The Rudolf Steiner Archive

9. On the Origin of Evil

[ 1 ] Since God is perfect, it is virtually impossible for anything imperfect to exist. The question of the origin of evil is as old as humanity itself; it can only be answered from a theosophical perspective. Christian theology holds a very specific belief, a very specific view regarding the origin of evil. It states that the world was created for the glorification of God. Evil must therefore be permitted as a kind of glorification. However, this formulation only solves the problem in an inadequate way—even from an exoteric perspective.

[ 2 ] Paul says that before the Law existed, there was no sin; and when the Law came, sin entered the world. Above all, we must keep in mind what I already said last time. We are dealing, in fact, with a linear development. The clock served as an example. Before a clock could be made, one had to be able to manufacture the gears; one also had to have advanced sufficiently in mathematics and physics to understand the laws, so as to be able to assemble the clock with their help. At first, mathematicians had nothing to do with physicists. At a certain point, however, the two came together so that both bodies of knowledge could interact within a single mind. Only then could the idea of the clock develop. So here we have a convergence of currents. In the same way, the human being is also a convergence of spiritual and material currents.

[ 3 ] In fact, there are three currents that converge within the human being. The Moon Pitris came over from the Moon. They possessed only prana and kama. But what is present in human beings today originates, first, from the Moon: prana and kama; second, from the elemental realms: the physical body; and third, from what has flowed in from the higher beings: spirit = manas, budhi, atma.

[ 4 ] When the question of imperfection comes up, I often use an example provided by the natural sciences: There is a man who was afflicted with a kind of mental illness. He lost his willpower and was sent by his doctor to the south to strengthen his nervous system. He was supposed to draw up a document there and sign his name at the bottom. But it was impossible for him to write his name. He then went to Rome. There happened to be a festival in Rome, and during that day he was completely healthy. After that day, however, his health was gone again. On the trip home, he also had to take a horse-drawn carriage. Someone was run over right next to his carriage. He noticed it, jumped out, and helped the person. Afterward, however, he was once again unable to write his name. He could read and do everything else, but he could not write his name. And whenever he was about to make a decision to do something that was not quite right—so that his intellect was not in harmony with his physical body—the connection between the two was, as it were, severed. We imagine this process extended to the entire world.

[ 5 ] Jakob Böhme has already solved the problem from this perspective. He says: A person never has hands for feet or feet for hands. They go together. And yet it is possible for the right hand to scratch the left.

[ 6 ] Spirit, Kama, Manas, and Prana originate from the same deity. But they flow into one another at different times, and thus various states come into being. It is therefore possible, even in the greater world, that—although the individual is perfect—disharmony may exist within the overall harmony.

[ 7 ] One might now ask: Why does the Deity not take care to prevent the right hand from scratching the left? We must grasp this thoroughly and understand that God created humankind in His own image, as a reflection. Humankind is the image of the Deity; God formed the world of His own free will. To create in freedom means to create according to inner motives and not according to external reasons.

[ 8 ] The allegory of the Fall of Man states that humans acquire knowledge, and through it they learn to distinguish between good and evil. On the one hand, humans are made in the image of the Divine; on the other hand, they are imperfect. They must find the reason for their actions within themselves. The primal, eternal Being can only be perfect. This primal Being has poured itself out into many angelic beings. And through this, the ability to make one’s own decisions also arises in humans. Through the descent of the higher beings onto the lunar beings, the two currents can interact with one another. Human beings differ from other beings in that they possess the three higher elements—Manas, Budhi, and Atma—within themselves. But why must these elements collide with one another? Why must they fall into disharmony?

[ 9 ] Animals are never evil. You cannot say that a lion is evil. Nevertheless, it causes great devastation—greater than even the worst criminal. And why can humans be evil? Because in humans, the same animal nature as in the lion is supposed to be in harmony with the higher nature. We call this lack of harmony between the higher and lower natures “evil.” When higher spirituality abuses the lower nature, evil arises. Now we understand Paul when he says: Before the law, there was no sin.

[ 10 ] Here’s another rough example: Can any kind of sexual excess in animals be called evil? No, because everything there follows its natural course. Corruption arises only when the mind comes into play. It is capable of misusing the physical body. This is how evil arises: psychological abuse.

[ 11 ] But where does this tendency in the spiritual nature to go astray come from? It stems from the fact that the various currents were perfect at the beginning of their outflow. In the end, they will harmonize again, but in the middle they do not need to harmonize. It is like in music, where a disharmony is ultimately resolved into a higher harmony.

[ 12 ] If you have highly developed your intellect but neglected your moral side, you will have to overcome a great inner disharmony in your next incarnation.

[ 13 ] There are beings who play a role in our evolution. They may have reached such a high level of development that they are beyond the evolution of humanity. One cannot simply throw oneself from a higher stage of development down to a lower one. Yet such highly evolved beings have been cast into our evolution. They are highly intelligent but are never satisfied with the current state of human development. Such a being will feel the urge to reincarnate. Therefore, they seek to tempt people; they want to bring people to a point of development for which they are not yet ready. Constant whisperings take place there. To those who can see through this, human development appears as if placed between God and the devil. These people are the brothers of the shadow.