Evil Doesn’t Have Being

It may seem odd to see a Catholic writer state that “evil doesn’t have being.” Does that mean that evil is not real or that evil does not exist? No, it does not. What it means is that God, as creator, did not create evil. It does not have to be. So often people think that evil is “something,” sort of like a substance. People think that it is good versus evil, as though you have two cosmic principals fighting it out. But just as it is incorrect to conceive of the existence of God and the existence of Satan as two equal, cosmic forces locked in battle, it is also incorrect to think of evil as somehow having a concrete existence.

God is the infinite creator who sustains all things in existence. If a thing exists – such as the universe, an angel, or even an ant – then it exists because God wills it to exist and sustains that thing in its existence. As God is Being itself (see the prior Behold article on this topic), any being or thing only exists by a type of participation in God’s own existence. All of creation is continually dependent on the creator to continue in existence.

In so far as something exists, or has being, it is good. This means, that in effect, Being = Good. Otherwise, it could not exist at all. There is no concrete metaphysically existing thing called “evil.” So what, exactly, is evil? It is the lack of being; it is the lack of a good that should be there. Satan exemplifies this: he is merely a creature. Specifically, he is an angel who freely chose to reject God. God did not create Satan or any demon as an “evil” creature. They are all angels, who were created good but used their free will to turn against God.

When we speak of Satan being evil, we are speaking about his will, about what he chooses. The good that Satan and the demons should have is a properly ordered will and desire to do good, to do God’s will. They should freely choose to do actions that are in accord with their existence as angels. That would be to glorify God and promote the well-being of all his creation. But since they have freely warped their own will to want and continue to want evil, we call them “evil.”

We can generally, distinguish between physical and moral evil. A physical evil as evil is still the lack of a good that should be there. An example would be human blindness: it is the lack of sight that should be there, according to the way God made humanity. A moral evil is when a person purposely thinks and acts in ways contrary to the way God made our human nature. Moral evil is the lack of proper order. For example, humans are made for the Truth, hence lying is evil.

Evil, especially moral evil, is an affront to our Creator; it is an embrace of destruction. Yet, since evil is not an equal and opposite to God, we can trust in him and his power to help us with the evil we encounter in our lives. In a sense, the greatest evil in our lives about which we have the opportunity to do something are the sins we commit…or rather should choose not to commit.