John Whitehead's Commentary
The Death Of Satan: How Do We Define Evil?
More than a century ago, philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche darkly proclaimed that "God is dead." Many years later, at the height of the chaos, confusion and challenge of authority that was the 1960s, Time magazine's April 8, 1966 cover asked, "IS GOD DEAD?"
Yet a recent study by the Barna Research Group suggests that both Nietzsche and Time may have been talking about the death of the wrong supernatural being. According to 80 percent of American Catholics and mainline Protestants, Satan--also known as the Prince of Darkness or Beelzebub--is the one in an early grave.
The Barna survey reveals that the traditional doctrines--which gave rise to society's moral absolutes and our ability to discern between good and evil--once so basic to the Judeo-Christian faith, are fading fast from the American scene and with them, our concept of Satan. Thus, the great question is no longer "Does God exist?" (since most Americans claim to believe in a universal, grandfatherly kind of God) but "Can there be good without evil?" And if there is no such being as Satan, does Hell really exist? And if neither exists, is there really any consequence for evil acts--or what we used to call sin?
Several years ago, in his book The Death of Satan, professor Andrew Delbanco attempted to explain why Satan has vanished from modern minds. He shows how, bit by bit, modern precepts and social patterns drove Satan from the consciousness of leading Americans, making irony, not faith, their preferred spiritual posture when confronting evil. According to Delbanco, it was the generation that lived through the Civil War that most decisively closed the metaphysical doors on Satan because of an inability to make sense of the horror of that war within their inherited religious doctrine.
Interestingly, Delbanco points out that by locking Satan out of their philosophies, modern philosophical thinkers have unintentionally sterilized the imagination and muffled the conscience. Thus, after centuries in which society's well-defined concepts of good and evil gave shape and direction to its morals and culture, we the people are now left to flounder in a sea of moral ambiguity.
The Barna survey indicates that 60 to 70 percent of what some call fundamentalist Christian denominations all held true to more traditional beliefs, such as the existence of Satan. Yet among mainline denominations, only 20 percent of respondents affirmed the basic Protestant tenet that good works are not enough to get to heaven. This was the foundation of Martin Luther's Reformation that gave birth to Protestantism and certain vital political doctrines--such as the freedom of conscience--that later found their way into our Constitution.
Why the disparity between mainline and fundamentalist denominations? Some expert observers say the differences are the result of the way religious beliefs are presented. Paul Hinlicky, a religion and philosophy professor at Roanoke College, says that the churches with more traditional beliefs all "hold onto the Bible as the place from which the living Christ speaks." He asserts, however, that mainline denominations have eschewed such doctrines and are more attuned "to the spirit of the times than to the spirit of the historical, biblical Christ."
Of course, it's difficult to tell whether mainline Protestants don't believe in Satan because they're not being taught about him in church or whether they attend mainline Protestant churches because they don't believe in Satan. Either way, the issue speaks to the larger problem Americans face.
It must also be kept in mind that those who attend mainline denominations--that is, Episcopalian, Presbyterian and so on--tend to be those who serve in leadership. Just the opposite is true of the so-called fundamentalist denominations that are primarily populated by minorities and lower middle-class Americans who have little or no political power.
Nonetheless, the bottom-line truth is that modern Americans generally have trouble defining evil. Even without naming it, however, evil still clearly exists in the world. Timothy McVeigh is its most recent face. But there are other examples, from the Unabomber to Hitler. And the faces of evil seem to be increasing.
Unfortunately, without being able to blame it on Satan and the supernatural presence of evil, however, Americans in particular seem at a loss as to how to understand such people and their crimes.
This is especially confusing in today's world where science and technology seem to blame every human act on a malfunctioning gene. For example, would Hitler's senseless acts of violence be chalked up to genetic instability? Or the result of a poor home environment? Could his victims have been spared if his mother had chosen to abort him? Would early intervention and mentoring by caring adults have reformed him? Perhaps we could've engineered a socially responsible Adolf Hitler. According to the Barna survey, most Americans must agree with that last possibility. After all, without Satan there is no evil force to sway such people so a little social engineering should be enough to "fix the problem."
Yet recent experience teaches just as surely that human intervention often is not the answer. No matter how many resources we pour into social programs, evil persists. And some of us at least are left wondering if maybe evil is not a human problem--but a spiritual one. If so, then no earthly solution may suffice.
Yet a recent study by the Barna Research Group suggests that both Nietzsche and Time may have been talking about the death of the wrong supernatural being. According to 80 percent of American Catholics and mainline Protestants, Satan--also known as the Prince of Darkness or Beelzebub--is the one in an early grave.
The Barna survey reveals that the traditional doctrines--which gave rise to society's moral absolutes and our ability to discern between good and evil--once so basic to the Judeo-Christian faith, are fading fast from the American scene and with them, our concept of Satan. Thus, the great question is no longer "Does God exist?" (since most Americans claim to believe in a universal, grandfatherly kind of God) but "Can there be good without evil?" And if there is no such being as Satan, does Hell really exist? And if neither exists, is there really any consequence for evil acts--or what we used to call sin?
Several years ago, in his book The Death of Satan, professor Andrew Delbanco attempted to explain why Satan has vanished from modern minds. He shows how, bit by bit, modern precepts and social patterns drove Satan from the consciousness of leading Americans, making irony, not faith, their preferred spiritual posture when confronting evil. According to Delbanco, it was the generation that lived through the Civil War that most decisively closed the metaphysical doors on Satan because of an inability to make sense of the horror of that war within their inherited religious doctrine.
Interestingly, Delbanco points out that by locking Satan out of their philosophies, modern philosophical thinkers have unintentionally sterilized the imagination and muffled the conscience. Thus, after centuries in which society's well-defined concepts of good and evil gave shape and direction to its morals and culture, we the people are now left to flounder in a sea of moral ambiguity.
The Barna survey indicates that 60 to 70 percent of what some call fundamentalist Christian denominations all held true to more traditional beliefs, such as the existence of Satan. Yet among mainline denominations, only 20 percent of respondents affirmed the basic Protestant tenet that good works are not enough to get to heaven. This was the foundation of Martin Luther's Reformation that gave birth to Protestantism and certain vital political doctrines--such as the freedom of conscience--that later found their way into our Constitution.
Why the disparity between mainline and fundamentalist denominations? Some expert observers say the differences are the result of the way religious beliefs are presented. Paul Hinlicky, a religion and philosophy professor at Roanoke College, says that the churches with more traditional beliefs all "hold onto the Bible as the place from which the living Christ speaks." He asserts, however, that mainline denominations have eschewed such doctrines and are more attuned "to the spirit of the times than to the spirit of the historical, biblical Christ."
Of course, it's difficult to tell whether mainline Protestants don't believe in Satan because they're not being taught about him in church or whether they attend mainline Protestant churches because they don't believe in Satan. Either way, the issue speaks to the larger problem Americans face.
It must also be kept in mind that those who attend mainline denominations--that is, Episcopalian, Presbyterian and so on--tend to be those who serve in leadership. Just the opposite is true of the so-called fundamentalist denominations that are primarily populated by minorities and lower middle-class Americans who have little or no political power.
Nonetheless, the bottom-line truth is that modern Americans generally have trouble defining evil. Even without naming it, however, evil still clearly exists in the world. Timothy McVeigh is its most recent face. But there are other examples, from the Unabomber to Hitler. And the faces of evil seem to be increasing.
Unfortunately, without being able to blame it on Satan and the supernatural presence of evil, however, Americans in particular seem at a loss as to how to understand such people and their crimes.
This is especially confusing in today's world where science and technology seem to blame every human act on a malfunctioning gene. For example, would Hitler's senseless acts of violence be chalked up to genetic instability? Or the result of a poor home environment? Could his victims have been spared if his mother had chosen to abort him? Would early intervention and mentoring by caring adults have reformed him? Perhaps we could've engineered a socially responsible Adolf Hitler. According to the Barna survey, most Americans must agree with that last possibility. After all, without Satan there is no evil force to sway such people so a little social engineering should be enough to "fix the problem."
Yet recent experience teaches just as surely that human intervention often is not the answer. No matter how many resources we pour into social programs, evil persists. And some of us at least are left wondering if maybe evil is not a human problem--but a spiritual one. If so, then no earthly solution may suffice.
ABOUT JOHN W. WHITEHEAD
Constitutional attorney and author John W. Whitehead is founder and president of The Rutherford Institute. His most recent books are the best-selling Battlefield America: The War on the American People, the award-winning A Government of Wolves: The Emerging American Police State, and a debut dystopian fiction novel, The Erik Blair Diaries. Whitehead can be contacted at staff@rutherford.org. Nisha Whitehead is the Executive Director of The Rutherford Institute. Information about The Rutherford Institute is available at www.rutherford.org.
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