Evil

by Hans Schwarz

All human beings--indeed, all creatures--experience evil in various forms. How can the hurtful and harmful aspects of life be understood and faced? What differing perspectives on evil can be gained from - Behavioral science and psychology - Biblical faith and the history of Christian thought - Contemporary thinkers - Religious traditions of the East In a constructive conclusion, Schwarz assesses the pervasiveness of evil, human freedom in the face of evil, the personification of evil, and the hope for the end of evil. This book provides the basis of hope for a just and humane life. It is a book for our time. Evil is neither a primeval decree nor an inescapable fate but has its origin in a power that always denies or negates. While we are all caught in the dragnet of evil, we are not helpless victims, as if evil were simply an imperious "it." We can fight evil and indeed should do so. --from the Preface Evil is [a] comprehensive treatment of a complex and currently interesting subject. The historical and theological treatment will be as competent as everyone who has read a Schwarz book before will expect. [In] the final chapter Schwarz concludes [that]: evil exists as opposition to God in our natural world; humans participate freely in evil and morally transgress; a price is paid for choosing wrongly; evil will not necessarily continue in order to highlight the good by contrast; the liberated Christian bears good fruit amidst this evil; and God has set boundaries for evil that it cannot overstep. -- Pastor Ronald E. C. Grissom, St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church, Bridgeport, Ohio Hans Schwarz provides a kind of textbook history of the ways thinkers in our time have tried to account for evil. . . .The book is succinct, fair to its subjects, and helpful to those who want introductions to these hypotheses. -- The Christian Century Hans Schwarz is Professor of Systematic Theology and Contemporary Theology at the University of Regensburg, Germany. He is the author or editor of more than two dozen books.

240 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1994

About the author

Hans Schwarz (DrTheol, Erlangen University), the author or editor of over fifty books, is professor of systematic theology and contemporary theological issues at the University of Regensburg in Regensburg, Germany. He previously taught at Trinity Lutheran Seminary in Ohio.

Reviews

[Stephen Bedard]

I'm not sure I understand the nature of evil any better but I do have a better understanding of what some influential theologians said about it.

[Steve Irby]

I just finished "Evil: A Historical and Theological Perspective," by Hans Schwarz, 1995.

I have to say that the translation from German is great. Mark Worthing, though he doesn't get a cover shot or a "translators comments" did a phenomenal job. Ive read quite a few German writers translated and some are just horrible, and then there's my homie Mark, he makes me proud of the German theologians.

This book deals with evil, sin and moral sin, theodicy...the list goes on. Schwarz first and second chapters deal with the behavioral and psychoanalytical aspects of evil with the evolutionary approach of why humans are aggressive and what this aggression did for humanity. Then he jumps into "evil" in the Old Testament. It's interesting to note that evil is a different word in Hebrew and Greek (Aramaic assumed) from sin. My mind accepts a mixing of the two but they are not univocal. Though they do work together. Brackish water, miserable places, Joseph's dream with the seven cows all rely on evil to express this. Potiphar's wife was a call to "do a great evil and sin." I found Schwarz's coverage of "the Satan" quite good. The Old Testament perspective would have Satan or the Satan as an instrument of God's will while the New Testament would assume more of a dualistic approach with Satan (formal name now) operating against God: God is described as a roaring lion and then Satan is; the angel of the Lord did the dirty work at the original passover and then in Paul it was Satan. People were trying to best illustrate their doctrine of God during the Old Testament and were adding in tons of themselves and their neighbors religions.

The New Testament sees Satan differently. Here we are not talking about the Satan but rather a personified and proper Satan. Evil has a cause. This is embraced in the NT by an ethical or modified dualism which was a bit of an overflow from the apocryphal writings but not so much from the Old Testament.

"Evil is the godlessness that human beings continually find themselves," p 75.

In Paul death is the individuals own power pursuing sin and this gives death its mastery and what makes sin the author of everything evil. Sin is not passed on generation to generation, contra Augustine. Schwarz jumps into monism and dualism while speaking to Zoroastrianism (see my summary of "The Devil" from a few weeks back) Manichaeanism, and Gnosticism. This battle looks like this: if there is one Principal then all good and all evil come from the single principal (monism); if there are two Principals the one deals evil and the other good (dualism). Dualism shifts the question to how can two Principals exist; how could there always have been two Principals?

Next, and a large question when dealing with evil, Schwarz deals with the old question of freedom and responsibility with predestination and grace. Basically if all is predestined then (from above) there is a single Principal (God) who is the origin of all good and all evil. The historical debates of Pelagianism V Augustinianism are spoken to before Erasmus V Luther get some ink.

As a Lutheran theologian I don't take issue with Schwarz dealing with evil in Lutheran categories. I would say that I think I've finally seen my issue with Luther's doctrine of two Kingdoms. I don't think there are two Kingdoms I think there are two rulers of one Kingdom. Bring in inaugurated eschatology and we are growing from one into the Kingdom of God, from following Satan to following Christ. There are growing pains and everything won't be awesome until the Parousia. Augustine (City of God) and Luther (two Kingdom theology) were a bit off here in my opinion.

Schwarz's penultimate chapter is modern theologians take on evil, sin, and theodicy. He deals with Barth, Tillich, Pannenberg, Liberation, Feminist, and Process, before speaking to Hindu, Buddhist, and Islam.

His final chapter brings all these thoughts together in four points:

Evil exists where good is not present in the fullest by that natural or moral.

There is no neutral territory between good and evil.

We must give up on the personification of evil without loosing the enchantment.

The end of evil is not yet.

(More of Schwarz's theology and less of his historical analysis.)

To leave you with a monistic question: if all good and all evil originate in God can you trust God? Why or how?

#Evil #HansSchwarz #Harmatology #Demonology #Satanology #Theodicy #Theology #SystematicTheology #HistoricalTheology #GermanTheologians #BiblicalScholarship