11 - Good and Evil

Chasing Hermes

How can God allow evil to exist in the world? This question has riddled the minds of the philosophers for millennia. Leibniz coined this dilemma the theodicy problem: if God is omnipotent and benevolent, why does he not eradicate evil and suffering? In this episode, we take a look at the Hermetic writings for clues to their understanding of the nature of evil and the sources of human suffering. Welcome back to a new season of Chasing Hermes. Hermetism was a dualist movement, one which believed not only in the duality of the world (a world of matter and a world of spirit), but also a duality of the divine. It was assumed that the universe was created and maintained by a creation god, but that above him there reigned a supreme god who did not interfere with creation directly. It was possible to perceive the god of creation through the senses, but the supreme god was unknowable except by reason (nous) and knowledge (gnosis). This supreme god is unnamable, or perhaps the bearer of all names at once, and is the author and source of all good in the world. The Asclepius blatantly refuses to answer the question why humans suffer under god’s righteous rule, and focuses on the role of human conscience. It was god’s design to give man the faculty to avoid the evil which is an intrinsic part of the fabric of nature. God’s gift of Nous raises us above episteme (learning) and puts us on the path to gnosis, knowledge of god. "Thus, Asclepius and Hammon, I have not said what the many say: ‘Was god not able to put an end to evil and banish it from nature?’ One need not respond to them at all, but for your sake I shall pursue this question as well since I have opened it, and I will give you an answer. Now these people say that god should have freed the world of every kind of evil, yet evil is so much in the world that it seems almost to be an organ of the world. Acting as reasonably as possible, the supreme god took care to provide against evil when he deigned to endow human minds with consciousness, learning and understanding, for it is these gifts alone, by which we surpass other living things, that enable us to avoid the tricks, snares and vices of evil. He that avoids them on sight,before they entangle him, that person has been fortified by divine understanding and foresight, for the foundation of learning resides in the highest good." Asclepius 16