In contrast to some Christian traditions the Catholic Church recognizes the many things that are true, virtuous and holy in other religions as well as in all “people of good will”. She nevertheless teaches to all who will receive it that only in Jesus Christ is to be found the fullness of Life and Truth, and the only way by which we can experience divine fellowship in the present age or indeed can ever have intimate communion with the One True God. Yet many more will readily accept the Good News of Jesus Christ’s Lordship and His saving work on their behalf when these things are made manifest to all. For God has willed that all demonstrating the essence of true humanity are ultimately to be reconciled to Himself and thereby come at last to share Life that is eternal in quality and duration. But 685 1Tim2:6
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such divine benevolence does not extend to the human grouping featured in the next chapter.
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”If you (Cain) do well, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do well, the Sinful One is crouching at the portal and desires to have you: you need to master him”
(Gen4:7 from Masoretic text)
As observed in the previous chapter, the Bible does not set out God’s plans for His whole creation but concerns His redemptive strategy for humanity and the key players within that plan: Himself, His Son and Spirit, Israel and the Church. Yet the devil has a role too or else he would have been destroyed or shut away long since, for God is sovereign.
Satan has no autonomous right to continue existing, let alone exercise any authority in the world, and yet He does so at God’s behest. The Bible teaches us very little about either the angelic or satanic realm; even God’s plans for men and women outside Israel and the Church have been obscured, hence such a disclosure at this time. In terms of the realm of evil and the numerous legends pertaining to it, this chapter will only consider those aspects which are alluded to in Scripture, principally with the purpose of completing the jigsaw regarding the eluded Universal Covenant of life and those who default from it.
The above verse from Genesis was considered in chapter two in the context of such a covenant. Because it has been eluded by the churches, so too have been its defaulters; they have been lumped together with all who fall outside the New and Old Testaments’
Covenants of Promise. In terms of the Church and her mission that has not essentially mattered, for she is to preach the Good News of Jesus as Lord and Saviour, practice justice and offer compassion to all in the world, regardless of how deserving or otherwise the recipients may be. The churches have generally understood there to be one covenant for each testament period and an exclusive one at that. Such a concept should be repudiated, firstly by the reality of Abel and others declared righteous before the Abrahamic Covenant was established, still more so by the story of Ishmael. He had been circumcised, blessed by God and by his father Abraham, sent on his way in peace yet he was excluded from the covenant initiated through his father, for the seed of his union with Sarah were to be the children of promise, and such is the Church in the current dispensation686. Yet through Abraham, all nations were to be blessed, and that included the twelve that would spring from the seed of his son Ishmael, yet not necessarily through incorporation into an exclusive covenant. So now it is necessary to consider how the other eluded grouping, being defaulters from the Universal Covenant may be identified. Along with the powerful spirit that becomes their adoptive master they have played a mysterious role in God’s strategic plan to raise up the children of Adam, ultimately to divinity.
The fault-line between those outside the Church who have been planted by God and those who are satanic is at least as marked as that between those of God’s seed who are being saved through the gospel and those who are not currently in Christ. This is reflected in their behaviour when one knows what to look for, and it impacts upon their future destiny as far ahead as Scripture permits us to discern it. As with other aspects of natural law, these mysteries concerning broader providence have lain almost imperceptibly beneath the pages 686 Gal4:28
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of Scripture, yet references are made there to this grouping, but as already indicated they have been understood by most to be referring to non-Christians, whereas:
“This is what distinguishes the children of God from the children of the devil; whoever does not live uprightly and does not love his brother is not from God… Do not be like Cain who was from the evil one and murdered his brother”687
“Let us love one another since love is from God and everyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. Whoever fails to love does not know God because God is love”688
Those who can love but do not possess “agape”
It is necessary in this context to distinguish between agape and other forms of love, for those of the devil’s party can exhibit the one but not the other. Those devoid of agape may love in a romantic way and to form friendships but it will always revolve around themselves. They may show fondness towards an individual, but it will always be on the basis that if that person were removed from their life, their happiness would be diminished.
That is an entirely valid emotion that a saint might share, but it isn’t agape. For agape is ek tou theou (derived from God)689 so a child of the devil will not possess it. Augustine had been perfectly logical in his insistence that only a Christian can empathize and genuinely care for another human being690. If there were only two categories and every non-Christian were a child of the devil as he believed, such would be the case; but it is neither the observable reality, nor is it scriptural. Most Old Testament Gentiles and present-day non-Christians are assuredly not “derived from the Evil One” (Greek: ek tou ponerou) but they do
inhabit the sphere of darkness still controlled by that prince and are yet to be delivered from it691. Most evidently possess agape which pertains to compassion and empathy; an internal urge to show kindness to a fellow human being which extends to any living creature in need, regardless of whether there is any benefit to the benefactor.
Retaining God’s seed
John also tells us that:
“Whoever is born of God does not (habitually practice) sin for his seed remains
in him; and he cannot (habitually practice) sin because he has been born of God”692
Note his seed has remained; it is not referring to something that is either accredited or infused through spiritual regeneration but to that which has been present since birth:
“That the working of the Father and the Son operates both in saints and sinners is manifest from this, that all who are rational beings are partakers of the Word, i.e., of 687 1Jn3:10-12
688 1Jn4:7-8
689 1Jn4:7
690 Augustine interpreted 1Jn4:7 to mean that only a baptized Christian has the capacity to love since love is from God and no one outside the Catholic Church can be “born of God”. Augustine’s teaching that man is innately incapable of love apart from saving grace is also evident in Anti-Pelagian writings; “On grace and free will” chap.37.
691 Col1:13
692 1Jn3:9
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reason, and by this means bear certain seeds implanted within them of wisdom and justice, which is Christ [Origen]”693
This third century theologian affirmed Paul to be saying as much in the passage where he writes:
“Say not in in your heart, who shall ascend into heaven (to bring Christ down from above) or who shall descend into the deep (to bring Christ up from the dead). But what says Scripture? The Word is near you even in your mouth and in your heart”694, by which Paul means that Christ is in the heart of all in respect of his being the
Word or reason” 695.
Referring back to John’s verse, the apostle well knew that even the children of God commit sin, but he is saying that those in whom God’s seed remains do not consistently practice it. That is because they are restrained by God’s implanted law in their heart696.
Those who are of God maintain sound reason and exercise restraint; they do not consistently practice what is wicked. The children of the devil do; it is or has become all they know, and they also fail to love. When one who is of God sins grievously, he hurts others but also grieves himself. Unless he is a masochist, he will not consistently practice such wickedness, or if he does, he will be thoroughly miserable. When a child of the devil causes hurt by his actions, he is simply being himself and feels serene or even exhilarated; he may boast of his exploits in the courtroom when hopefully he is apprehended. Such a positive delight in evil practice is what motivates serial killers to offend repeatedly; it is within the nature of godlessness.
Reference is made in the Bible’s Wisdom literature to those who go in the way of Cain by “leaving the paths of uprightness to walk in the way of darkness697 as opposed to those who continue to “walk in the way of good men and who keep the paths of the righteous”698; for the day shall come when “the upright shall dwell on the earth and those who are perfected will have pre-eminence in it, whereas the wicked shall be cut off from the earth and the treacherous ones rooted out of it”699. Of course, if all had been born in a state of depravity none would be in a position to “leave the paths of righteousness” for they could never have been on them in the first place. Those heading for perdition are not those who have failed to apprehend the grace and healing of Christ as it is offered through the gospel, for contrary to the teaching of Arminius and the understanding of many modern-day Christians, man has no innate ability to respond to the grace of Christ. No one may come to the Saviour unless the Father draws Him700 as Paul well knew: “for those He foreknew, He had predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son… and these He predestined, He also called; and these He called, He also justified; and these He justified, He also glorified701. Yet God is just, for those who are to be punished in the age to come have
693 Origen De Principiis Book 1 chap. 3 para 6
694 Rom10:6-8
695 Origen De Principiis Book 1 chap. 3 para 6
696 Rom2:15
697 E.g. Prov2:13 Masoretic text
698 Prov2:20
699 Prov2:21-22
700 Jn6:44
701 Rom8:29-30
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irrevocably rejected the Word’s interior witness. They are without excuse for all have such an enlightening deposit in their nature, at least to start with, so those who turn their back on it, evidenced by the misery, despair and often destruction they cause to their fellows will have to face the consequences.
God fulfils His wondrous purposes for the ultimate deification702 of frail children of dust by permitting certain souls to succumb to the control of the devil. The Cain and Abel story identifies the instrumentality of human free will within that process, in which the elder brother chose a course of evil so as to be later classified in Scripture as “ek tou ponerou”: derived from the Evil One703
The children of the devil are variously described in Scripture as:
• Twice dead, plucked up by the roots704
• Having their names missing from the Book of life705
• Devoured by Satan706
• Having forfeited their soul707
• Having gone in the way of Cain708 and departed from the path of righteousness709
• “Goats” – humans devoid of compassion710
• Not having retained God’s seed or image711
• Those who destroy the earth – the ones to be destroyed at final judgement712
• Those who cause or encourage others to sin: the ensnarers713
• Having had their conscience seared or withered away714
• Devoid of truth715
• Belonging to Satan716
• Planted by Satan717
• Messengers or agents of Satan718
• The desolate ones719
702 Deification as a term and concept was quite widely understood amongst the early Fathers in the context of Christian salvation and is prevalent today more particularly within Eastern Orthodoxy. In the West, Thomas Aquinas (13th Century) denoted deification to be the end purpose of human existence.
703 1Jn3:12
704 Jud12
705 Rev20:15
706 1Pet5:8; cf. Gen4:7
707 Mt16:26
708 Jud11
709 Wisdom literature considered above
710 Mt25
711 1Jn3:9
712 Rev11:18
713 Mt18:6NKJV
714 1Tim4:2
715 Cf. Jn8:44
716 Jn8:44
717 Mt13:39; 15:13
718 Mt25:41
719 Dan9:27
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