to be lost, and the last state seems worse than the first. There is a place for self-discipline and self-control; but ultimately defects in character can only be overcome by the character growing, and the deficiencies becoming filled in. We all know how in middle-age a man can realise his inner powers of character, and become aware that he can lead, or administer, or judge; what is vital is that this realisation should not come in a flawed character. It is too late then to overcome character defects: they should have been overcome before. Every junior barrister knows that some judges, after appointment, develop “judgitis”: a prickly awareness of their importance and their power; the junior knows too that once the disease takes a hold, there is seldom a cure. It is important, even vital, that the realisation of one's powers should not come in a flawed character. Personality in its fullness only emerges when these deficiencies manifestly begin to be filled in; victory over evil may not be complete, but it is at any rate under way.
Sometimes the impression is given that victory over evil comes at a moment in time, and is then once for all. It is sometimes said that Christ by his cross and passion defeated evil once and for all, so saved us from our sin, and atoned for us. This is misleading. Victory over evil is a continuous lifelong thing; if it isn't, it turns to defeat. If Christ saved Christians from their sin, he did it by teaching them that they could save themselves by his example; he may have saved them once and for all from obsessive guilt, but that is where the business of overcoming evil in the secular world begins, not ends. If the Christian does not overcome evil in this world, either by God's grace or by his own efforts (it does not matter which), then there is both literally and metaphorically no future for him!
Now death, or the fear of death, can never result in the emergence of personality. In a timid person, death may result in fear; and fear may be in the…