Evil and perversity in Genesis A and B of the Junius Manuscript

¶ … Heroic

The Nature of Evil

Evil is portrayed in a variety of ways in Genesis A and B. Of the Junius Manuscript. Evil manifests despite God's attempt to give those who are loyal to him everything they need. The first manifestation of evil is in Heaven, when certain angels become proud and rebellious. When God decides to create Earth and human beings, evil also infests this. The phenomenon can then be seen in three ways. Evil as perverse, irrational and deluding are discussed as it is portrayed in the Junius manuscript. It appears to infest everything and everybody. Even God himself is not entirely free of the claws of evil.

Evil as Perverse

The first case of the perversity of evil is in line 20-33 (Bradley, 1982:13), where the chief of angels becomes first proud and then perverse. The perversity is manifest in the way that the angel and his followers turn away from what they know is in their best interest. Instead of submitting to God's will and friendship, the chief angel becomes increasingly proud to the point where he demands a throne in the northern part of heaven.

This perversity breeds a perversity of justice. God's anger apparently knows as few bounds as his mercy. So in the next section, line 34-46 (Bradley, 1982:13), the angels who were previously crowned with glory are thrown into hell to be tormented eternally. This punishment appears rather harsh, especially as there is no hope of redemption for the angels. Also, it is ineffective punishment, since it does not rehabilitate the offenders and simply results in further perversities as God attempts to expand his universe.

God expands his universe by creating the earth and all the creatures on it. He then trusts ten orders of angels to deal with matters on earth. These angels are made especially beautiful and powerful for God's purposes, and they exist to exalt and praise him. However, it is an again the leader who perversely falls in love with the creation rather than the creator. The highest of the angels created in this way becomes proud of all that he has received in terms of beauty and power. Forgetting that these are gifts from God, the angel uses his endowments to become proud and boastful, and he does not wish to be under God's power any more (Bradley, 1982:19; line 261- 277). He also speaks very conceitedly against God, feeling that it is no longer necessary to "flatter" him for the sake of his own ego.

The result of this is again the harshest of punishment, and another perversion of justice. God does not take into account the service rendered or the fact that the angel may have been an effective ruler. Nor are there any punishments that could result in a reinstatement of this angel. There is no forgiveness, and the angel is again thrown into hell to join the other, earlier angels. He is also turned into a demon (Bradley, 1982:19; line 292-321). The punishments themselves also appear harsh beyond what is necessitated by the offense. Intense heat and cold are suffered alternately for the rest of eternity.

It is no wonder then that the angels, in their hopelessness, begin to scheme against their once loving God. In line 401-409 (p. 23), a plan begins to form in the minds of the demons. Having lost their position of leadership in heaven, they look for a perverted from of leadership through the fall of human beings. The plan is then to get people to disgust God in the same way that the demons have so that God will reject them, and that they can become subordinate to the demons.

In line 442-452 (p. 25) the plan is put into action. The demon chosen for the job is thus chosen for his malevolence, his strength, his ability to seduce, lead astray and pervert. This is also a perversion of the things that God values in his angels. His leaders are chosen for their excellence in terms of being good, while the evil leader is chosen for the opposite of this.

When his seduction of Adam fails, the demon then seeks to pervert Eve's judgment. He succeeds in line 578-596 (p. 28-29). He perverts Eve's judgment by pretending that he is a servant of the God that she serves. In this way he succeeds in replacing her connection with God with an evil thinking "seething" inside her. In this way she is then seduced into eating the fruit that the demon offers her. Now that Eve has been perverted, the demon completes his work by turning her into the tempter. She is told that Adam "blasphemed" because he would not accept the fruit from the demon, and that it is her task to give him the fruit. Adam would then not be penalized for his "sin." This is a perversion of the way that things really are.

In line 684-703 (p. 31) Eve uses all of her persuasive power to seduce Adam into the same sin as hers. Adam hardly has a choice, since he is tormented all day by Eve and the demon's persuasions. And so his judgment is finally perverted.

Evil as Delusion

Delusion appears to be at the heart of the evil described in the Manuscript. Delusion appears in its manifestation as both self-deception and the deception of others.

Both the angels who sin first and the chief of angels who takes a later fall delude themselves that they are somehow better than God and that they can claim the power of rule in heaven. This delusion stems from all that these angels have received from God. They receive power, glory and the right of leadership over their subordinates. This is however not enough and they wish for more and more power. This wish is what leads to delusions of grandeur and the ultimate fall of both human and angel.

A further manifestation of self-delusion is that the demons bound in hell still feel they have some sort of ruling power. This results in their wish for subordinates in the form of human beings. In truth however they clearly do not have power at all, since they are bound to suffer forever in the harsh conditions of hell. Even the freedom achieved by the strongest of demons is merely an illusion against the freedom they used to experience in heaven.

The demon's first attempt at deluding another is, as seen above, with Adam. He attempts his delusion in two ways. First, there is visual delusion when the demon changes form and turns into a snake (p. 26; line 491). Afterwards he attempts to use aural and mental delusion when he attempts to tempt Adam away from God. He uses Adam's accomplishments and his love for God in order to make his delusions appear real. Rationality however appears to provide immunity against any such attempts and Adam refuses to be bullied into accepting the fruit.

The demon resorts to more forceful deluding tactics with Eve. First, he uses her fear of punishment from God in order to get his message across. After this he lies about the rewards of eating the fruit. He paints a rosy picture of the enhancement that both she and Adam will experience when eating the fruit (p. 28; line 464-577).

Furthermore the demon appeals to Eve's emotion and her care for Adam. She is told that all wrongdoing will be concealed when she also persuades Adam to eat of the fruit. In this way Eve's delusion is complete and she eats from fear of punishment as well as a desire for the promised perceptual enhancement. Her hold on rationality is slimmer than that of Adam, and it is easier to deceive her into complying with the demon's request.

In line 611 (p. 29) the delusion is further completed when Eve does indeed experience the promised effects of eating the fruit. These are false, however and only short-term as opposed to the long-term effects of punishment. The delusion is thus accomplished in a very subtle and nearly irresistible way.

It is also by means of subtlety that Adam is reached. Eve keeps talking to him, without leaving him alone. She speaks from her own delusion, offering him the promises that seems to have been fulfilled for her (p. 32, line 702-724). Her delusion is so complete that she honestly believes she is gaining the favor of heaven for both herself and Adam by enticing him to eat the fruit. The delusion is however proved for what it is when Adam eats the fruit and the demon succeeds in its purpose.

It is interesting that both Adam and Eve readily accept that they are guilty. They in fact plead with God to give them the punishment that they are willing to accept as a result of their sin. In no way do they attempt to justify what they have done once they realize that they have sinned. This may be ascribed to the rationality that is strongest in Adam, and that also resides in Eve.

It has been seen that the demons do not have a large amount of rationality, which may also explain why the first attempt at delusion was directed at Adam. The self-delusion that begins with the rebellion in heaven is perpetuated in hell. The demons do not feel that they have sinned, or that their wish for more power is unjustified. They continue deluding themselves in believing that they still have power to give or to take. This is demonstrated in the very act of tempting Adam and Eve.

The role of God in the delusion and punishment process should also be taken into account. It has been mentioned that God appears to be rather quick to punish and slow to consider any extenuating circumstances. The initial punishment of rebellious angels could be questioned. God does not appear to realize that to punish someone for eternity would hardly be beneficial for the punisher. The demons, as shown by later events, may gain strength and be detrimental to the Kingdom of God. In this way God appears to delude himself about the justification and effectiveness of punishment.

God also deludes himself regarding human beings. He could have provided Eve with a greater sense of rationality. Also, he does not consider the persuasive powers of his fallen angels, and thus do not grant the human beings any reprieve or friendship. This is regardless of the previous excellent relationship that he had with them. Despite the fact that Adam and Eve confess that they have done wrong, God again submits to his own fairly childish temper.

A further delusion on the part of God is that he closes his eyes to the fact that his punishments appear to be ineffective on other occasions. Thus he is closer in character to the demons than to the human beings. The demons perpetuate their own self-delusion, and so does God. He learns nothing from the pervious punishments against his fallen angels. Instead he stubbornly persists in an ineffective and unjust punishment system. It is interesting that heavenly beings are in this way set apart from human beings, who appear to be able to learn from their mistakes.