Evil, origins of

Although Scripture does not reveal the ultimate origin of evil, it identifies a number of intermediate sources.

Satan as a source of evil

Genesis 3:1 Identified later (Revelation 12:9) with Satan; Matthew 4:1 parallels Mark 1:13, Luke 4:2John 8:44; 1 John 3:8; Revelation 12:9 See also 1 Chronicles 21:1 Satan incites David to take a census of Israel; Job 1:11, Job 2:5; Matthew 5:37, Matthew 6:13, Matthew 13:38–39 the parable of the weeds; Luke 13:16 Satan is responsible for a woman's crippling disease; John 13:2 The devil prompts Judas to betray Jesus Christ; John 17:15; Acts 5:3 Ananias lies to the Holy Spirit at Satan's instigation; 2 Corinthians 4:4, 2 Corinthians 12:7 Paul's thorn in the flesh from Satan; Ephesians 2:2, Ephesians 6:11; 1 Thessalonians 2:18; 1 Peter 5:8; 1 John 3:12, 1 John 5:19; Revelation 2:10, Revelation 20:2

Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field that the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden?’”

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out his desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, refusing to uphold the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, because he is a liar and the father of lies.

The one who practices sin is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the very start. This is why the Son of God was revealed, to destroy the works of the devil.

And the great dragon was hurled down — that ancient serpent called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.

Other evil powers

Luke 9:39 parallel Mark 9:17–18Ephesians 6:12; 1 Timothy 4:1 See also Judges 9:23; 1 Samuel 16:14, 1 Samuel 18:10–11, 1 Samuel 19:9–10; Matthew 12:45 parallel Luke 11:26; Revelation 12:7, Revelation 16:13–14

A spirit keeps seizing him, and he screams abruptly. It throws him into convulsions so that he foams at the mouth. It keeps mauling him and rarely departs from him.

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this world’s darkness, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Now the Spirit expressly states that in later times some will abandon the faith to follow deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons,

Fallen human nature as a source of evil

Genesis 6:5; Matthew 15:19 parallel Mark 7:21–22James 1:13–14 See also Genesis 8:21; Proverbs 6:18; Ecclesiastes 8:11, Ecclesiastes 9:3; Isaiah 59:7; Jeremiah 4:14, Jeremiah 17:9, Jeremiah 18:12MAT Jeremiah 23:25 parallel Luke 11:39; Matthew 23:27–28 Romans 1:24, Romans 7:14–23; 1 Timothy 6:10 the love of money a root of evil; James 3:6 The tongue is a source of evil; James 4:1

Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great upon the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was altogether evil all the time.

For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, and slander.

When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when by his own evil desires he is lured away and enticed.

Physical evil is a consequence of moral evil

Genesis 3:17; Romans 5:12 See also Deuteronomy 28:20–24, Deuteronomy 28:58–59; Psalm 90:8–9; Proverbs 14:30; Malachi 4:6; Romans 6:23, Romans 8:19–21; Revelation 16:1, Revelation 16:5–6

And to Adam He said: “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat, cursed is the ground because of you; through toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.

Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, so also death was passed on to all men, because all sinned.