Five Faces of Evil
After my conversation with Odia, I began looking into the nature of evil
What is evil? That’s my question. And can it be organized into a five-fold paradigm that I had used to understand forgiveness?
I found it "the five-fold evil paradigm" right there in that first account of Adam and Eve.
Just seeing them described there in the story of origin began to demystify evil for me.
"Demystifying evil" means taking the concept of evil out of its mysterious, unknown realm and exploring its nature, origins, and how it operates in the world. It involves examining the many dimensions of evil, including its power to disrupt and fragment lives, and understanding how it relates to both biblical and theological perspectives. "
I found them – chaos, deception, conflict, rebellion, and revenge. They are all there, five of them. I’m going to start with chaos.
“Chaos” - is the word Jordan Peterson has used and defined so beautifully - the one who set me on this journey.
In Genesis 1:1–4, the word “chaos” isn’t used explicitly. But Genesis 1:2 describes the earth as “formless and empty” (tohu wa-bohu), covered in darkness, with the Spirit of God hovering over the waters. This imagery evokes a sense of pre-creation disorder—a kind of void or unformed state—from which God then speaks the world into being. The term “chaos” is often used to describe this pre-creation moment in the Genesis narrative.
A quick note here: if this is the beginning of our story, we have to admit we have no idea where God came from or what the dynamics of the universe were before we as human beings entered the scene. There’s a hint in the book of Job that there’s an entire dimension we know nothing about—a battle of some sort—and God more or less says that in our finite minds, we wouldn’t be able to comprehend it.
But it’s clear there’s something out there—even something God contends with—that is not under His full control. I think it’s safe to call it chaos.
We see another hint of this in the Garden. God warns Adam and Eve not to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. This moment represents a clear choice: to follow God or to seek their own moral autonomy. The consequence of disobedience, God says, is death.
If this is true—if there is something “outside” of God that was part of creation—then where is chaos now?
Interestingly, scientists asked a similar question and they said they haven’t found chaos anywhere.
So I asked God, “Where is the chaos now?”
God doesn’t often answer me directly, but apparently this was the right question—because I sensed Him say: “Chaos is in the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.”
That made sense. As a Creator, God would have placed chaos somewhere—a place that only He could control it - in the essence of who he is which is "goodness." He is goodness which means He did not and could not create evil. Actually from all the accounts in the Bible he doesn't even manage evil all that good.
That led me to another question - the name of the tree. I’ve often wondered about the name of the tree—why it’s called the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Why knowledge? So I went back to the original Hebrew and found something curious. The word for “knowledge” used here to describe the tree is the same word used to describe intimacy or sexual knowing in relationships--yada. Could it be that the Tree of Good and Evil actually represents a union, or even a marriage, between good and evil?
That would explain why the tree was so spectacular—so powerful. Good and evil rubbing up against each other?
If this interpretation of the origin story holds true, then when Eve ate the apple, she actually consumed evil.
Now, in our post-COVID world, we understand more about viruses, contamination, and infection. COVID-19 began spreading globally in late 2019, and whatever we believe about it—real or imagined doesn't matter —we know it changed all of us. It unleashed chaos.
So if Eve truly bit into the apple and gave it to Adam, both of them may have been infected with a virus of chaos.
God may have even been surprised that they survived as long as they did.
Why is this important—this little theological whimsy?
Because it means we can’t be angry with God.
We can’t blame Him for our suffering.
We were infected, not forsaken.
“In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and has been widely regarded as a bad move.” - —Douglas Adams
What is evil? That’s my question. And can it be organized into a five-fold paradigm that I had used to understand forgiveness?
I found it "the five-fold evil paradigm" right there in that first account of Adam and Eve.
Just seeing them described there in the story of origin began to demystify evil for me.
"Demystifying evil" means taking the concept of evil out of its mysterious, unknown realm and exploring its nature, origins, and how it operates in the world. It involves examining the many dimensions of evil, including its power to disrupt and fragment lives, and understanding how it relates to both biblical and theological perspectives. "
I found them – chaos, deception, conflict, rebellion, and revenge. They are all there, five of them. I’m going to start with chaos.
“Chaos” - is the word Jordan Peterson has used and defined so beautifully - the one who set me on this journey.
In Genesis 1:1–4, the word “chaos” isn’t used explicitly. But Genesis 1:2 describes the earth as “formless and empty” (tohu wa-bohu), covered in darkness, with the Spirit of God hovering over the waters. This imagery evokes a sense of pre-creation disorder—a kind of void or unformed state—from which God then speaks the world into being. The term “chaos” is often used to describe this pre-creation moment in the Genesis narrative.
A quick note here: if this is the beginning of our story, we have to admit we have no idea where God came from or what the dynamics of the universe were before we as human beings entered the scene. There’s a hint in the book of Job that there’s an entire dimension we know nothing about—a battle of some sort—and God more or less says that in our finite minds, we wouldn’t be able to comprehend it.
But it’s clear there’s something out there—even something God contends with—that is not under His full control. I think it’s safe to call it chaos.
We see another hint of this in the Garden. God warns Adam and Eve not to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. This moment represents a clear choice: to follow God or to seek their own moral autonomy. The consequence of disobedience, God says, is death.
If this is true—if there is something “outside” of God that was part of creation—then where is chaos now?
Interestingly, scientists asked a similar question and they said they haven’t found chaos anywhere.
So I asked God, “Where is the chaos now?”
God doesn’t often answer me directly, but apparently this was the right question—because I sensed Him say: “Chaos is in the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.”
That made sense. As a Creator, God would have placed chaos somewhere—a place that only He could control it - in the essence of who he is which is "goodness." He is goodness which means He did not and could not create evil. Actually from all the accounts in the Bible he doesn't even manage evil all that good.
That led me to another question - the name of the tree. I’ve often wondered about the name of the tree—why it’s called the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Why knowledge? So I went back to the original Hebrew and found something curious. The word for “knowledge” used here to describe the tree is the same word used to describe intimacy or sexual knowing in relationships--yada. Could it be that the Tree of Good and Evil actually represents a union, or even a marriage, between good and evil?
That would explain why the tree was so spectacular—so powerful. Good and evil rubbing up against each other?
If this interpretation of the origin story holds true, then when Eve ate the apple, she actually consumed evil.
Now, in our post-COVID world, we understand more about viruses, contamination, and infection. COVID-19 began spreading globally in late 2019, and whatever we believe about it—real or imagined doesn't matter —we know it changed all of us. It unleashed chaos.
So if Eve truly bit into the apple and gave it to Adam, both of them may have been infected with a virus of chaos.
God may have even been surprised that they survived as long as they did.
Why is this important—this little theological whimsy?
Because it means we can’t be angry with God.
We can’t blame Him for our suffering.
We were infected, not forsaken.
“In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and has been widely regarded as a bad move.” - —Douglas Adams
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