11there is no one who understands,
      no one who seeks God. 12All have turned away,
      they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good,
      not even one.” 13“Their throats are open graves;
      their tongues practice deceit.” “The poison of vipers is on their lips.”
      14“Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.” 15“Their feet are swift to shed blood;
      16ruin and misery mark their ways, 17and the way of peace they do not know.”
      18“There is no fear of God before their eyes.” [/quote]

The bible repeatedly talks about 'the sinful nature' and the fact that mans 'default state' is in sin therefore I would say that man most certainly can be (and most often is) evil. this is why we need a saviour - If man wasn't evil there would be no need for grace and redemption.

God Bless, Rich

[BurkeFan]

Boethius, in the Consolation of Philosophy, said (by way of Lady Philosophy): I do not deny that evil men are evil, but I do deny that they exist in the pure and simple sense.

Evil men are no longer men.

[cmotherofpirl]

We are born with the tendency to sin, we are not born evil, but we can choose to commit evil.

[Cam42]

CCC 549 [quote] By freeing some individuals from the earthly evils of hunger, injustice, illness and death, Jesus performed messianic signs. Nevertheless he did not come to abolish all evils here below, but to free men from the gravest slavery, sin, which thwarts them in their vocation as God's sons and causes all forms of human bondage.[/quote]

We have to make the statement that man can be evil, based upon CCC 549. Looking at this paragraph, we see that man is freed from evil by the redemptive action of Christ. Therefore, man can be evil.

Remember the greatest evil is sin.

Cam42

[Thy Geekdom Come]

Not intrinsically, no.

[argent_paladin]

In a technical sense, nothing can be evil because evil is nothing. More specifically, evil is nothing where there should be something, an absence or privation. It is like blindness, which is not something, so much as an absence of something, in this case, sight. But we wouldn't really say that a rock is blind, because it never had sight in the first place.
But the most common analogy of evil is darkness. Darkness is not something. It is the absence of light. If you asked, can a candle flame be dark? The answer is no, because then it would no longer be a candle flame. Similarly, man cannot be evil (if you mean wholly deficient in goodness) or else he would no longer be man, that is, made according to the image and likeness of God. Even Satan is not 100% evil because existence itself is a good and insofar Satan exists, he is good.
Well, that's the Thomistic understanding at least...

[argent_paladin]

Cam42:

Being freed from evil doesn't imply being evil in the first place, but being under the influence of evil. If one is freed from addiction, or prison, that doesn't mean that one WAS prision.