The problem of evil in God’s creation
We’ve all read news reports of horrid cases of people being imprisoned for long periods of time by perverted individuals who have been later diagnosed as classic psychopaths. By definition, psychopaths are individuals who are hateful towards others, and incapable of empathy. Sometimes known as Dissocial Personality Disorder, or Narcissistic Personality Disorder (alternate terms for sociopathic behaviour), these people are callous individuals, who are unconcerned for the feelings of others.
There is a lot of clinical evidence that points to a biological grounding for the uncaring nature of the psychopath. Since caring is a largely emotion-driven enterprise, it has been found that the brains of psychopaths have weak connections among the components of the brain’s emotional systems. Such disconnects make it impossible for the psychopath to feel emotions deeply. Disgust, as an emotion, plays an important role on our sense of ethics, and normal people find certain types of unethical actions disgusting, something that keeps them from engaging in cruel treatment of other people. But psychopaths, when shown disgusting photos of mutilated faces and when exposed to foul odors, have extremely high thresholds for disgust. In rarer cases, the psychopathic personality can be the result of having suffered an extremely abusive childhood.
Psychopaths, because they have an inability to empathize with others, are unable to feel the emotion of love. Simply put, psychopaths are not able to participate in normal, loving relationships that bound people together, as family, friends, and fellow human beings. Thus the question arises for the Christian, how can a person who does not have the ability to love, love God? And, if such a person is incapable of loving God, how can they escape eternal hell fire, since it is in this life that we are expected to prepare ourselves for an eternity in the presence of an All Holy God. If a psychopath is incapable of loving God, can we even say such a person was created in the image and likeness of God, Who is love? How can God have even allowed such a person be born, for does not this birth give life to someone who is totally incapable of gaining salvation? Wouldn’t such a birth be a violation of free will?
This question can equally be posed regarding the child born without a brain, or someone born without any cognitive abilities. Such abnormalities in God’s creation are ultimately the result, not of God’s will, but the result of the fall. The Scriptures identify sociopathic and psychopathic behavior as among the severest moral and spiritual effects of man’s fall into sin. Jesus described such sins as arising from evil hearts (Mark 7:20-23), and the holy apostle Paul identified godlessness as the root of such a deadly heart (Romans 1:28-32). In the psychopath we see the worst characteristics of sinful man’s nature, the worst effects of both genetic and environmental moral degradation.
The New Testament does not offer specifics on how a Christian society should deal with such serious problems. The Church’s teachings about morality and immorality of every kind, and her hopeful appeals and invitations to repentance, conversion, and transformed life in Christ, certainly apply to a psychopath as to any sinner. Saint Paul, describing conduct that included psychopathic characteristics, wrote to one congregation of believers in Jesus Christ, “Such were some of you” (1 Corinthians 6:9-11). As Orthodox Christians, we know that God is able to rescue and restore to righteousness the most corrupt heart. Because of this, it is possible for even a psychopath to be healed, and to come into a transformational relationship with the Living God. Yet, ultimately, much of this will remain a mystery to us, until that great day when we stand in the presence of God, and all is revealed to us. I believe culpability is the primary factor. God will not damn someone for things outside of their control.
With love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon
Photo: Ralph (Zosimas) Sidway, a filmmaker and photographer who is traveling the United States photographing Orthodox monasteries, spent four days with us. He is in the process of producing a coffee table book to be titled, The North American Thebaid.
Wednesday August 1, 2018 / July 19, 2018
10th Week after Pentecost. Tone eight.
Fast. Food with Oil
Venerable Macrina, sister of St. Basil the Great (380).
Venerable Dius, abbot, of Antioch (430).
Uncovering of the relics (1903) of Venerable Seraphim of Sarov.
Synaxis of All Saints of Kursk.
Blessed Romanus, prince of Ryazan (1270).
Venerable Paisius of the Kiev Caves (14th c.).
Blessed Stephen Lazarevich, king of Serbia (1427), and his mother St. Militsa (Eugenia in schema) (1405).
Sts. Demetrius, metropolitan of Rostov (1709), Metrophanes (1703) and Tikhon (Tychon) (1783) of Voronezh.
Icon of the Mother of God “Umileniye” (“of Tender Feeling”) (1885) of Diveyevo, before which St. Seraphim reposed.
Venerable Abba Diocles of The Paradise (Greek).
St. Theodore, bishop of Edessa (848) (Greek).
New-Martyr Victor, Bishop of Glazov (1934).
The Scripture Readings
Matthew 11:27-30
27 All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. 28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
Galatians 5:22-6:2
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. 24 And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
Bear and Share Burdens
6 Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. 2 Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
Luke 6:17-23
Jesus Heals a Great Multitude
17 And He came down with them and stood on a level place with a crowd of His disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem, and from the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear Him and be healed of their diseases, 18 as well as those who were tormented with unclean spirits. And they were healed. 19 And the whole multitude sought to touch Him, for power went out from Him and healed them all.
The Beatitudes
20 Then He lifted up His eyes toward His disciples, and said:
“Blessed are you poor,
For yours is the kingdom of God.
21 Blessed are you who hunger now,
For you shall be filled.
Blessed are you who weep now,
For you shall laugh.
22 Blessed are you when men hate you,
And when they exclude you,
And revile you, and cast out your name as evil,
For the Son of Man’s sake.
23 Rejoice in that day and leap for joy!
For indeed your reward is great in heaven,
For in like manner their fathers did to the prophets.
Good Abbot.
An intriguing question. The Bible shows very Evil characters ie Queen Jezebel for instance then our modern day , clinically labeled ‘boogey men’s.
Lucier by definition would be the greatest sociopath/Serial Killer.
Arch Angel created in God’s image and whom effected 1/3 rd of the Angels. That’s psycopathetic beyond Hitler or modern serial killers.
Adam n Eve original God created specimens yet those original minds and souls mis fired. We call it original sin (some faiths) and mankind’s curse.
Cain slew Able. First murder. No lawyers or psychologist like we have today to plead him out our even blame on his childhood.
Science will not find our soul. We can map every synapse. Can even map and define every functional region of the brain. We can know are brains.
We can know mechanics but as Eistein said
I want to know God’s thoughts the rest are details.
Evil and ‘dysfunction’ falls in Satan’s and the Sin camp. What is not of God or part if the vine is subject to corruption. Thus the mind and soul meet this definition.
I see and hear various stories in counseling office of selfishness. Of a partner killing other with words or actions. Unforgiving nature. Affairs. Addictions. If we reduce man to a few conditions I think miss the whole gestalt of man. We are greater or worse then our parts.
Part of the mystery concerning such pathological types, lies, I think, in sorting out whether some physical aspects of our neurological wiring are causes or effects, or both, in some endless loop. One therapist I know insists that ADD people have brains wired differently than “normal”. Is that a cause, I would ask, or the effect of a disordered world on a young, fresh mind? Another part of the mystery is the fallen world, itself, of course, and the predictable nature of its offspring.
But part of mystery, I’ve come to believe (and it can only be theory) lies in the recurrent nature of Time, and the mysteries of Time are usually fronted with warnings. Such inquiries are not everyone.
Who will be the publisher for the book on the North American Thebaid? I would love to get a copy when it comes out! With love in Christ, Jan
I don’t know.
Abbot Tryphon, and blog readers,
I would like to know how you suggest that Orthodox Christians go about forgiving and being patient with psychopaths. They do hurt us, but they also are human, and have a right to be not-judged, thus loved, by other sinners. How have you been able to coexist with such troubled people?
How do we respect psychopaths, with unconditional kindness, but without letting them abuse us? It’s a sort of paradox, I think, that develops holy personal boundaries. And it’s something I feel many of us need training in, beyond what is already available.
I realize it is important not to blame ourselves for others’ problems, but I believe God wants us to help the most unempathetic among us in the instances where we can be merciful.
I don’t know where to begin, I was married to a person with Narcissistic Personality Disorder for 23 years. I could never figure out why I never felt loved by her or safe. She would act like a nice Christian but in reality, everything had to be her way or she was not happy. She was Jealous of me being a pastor and constantly Critical of my Ministry. I finally resigned from the ministry because she was getting more and more distant from me. Once in a conversation, she had a moment of honesty she told me that she never loved me, So I said to her can’t you love me like a Christian brother. In the end, she could not and left the marriage and told me she did not want to be married anymore. My health has been affected by the stress that she caused me I always felt like I was jumping through hoops to please her and not ever would. I think the worst part is that she used spiritually and piety as a mask to cover what she really was, but she always would judge everyone in her life because she was always better. In reality, living with someone like this is like living with the devil they are cruel just to be cruel and yet they pretend to be a Christian. I really began to wonder how anyone who was so incapable of love could possibly be a Christian because Love is the essence of the gospel. Anyways enough of my story. Thanks for your insight.