IV. The Origin of Evil

It is characteristic of today's literature that it hardly mentions evil. Materialism may appear to have explanations for suffering, illness and death, but does not concern itself with evil. In the animal kingdom one can speak of ferocity and cruelty, but one cannot apply the concept of evil to animals. Evil is confined to the human kingdom. But modern natural science tries to derive knowledge of human beings from investigations of animals, and as all differences are glossed over, evil is ignored. One has to enter deeply into human characteristics in order to discover the origin of evil. One must above all recognize that humanity constitutes a kingdom by itself. Let us now consider this issue in the light of spiritual science.