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Two-Minute Takeaways

The Nature of Evil

Two-Minute Takeaways from The Urantia Book

Error (evil) is the penalty of imperfection. … The presence of evil constitutes proof of the inaccuracies of mind and the immaturity of the evolving self. (130:4.11↗️)

God’s divine love and perfect wisdom determines divine law—God’s will for how we should treat each other. To live according to God’s will is to do good.

If every intelligent being, whether man or angel, knew and lived according to God’s will each hour of each day, we all would be perfect beings. Yet, when imperfect beings are given free will, mistakes happen, whether intentional or not.

Evil is...

Evil is a mistake, whether small or large. Think of good as right and evil as wrong. Evil often results when we consider only ourselves, without regard for how our actions affect others

Evil at its simplest is a consequence when we harm ourselves or others out of ignorance of God’s will. Evil impacts our relationship with God, our relationships with others, and the world around us. Evil rises to the level of sin when we consciously and deliberately do something that we know is wrong. In either case, its consequences can be small or devastating. 

Evil is not...

Evil is not necessary. True, the freedom God gives us coupled with our imperfection makes evil almost inevitable; nevertheless, there is no such thing as a necessary evil. Case in point: the example of Jesus’ life on Earth.

Did he spill milk or break a plate? Likely.  However, through his moral and ethical life as a man, Jesus demonstrated that it is possible to develop the wisdom, perceive the spiritual insight, and summon the self-control to resist evil and sin.

Why does God allow evil? 

God gives us freedom to make moral judgments of right and wrong so we can grow in wisdom and spiritual perfection. Experience (trial and error) is the basic medium of learning and education. Spiritual growth stems from experiences that guide us toward spiritual reality. For example, to develop courage we must live amid surroundings that necessitate struggling with hardship and danger. Learning to live with uncertainties and insecurities challenges us to nurture faith and hope.

In order to establish the love of truth in the human heart, one must live in a world where error is present and the evils of falsehood confronted. Unselfishness is acquired when we repeatedly discover the unhappiness brought on by an ego continually clamoring for pleasure, honor, and recognition. 

In other words, evolutionary beings such as ourselves must live in an environment of relative or potential evil in order to experience and choose to embrace higher spiritual realities. In the evolving universe, free-will beings will suffer from the evil we and others commit. The universe indeed evolves as a school of hard knocks.

Even angels make mistakes... or worse

Although created higher than us, angels and many other spirit beings are still not perfect. They also have free will. As a result, they also can make mistakes. Some have even deliberately disobeyed God. One such being is Lucifer.

Lucifer is not an angel. He was a high-ranking administrator of a group of inhabited planets that included ours. Lucifer became impatient with God’s plan of gradually leading beings such as us toward greater enlightenment. He rejected God’s plan and tried to do things his way, trying to speed things up. The end result has been catastrophic on our planet and many others. (Not all inhabited planets are as riddled with sin as ours; in fact, most are not.)

God’s response to such a rebellion? More free will of course. Lucifer was allowed to have his way until angels and others in his part of the universe had chosen whether to follow him or God. He was then taken into custody, along with those who chose to follow him.

It will take a long time to repair the damage done by Lucifer. Fortunately, he is no longer free to create chaos on our world. This means we cannot blame him for our behavior. “The devil made me do it” is no excuse. Each of us is completely responsible for our own actions.

More about Lucifer and the current status of his rebellion can be found in The Urantia Book.

Let love guide you

To free yourself from evil and sin, let love guide you.

At the heart of divine law is divine love. Love not only casts out fear; it also casts out evil. And sin. 

Discerning how God’s spirit within us would guide us as we interact with others is difficult. Even when we know what is the right thing to do, selfishness and lack of self-control can lead us to go against God’s will. Utilizing your God-given liberty to restrain your selfish urges becomes easier when you look at others through eyes of love. In other words, let love guide your behaviors. The world will be a bit better because you used your freedom with compassion and wisdom. 

Learn more about the nature of evil in The Urantia Book.

Evil is the inevitable darkness which follows upon the heels of the unwise rejection of light. Evil is that which is dark and untrue, and which, when consciously embraced and willfully endorsed, becomes sin. (130:1.5↗️)