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evil |
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evil, antithesis of good. The philosophical problem of evil is most simply stated in the question, why does evil exist in the world? Death, disease, and sin sin, in religion, unethical act. The term implies disobedience to a personal God, as in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and is not used so often in systems such as Buddhism where there is no personal divinity. ..... Click the link for more information. are often included in the problem. Traditional Christian belief ascribes evil to the misdeeds of humans, to whom God has granted free will free will, in philosophy, the doctrine that an individual, regardless of forces external to him, can and does choose at least some of his actions. The existence of free will is challenged by determinism . ..... Click the link for more information. . The Christian systems that believe in predestination predestination, in theology, doctrine that asserts that God predestines from eternity the salvation of certain souls. So-called double predestination, as in Calvinism , is the added assertion that God also foreordains certain souls to damnation. ..... Click the link for more information. and justification by faith claim, like their Christian opponents, that God is still not the author of the evil men do. One explanation of evil is dualism dualism, any philosophical system that seeks to explain all phenomena in terms of two distinct and irreducible principles. It is opposed to monism and pluralism. In Plato 's philosophy there is an ultimate dualism of being and becoming, of ideas and matter. ..... Click the link for more information. , as in Zoroastrianism Zoroastrianism (zô'rōăs`trēənĭzəm), religion founded by Zoroaster, but with many later accretions. ..... Click the link for more information. and Manichaeism Manichaeism (măn`ĭkēĭzəm) or Manichaeanism ..... Click the link for more information. . In optimism evil is treated often as more apparent than real. The book of Job is a literary treatment of the problem. BibliographySee R. Taylor, Good and Evil (1970); F. Sontag, The God of Evil (1970); R. Stivers, Evil in Modern Myth and Ritual (1982); D. Parkin, ed., The Anthropology of Evil (1987). evil Archaic an illness or disease, esp scrofula (the king's evil) Evil Ahriman represents principle of wickedness; will one day perish. [Persian Myth.: LLEI, I: 322; Zoroastrianism: Benét, 16] on the Rhinegold ring: possessor will die. [Ger. Opera: Wagner, Rhinegold, Westerman, 233] name given to Parisian gangsters. [Fr. Hist.: Payton, 31]
demon, personification of evil, vanquished by Christian’s wholesomeness. [Br. Lit.: Pilgrim’s Progress] enchanter epitomizing wickedness. [Br. Lit.: Faerie Queene] goddess of wickedness, mischief, and infatuation. [Gk. Myth.: Parrinder, 32] cause of suffering through desire. [Hindu Phil.: Parrinder, 36] from childhood to death, has committed every sin. [Br. Lit.: Bunyan The Life and Death of Mr. Badman in Magill III, 575] symbol of sin and badness. [Color Symbolism: Jobes, 357] symbol of the devil. [Rom. Folklore: Brewer Dictionary, 329] symbol of a scoundrel. [Folklore: Jobes, 223] a transformation of Mephistopheles. [Ger. Lit.: Faust] epitome of power of evil. [Medieval Animal Symbolism: White, 8–10] traditional association with evil in many dualistic religions. [Folklore: Cirlot, 76–77] fallen Jedi Knight has turned to evil. [Am. Cinema: Star Wars] archetypal symbol of Satan and wickedness. [Christian Symbolism: Appleton, 34] principle of evil. [Zoroastrianism: Leach, 325] Nazi secret police. [Ger. Hist.: Hitler, 453] Mephisto’s cynical and demoniacal tarantella. [Fr. Opera: Gounod, Faust, Westerman, 187] declaims “I believe in a cruel god.” [Br. Lit.: Othello; Ital. Opera: Verdi, Otello; Westerman, 329] plots against Claudio. [Br. Lit.: Much Ado About Nothing] enemy of Grail knights. [Ger. Opera: Wagner, Parsifal, Westerman, 248] white trader in Africa, debased by savage natives into horrible practices. [Br. Lit.: Joseph Conrad Heart of Darkness in Magill III, 447] traditional symbol of evil. [Flower Symbolism: Flora Symbolica, 175] god of fire, evil, and strife who contrived the death of Balder. [Scand. Myth.: Brewer Dictionary, 560]
the cynical, malicious devil to whom Faust sells his soul. [Ger. Lit.: Faust, Payton, 436] apparently sweet children assume wicked miens mysteriously. [Am. Lit.: The Turn of the Screw] after humiliation, curses both Duke and Rigoletto. [Ital. Opera: Verdi, Rigoletto, Westerman, 299] wicked spirit claiming victim every seven years. [Br. Folklore: Briggs, 323] contained all evils; opened up, evils escape to afflict world. [Rom. Myth.: Brewer Dictionary, 799] degenerate gangster and murderer who rapes Temple Drake. [Am. Lit.: Sanctuary] wicked water-demon; lures children to death. [Br. Folklore: Briggs, 323–324] urges the murder of Sarastro, her husband, by their daughter. [Ger. Opera: Mozart The Magic Flute in Benét, 619] dead manservant who haunts James’s story. [Am. Lit.: Turn of the Screw] immoral person of tremendous power and seeming invulnerability. [Russ. Hist.: Espy, 339–340] the chief evil spirit; the great adversary of man. [Christianity and Judaism: Misc.] East German people known for their wanton destruction (533). [Ger. Hist.: Payton, 705] the terror of Oz. [Am. Lit.: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz] scene of macabre uproar. [Ger. Opera: von Weber, Der Freischütz, Westerman, 139–140]
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| There are, however, times when Fryer's hand gets a little heavy with the white characters, particularly Conrad's evil brother Rafe, whose evilness is telling enough without any enhancement. ``We pray for Kim Jong Il to repent for his evilness and for the regime to fall, and also pray for the unification of North and South (Korea,)'' the Rev. McKinlay identifies Jezebel as the "prime example of that very stock figure of 'foreign' evilness, whose seductive and sinister powers are inevitably deathly" (31). |
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