Good and Evil Seen from the Viewpoint of Purpose

Having already defined good and evil (cf. Creation 4.3.2), let us further examine the nature of good and evil from the viewpoint of purpose.

Had Adam and Eve loved each other as God intended and formed a four-position foundation centered on God, they would have established a good world. But when they loved each other with a purpose contrary to God’s intentions and established a four-position foundation centered on Satan, they ended up forming an evil world. This demonstrates that although good and evil elements or actions may take the same form, their true nature may be discerned through their fruits. They yield their fruits in accordance with the divergent purposes they pursue.

We find many cases where an aspect of human nature conventionally considered evil is, in fact, good if its purpose is directed toward the Will of God.

Let us take the example of desire. Desire, which people often consider sinful, is actually God-given. Joy is the purpose of creation, and joy can only be attained when desire is fulfilled.

If we had no desire, we could never experience joy. If we had no desire, we would not have any aspiration to receive God’s love, to live, to perform good deeds, or to improve ourselves. Without desire, therefore, neither God’s purpose of creation nor the providence of restoration could be fulfilled. An orderly, harmonious and flourishing human society would be impossible.

Desires, being part of our God-given nature, are good when they bear fruit for the purpose of God’s Will, or are evil when they bear fruit for the purpose of Satan’s will. On this basis, we can deduce that even this evil world will be restored to goodness and become the Kingdom of Heaven on earth if it changes its direction and purpose according to the guidance of Christ (cf. Eschatology 2.2). The providence of restoration may thus be interpreted as the process of changing the direction of this fallen world from its current satanic purpose to the purpose of building the Kingdom of Heaven, God’s ideal of creation.

Any standard of goodness set during the course of the providence of restoration is not absolute but relative. In any particular period of history, obedient compliance with the doctrines expounded by the prevailing authorities is considered good, while actions in opposition to them are considered evil. But the change of an era ushers in new authorities and doctrines, with new goals and new standards of good and evil. For the adherents of any religious tradition or school of thought, complying with the precepts of its doctrine or philosophy is good, while opposing them is evil. But whenever a doctrine or philosophy undergoes a change, its standards of good and evil will also change according to its new goals. Similarly, if an adherent converts to a different religion or school of thought, then naturally his goals and standards of good and evil will change accordingly.

Conflicts and revolutions constantly plague human society, mainly because of the continual changes in standards of good and evil as people seek to fulfill divergent purposes.

The standard of goodness will remain relative only as long as the course of restoration continues. Once the sovereignty of Satan is expelled from the earth, then God, the eternal and absolute Being transcendent of time and space, will establish His sovereignty and His truth. In that day, God’s truth will be absolute, and hence the purpose which it serves and the standard of goodness which it sets will both be absolute. This cosmic, all-encompassing truth will be firmly established by Christ at his Second Advent.

Yet throughout the endless cycles of conflict and revolution in human history, people have been seeking the absolute goodness which their original mind desires. Conflicts and revolutions in fallen human society will inevitably continue as people pursue this absolute goal, until the final achievement of the world of goodness.