I read a lot of fantasy, play fantasy video games, enjoy a few fantasy movies and there is one common theme I keep coming across in many new fantasy stories. A lot of authors are sort-of playing off the old philosophy of the yin and the yang. They like to say that darkness and light are one in the same, and cannot exist without each other. Okay, what is a common synonym for darkness? Evil. And light is generally considered good. So is it true that darkness and evil are in a symbiotic relationship with light and good? Good cannot be without evil to play off of? If there were no evil, and everyone was good then there really is no good? I say no. No way.Tell me what you think and why, because I'm starting to see this everywhere. It's becoming a bit more than a cliché.
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The first thing that hits me when I open the CCAS web page is that the whole site is defined by black borders. It is really hard on my eyes. From the beginning of the written word, the standard has been dark print on a light background. What gives?The Holy Bible uses light and darkness as metaphors from the material world to tell us something about the spiritual world.
Okay, this next paragraph I came up with before I read Kevin's comment. He nails it. Here is what I wrote before reading Kev..
God is light. The absence of God is darkness. This is not yin and yang. There is no equivalence. Manichean heresy.
But, mainly, it is the eyesore website layout with black borders and white print that makes this topic speak to me. (I notice that the window I am typing this in is a white background with black print. now THAT makes sense and is soothing to my eyes.) Okay, I will admit, I do have mild photo-sensitivity, which is the only good thing I can say about a dark background. A totally white screen hurts my eyes. Too bright. C.S. Lewis writes of the reality of Heaven being so real that it is painful at first. Blinded by the light. Who prefers the darkness?
Eastern philosphy can be quite entertaining when you take time to study it . I studied the martial arts for several years and the method of bushido, the samurai's code of honor, was the thing. However , When I accepted Jesus eveything Changed. Being filled the Holy Spirit had placed me on a level of enlightenment that I'd never felt before. Yes, at the time when I was unsaved bushido was the way to go because thats all I knew but, when Jesus came into my life I recieved power from on high. Darkness does what darkness is . Satan is suttle in his efforts in trying to be Like God , even in this day and age where its hard to comprehend whats light and whats darkness . Never the less, We have to be persuaded that no matter What philosphy we encounter , The living word will always be a lamp unto our feet . The only true way to determine light from darkness is to weigh it against the word of God.
The world would have us to believe that light and darkness cannot exist with out one another . I think darkness or evil always seems to challenge light on every level. and even sometimes It appears that darkness has won , however, in the end , light or truth will always out shine darkness. Darkness is carnal and if God is the truth and the light , then it can not please Him. How can two walk together except they agree ?
I once heard or read that evil is the absence, not opposite, of good. That fits with Biblical truth, because the Bible tells us 1) you can only be "good" once Jesus Christ is in your life, 2) Hell is the spiritual realm where souls are not with God, and 3) Both mankind and the universe have fallen and need to be redeemed.
The Taoist (?) concept of yin and yang, or two equal sides of the same coin, is not an accurate description of the universe God created. Secular humanism, the dominant worldview in Western culture, denies two basic Christian tenets: God exists, and we are responsible to Him. The majority of fantasy writers are willing to entertain the notion of a superior spiritual being or force, but throw responsibility and accountability to that being or force out the window.
To me, the issue is not about opposites, it's about allegiance. Are you allied with good or not? You must choose; there is no middle ground. Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli were calling nations to action and looking for allies in the battle against Sauron, to continue Kevin's LOTR example. "Like it or not, you are in this battle. If you are not my ally, you become my enemy."
Besides, the opposite of good is apathy. (James 4:17)
The idea that good and evil are "opposite sides of the same coin" or that "you can't have one without the other" is a dualistic idea that says goodness and evil are eternal and equal components of the natural world. It's not just limited to Eastern philosophy, as there was always some variation of this idea within some Western philosophies as well. You have a light side and a dark side, and they're locked in battle for all eternity.
But the Christian worldview is something totally different. According to traditional Christian philosophy, "goodness" exists as an objective standard grounded in the very nature of God. "Evil" on the other hand only exists as a corruption or absence of that goodness. God created the universe in a natural state of "Good", it has been temporarily corrupted by sin, and will eventually be restored back to an eternal state of goodness.
The best what I've heard this described is that evil doesn't really exist as a separate thing, any more than (for example) a trench in the ground. You can't go to a store and buy a trench. Trenches don't exist by themselves; a trench only exists to the extent that you have removed something from the ground. You can easily have and enjoy a solid floor without a hole to "balance" it in some cosmic sense -- and if you have a hole in the floor, it means something is missing and needs to be fixed!
As you noticed, the idea of good and evil as eternally balanced forces may seem like it's becoming a cliché in the fantasy genre, but there's at least one very notable exception: modern fantasy's granddaddy, J.R.R. Tolkien. If you read his cosmology of Middle-Earth as described in The Silmarilion, it relies heavily on the Christian idea of evil existing only as a corruption of the good rather than being an equal and eternal force in itself.
So while there is no direct Christian allegory like C.S.Lewis used in Narnia, the Christian worldview is very much a part of Tolkien's Middle Earth. Sauron isn't some eternal god of darkness -- instead, he's a formerly good (angelic?) being who fell from grace and his evil was then eventually defeated. In other words: The universe of Middle-Earth was created good, it fell into discord and corruption, and there's the hope that one day it will be restored. Hmmm... now why does that sound so familiar?
Here's hoping that Christian storytellers can keep prompting readers to challenge the assumptions of genre clichés and help reintroduce them to the concepts of a Christian worldview.
Kathleen Webb > Kevin YongDecember 19, 2008 at 8:42pm
I once had an internet discussion with a young man about this. In my limited way I tried to explain what I believe, which is that evil cannot exist without good to define it. You know something is evil because you know in your soul what should be good (selflessness = good, greed = evil). I'm thinking in particular of the passage in Romans 1:18-20: "The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse." People know in their hearts what is right and what is wrong. They can recognize evil because they know in their hearts there is a "good." They may not acknowledge where it originates from, but they do know there is a standard.
However, good does not need evil to define it. Good simply "is." God is good (Matthew 19:17--"Why do you ask me about what is good?" Jesus replied. "There is only One who is good."), holy and perfect. Good has its origins in God. And since He existed from eternity without any evil, it therefore follows that good does not need the existence of evil to define it.
Ice cream cannot be without mud to play off of. By mud, I don't mean chocolate. I mean dirty, grimy, icky mud. And if there were no mud and everyone ate ice cream all by itself without any mud in it, then there really would be no ice cream. See, without mud mixed in to accentuate the purity of the ice cream...
(I hope you like eating ice cream, and not mud.)
Okay, sorry. In all seriousness, if light and darkness are the same thing, why does the darkness always disappear when a light shines into it? How can opposites be the same? If good cannot be without evil to play off of, then was God not good before evil came into existence? Could there ever be a time when God was not good? NO WAY. Just some things to think about. :-)
Replies
The first thing that hits me when I open the CCAS web page is that the whole site is defined by black borders. It is really hard on my eyes. From the beginning of the written word, the standard has been dark print on a light background. What gives?The Holy Bible uses light and darkness as metaphors from the material world to tell us something about the spiritual world.
Okay, this next paragraph I came up with before I read Kevin's comment. He nails it. Here is what I wrote before reading Kev..
God is light. The absence of God is darkness. This is not yin and yang. There is no equivalence. Manichean heresy.
But, mainly, it is the eyesore website layout with black borders and white print that makes this topic speak to me. (I notice that the window I am typing this in is a white background with black print. now THAT makes sense and is soothing to my eyes.) Okay, I will admit, I do have mild photo-sensitivity, which is the only good thing I can say about a dark background. A totally white screen hurts my eyes. Too bright. C.S. Lewis writes of the reality of Heaven being so real that it is painful at first. Blinded by the light. Who prefers the darkness?
~Dave
I once heard or read that evil is the absence, not opposite, of good. That fits with Biblical truth, because the Bible tells us 1) you can only be "good" once Jesus Christ is in your life, 2) Hell is the spiritual realm where souls are not with God, and 3) Both mankind and the universe have fallen and need to be redeemed.
The Taoist (?) concept of yin and yang, or two equal sides of the same coin, is not an accurate description of the universe God created. Secular humanism, the dominant worldview in Western culture, denies two basic Christian tenets: God exists, and we are responsible to Him. The majority of fantasy writers are willing to entertain the notion of a superior spiritual being or force, but throw responsibility and accountability to that being or force out the window.
To me, the issue is not about opposites, it's about allegiance. Are you allied with good or not? You must choose; there is no middle ground. Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli were calling nations to action and looking for allies in the battle against Sauron, to continue Kevin's LOTR example. "Like it or not, you are in this battle. If you are not my ally, you become my enemy."
Besides, the opposite of good is apathy. (James 4:17)
But the Christian worldview is something totally different. According to traditional Christian philosophy, "goodness" exists as an objective standard grounded in the very nature of God. "Evil" on the other hand only exists as a corruption or absence of that goodness. God created the universe in a natural state of "Good", it has been temporarily corrupted by sin, and will eventually be restored back to an eternal state of goodness.
The best what I've heard this described is that evil doesn't really exist as a separate thing, any more than (for example) a trench in the ground. You can't go to a store and buy a trench. Trenches don't exist by themselves; a trench only exists to the extent that you have removed something from the ground. You can easily have and enjoy a solid floor without a hole to "balance" it in some cosmic sense -- and if you have a hole in the floor, it means something is missing and needs to be fixed!
As you noticed, the idea of good and evil as eternally balanced forces may seem like it's becoming a cliché in the fantasy genre, but there's at least one very notable exception: modern fantasy's granddaddy, J.R.R. Tolkien. If you read his cosmology of Middle-Earth as described in The Silmarilion, it relies heavily on the Christian idea of evil existing only as a corruption of the good rather than being an equal and eternal force in itself.
So while there is no direct Christian allegory like C.S.Lewis used in Narnia, the Christian worldview is very much a part of Tolkien's Middle Earth. Sauron isn't some eternal god of darkness -- instead, he's a formerly good (angelic?) being who fell from grace and his evil was then eventually defeated. In other words: The universe of Middle-Earth was created good, it fell into discord and corruption, and there's the hope that one day it will be restored. Hmmm... now why does that sound so familiar?
Here's hoping that Christian storytellers can keep prompting readers to challenge the assumptions of genre clichés and help reintroduce them to the concepts of a Christian worldview.
However, good does not need evil to define it. Good simply "is." God is good (Matthew 19:17--"Why do you ask me about what is good?" Jesus replied. "There is only One who is good."), holy and perfect. Good has its origins in God. And since He existed from eternity without any evil, it therefore follows that good does not need the existence of evil to define it.
Anyway, that's just my small two cents.
Moreover if good and evil were equal and equivalent, they would both be equally valid and profitable and beneficial choices. they are, clearly, not.
(I hope you like eating ice cream, and not mud.)
Okay, sorry. In all seriousness, if light and darkness are the same thing, why does the darkness always disappear when a light shines into it? How can opposites be the same? If good cannot be without evil to play off of, then was God not good before evil came into existence? Could there ever be a time when God was not good? NO WAY. Just some things to think about. :-)
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