About things that are evil in itself
By Orlando Fedeli - It was the Manichean heretics who thought that there were evil beings (things). But everything that was created, was created by God, and God created everything good.
Anonymous Letter on January 01, 2000
I would like to read something about the things that are evil 1. Its origin and causes.
Response from Orlando Fedeli
Dear anonymous, salve Maria,
Every being (everything) is created by God, and therefore, as a thing (in itself) is good. God created nothing evil. For this reason, in Genesis it says that every creature that God created He saw that it was good. And, at the end of creation, when contemplating all His work, God says that everything was "very good", because in addition to all things being good, they were in order.
It was the Manichean heretics who thought that there were evil things as beings. But evil does not exist as a being. Evil is a lack of something that should exist. For example, if I had been born without eyes, that would be an evil, because every man must have eyes. This way, a hole in a road is an evil, because asphalt is lacking where there should be (some asphalt). Nobody can buy a pound of hole, because the hole, as a being, does not exist. You could ask me: "What about the venom of a snake?". This is made by God too, and, as a being, is good. So much so that it can be used to make vaccines. Evil is the lack of order. In the snake, the venom is good and the result of the good functioning of its organism. In our veins, it is evil, because of the lack of order. Having ears is good, but having an ear on the forehead would be an evil, for lack of order.
Evil then is either the lack of something that ought to exist, or the lack of order. Then, there is moral evil, which is a lack of order in actions. So, there are moral evils, sins that are actions.That's why there are bad verbs: steal, kill, slander, corrupt, etc. But there are no bad nouns. You will ask me about the devil. I answer that the devil, as a being, was made by God, and was made with a good nature. But the devil freely misused his good qualities, becoming a perverse angel.
If you want more clarifications, write to us.
in Corde Jesu, semper,
Orlando Fedeli
The original reads “Maldade do ser”, which could be translated as “evil of being”.