Doctrine & Theology Question of Evil

Don Quixote

Ostrich
Orthodox Inquirer
How do Orthodox Christians grapple with evil and cruelty in the world? We are told to love our enemies, but it is hard to love those who harm innocent children, for example. My immediate feeling is disgust and despair, so thoughts like this are clearly a danger the devil uses to weaken my faith. When faced with such disheartening realities like this, how can we come to grips with it? How do the Saints understand this? Is there some "justice" for the souls of innocent victims of barbaric cruelty?
 

Jeff

Pigeon
Orthodox Inquirer
Why does The Father allow evil in the world...
So it can be nailed to His Son on the cross and taken to hell...He is Risen...
This is the Gospel...This is Glorious...
So Come, and Welcome to Jesus Christ
 

Eusebius Erasmus

Ostrich
Orthodox
Why does The Father allow evil in the world...
So it can be nailed to His Son on the cross and taken to hell...He is Risen...
This is the Gospel...This is Glorious...
So Come, and Welcome to Jesus Christ
Nice doxology bro.


How do Orthodox Christians grapple with evil and cruelty in the world? We are told to love our enemies, but it is hard to love those who harm innocent children, for example. My immediate feeling is disgust and despair, so thoughts like this are clearly a danger the devil uses to weaken my faith. When faced with such disheartening realities like this, how can we come to grips with it? How do the Saints understand this? Is there some "justice" for the souls of innocent victims of barbaric cruelty?
Innocent children are not condemned to Hell, since they cannot willingly sin.
 

Early Bird

Woodpecker
Catholic
This is a great question, and one I'm sure we all grapple with.

I realize the question is specifically addressed to the Orthodox brothers, so while I am not qualified to answer from that perspective, I can offer my own thoughts on the matter.

"Love the sinner, hate the sin" is the oft-quoted Catholic answer.

But beyond that, beyond praying for those troubled souls, what else do we do? There is a sort of grey area here.
There seems to be a conflict between action and reflection. Between righteous indignation and quiet prayer. Between good works and good words. Doing good is not simply being nice and harmless constantly, but often involves great difficulty and careful assessments of another's character, ability or motivations.

It seems if we follow things far enough to their literal conclusions, all our actions are impotent to some extent, and all our judgements or remedies ultimately futile (because this is up to God).

I think this is an area of confusion. Many people think Christians are just a bunch of passive pushovers, because we aren't supposed to fight back. But my understanding of "turn the other cheek" is giving someone the benefit of the doubt, and leading with good faith. Once that trust has been broken or abused, however, you don't continue turning your cheek indefinitely.

If this isn't understood or expressed correctly it can lead to a vicious loop of anger --> guilt --> repression, etc.
 
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