29. Why good must be stronger than evil
29. WHY GOOD MUST BE STRONGER THAN EVIL
I believe that good is stronger than evil, but can I prove this? I hope that good will triumph over evil in the end, but can I be certain of this? Is this triumph necessary because of the very essential and unchangeable nature of evil?
The first principle of good (God) is essentially good . . . But nothing can be essentially bad. For it was shown above that every being, as such, is good, and that evil can exist only in good as in its subject.
Secondly, because the first principle of good is the highest and perfect good which pre-contains in itself all goodness. . . . But there cannot be a supreme evil, because . . . although evil always lessens good, yet it never wholly consumes it; and thus, while good ever remains, nothing can be wholly and perfectly bad. . . . if the wholly evil could be, it would destroy itself (I,49,3).
We tend to think of “good” and “evil” as equal and opposite forces, like an angel and a devil, or a cloud of light and a cloud of darkness, or pleasures and pains. But that is granting too much to evil. Evil is always a parasite; it can only exist in something good, as a parasite can live only on a host; and if it ever did destroy the good it lives on, it would also destroy itself. It can’t win.
The ultimate reason for this is because God is God. He is not a god. He is not a being that happens to be good, fighting another being that is evil. He is the fullness of Being. Evil is not another being any more than darkness is another light or blindness is another power like sight.
And therefore we can fight with total confidence. It’s a fixed fight. Evil cannot possibly win in the end, even though Gods’ victory may leave a terrible body count and loss of blood—both ours and God’s.