Evil Persons or Just Persons Doing Evil Acts?

Posted on December 30, 2024 by Father Joe

I read a recent posting that quoted the Russian orthodox priest, John of Kronstadt, on the matter of evil. He said that evil is simply “a chance misfortune, an illness, a devilish reverie.” He went on to say, “But the very essence of the person is the image of God, and this remains in him despite every disfigurement.” I immediately felt a need to make a qualification. It is broken down into thirteen points.

First, it is true that every human person is made in the image of God. However, this is a characteristic of every human being, both the Christian and the unregenerate. This speaks to the natural dignity of all human beings.

Second, our spiritual adoption as sons and daughters of the Father through faith and baptism takes this to a higher supernatural level. This adds upon our human dignity, divinizing or perfecting our nature by grace. Even the damned in hell were made in the image of God, it is more important that we should be remade into the likeness of Christ through the transformative power of divine grace.

Third, the essence of a person is the core of who he is. This sense of identity is intricately tied up with all the things that make each of us who we are— our values, faith, relationships, learning, emotions, etc. This is the awareness of self that we take with us in our trajectory of existence. Angels are purely “spiritual persons.” Men and women are “human persons,” literally spiritual-corporeal composites. A human person is neither a corpse nor just a ghost. That is why the resurrection of the body is essential. (The infused soul is understood as the locus for the mind and will. Dietrich von Hildebrand would also distinguish the “heart”). Jesus as the Son of God shares our human nature and even has a human soul; however, he is also the eternal Logos or Word and is thus a “divine person.” Personhood answers the question, “Who are you?” Jesus is God.

Fourth, the Catholic faith has a rich Christian anthropology that targets the human person, the plight of sin (both personal and original), his awareness, the matter of conscience, the value of virtue and the detriment of vice, and the supernatural impact of both sanctifying and actual grace.

Fifth, evil is not a mere accident like stumbling over a rock. While we reject strict determinism, nothing really happens by chance. The mysterious providence of God both directs an active divine intervention and permits a passive tolerance for natural maladies and the use and misuse of human freedom.

Sixth, fault is always on our side of the equation. All moral evil has a human or angelic agent. The primordial fall itself unleashed the further calamity of natural evil. Creation is good but damaged.

Seventh, while evil or sin might be likened to an illness or contagion, our Lord has given us the remedy in faith and the sacraments. More than a devilish “reverie,” evil is a negation, a miscalibration— more a deception than a fantasy.

Eighth, while our Lord can forgive evil acts, they cannot be blindly excused. Our Lord surrenders his life for sinners, as an act of satisfaction or propitiation for sin. He pays the price we cannot pay. Mercy is real but justice must be preserved. We must want to be forgiven. We must know a disposition in faith and sorrow for forgiveness. Indeed, it is evil that makes the incarnation and the subsequent redemptive act of Christ so very crucial. The gravity of evil is not in the acts but in the “persons” that commit them. We are properly formed by sacrifice and virtue. We are disfigured by selfishness and vice. The saints cooperate with divine grace and live out the commandments in love. The damned reject the favor and helps of God, preferring rebellion and self over others and the Lord. Putting it bluntly, if you do bad things then you may become a “bad” man or woman.

Ninth, our likeness to Christ can be forfeited by serious sin. It is a dogmatic teaching that there is no such thing as absolute evil, either angelic or human. Such would constitute the absurdity of metaphysical negation. This teaching is linked to the teaching of hell and the divine economy against annihilation. Nevertheless, evil need not be absolute to be damning. Unrepentant sin and hubris corrupt the person and distorts the likeness made possible by grace. While repentance and conversion are possible, a pattern of iniquity makes it increasingly unlikely. Such people become what Dr. Scott Peck calls “the People of the Lie.” While the Lord’s mercy is immense, his judgment is real and severe.

Tenth, priests would have penitents confess evil acts but ultimately their focus is upon the status of the person. Absolution is directed toward a person needing forgiveness and healing. A condition for mercy is sorrow for sin and amendment of life. The priest wants to fill the void left by sin in the person. The devil has nothing to give. We need both sanctifying and actual grace. A person without such grace is like the walking dead. Evil does not have to be absolute to be terrible and disfiguring. A Picaso painting of a person might be judged as a masterpiece, but if anyone actually resembled it, he or she would be judged a monstrosity. Any natural goodness becomes mute if we should die and face judgment while in deadly sin. Again, one can be evil without that iniquity being absolute. Such evil does not even require us to clearly hate God or neighbor. Indifference and not caring is sufficient to damn a soul.

Eleventh, most if not all of us wear masks, even virtuous men and women. Humility might hide the advanced compassion and holiness of a good person. We would urge the saints not to hide their light under a basket as it can guide others to the truth. Some would argue that sin and evil is a mask that certain people place before their goodness as creatures made in the image of God. I suspect that what is more common is a mask of false sanctity and charity worn to disguise that which is foul and selfish. There are also plenty of wolves in sheep’s clothing seeking to devour the flock. Is that not part of the scandal around abusive clergy? Yes, and about this we need an intense transparency. Evil must not be allowed to hide. Martin Luther argued for juridical imputation— that one is saved by disguise, literally allowing Jesus to stand before us and the Father. Catholicism would claim transformation— that the heavenly Father must see his Son alive inside of us. The plight of sin is that it would deprive us of this indwelling and that supernatural advancement of human nature.

Twelfth, if evil can be a mask, it is a poor one that always disfigures our likeness, even when it is removed through divine judgment. Just as we can be perfected by grace, we can become corrupted by vice— we literally become the lie. I am reminded of an episode of The Twilight Zone entitled “The Masks.” Taking place on Mardi Gras, a dying man coerces his family members into wearing grotesque masks reflective of their dark personalities. When it comes time to remove them, their faces are found to be molded into the ugly caricatures. Sin is more than hiding behind a lie. One can also become the lie.

Thirteenth, Jesus speaks to how evil disfigures the person. Referencing the ungodly and hypocritical, he states: “You belong to your father the devil and you willingly carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in truth, because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he speaks in character, because he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44). He also says: “Thus you bear witness against yourselves that you are the children of those who murdered the prophets; now fill up what your ancestors measured out! You serpents, you brood of vipers, how can you flee from the judgment of Gehenna?” (Matthew 23:31-33).

I become so infuriated with a presumptuous Pollyanna faith. We must remember that saints are made on earth, not in heaven. Salvation is a gift, but we must truly desire the gift. We are not promised perfect happiness in this world and death will not procure it for everyone. Evil is real and it is more than an accident or a mask to the good. It infects and corrupts and disfigures the person. Hell is real and the damned fashion it in the here-and-now. They carry it around with them. Like Milton’s Satan, they can cry out, “I myself am hell.” The tragedy is that many resist the grace and mercy of God. The two great motivations in the life of every Christian should be to worship the Lord and to save souls. Love is indeed the answer, but too often it is found wanting. We fail to pray. Many neglect the Mass. Too many are indifferent to the poverty, pain and oppression of others.