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What Do We Do With Evil?
102 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2019
9 people are currently reading
159 people want to read
About the author
Richard Rohr
248 books2,348 followersFr. Richard Rohr is a globally recognized ecumenical teacher bearing witness to the universal awakening within Christian mysticism and the Perennial Tradition. He is a Franciscan priest of the New Mexico Province and founder of the Center for Action and Contemplation (CAC) in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Fr. Richard's teaching is grounded in the Franciscan alternative orthodoxy—practices of contemplation and expressing itself in radical compassion, particularly for the socially marginalized.
Fr. Richard is author of numerous books, including Everything Belongs, Adam’s Return, The Naked Now, Breathing Under Water, Falling Upward, Immortal Diamond, Eager to Love, and The Divine Dance: The Trinity and Your Transformation (with Mike Morrell).
Fr. Richard is academic Dean of the Living School for Action and Contemplation. Drawing upon Christianity's place within the Perennial Tradition, the mission of the Living School is to produce compassionate and powerfully learned individuals who will work for positive change in the world based on awareness of our common union with God and all beings. Visit cac.org for more information.
Fr. Richard is author of numerous books, including Everything Belongs, Adam’s Return, The Naked Now, Breathing Under Water, Falling Upward, Immortal Diamond, Eager to Love, and The Divine Dance: The Trinity and Your Transformation (with Mike Morrell).
Fr. Richard is academic Dean of the Living School for Action and Contemplation. Drawing upon Christianity's place within the Perennial Tradition, the mission of the Living School is to produce compassionate and powerfully learned individuals who will work for positive change in the world based on awareness of our common union with God and all beings. Visit cac.org for more information.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
April 14, 2020
Smart, accessible, concise, and full of heart and thought. Part of a series of short and powerful monographs which distill the author's lifetime of spiritual exploration.
September 21, 2020
Rohr does a deft job describing evil, through Paul and Jesus's theologies. He discusses evil and its major sources: the world, the flesh and the devil "In that order!"
Rohr spends time discussing the corporate role of evil, sin and salvation. American Christianity's focus on individual salvation makes it difficult to think of evil corporately. This shift in thinking "turns the diamond", as Rohr would say, and allows us to view evil and God from a different perspective, "sin and salvation are, first of all, corporate and social realities".
The flesh, which Rohr does not spend much time on, is better translated as 'ego' and changes how we read much of Paul's words on the topic.
Rohr is always encouraging his readers to transcend and include, not to judge or condemn others. His view of God's love, forgiveness and grace is always beautiful, inclusive and holy.
This book came at a perfect time for me to read. It took me two months to read 100 pages, but it sunk into my being, helping me see God's love for all of his creation. It's beautiful.
Rohr spends time discussing the corporate role of evil, sin and salvation. American Christianity's focus on individual salvation makes it difficult to think of evil corporately. This shift in thinking "turns the diamond", as Rohr would say, and allows us to view evil and God from a different perspective, "sin and salvation are, first of all, corporate and social realities".
The flesh, which Rohr does not spend much time on, is better translated as 'ego' and changes how we read much of Paul's words on the topic.
Rohr is always encouraging his readers to transcend and include, not to judge or condemn others. His view of God's love, forgiveness and grace is always beautiful, inclusive and holy.
This book came at a perfect time for me to read. It took me two months to read 100 pages, but it sunk into my being, helping me see God's love for all of his creation. It's beautiful.
May 25, 2021
Franciscan priest Rohr is always challenging and thoughtful. This slim book is packed with his insights into how to recognizing and responding to evil in our own lives, in our community and society.
" Jesus' social program, as far as I can see, is a quiet refusal to participate in almost all external power structures or domination systems….His primary social action is a very simple lifestyle, which kept him from being constantly co-opted by those very structures, which I am calling the sin system."
"Forgiveness does not nullify or eliminate the offensive action. It acknowledges and radically names and exposes that sin, evil, and fault did indeed happen - and then lets go of it. It does not, and cannot, undo it. It can’t. ...Every time God forgives...is showing a preference and capacity for sustaining relationship over being right, distant, superior, and separate. We are slow learners in that regard."
" Jesus' social program, as far as I can see, is a quiet refusal to participate in almost all external power structures or domination systems….His primary social action is a very simple lifestyle, which kept him from being constantly co-opted by those very structures, which I am calling the sin system."
"Forgiveness does not nullify or eliminate the offensive action. It acknowledges and radically names and exposes that sin, evil, and fault did indeed happen - and then lets go of it. It does not, and cannot, undo it. It can’t. ...Every time God forgives...is showing a preference and capacity for sustaining relationship over being right, distant, superior, and separate. We are slow learners in that regard."
May 12, 2021
A succinct book on the corporate – rather than individual – nature of sin. It posits a reset to regard how sin operates, corrupts and pervades the world.
The world is a corrupted place in which we live, and in which we must operate, and in which we must oppose evil, trying to use the same corrupting forces of the world to turn it around.
Rohr grounds the point of view firmly in Biblical events and texts, especially those verses of Paul’s Epistles.
I plan to reread it soon; there is much I want to puzzle at further readings.
The world is a corrupted place in which we live, and in which we must operate, and in which we must oppose evil, trying to use the same corrupting forces of the world to turn it around.
Rohr grounds the point of view firmly in Biblical events and texts, especially those verses of Paul’s Epistles.
I plan to reread it soon; there is much I want to puzzle at further readings.
August 9, 2020
A fine treatment of the highly comolex Paul and his sometimes obtuse, it seems, writing. But, this is a good book for a small group study. Its substance requires conversation to be fully grasped (at least by me). The final few pages on order/disorder/reorder remind me of a paradigm I once used: location/dislocation/relocation in which the tension between the first two does not result in a synthesis but a new place... which, in turn, will be challenged.
November 8, 2020
A must read in my opinion. It challenges us to stop naval-gazing and become more conscious of our complicity in the corporate and systemic evil that perpetuates every aspect of our existence. It helps us recognize our need to move away from the feeble attempts to get 'ourselves' right (which is a distraction that feeds our egocentric nature) and focus on addressing the real sufferings of the collective.
September 28, 2022
Quick, simple, and helpful to redefine evil in a mature and more Christlike way rather than relying on old, dead, dualistic ways of understanding the world and our role within. It reads fast and is not very long, but packed with good theology and understanding/new readings of Biblical texts. Fr. Richard Rhor is well know to me through other books and podcasts; he does lifts a strong case for how we should view sin and Evil and how we should over come it, together!
May 21, 2020
Profound and somewhat hard to digest in a single reading. Classic Rohr in that simple answers to complex problems - sin and evil for example - don’t exist. However Christ provided what will have to be the answers for us, a way to hold, respond and ultimately live with and transcend both. I now begin my second reading!
May 30, 2020
I LOVE Richard Rohr! This is an important book but a difficult read; the subject is relevant but the fix is very complicated - bottom line for me: we are all one - we are all responsible for what is going on around us - we must LOVE ONE ANOTHER, NOT JUDGE, ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY AND KNOW GOD LOVES EACH ONE OF US ALWAYS -
January 10, 2021
Lots of great spiritual nuggets in this. It doesn't give an "aha!" answer to the problem of evil (no written work really can, right?). Nevertheless, it does a great job giving guidance to live in this broken world as sons and daughters of Christ.
March 2, 2020
A refreshing lens to view this topic. It's a short, quick read. It captured my curiosity. Glad to read it.
March 27, 2020
This is not a topic I normally consider. But Rohr’s framing of sin and evil is REALLY helpful, practical and (surprisingly!) life-giving.
November 8, 2020
A timely and deeply insightful little gem.
March 3, 2021
Really powerful perspective on broadening our scope of evil from the personal to corporate, and accordingly thinking of our solutions and responses to evil from a unitive lens.
March 25, 2023
I will re-read.
March 27, 2020
Rohr's premise is that the Catholic church's teaching has historically emphasized the individual aspect of sin to the detriment of it followers. He cites three origins of sin: The World, The Flesh, and The Devil (subtitle to his book). In so doing, its followers are ill prepared to recognize and deal with true Evil where it occurs. The Third Reich, for example, evolved in area that was half Catholic and half Lutheran! Rohr suggests how people become complicit with evil unknowingly by buying into mutually agreed upon cultural norms.
He cites Jesus's efforts to operate among communities of evil by shunning confrontation and operating as independently as possible. He was successful until he called out the Money Changers in the Temple as he was crucified two weeks later. Rohr advocates a life style apart from the sin system for us all by adopting values of closed communities such as that represented by the Amish. He repeats throughout that individuals living pious, moral lives historically made no changes to society as true Evil continued to flourish around them. Convicting people of their individual faults has not changed the world. He gains support for his conclusion by drawing on the words of Jesus and Paul who looked at sin from a collective perspective addressing "communities" who were off the beaten path. Rohr goes on the state that Religion often considers its job to police sexual activity rather than deal with more penetrating and impacting Evil such as injustices performed at corporate levels. St. Paul recognized our inability to ever be totally "perfect" and above criticism despite observing the laws and rituals of Religion. (Romans 7: 1-13).
This is not my first Rohr read. The writing style is pretty consistent with this book yet still a bit disjointed and unclear ie hard to follow. Nonetheless, I find his attempt to understand Evil and share with his readers admirable and thought provoking.
He cites Jesus's efforts to operate among communities of evil by shunning confrontation and operating as independently as possible. He was successful until he called out the Money Changers in the Temple as he was crucified two weeks later. Rohr advocates a life style apart from the sin system for us all by adopting values of closed communities such as that represented by the Amish. He repeats throughout that individuals living pious, moral lives historically made no changes to society as true Evil continued to flourish around them. Convicting people of their individual faults has not changed the world. He gains support for his conclusion by drawing on the words of Jesus and Paul who looked at sin from a collective perspective addressing "communities" who were off the beaten path. Rohr goes on the state that Religion often considers its job to police sexual activity rather than deal with more penetrating and impacting Evil such as injustices performed at corporate levels. St. Paul recognized our inability to ever be totally "perfect" and above criticism despite observing the laws and rituals of Religion. (Romans 7: 1-13).
This is not my first Rohr read. The writing style is pretty consistent with this book yet still a bit disjointed and unclear ie hard to follow. Nonetheless, I find his attempt to understand Evil and share with his readers admirable and thought provoking.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews