I think evil is the baser expression of Nietzsche's Will to Power, that power be extended without any thought of the consequences to anyone but oneself. I think evil begins in selfishness, for the self alone. It's what happens when the ego replaces the divine image, the transcendent archetype within the psyche.
In that case, is it possible to be evil accidentally?
I like the definition of evil as "hurting people and enjoying it."
For example, animals hurt each other all the time, but there is no malice in it-- it is just instinct. And sometimes we hurt other people (whether or not we are thinking of the consequences of to others or not), but we can feel guilty about it. I don't think that's evil.
I think evil is when we hurt someone and don't feel guilty about it. Maybe we try to justify it, maybe we just think they deserved it. In any case, it's the opposite of serving someone-- which involves suffering ourselves so they can helped.
Oh wow—that Bouguereau painting is amazingly complex; I will have to spend a long time thinking about it. Certainly I would agree with you that a "loss of innocence" theme is present. It reminds me, in sort of an inverse, negative, mirror way, of the beginning of Barrie's "Peter and Wendy":
"All children, except one, grow up. They soon know that they will grow up, and the way Wendy knew was this. One day when she was two years old she was playing in a garden, and she plucked another flower and ran with it to her mother. I suppose she must have looked rather delightful, for Mrs. Darling put her hand on her heart and cried, 'Oh, why can’t you remain like this forever!' This was all that passed between them on the subject, but henceforth Wendy knew that she must grow up. You always know after you are two. Two is the beginning of the end."
Perhaps in the painting, though, the mother is not lamenting the coming end of childhood; she is tempting the child to give up her innocence and enter into he world of adulthood—? Strange!
The many faces of Satan (Beelzebub, Scratch,Lucifer) have made it very difficult to track and locate using the latest bio and facial recognition software programs,But the existence is undeniably evil.
This is a very good article, and does a decent job with the biblical issues. As clergy, I've done courses on this for the interested people, but sadly many people prefer the 'folk tales' and Hollywood jazzed up images rather than the in-depth explanations from primary sources.
13 for those such [are] false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ,
14 and no wonder -- for even the Adversary doth transform himself into a messenger of light;
15 no great thing, then, if also his ministrants do transform themselves as ministrants of righteousness -- whose end shall be according to their works.
-2 Corinthians 11
The devil is the deceiver after all he would appear as a angel.
Satan in His Original Glory by William Blake
And Le Génie du Mal by Joseph Geefs gets it right.
Today I visited the church of Santa Maria degli Angioli in Lugano, which contains what is probably the most famous Renaissance painting in Switzerland (by Bernardino Luini, a student of Leonardo da Vinci). I find the depiction of the devil very interesting: he stands at the foot of the cross as a beautiful youth who believes he has won. On his shield, he has a scorpion (according to 1 Corinthians 15:55: “Death, where is your sting?”). It is an interesting contrast to all the images in which the devil appears visibly evil to see him for once as a beautiful apparition, which you basically only recognize by the animal on his shield.
I like your unbiased approach-- simply describing how the terms and connotations changed over time.
I would like to also see how this concept evolved in the East. Plus more examples of the tricksters you mentioned from pre-biblical times. I know there are tons of them.
And also maybe fictional concepts of evil-- for example in the world of Elder Scrolls, there are dozens of demigods called Daedric princes, and they each manipulate different parts of the world. Some people see this as evil, others actually worship them.
Not that Satan isn’t real - he may be in some way - but he certainly doesn’t have an appearance. This is what is always said about Satan; what the demonologists know about demons: a spirit (evil or otherwise) takes on an appearance that is familiar to the witness, but has no fixed physical form in itself.
I think evil is the baser expression of Nietzsche's Will to Power, that power be extended without any thought of the consequences to anyone but oneself. I think evil begins in selfishness, for the self alone. It's what happens when the ego replaces the divine image, the transcendent archetype within the psyche.
Extremely well said, thanks.
Attaining power for selfish causes evil. Attaining power for selfless reason leads to transcendence. Your comment provided clarity. Thank you.
In that case, is it possible to be evil accidentally?
I like the definition of evil as "hurting people and enjoying it."
For example, animals hurt each other all the time, but there is no malice in it-- it is just instinct. And sometimes we hurt other people (whether or not we are thinking of the consequences of to others or not), but we can feel guilty about it. I don't think that's evil.
I think evil is when we hurt someone and don't feel guilty about it. Maybe we try to justify it, maybe we just think they deserved it. In any case, it's the opposite of serving someone-- which involves suffering ourselves so they can helped.
What do you think?
Oh wow—that Bouguereau painting is amazingly complex; I will have to spend a long time thinking about it. Certainly I would agree with you that a "loss of innocence" theme is present. It reminds me, in sort of an inverse, negative, mirror way, of the beginning of Barrie's "Peter and Wendy":
"All children, except one, grow up. They soon know that they will grow up, and the way Wendy knew was this. One day when she was two years old she was playing in a garden, and she plucked another flower and ran with it to her mother. I suppose she must have looked rather delightful, for Mrs. Darling put her hand on her heart and cried, 'Oh, why can’t you remain like this forever!' This was all that passed between them on the subject, but henceforth Wendy knew that she must grow up. You always know after you are two. Two is the beginning of the end."
Perhaps in the painting, though, the mother is not lamenting the coming end of childhood; she is tempting the child to give up her innocence and enter into he world of adulthood—? Strange!
The many faces of Satan (Beelzebub, Scratch,Lucifer) have made it very difficult to track and locate using the latest bio and facial recognition software programs,But the existence is undeniably evil.
This is a very good article, and does a decent job with the biblical issues. As clergy, I've done courses on this for the interested people, but sadly many people prefer the 'folk tales' and Hollywood jazzed up images rather than the in-depth explanations from primary sources.
13 for those such [are] false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ,
14 and no wonder -- for even the Adversary doth transform himself into a messenger of light;
15 no great thing, then, if also his ministrants do transform themselves as ministrants of righteousness -- whose end shall be according to their works.
-2 Corinthians 11
The devil is the deceiver after all he would appear as a angel.
Satan in His Original Glory by William Blake
And Le Génie du Mal by Joseph Geefs gets it right.
Thank you for the reminder to read Paradise Lost, I am adding it to my list again.
“It is better to reign in Hell than to serve in Heaven!”
Great statue of the devil in Madrid
Today I visited the church of Santa Maria degli Angioli in Lugano, which contains what is probably the most famous Renaissance painting in Switzerland (by Bernardino Luini, a student of Leonardo da Vinci). I find the depiction of the devil very interesting: he stands at the foot of the cross as a beautiful youth who believes he has won. On his shield, he has a scorpion (according to 1 Corinthians 15:55: “Death, where is your sting?”). It is an interesting contrast to all the images in which the devil appears visibly evil to see him for once as a beautiful apparition, which you basically only recognize by the animal on his shield.
You can view images and a 360° panorama here: https://www.ticinotopten.ch/de/denkmaeler/kirche-santa-maria-degli-angioli-lugano
Thanks for the recommendation.
Satan is a shapeshifter. He takes on many forms. Have a sound moral code, and you will always spot him.
9
I like your unbiased approach-- simply describing how the terms and connotations changed over time.
I would like to also see how this concept evolved in the East. Plus more examples of the tricksters you mentioned from pre-biblical times. I know there are tons of them.
And also maybe fictional concepts of evil-- for example in the world of Elder Scrolls, there are dozens of demigods called Daedric princes, and they each manipulate different parts of the world. Some people see this as evil, others actually worship them.
Not that Satan isn’t real - he may be in some way - but he certainly doesn’t have an appearance. This is what is always said about Satan; what the demonologists know about demons: a spirit (evil or otherwise) takes on an appearance that is familiar to the witness, but has no fixed physical form in itself.