Can man be evil?

[rufiokicks]

Woah, sorry, my computer spazzed.

[Cam42]

[quote]But being children of God we can never be fully evil.[/quote]

The damned are confirmed in evil; every act of their will is evil and inspired by hatred of God. This is a Thomistic priniciple. The damned, then, can never choose between acting out of love of God and virtue, and acting out of hatred of God. Hatred is the only motive in their power; and they have no other choice than that of showing their hatred of God by one evil action in preference to another. The last and the real cause of their impenitence is the state of sin which they freely chose as their portion on earth and in which they passed, unconverted, into the next life and into that state of permanence (status termini) by nature due to rational creatures, and to an unchangeable attitude of mind.

So, what am I getting at? What I am getting at is this. Those who are damned are still "children of God," but are in fact fully evil. Why? Because the damned can but hate God and work evil, whilst the just in heaven or in purgatory, being inspired solely by love of God, can but do good. God grants them only such cooperation as corresponds to the attitude which they freely chose as their own in this life.

So again, can "man be evil?" Yes. If he is consumed by sin, regardless of his status as a "child of God." His free will allows for him to be consumed by evil, therefore becoming evil himself. It is in fact possible.

[Guest]

[quote name='Phazzan' date='Feb 1 2005, 11:10 AM'] If men are born good, why does God send unbaptized babies to hell? Babies who are born good, yet through no fault of their own are condemned because of the sin of Adam? Sounds like a paradox to me. Likewise, a child can't be born evil, because he/she hasn't chosen that path. We are born [i]human[/i]. [/quote]
unbaptised babies who die as infants dont go to hell.....

God will save them...

i hope
and
pray....

[Cam42]

[quote]unbaptised babies who die as infants dont go to hell.....[/quote]

You are quite right, unbaptized babies do not go to Hell, because they have not committed any grievous act of their own free accord. However they cannot have the beatific vision, precisely because they still have the sin of Adam, original sin, on their souls.

It is clear that those who are not baptized cannot have the beatific vision, ie. heaven. It is a theological and scriptural point. There is the absolute necessity of being "born again of water and the Holy Ghost" (John 3:5) for entry into the kingdom of Heaven, Christ clearly enough implies that men are born into this world in a state of sin, and St. Paul's teaching to the same effect is quite explicit (Rom. 5:12 sqq). It is also clear form Scripture and Catholic tradition that the means of regeneration provided for this life do not remain available after death, so that those dying unregenerate are eternally excluded from the supernatural happiness of the beatific vision (John 9:4, Luke 12:40, 16:19 sqq, II Cor. 5:10).

We are obliged to believe that these souls enjoy and will eternally enjoy a state of perfect natural happiness; and this is what Catholics usually mean when they speak of the limbus infantium or the "children's limbo."

Aquinas teaches that no reason can be given for exempting unbaptized children from the material torments of Hell (poena sensus) that does not hold good, even a fortiori, for exempting them also from internal spiritual suffering (poena damni in the subjective sense), since the latter in reality is the more grievous penalty. St. Thomas' view the limbus infantium is not a mere negative state of immunity from suffering and sorrow, but a state of positive happiness in which the soul is united to God by a knowledge and love of him proportionate to nature's capacity.

So, Aquinas seems to have it right. If one dies with original sin on his soul, he cannot have the beatific vision, ie. heaven, but he can share in God's love proportionate to his nature's capacity. The limbus infantium.

So, with all that being said.....

[quote]Sounds like a paradox to me. Likewise, a child can't be born evil, because he/she hasn't chosen that path. We are born human.[/quote]

There is no paradox, but one is born into sin. While one is not created evil, it can be said that one is born evil until he is saved through baptism of water and the Holy Ghost. Christ's words affirmed by St. Paul. Again, "can man be evil?" Yes, man can be evil....through his own fault mostly, but also through the first sin of Adam. If this first sin is not binding, what was the point of Christ's coming? What did Christ save us from? He saved us from evil. But we must be baptized in order to be saved. That is a clear and consistent priniciple.

Cam42