In his first homily as the leader of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis remarked, “When we do not profess Jesus Christ, we profess the worldliness of the devil, a demonic worldliness.” He wasn’t just talking about some abstract notion of the evil in humankind. He was referring to Satan, a recognized figure in Christian scriptures and a facet of theology since the beginning of the Catholic Church. Pope Paul VI remarked in a 1972 address, “The devil is the enemy number one, the source of all temptation… He is the sophistical perverter of man’s moral equipoise, the malicious seducer.” The church recognizes there is evil in the world. It attributes some of it to fallen human nature: to misguided, misinformed or downright malicious mortals. But it also attributes some evil to Satan, a spiritual and diabolical force who has it out for humans. If we look at Monday’s tragedy in Boston, we can see that yes, indeed, there is evil out there. This article is not intended to allege that the bombing was the direct work of Satan. Rather, I think we can learn a few lessons from Roman Catholic theology about the war between good and evil.
One of the dangers of demonology is it is easy to become overwhelmed by the thought of a spiritual enemy who has you on his list. Since demons are held to exist outside the material realm, they seem frighteningly potent. It is easy to lose heart in the face of so great a foe. In the same way with tragedies, it is easy to get overwhelmed by the evil in today’s world. Like demons, it seems this kind of evil can occur anywhere and at any time. This may cause us to lose heart.
But to return to a believer’s fear of demons, one thing must be considered. In a 1984 interview, Cardinal Ratzinger—now Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI—remarked, “The Christian knows that the person who fears God [respects and acknowledges God’s power] needs fear nothing and no one.” The battle Catholics believe in is not a balanced fight between good and evil. Satan is a very powerful force—he is the former second-in-command of Heaven, after all—and is a daunting foe indeed. But Satan is the creature of the Creator, and the Creator is the overall master of his creation. Free will prevents God from controlling Satan, but free will also prevents Satan from controlling humans. If humanity chooses to side with God, it can be a part of the winning team. In the meantime, there is a countering force to the diabolic one. As the story goes, only one-third of the angels fell and became demons, which leaves the good angels at a super majority.
Those who don’t believe in Christian theology still get to choose: Join or fight against evil. It will still exist, but if we join together on the side of good, we can endure, and we can win the day. This might seem too idealistic, but think about the way the world can work: Humans have the faculty to influence situations, even terrible ones.
When faced with tragedies, we cannot forget there is a countering good force out there, too, one we can help create no matter who or what you believe in. You most likely saw some shining lights amid the darkness Monday—people offering whatever help they could, which no doubt amounted to quite a lot. The evil we saw, and see daily, while daunting, nevertheless can foster great good. For this reason, we cannot lose heart in the darkness.
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