The Church as the Cause of Evil?

Spirituality can always be tempted and corrupted by power. Christ was implacable in his opposition to the Pharisees who used the spiritual as a bullying means to the end of power over people. In addition to this, when Satan tempted him with temporal power in the wilderness, because he was God, he successfully resisted the temptation. The flawed humans who ran the church often failed in this respect and, so, you get worldly Popes (some of them epicurean patrons of the arts) for example who crave power. This is not the impulse that defines Christianity or the church though - it’s a falling away from the sanctity, love and pursuit of eternal life (dogmas it is good to inoculate people with) that are meant to define it. There is, therefore, always a tension in the church between those who fail and those who succeed in their sanctity and resisting worldly temptations, the latter often trying to keep the former honest. There’s nothing in the essence of the religion as expressed in the New Testament encouraging its adherents to burn and torture other people.

I’d say that there has been sufficient successful sanctity to have influenced western civilisation for the good. Without the religion we’d have been worse off. It’s a living tension though, not a purity. Christianity was never going to be about purely good people. It was going to be about some who succeeded at it and some who failed. That’s the drama of the Christian life - the struggle between good and evil. Nothing is a forgone conclusion. And it has to promote itself. Gospel means good news. The chance to succeed is available. Evangelism is inherent. For me religion is inevitable in a creature like us who can’t help seeking meaning.