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The White CouncilRe: Nature of EvilTolkien and Inklings Discussion |
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The White CouncilRe: Nature of EvilTolkien and Inklings Discussion |
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Posted by Russ on January 03, 19100 at 12:53:40 In Reply to: Nature of Evil posted by Neithan on January 03, 19100 at 08:50:15:
: I know little of mythology (apart from the Norse one of my forefathers) so I am really struggling with these questions that has arisen from a debate between one of my player Characters and an NPC where the PC was embarking on the path of evil by ambition, selfaggrandisation and bloodthirst (he wanted to kill a dragon merely because it was evil and to secure its skin- the NPC would help him out of friendship but bade him ponder the reasons behind the fall of the Noldor, the Maiar and even Melkor himself). Consequently I need some wise words of those more knowledgeable on (catholic) religion than I, or of those merely wiser. : Neithan Turambar (Palle) Well, I look at Catholic belief this way. While God is all good and all knowing, he is also all-powerful. Thus it is within his power to create beings of free will who can choose to reject Him and his will. I can only assume God did not want to create automatons who were incapable of doing wrong. The gift of free will is a great gift but can be fraight with peril for those who don't use the gift wisely. The Catholic doctrine of free will stands in contrast to the doctrine of predestination that some protestant churches believe in. My understanding of predestination (please correct me out there)is that since God is all-knowing, he already knows who will be saved. These are the "elect" who will go to heaven. The rest will go to hell. And there is nothing you can do about it. If you are not one of the elect, you are out of luck. I have theological problems with this view since it raises the point you make above. Why would God create beings he already knows have absolutely no chance of being "good" and being saved. Tolkien addressed the problem of evil in the world. It's based on the idea that even seemingly evil things ultimately redound to the glory of God. Russ
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