Theologians have pondered the nature of evil for centuries. Now psychiatrists are ranking evil deeds according to degrees of heinousness, providing news pegs for reporters who want to explore changes in how people view brutal acts. Why do men and women commit such crimes, and how are good people transformed into perpetrators? Are they innately evil, or do they learn to be evil? Is evil the work of human beings or the work of the devil? And if there’s a God, where is God in the midst of the horror?
UPDATED APR. 20, 2007
Psychiatrist Michael Stone of Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons is developing a 22-level hierarchy of evil behavior based on detailed biographies of more than 500 violent criminals. Michael Welner, a forensic psychiatrist at New York University School of Medicine, is working on a “depravity scale” to measure the heinousness of crimes – a scale he hopes will serve as a guideline for judges and juries at the sentencing phase of trial.
However one measures evil, it is a topic that challenges religion scholars, theologians and ordinary people of faith. Today many ask whether God is all-powerful, given that people manage to hurt each other and commit collective atrocities on a daily basis. The shootings at Virginia Tech are only the most recent and high-profile reminder.
These are not just lofty theological matters. Measuring evil has ramifications for psychological treatment; for criminal justice, including the death penalty; and for human rights policy, such as when it is imperative to intervene. Notions about evil shape sermons, Scripture study and Sunday school teaching.
Why it Matters
Evil may have more news pegs than any other religion story, from genocide and terrorism to domestic violence or horrific crimes committed by people in positions of trust. The way scholars and religious leaders understand evil can help illuminate how people respond to it.
Questions for reporters
• Does it make sense to rank acts of evil? Should prison sentences be based on such rankings?
• What are children and teens – who see media coverage of crimes and war – being taught about evil in houses of worship? Does ranking acts of evil make sense to them?
• How has thinking about the nature of evil changed in recent years among theologians and scholars of religion? How have religious leaders changed the way they preach and teach about evil over time?
• How do ordinary people make sense of evil acts and how do they reconcile evil with their religious beliefs?
• Among Christians, some believe God is in full control of actions on Earth and believe that Satan lives among us. Others do not believe in a literal Satan character. How are the beliefs of these groups challenged by acts of evil? Are people in either group shifting their views?
• How do different religions understand evil? How do those beliefs affect how people respond to acts of evil they see in their daily life or through media reporting?
• How does genocide challenge understandings of evil?
Jump to background
National sources
• Michael Stone, professor of clinical psychology at Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons, hopes his hierarchy of evil behavior will offer useful guidance in deciding who should be imprisoned for life. He will send interested reporters a Power Point presentation on the hierarchy. Contact 212-758-2000 (answering service), mstonemd@aol.com.
• Tyron Inbody, professor of theology at United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio, is the author of The Transforming God: An Interpretation of Suffering and Evil (Westminster John Knox, 1997). He says more conservative Christians are questioning whether God is fully in control in the face of evil, and some liberal Christians are open to the possibility of the demonic. Contact 937-278-5817 ext. 2111, tyinbody@united.edu.
• Christine Smith, professor of preaching at United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities in New Brighton, Minn., has written about sin and evil in feminist thought and about preaching as a radical response to evil. Contact 651-255-6128, csmith@unitedseminary-mn.org.
• John Stackhouse, professor of theology and culture at Regent College in Vancouver, Canada, is the author of Can God Be Trusted?: Faith and the Challenge of Evil (Oxford University Press, 2000). He says scholars who once argued over whether one can uphold traditional theism in the face of any evil are talking about whether one could uphold it in the face of so much evil. Contact 604-221-3323, jgs88@shaw.ca.
• Jamsheed K. Choksy, Indiana University professor of Central Eurasian studies, history and religious studies, has written about the dissemination of ideas about evil through Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism, Mithraism and Islam, and the development of moral codes based on good and evil. He sees more scholarship focusing on collective responses to evil and on societal inequities, the consequences of warfare, the rise of fundamentalist groups and the threat posed by terrorists – all shaped by competing claims of good and evil. Contact 812-855-8643, jchoksy@indiana.edu.
• Wendy Doniger, professor of the history of religions in the University of Chicago Divinity School, has written about the origins of evil in Hindu mythology. Contact 773-702-8239, don@midway.chicago.edu.
• Elaine Pagels, Princeton University professor of religion, is the author of The Origin of Satan (Vintage, 1996). Contact by email only, epagels@princeton.edu.
• Kathleen Sands, a professor of religious studies focusing on law and public policy at the University of Massachusetts at Boston, is the author of Escape from Paradise: Evil and Tragedy in Feminist Theology (Fortress Press, 1994). She says that in the 1970s, with the onset of liberation theology, religious scholars moved from thinking of evil as an absence of the good to viewing sin as forces of oppression and cruelty in the world. Sin and salvation became less individualistic and more collective, and many theologians gave up traditional theistic claims that God is all-powerful. Contact 617-287-6120, kathleen.sands@umb.edu.
• Daryl Koehn, chair of business ethics at the University of St. Thomas in Houston, is the author of The Nature of Evil (Palgrave Macmillan, 2005). She has found that suffering, not malicious cruelty, lies at the heart of evil. Suffering results in lashing out at other people to shore up false identities. She expects to see less scholarship on the theological question of why God allows evil to exist and more interest in the philosophical question about whether evil has a nature or essence. She believes it’s dangerous to rank evil behavior. Contact 713-942-5917, koehn@stthom.edu.
Background
RELIGIONLINK
See these previous Religionlink issues:
• Tsunami disaster engages questions of faith Jan. 5, 2005
• Prisoner abuse: ethics, morals and religion May 18, 2004
• Death, grief and the aftermath of war casualties March 28, 2003
• Court strikes down juvenile death penalty Sept. 8, 2004
• Postwar ethics: facing forgiveness, reconciliation April 21, 2003
• Satan’s higher profile: What the devil is going on? October 9, 2003
OTHER BACKGROUND
• See the website for the Stanford Prison Experiment, a classic simulation study of the psychology of imprisonment conducted at Stanford University in 1971. Stanford psychology Professor Philip Zimbardo wanted to see under what conditions ordinary people — in this case volunteers who agreed to play guards or prisoners — would perceive others as less than human and abuse them. Site includes a slide show.
• Read “The Problem of Evil” in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
• Listen to a 12-minute American Public Media audio segment on “The Problem of Evil” from Feb. 15, 2002.
• Listen to a National Public Radio segment on the nature of evil from April 8, 1999.
• Read “The Roots of Hatred,” published in the May/June 2004 issue of AARP, The Magazine.
• Read “For the Worst of Us, the Diagnosis May Be Evil,” a Feb. 8, 2005, New York Times article posted by the web site s8int.com.
• See the entry on evil in the Catholic Encyclopedia, posted at New Advent.
Regional sources
• Leroy Rouner, Boston University professor of philosophy, religion and philosophical theology emeritus, has written about whether virtue can be taught and why good people do bad things. Contact 617-353-2571, lrouner@bu.edu.
• John E. Thiel, professor of religious studies at Fairfield University in Fairfield, Conn., has written a theological reflection on God, evil and innocent suffering. Contact 203-254-4000 ext. 2130, jthiel@mail.fairfield.edu.
• Jack Levin, professor of sociology and criminology and director of the Brudnick Center on Violence and Conflict at Northeastern University in Boston, has written about domestic terrorism, hate crimes, youth violence, ethnic conflict and mass and serial murder. Contact 617-373-4983 or page at 781-748-8106, jlevin1049@aol.com.
• Richard Bernstein, philosophy professor at New School University in New York, is the author of Radical Evil: A Philosophical Interrogation (Polity Press, 2002). His new book, The Abuse of Evil: The Corruption of Democratic Politics and Religion Since 9/11, will be published by Polity Press this fall. Contact 212-229-5707, BernsteR@newschool.edu.
• Jacob Neusner, research professor of theology at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y., is the editor of Evil and Suffering (The Pilgrim Press, 1999). Contact 845-758-7389, neusner@webjogger.net.
• Michael Welner, a forensic psychiatrist at New York University School of Medicine, is founder of The Forensic Panel, which is developing a standardized “depravity scale” to determine whether specific crimes reflect depraved intent, actions and/or attitudes. Contact at the Forensic Panel, 212-535-9286, drwelner@forensicpanel.com.
• David Blumenthal, professor of Judaic studies at Emory University in Atlanta, is the author of The Banality of Good and Evil: Moral Lessons from the Shoah and Jewish Tradition (Georgetown University Press, 1999). He notes that both perpetrators and rescuers often say they were just doing what was expected of them. Contact 404-727-7545, reldrb@emory.edu.
• Charles Mathewes, University of Virginia professor of religious ethics, has written about evil and the Augustinian tradition and on Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Hannah Arendt. He says that since 9/11, there has been a “rehabilitation” of the idea that evil is a workable part of a healthy moral and religious worldview. Contact 434-924-3741, CTMathewes@virginia.edu.
• The Rev. Charles Kimball, religion professor at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C., is the author of When Religion Becomes Evil: Five Warning Signs (HarperSanFrancisco, 2002). Contact 336-758-5465, kimball@wfu.edu.
• Jerry Walls, philosophy of religion professor at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Ky., has written about making sense of evil and Christian conceptions of God. Contact 859-858-2116, jerry_walls@asburyseminary.edu.
• Barry Bryant, professor of United Methodist studies at Memphis Theological Seminary, has written about John Wesley and the origins of evil. Contact 901-458-8232, bbryant@mrscampus.edu.
• Jerome Rosenberg, University of Alabama psychology professor, teaches courses on the Holocaust that examine the dark side of human behavior and the nature of good and evil. Contact 205-348-1918, jrosenbe@gp.as.ua.edu.
• Eleanore Stump, professor of philosophy at St. Louis University, has written about narrative and the problem of evil, suffering and redemption. Contact 314-977-3158, stumpep@slu.edu.
• Curtis Hancock, philosophy professor at Rockhurst University in Kansas City, Mo., lectures about the problem of evil. Contact 816-501-4017, Curtis.Hancock@rockhurst.edu.
• Dale Stoffer is professor of historical theology and academic dean at Ashland Theological Seminary in Ashland, Ohio. He says that because of increased interest in spiritual realities due to the growth of a postmodern worldview and charismatic Christianity, scholars are more open to viewing evil as a spiritual force in human affairs.Contact 866-287-6446, dstoffer@ashland.edu.
• Anthony B. Pinn is professor of humanities and religious studies at Rice University in Houston. He is the author of Why, Lord?: Suffering and Evil in Black Theology (Cassell, 1999) and editor of Redemptive Suffering: a History of Theodicy in African-American Religious Thought (University Press of Florida, 2002). Contact 713-348-2710, pinn@rice.edu.
• Hannah Decker, University of Houston history professor, co-taught a course on the history of evil. Contact 713-743-3095, hsdecker@uh.edu.
• Richard E. Wentz, professor of religion emeritus at Arizona State University in Tempe, is the author of Why People Do Bad Things in the Name of Religion (Mercer University Press, 1993). Contact 480-965-4689, Richard.Wentz@asu.edu.
• Brannon Wheeler, professor of Islamic studies and comparative religion at the University of Washington, says the Quran does not take a moral view of good and evil, but rather views the terms in relationship to people’s obedience to God’s commands. Contact 206-543-6033, wheelerb@u.washington.edu.
• The Rev. Paul Crowley, professor of religious studies at Santa Clara University, has written about evil for the Encyclopedia of Catholicism (HarperCollins, 1995). Crowley is primarily concerned with how the problem of evil intersects with the problem of suffering. He says today’s scholarship is much more concerned with social and historical forms of evil, such as genocide and AIDS. Contact 408-554-4542, pcrowley@scu.edu.
• Philip Zimbardo, Stanford University professor emeritus of psychology, co-authored Violence Workers: Police Torturers and Murderers Reconstruct Brazilian Atrocities (University of California Press, 2002). He has written about the psychology of evil and the politics of fear and about understanding how good people are transformed into perpetrators. Contact 650-723-7498, zim@stanford.edu.
• Daniel Howard-Snyder, philosophy professor at Western Washington University in Bellingham, edited The Evidential Argument From Evil (Indiana University Press, 1996) and has written about God, evil and suffering. Contact 360-650-7767, Daniel.Howard-Snyder@wwu.edu.
