Evil is not God’s creation. Evil has no being of its own. It is a distortion by the free will of people and angels of world and moral –as regards people and angels – order. If there were no freedom, it would have been impossible to distort moral order, wise and perfect, as it was. If there were no freedom, angels and people, just like robots, would have obeyed the laws of physical and moral world, and there would have been no evil. At the same time, however, without freedom, there would have been no image of God in people and in angels. A perfect being is unthinkable without free will. (By the way, all atheistic teachings have to deny the freedom of will; but the denial is theoretical; in practice, the atheists allow of its existence, because otherwise their followers would have to admit that man is an insignificant part of some huge inanimate machine, that knows nothing and does not want to know anything about man and pitilessly maims or destroys him, when its operational manual envisages this.)
Reasonable beings, who have come to know themselves, who position themselves as independent personalities, as new independent sources of light, as centers for which the entire Universe, as a circumference of a certain radius, is an object of study and exploration, and for whom even God could, in a certain sense, be an object of study – before the fall, these personalities in a much greater degree had realized their importance and greatness. “You all are gods and children of the Almighty,” was said about them. They did not experience evil and could not fully assess their good life and good things they had at their disposal. The desire to be like gods to know good and evil, led them – both people and angels – to the fall. From here, the history of humankind dates its beginning. To bring up man in love and veneration of God, in love of other people without suppressing his freewill and to raise him to the dignity of the son of God is no easy task. It is an absolutely insoluble task for people; and even from God it demanded a great sacrifice of the Incarnation, Crucifixion and Resurrection.
A proud man cannot get salvation. Even in paradise, his pride may induce him to depart from God, which will lead him, like the demons, to the final, irrevocable fall.
Therefore, during man’s whole life on earth, God gives him an opportunity to realize that without God he is a nonentity, a slave of his passions, and a slave at the servitude of the devil. For this reason until man’s death, God does not allow tares to be pulled out – not to damage wheat. This means that a man without drawbacks, with exceptionally good characteristics will inevitably become proud of himself. If we, with our small virtues, find it possible to be proud, what if the possibility of the glory of a sanctified soul were offered to us in its fullness here, on earth? Even Apostle Paul needed the negative assistance of the Satan’s messenger to torment him, in order to keep him from being too elated. What is there to say about us, then?
Just as God is seeking to save man, the devil is seeking to perish him. The Devil, by giving man an illusion of a victory over himself, makes him conceited and proud of himself. Also, through the achievements of people in the exploration of nature, the devil convinces them into believing that the knowledge of sciences will help them conquer nature and make their names immortal and become gods, and that already now they deserve praise for their achievements.
The opposite destination of the two ways is obvious. The difference between God’s providence about man’s salvation, and the intention of the devil to destroy even those who spare no effort for the search of what they really need – the Kingdom of God – is only too clear. The theory comes true and becomes a reality, in which man is incessantly fighting to overcome the evil of the devil – his temptations and inculcations – alternately experiencing falls and getups.
In the course of this struggle, man receives knowledge of his iniquity, of the sly nature of the enemy, and of God’s help and love for him. He learns about the price of good and evil and as a result conscientiously choses good and gradually becomes steady in his preference of good and its source – God, while rejecting evil and the devil. True, man happens to fall and to do bad things, but realizing this as evil and sin, he renounces himself, repents and asks for God’s forgiveness, which makes his choice in favor of good and God stronger, though through a negative experience.
This topic is a widely inclusive one. You were right to say that man should become humble to counteract pride. I am discussing the same idea only from a different perspective. I hope that you might be interested in reading what I wrote above, and if not now, then some day in the future you might find it useful. Sure, this topic could be presented more convincingly and in a better wording, and with references to the Holy Fathers. Here is just an enlistment of the thoughts that have been recently occupying my mind. Forgive me.
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