(
v
l)adj. e·vil·er, e·vil·est
1. Morally bad or wrong; wicked: an evil tyrant.
2. Causing ruin, injury, or pain; harmful: the evil effects of a poor diet.
3. Characterized by or indicating future misfortune; ominous: evil omens.
4. Bad or blameworthy by report; infamous: an evil reputation.
5. Characterized by anger or spite; malicious: an evil temper.
n.
1. The quality of being morally bad or wrong; wickedness.
2. That which causes harm, misfortune, or destruction: a leader's power to do both good and evil.
3. An evil force, power, or personification.
4. Something that is a cause or source of suffering, injury, or destruction: the social evils of poverty and injustice.
adv. Archaic
In an evil manner.
[Middle English, from Old English yfel; see wap- in Indo-European roots.]
evil·ly adv.
vil·ly adv.evil·ness n.
vil·ness n.The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2003. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
| Noun | 1. |  evil - morally objectionable behaviorevildoing, transgression - the act of transgressing; the violation of a law or a duty or moral principle; "the boy was punished for the transgressions of his father" foul play - unfair or treacherous behavior (especially involving violence) irreverence, violation - a disrespectful act sexual immorality - the evil ascribed to sexual acts that violate social conventions; "sexual immorality is the major reason for last year's record number of abortions" |
| 2. |  evil - that which causes harm or destruction or misfortune; "the evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones"- Shakespearebad, badness - that which is below standard or expectations as of ethics or decency; "take the bad with the good" Four Horsemen - (New Testament) the four evils that will come at the end of the world: conquest rides a white horse; war a red horse; famine a black horse; plague a pale horse | |
| 3. | evil - the quality of being morally wrong in principle or practice; "attempts to explain the origin of evil in the world" immorality - the quality of not being in accord with standards of right or good conduct; "the immorality of basing the defense of the West on the threat of mutual assured destruction" worst - the greatest damage or wickedness of which one is capable; "the invaders did their worst"; "so pure of heart that his worst is another man's best" reprehensibility - being reprehensible; worthy of and deserving reprehension or reproof villainousness, villainy - the quality of evil by virtue of villainous behavior perversity - deliberately deviating from what is good wrongdoing, error - departure from what is ethically acceptable | |
| Adj. | 1. |  evil - morally bad or wrong; "evil purposes"; "an evil influence"; "evil deeds"bad - having undesirable or negative qualities; "a bad report card"; "his sloppy appearance made a bad impression"; "a bad little boy"; "clothes in bad shape"; "a bad cut"; "bad luck"; "the news was very bad"; "the reviews were bad"; "the pay is bad"; "it was a bad light for reading"; "the movie was a bad choice" immoral - violating principles of right and wrong offensive - unpleasant or disgusting especially to the senses; "offensive odors" wrong - contrary to conscience or morality or law; "it is wrong for the rich to take advantage of the poor"; "cheating is wrong"; "it is wrong to lie" unrighteous - not righteous; "an unrighteous man"; "an unrighteous law" wicked - morally bad in principle or practice good - morally admirable |
| 2. |  evil - having the nature of vicewicked - morally bad in principle or practice | |
| 3. | evil - tending to cause great harm malign - evil or harmful in nature or influence; "prompted by malign motives"; "believed in witches and malign spirits"; "gave him a malign look"; "a malign lesion" | |
| 4. | evil - having or exerting a malignant influence; "malevolent stars"; "a malefic force" maleficent - harmful or evil in intent or effect |
Nature does not bestow virtue; to be good is an art.
Seneca (B.C. 3-65 A.D.)
Roman Philosopher, Dramatist, and Statesman
So are we innately good or bad? Do we have a tendency to do good or evil? I agree with Seneca in that it takes hard work for us to stay good, and to be good every day, but I'm not so sure that we find ourselves inclined one way over the other by nature. I do believe that our world is disordered due to our own sinfulness, and that we are born into a state of sin by nature of our humanity, but I also believe we all have the capability to be good if we so choose.
What do you think? Let us know!
And in the comments of my last entry Nikki left this:
"Not to say or even imply that I think of Self as evil, not even slightly, but to say that Self has the propensity for Evil whereas true Faith in a Deity outside of Self removes the Evil."
Christina, are you saying that if someone has a true and pure faith in God and puts Him before Self that Evil cannot still exist within the person?
How does one know if his faith is enough to remove Evil?
Who says what is and is not Evil?
Can an agnostic or atheist be free of Evil?
***********
To begin my thoughts I must first decide what is evil and I turn to my trusty dictionary for help. I love the dictionary so much and blogspot is so cool that I have now installed this cool feature that allows you, the reader, to double click on ANY WORD in the text of my blog and it will pull it up in an online dictionary. Go ahead give it try, I'll wait.
Try Self. Fun eh?
Ok, anyway, hey...quit it, back to this whole thought of evil and goodness and what it all means in the real world.
"the evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones"- Shakespeare
First, I need to clarify the muddy words "Self has the propensity for Evil whereas true Faith in a Deity outside of Self removes the Evil." What I was trying to say here is that belief in a Deity helps remove the focus of a person away from themselves. It creates an environment that is less "I" centered but I was also trying to state that I do not think that caring for one's self is strictly Evil. There is a fine balance between the two issues, a level of healthiness that is difficult to maintain and if I were as versed as Vince I'd have all the jargon down.
But I don't.
What I know is that if a person is only focused on themselves, no matter how good they are, the propensity for evil seems to be greater than for those that focus on others. But is good works the same thing as goodness? I don't think so because I don't think that salvation can be earned, it is a gift. (To answer your other question no one is free of evil and I don't think God believes in religion. Man invented religion, not God, in my opinion.)
Evil exist. Truly it does...and man's ability to choose it is overwhelming. That is the whole issue of free will that theologians have debated for centuries. Sin is sin even if it is only within my own heart. If I lust after my neighbor and never act upon it I have still sinned. Does that make me evil? Does that bind me in hell?
And what does all this do to my abilities as a creative, artist person? How does this sense of right and wrong fit into what I create?
Certainly my writing and my poetry all has an element, a tone of Godliness in it. Many of my writings border on Christian writings but I would not put myself into that strict caterogy because I write about several things. Often I write about my own disappointment in myself and feelings of failure, however gently veiled, in an exploration of that thing that makes me human.
Do I know what evil is? You bet. I struggle with it and with basic human nature daily, don't you?
I must admit... I did have fun with the dictionary.hehehe
ReplyDeleteTrue evil scares me. The thought of this topic chills me to the bone...like in the biblical times. I think of the Lords Prayer and of the Devil when I hear the definition...
Funny that the word Devil has "EVIL" in it.
I hope there is degrees of evil... like thoughts vs. action...
Sin is sin... Thank God for forgiveness... He forgives no matter what degree of sin...
Now there's a thought.
I think about right and wrong constantly, but I don't think that Mankind is intrinsically good or evil. I agree with the philosopher Sir Thomas Hobbes, who asserted that Man's innate nature is to act in his own self-interest, good or evil notwithstanding. That would explain why a person much work hard to be good, because to be good, he must sometimes decline to be selfish.
ReplyDeleteYou answered my questions very well. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteI could talk for endless hours about this subject. (Be glad I only live here with you parttime. ::grin::)
Evil does exist, I agree. Sometimes it is more blatantly obvious than other times. I had someone say I was wicked and evil. Uh huh. Me. If it was not such a cruel thing to say about me, I would have laughed at the absurdity of it. I am imperfect, but definitely NOT evil.
I have never believed that merely thinking about but not acting on impure or sinful acts is just as much of a sin as actually doing them. The bible tells us differently, but the bible was translated by man...who is not infallible. I believe God knows what is happening in our lives that may have caused the sinful thoughts to occur. He understands. It is that which makes Him able to differentiate between recording a thought as a sin or simply a thought as a result of something going on in a person's life.
For me, the key is that God understands. That separates the good person from the evil person to Him. He knows every single thing about each one of us. He knows who is doing things out of a lack of conscience and a desire to wreak havoc on others. And He knows who is trying...but perhaps failing...to be a good person. I think He weighs all of that when He decides just who has sinned and who has earned a place in Heaven.
Yes, I believe you can earn your way to Heaven through good deeds IF your heart is in the right place when those deeds are performed. And that goes for agnostics and atheists, too. But then, I believe there are levels in Heaven. The highest level allows us to sit next to God, the lowest level for those who have more learning to do, and the middle levels for those in-between the two. ::sigh:: I think about all of this so very often.
Finally, I do struggle with basic human nature almost daily. I am not tormented by it, though. I can be at times, but not to the point where it consumes me.
The concept of faith or works is an old one, and i think both are required for goodness - with out faith, there are no good works, and good works must be done as we are called to live out our faith. If we do not live it out, even if we have it, then we produce no good fruit.
ReplyDeleteAwh the debate between good and evil and what is innate and what is not is one that has gone on since the begining of time.
ReplyDeleteI believe that some people are innately good and that some are innately evil. I also believe that even though we all have the ability to be one or the other, or both, that we do so out of free choice. I've learned that for the most part, those that have strong faith in God, have spirits that are more gentle (less evil) than those that do not believe. (Yikes, this comment will fire up a few people...)
The fact is that we are not born knowing the difference between right and wrong, or good and evil. However, we all learn the differences at a fairly young age. What we do with this knowledge defines who we are as people. Are we angry, selfish, hurtful and mean? Yes, I believe that everyone has these flaws to some degree. It is when the bad outweighs the good that we fall into one of the catagories with absolute distinction.
I try really hard to not be evil, but I'm not perfect and never will be. Like Lori said, "Sin is sin... Thank God for forgiveness... He forgives no matter what degree of sin..."
Our God is a powerful God!
Love you,
Mom
I liked the dictionary stroll! My ex fits into a lot of those definitions. lol I believe in free will, forgiveness if you are truly sorry and ask. Good works are done out of love for our fellow man and God would be disappointed in some organized religions. I loved what tom quoted :)
ReplyDeleteGod is good!
Love,
Tammy
Christina, Interesting post.
ReplyDeleteI wrote my dissertation attempting to quantify the measurement of existential values.
One of the things I did was try to look at the inter-correlations of these end-state values through factor analysis. The results indicated one factor that accounted for much of the Variance. It was "Man`s Relationship To God" I thought that really interesting.
I have met pure evil in my life, working in a Forensic Diagnostic Hospital. There are psychopathic personalities out there, people who have never integrated social norms into their character [the super-ego].
Freud would say that man is born as "id", just wants all his/her needs satisfied. Is that evil?
Hmmmmmm.
V
No man knows how bad he is till he has tried very hard to be good. A silly idea is current that good people do not know what temptation means.
ReplyDeleteThis is an obvious lie. Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is. After all, you find out the strength of the German army by fighting it, not by giving in. A man who gives in to temptation after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like an hour later.
That is why bad people, in one sense, know very little about badness. They have lived a sheltered life by always giving in. We never find out the strength of the evil impulse inside us until we try to fight it.
"CS Lewis"
Just thought I would share this..something more to ponder.
Smiles..