Does Knowledge of Evil Condemn Us?

JosephAlward

Ordinarily I would post this topic in the "Bible Research" forum, but I found the following on the "Friends" forum, in the "Tree of What" thread, so I will leave it here.

AChristian explains,

[When] free people have a knowledge of evil they always, at least briefly, consider doing evil. And, even having evil thoughts for a brief fleeting moment makes people less righteous than God. Why is that? Because the Bible tells us that "In God there is no darkness at all." (1 John 1:5)

This makes no sense. If knowledge of evil makes one less than perfect, then God would not be perfect by this rule, because he certainly knows evil, does he not? Thus, either AChristian is wrong, or the author of 1 John 1:5 is, or both of them are.

Which is it, AChristian?

Joseph F. Alward
"Skeptical Views of Christianity and the Bible"

http://members.aol.com/jalw/joseph_alward.html

Lost Diamond

This is how I see it:

We are not perfect; God is.
We are all evil at some point in time, because our imperfect minds come up with evil thoughts every now and then.

God is in a different catagory all together..he is perfect. There is no comparison.

DazedAndConfused

The knowledge of evil, in itself does not condemn us. What would condemn us, however, is having the knowledge of evil yet willfully practicing it.

Faithful2Jah

Hmmmmmm

Justin

I'm not familiar with the other post. When you said the statement was made by "A Christian," I thought it was any old Christian, but then I realized you were referring to our friend.

I would not use 1 John 1:5 to prove that God does not have an intellectual knowledge of evil. This text reads: "This is the message which we have heard from him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all." As "darkness" is here used as a symbol of evil, the text indicates that there is no evil in God's essential nature, not that God does not have an intellectual knowledge of evil. The writer knew enough about the previously written Scriptures to realize that God constantly condemns evil.

It looks like the original thread had something to do with the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The Genesis account does not tell us what that tree represented, but merely uses it as the occasion to test the first couple's obedience. Some may say that the tree represented the EXPERIENCE of good and evil (a mixture of both), while others will say that it represented the right to determine good and evil for oneself. Does this conflict with God's later statement, "Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil"? No, for on the one hand, God's knowledge of good and evil was inherent and not based on an experience of good and evil which man supposedly acquired; on the other, God had retained the right to determine good and evil which man should not have tried to appropriate to himself.

Anyway, if we couldn't have a knowledge of evil, how would us Christians ever fight heresy?

Justin

Faithful2Jah

Joe: I just looked up that old thread. Maybe if you quoted his statement in context it would make more sense.

He wrote: [In "the tree of the knowledge of good and evil"] the accent should be placed on the word "and." As in "the knowledge of good AND evil." For God knew that, as free people, Adam and Eve could not possess any knowledge of evil. For simply having a knowledge of evil corrupts free people and makes them unworthy of eternal life. How so? Because when free people have a knowledge of evil they always, at least briefly, consider doing evil. And, even having evil thoughts for a brief fleeting moment makes people less righteous than God. Why is that? Because the Bible tells us that "In God there is no darkness at all." (1 John 1:5)

He did not say that anyone having a knowledge of evil is corrupted by such a knowledge. He said that people who are capable of doing both good and evil are at least slightly corrupted by such a knowledge. Because when corruptible people acquire a knowledge of evil they are often adversely influenced by it to act in an evil way. When they manage to refrain from acting in such a way they often at least consider doing so, which Jesus said was in itself sinful. Matt. 5:28 However, the Bible tells us that God is "incorruptible." Romans 1:23 That means that acquiring a knowledge of evil cannot cause God to even consider acting in an evil way. Because, like AC said, "In God there is no darkness at all."

Joe, if you ran across something AC wrote in some old thread that you did not understand and you wanted someone to explain it to you, why didn't you E mail AC himself? His E mail is open. Unless your intent was to publicly draw attention to things Christians write which make no sense to you, for the purpose of trying to make them look foolish.

aChristian

Faithful,

In the same post Joseph quoted from I wrote:

I also believe that the "knowledge of evil" that Genesis refers to in the story of Adam and Eve refers to "knowing" something "in the biblical sense." This kind of "knowledge" is an "intimate knowledge." Such as in the Bible's statement that Joseph did not "know" Mary until after she had given birth to Jesus. (Matt. 1:25) ... That being the case, Adam and Eve had an intimate knowledge of good before they disobeyed God. For they personally knew God and they knew by experience all the good things being obedient to Him brought them. But until they disobeyed God they did not really "know" evil. For they had no intimate knowledge of evil. For such a "knowledge" would include having experienced the harmful effects of evil, a knowledge which Adam and Eve only acquired after they disobeyed God.

Joseph, I hope that helps. : )

JosephAlward

Joseph, I hope that helps.

My focus was quite narrow, and was not directed to the meaning of evil, and knowledge of it, or its implications. I was challenging the logic of your claim that knowledge of evil is inherently unrighteous. You didn't use those words, but that is the thrust of your statement, which I'll reproduce below:

[When] free people have a knowledge of evil they always, at least briefly, consider doing evil. And, even having evil thoughts for a brief fleeting moment makes people less righteous than God. Why is that? Because the Bible tells us that "In God there is no darkness at all." (1 John 1:5)

Thus, you seem to be claiming that the instant Adam and Eve gained a knowledge of evil, they became less righteous than God. Your words make it clear that you think that darkness entered Adam and Eve at the moment they knew evil, but knowing evil cannot be a criteria for this, for if it were, then one would have to conclude that there is darkness in God, too, for he surely knows evil.

Since the writer of 1 John 1:5 says that there is no darkness in God, we must conclude that either he was wrong, or else your interpretation is flawed. Which is it? Does one become less righteous when one knows evil, or not? Can God know evil and be righteous, but if man knows it he's not righteous? If so, why? Where in the Bible does it say this?

Joseph F. Alward
"Skeptical Views of Christianity and the Bible"

http://members.aol.com/jalw/joseph_alward.html

Francois

Well, let's get our terms defined. What IS evil? Isn't it a falling short, a falling short of perfection?

If that's the case, then naturally we are all potentially evil, and this is because knowing ABOUT something isn't the same thing as knowing it as a personal experience in your own reality.

God surely knows ABOUT evil. I think I can say with authority that God has never KNOWN evil.

Until we reach a much more advanced spiritual state, evil will always be there as a contrastive choice. You don't have to experience, know, evil for it to act as a motivator. And evil has no separate existance. Evil is not a characteristic of the universe. Someone has to bring evil into existence by choosing to ACT in an evil way. Otherwise evil is nothing but a relative intellectual construct. If every sentient being in the universe eschewed evil, no evil would exist anywhere.

My $0.02

Francois

aChristian

: Which is it? Does one become less righteous when one knows evil, or not? Can God know evil and be righteous, but if man knows it he's not righteous? If so, why? Where in the Bible does it say this?

When a corruptible person gains a mere intellectual knowledge of evil he is immediately corrupted by it. For he then immediately considers the possibility of acting in an evil way. And, as Faithful pointed out, Jesus clearly indicated in Matthew 5:28 that merely thinking of committing an evil act is itself an evil act. Thus a mere intellectual knowledge of evil can and does corrupt us.

However, because God is incorruptible, He is able to possess an intellectual knowledge of evil and never consider, even for one brief fleeting moment, acting in an evil way.

We are corruptible. God is incorruptible. Thus we are less righteous than God. Because we are, and because "all unrighteousness is sin" (1 John 5:17), we all "fall short of the glory of God." (Rom. 3:23) Because we do we are all undeserving of eternal life. However, because God made us the way that we are, and because Jesus Christ paid the penalty for all of our sins, God gladly overlooks our unrighteousness and considers us to be "righteous ones" who are worthy of eternal life.

All God asks of us is that we accept what He has done for us. Will you?

Does Knowledge of Evil Condemn Us?

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