1 Samuel 16:14 says this: "Now the Spirit of the Lord had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him."
I ask this simple question: How can YHWH have an evil spirit? I am forced to read this as a figure of speech meaning roughly "God allowed an evil spirit to torment Saul." But I do not believe that God is in the business of tormenting people, nor do I believe it is possible for something evil to emanate from Pure Light in whom there is no darkness at all.
According to the narrative, the evil spirit did serve a purpose -- the purpose of bringing David and Saul in contact. David played music to relieve Saul of the evil spirit from God. So this makes it seem as though God did indeed send the spirit, but for a larger purpose. Does God participate in evil so that good may result? Does the end justify the means for God? Can God do evil?
Has God sent the evil spirit which torments me?
How about this as a hypothetical solution... In the beginning of Israelite theology (or perhaps according to one strain of it) , God was responsible for every supernatural event. In fact, outside of humans, God was the only entity in the universe to have free will. There were no demons, no angels, no evil spirits—only God. As the Israelites increasingly came in contact with and assimilated the cultural values and perspectives of other peoples, though, they gradually expanded their supernatural pantheon to include these other entities. Thus, when the writer of Samuel comes along, he find himself in worldview conflict, which is then reflected in the description of this event with Saul. Ultimately, though, the original insular qualities of Israelite theology prove no match for the syncretistic effects of foreign culture and religions, and, hence, as times goes along, the later writers of the Old Testament begin to embrace this supernatural multiplicity.
ReplyDeleteIronically, though, when Jesus shows up, he is so incarnational that he not only accepts many of the cultural and religious norms of the Jewish people, but indeed he speaks and teaches within the context of their supernatural framing with its elucidation of angels, demons, the devil, and the like.
I might even go so far as to suggest that if Jesus arrived today, he wouldn’t choose to use these concepts and would instead thoroughly incarnate himself in the midst of contemporary secular frames.