Evil

The story of the rich man and Lazarus is often read as a picture of final judgment. Yet the story itself does not describe final judgment at all. There is no resurrection of the dead, no gathering before the Judge, no examination of deeds, and no final verdict. Both men are dead, but the final judgment has not yet happened. They are in an intermediate condition.

Satan is commonly portrayed in Christianity as first and foremost the enemy of God: a cosmic rebel whose hatred of humanity is merely an extension of a deeper war against the Creator. Yet this familiar picture is much clearer in later Christian imagination than it is in Scripture itself. When the biblical texts are read directly, Satan certainly disobeys God, challenges divine judgments and acts contrary to God's purposes. But the actual objects of his hostility are consistently human beings.

The distinction is important:

One of the most enduring questions in religion is why the righteous often seem to suffer the most.

The obvious answer to many appears self-evident: it is because by doing good they naturally fell under the Satan's radar who then initiated the suffering.

Yet Scripture repeatedly presents a different sequence of events.

This difference is subtle, much like a physiological fact that is easily misunderstood.

One of the most persistent assumptions in popular Christianity is that Satan is an intellectual being comparable to a human mind, only vastly more cunning and more evil. Entire traditions have been built upon this image. People speak of making pacts with Satan, negotiating with him, outsmarting him, or engaging him in a battle of wits. Literature, folklore, and modern culture have reinforced this picture until it has become almost self-evident to many believers.

Yet when we return to Scripture itself, a different picture begins to emerge.

Every practical approach must begin with a foundation. If the foundation is wrong, everything built upon it will eventually collapse. My entire understanding of demons rests upon one principle that may initially sound strange, perhaps even offensive:

The problem of demonic affliction belongs foremost to the exorcist.

In the previous two essays, I argued that the Parable of the Rich Fool is often misunderstood.

First, the story is not merely about wealth. It begins with an inheritance dispute and exposes the folly of accumulating possessions without properly considering mortality and succession. The rich man solves the problem of storage while ignoring the problem of inheritance.

Second, the famous words:

“You fool!”