How to deal with evil
Spring Convo challenge

Keynoter Dr. Kristen Kvam, center, talked about evil through the lens of Martin Luther's late-life writings. With her are Chris Duckwork, assistant director of the LTSP Foundation and key Spring Convo planner, and Michele D. Kaufman, who heads the seminary's Alumni/ae Association.

PHILADELPHIA (April 29, 2003) -- When the alum planners for this year's spring convocation came up with the theme, "Exploring Evil in God's Good Creation," the war in Iraq wasn't on their radar screen or anyone else's. That's the trouble with evil. It's always finding some new, unimaginable context in which to take root. And in exploring this year's convo theme, attendees were reminded over and over of the complexities inherent in many sinful contexts.

Iraq, for instance, was much on listeners' minds as the discussion unfolded. What about the term "axis of evil?" Is evil just "over there?" Was the war "evil?" Or, is it possible that the war was a good thing that made liberation possible? Aren't the post-war Iraqi Shi'ites enjoying freedom of worship they never had under Saddam? That's good isn't it? But hold on, now they are exercising that freedom by asking U.S. troops to leave. Is that good or bad? Evil -- sometimes it's tough to pin down. It's frequently easier to see in others than in ourselves. (Gulp.)

Kristen Kvam

These contemporary questions were just some of the ones voiced or thought about by some 200 alums, visitors and others during the heart of the convocation this year. A foundation for the discussion was provided by keynoter Dr. Kristen Kvam, Associate Professor of Theology for the St. Paul School of Theology in Kansas City, MO. She talked about evil in terms of Martin Luther's Lectures on Genesis, given during the last 10 years of the Reformer's life. She has co-edited Eve and Adam: An Anthology of Jewish, Christian and Muslim Readings on Genesis and Gender. A panel of three faculty members reflected on the nature of evil as it connects to life today.

In her remarks over two sessions, Kvam addressed the eruption of evil in the garden in Genesis as having "essentially a theological character." This character sharply contrasts with the sensual nature some reviewers ascribe to the Genesis temptation story. Those in the latter "school" focus on Eve as a temptress luring Adam to sin. Describing the theological character of Luther's discussion of Genesis, Kvam said sin evolved in the garden because Adam and Eve both distrusted God. "Satan attacks Adam and Eve equally. They believe his lie because they have lost touch with God's Word and so they believe his lie." She said the onset of evil in the garden takes place in the form of a progression, "a downward spiral and gradual growth" to the point where it becomes in Luther's words "extremely sinful sin." This evolution of sin leads to outward acts. Satan causes Adam and Eve to open their eyes to perceive what they have done, and they hide from God. Satan's aim has been for Adam and Even and all of humanity to "perish in despair." Adam and Eve, in the midst of despair and fear, point fingers at each other and also blame God in the process, a condition that Luther wrote characterizes all sinners. Luther said "despair is the cause of sin. Sinners cannot do otherwise. They accuse God and excuse themselves," Kvam said.

God could have rejected Adam and Even on that basis, but instead makes known the promise of his victory over Satan, making the promise of Christ known in Eden, Kvam said. Thus, God becomes for Adam and Eve "the source for all mercies and the fountainhead of all promises." Adam and Eve come to understand the promise to defeat Satan and all tyranny and came to "grasp the hope of their restoration…They saw God cared for their salvation and that they were already justified by their faith. Their guilt was forgiven. They had been won back from death and set free from hell and from the fears by which they had been all but slain." It is the same kind of redemption, Kvam said, that encourages believers today to fight against sin.

From left, Convo panelists Mattison, Hoffmeyer, Rivera with keynoter Kvam. The panelists explored evil from many directions in terms of their faculty expertise.

That firm foundation set a faculty panel into motion and led to the airing of the kinds of questions and issues that began this story. Presenters were the Rev. Dr. Robin Mattison, professor of New Testament and Greek; the Rev. Dr. John Hoffmeyer, Associate Professor of Systematic Theology, and the Rev. Nelson Rivera, Assistant Professor of Systematic Theology. Each offered a perspective on evil based on teaching expertise.

Mattison noted three ways to talk about evil. One approach conveys that the devil is a kind of evil divine. The second approach considers evil as a part of a social community. The third considers evil in the individual. She indicated evil sometimes results from a lack of knowledge about matters. Sometimes it is a matter of having the wrong will – "not doing what God wants," she said. And sometimes people lack the ability get out of a difficulty "without God's help." This reality reinforces the notion of being "in bondage to sin." She added that people in dominant social groups sometimes don't perceive matters of evil, such as issues of social oppression, the way members of other groups do, and people adopt models of evil based on their backgrounds. For example, she said that President Bush had adopted an apocalyptic model regarding evil in Iraq, determining that Iraqis are in bondage and cannot free themselves. "Demonization of Saddam gave him impetus for a kind of crusade," she said. Whereas United Nations weapons inspector Hans Blix had opted for a model of persuasion to deal with evil in Iraq.

Rivera described six points about evil. He talked about the desire many have to measure evil in some way, to determine some kind of scale by which to determine levels of evil. He said he was struck by the extent to which considerations of religion and theology play a role in evil. He noted that Adolph Hitler had a considerable library of religious books and that Hitler clearly placed "a value on the words of Christ" and adopted a kind of messianic stance in his view toward the world in carrying out an evil plan. Another understanding of evil results from a privation of humanity. That may show up as a certain "lack of will to do good." Or, it can be the result of a certain twisted intent. "It may be wired in us," he said. "We are in evil and are a part of it. We may think we are doing something good but we do evil." Evil also shows up systemically, he said, and people may overlook or deny its existence. Such evil shows up in terms of issues involving race and gender, he said. Another form of evil sometimes comes about in the way people respond to evil. The challenge, he said, is to figure out how best to resist it "not by its own means or in evil ways." A final point has to do with evil in history. He contended that "no document in the history of civilization is not also at the same time a document of barbarism" that may be tainted by the manner in which it is transmitted.

Hoffmeyer challenged the audience to think of Christ as a model for how they are called to think about evil. He referred to certain human inclinations. One is to exert pressure about taking sides over an issue. "Either you are with me or against me," he said. Not to decide is actually still making a choice. He described the Good Samaritan parable as an illustration. "Either you walk by or help," he said. But Christ also called followers not to be divided so that the world is seen simply as angels of light and forces of darkness. "To classify others as friend or foe, good or bad is not a viable Christian solution," he said. "It doesn't work." Finding the right strategy to resist evil becomes a major challenge, he said. "You need to beware that in fighting the monster you may become one yourself." He called upon listeners to enact two suggestions. One is to adopt prayer "as a way to hold oneself both in the presence of tension and in God's presence." Prayer, he said, is an occasion for honest truth-telling before God. He also called for a kind of "eucharistic action," urging believers to regularly recall the signs of evil inherent in the Words of Institution … "In the night he was betrayed…" Jesus, he said, was killed by "imperial violence." Groups and individuals can get caught up in a tragic conflict between two good ethical responses, such as deciding between family and community priorities. He urged the audience to remember there are no "sinless options" and not to settle for despair or inaction as a response to perceived evil. He also reminded the audience that in the nonviolent tradition it is always possible to put one's own body in the path of resistance without compromising someone else. And he said, "Just war may have to be an approach that involves killing, but only if we recognize clearly how terrible the action is."

The discussion that followed involved spirited dialog. Pastor Glenn Foster, an alum from Meyersdale, PA, wondered aloud about the characterization of President Bush. "Isn't it possible the war has fulfilled a good purpose? The Shi'ites have freedom to worship now they never enjoyed under Saddam." Rivera noted the Shi'ites are also asking American troops to leave Iraq. Some in the audience noted that ability of Iraqis to exercise their freedom is also a good thing.

Hoffmeyer capped the discussion by reintroducing the model of Christ on the cross in challenging the audience to think about the choices of how Christians use power. God certainly has the power to use force and violence, he suggested, but God chose instead to become vulnerable in an ultimate expression of sacrificial love – Christ on the cross.

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