Magical Systems and the Soft Enchantments of Christianity
Part 5, The Dark Enchantment
Following upon the last two posts, a final point I want to make in this series concerns how the problem of evil plays out in soft versus hard magical worlds.
A great deal of intellectual effort is spent on the theological project we call "theodicy," attempts to explain why a good and all-powerful God allows evil, pain, and suffering in the world. And I think it's safe to say that, in the end, all these efforts fail in some way. None of these answers are wholly satisfactory. And I think one of the reasons for this is that theodicy attempts to address the problem of evil by creating a hard magical world.
By this I mean that theodicy attempts to "explain" the source of evil, to lay the "mechanism" bare. Maybe it's the devil. Maybe free will. Maybe God can't do anything to stop evil. Maybe God is punishing us. In each case, the ways of God are analyzed and explained. The enchantment becomes plain and accessible. A hard magical world.
The alternative move here is to say that theodicy is illicit. And not simply to say that theodicy is impossible, but that theodicy itself is problematic, even hurtful. To "explain" evil is to minimize its dark assault upon the world. To explain to a person "why" she is suffering is pastoral malpractice. Evil, to be evil, has to befuddle our minds. We don't have any answers. In short, evil, to be evil, needs mystery. To approach evil as a theological algebra problem, to situate it in a hard magical world, is to miss the key element about what makes evil so evil.
In short, like prayer and providence, evil exists in a soft magical world. We know evil exists, that the world is haunted by a dark enchantment. But the origins of evil are unclear to us. We don't know why it exists or how it works. We might try to penetrate evil's mysteries, but all these efforts ultimately fail and prove unsatisfactory.
All we know, in the end, in our soft magical world, is that something prowls in the darkness, calling us to vigilance, righteous action, and, ultimately, trust in God.
There are some elements about evil (suffering) that are mysterious for sure. But I think there are some things we can believe that are helpful. God allows evil because he allows choice, and He allows choice because love demands that He do so. As a result, sometimes, His creations choose evil rather than good. The results of these choices often causes pain and suffering to even innocents.
Now, the mystery remains because this is not wholly satisfying, especially to the ones in the midst of such suffering. In fact, what is lament other than an expression of the mystery?
Part of that mystery is that somehow, for an unknown or not understood reason, suffering is necessary and beneficial for humans on some level. We don’t understand it and can’t quite explain it, but I think we see it at work. This is where faith and trust must step in so we can agree with Frankl and give meaning to our pain.
Is this point similar to Hart's point in "The doors of the sea"?