One listens to ancient wisdom, but is not necessarily guided by it.
At the same time, I revere the past, and believe we should learn the lessons bygone heroes have to teach us. They were just as intelligent as we are, and perhaps wiser. Even a modest reading of history provides examples of those professing to be the guardians of holiness and truth becoming in time perpetrators of the basest evil. Those who administered the Inquisition were, in their own eyes, mostly scrupulous men; and I expect to start with they were, and may even have done some good. But by the end they told their most distinguished victim, Galileo, he must speak “the truth, or face torture”; in fact they meant “deny the truth of Copernicus or face torture”. The Court of Star Chamber began life as a wonderful instrument for reducing rebellious barons to order, to the great relief of the common people; by the end it was a fearsome instrument of oppression. No-one is safe. The dragon slayer can become himself the dragon without knowing it.
One must recognise that one cannot right every wrong; and it is best to limit oneself to goals within one’s capability. John the Baptist gave a good example; Cranmer’s Collect for him says he constantly spoke the truth, boldly rebuked vice, and patiently suffered for the truth’s sake. Full marks to anyone who can do as well as that!
Yet it was said that the least in the kingdom of Heaven was greater than he. So what more is one expected to do? In any group of people, can we all recognise the roots of evil in each other? Most law-abiding people have avoided the passionate love of money that Shylock had; most of us have had a bit of power, but not been badly corrupted by it; most enjoyed a sport, without turning it into an idolatry. So why cannot we build the kingdom of Heaven on earth? Why can we not trust each other completely: because we cannot, and in the present state of our society ought not to try? If you repose more trust in a friend than he is accustomed to give, you lose his friendship, in my experience. Why does evil come between people to prevent them trusting each other more? And how is it to be overcome?
The roots of evil are in ourselves. We cannot trust each other, because we know we ourselves are not wholly trustworthy; and it is wrong to claim to be more trustworthy than one is. It is safer, and probably wiser, to claim only that one will fulfil the expectations society has of us. It is foolish to claim more, and then fall flat on one’s face. To do better than this, one has to transcend the requirements of society; break free from the conventions of life, however much one subscribes to them for the sake of decorum. And my experience is that most people find this virtually impossible for any length of time.
This is what the Church is groping towards, in its emphasis on sin: that we cannot by ourselves create a world without sin. We may try to create a welfare state; we may try to eliminate evils on a small scale. But if we try to create a society on a basis of kindness, mutual trust, forgiveness, and Christian charity, the result is abject failure. It is one thing to practice these things in one’s daily life, or try to; it is quite another to try to run a society on this basis. King Arthur’s Court at Camelot was a beautiful medieval dream that such a society might be possible; but the French added the chapter about the adultery of Queen Gwenevere and Sir Launcelot, which brought the whole kingdom crashing down in ruins. It was an addition that was true to life; it was a recognition that it was just a dream. It is impossible that society as we know it, should be a world without sin; when it is perfectly obvious that without a criminal law, the prosecution of offences, and their punishment, it would all disintegrate into chaos. There are some people who only understand the language of fear. And a world without sin must remain an other-worldly concept for a long time to come.
Jesus was right to say that his kingdom was not of this world; but we unfortunately have to live in this world. With the atomic bomb staring us all in the face, for those in power to abdicate, and those not in power to call for the abrogation of, the responsibility for this world’s safety is not an honourable thing to do. The roots of evil may be in ourselves, but until someone by Divine grace creates absolute trust between people, we must just do the best we can.