The Origin of Evil and the End of the World

Lloyd D. Graham

To a large extent, Judaeo-Christian beliefs have shaped the values and morals of the Western world. It is therefore somewhat surprising to find that the Old Testament lacks an account of the origin of evil, other than attributing it to God (Isa 45:7), and that neither it nor the New Testament provides a convincing reason for the fall of Satan and his cohorts from heaven. One possible allusion - the desire of Lucifer to exalt himself above God, resulting in his being cast down (Isa 14:12-15) - occurs in a context that shows it to refer to the ambitions of a particular King of Babylon. So is there, then, no explanation of evil that dates to Old Testament times? There is, and yet - despite its prominence in apocryphal literature and some scriptural allusions to it - the story remains little known. A passage in Genesis mentions it as follows:

And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose ... There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown. And God looked upon the earth ... [and said:] The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them ...  (Gen 6:1-13)