Where Does Evil Come From? Tim Mackie on Genesis 1–11

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In this Theology Lab conversation, Tim Mackie of The BibleProject explores one of humanity's oldest questions: Where does evil come from? Drawing from Genesis 1–11, Tim Mackie unpacks the Bible's foundational stories of good, evil, sin, suffering, violence, and human nature, and (of course) the underlying stories that point to Jesus.

Description

In this Theology Lab conversation, Tim Mackie, co-founder of BibleProject, explores one of humanity’s oldest questions: where does evil come from? Drawing on Genesis 1–11, Tim explains why the Bible presents God’s creation as good, and why evil is best understood as a distortion of that goodness rather than an equal and opposite force (if you know the theology of Augustine, there are parallels here!). Along the way he shows how human choices, disordered desires, and mistrust of God spread from a single couple to families, cities, and empires.

Host Scott Rice and Tim also discuss how the question of discernment, learning to tell good from bad, runs from Eden through Proverbs and Solomon to Jesus.

The conversation also explores:

  • How the Bible is a foundation for understanding evil

  • The two creation accounts in Genesis 1–2 and God’s repeated claim “it was good”

  • The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, and the Hebrew words tov and ra

  • Later stories in Genesis, like Cain and Abel, the Flood, and the Tower of Babel

  • Evil as a “parasite reality” (a nod to C.S. Lewis)

  • Solomon’s request for wisdom, Proverbs, and Jesus as the true human

This is part one of a two-part conversation. Episode published here on July 2, 2026.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Where does evil come from, according to the Bible? Tim Mackie explains that Genesis 1–11 presents goodness as the most fundamental reality. Evil arises when humans take God’s good gifts and, driven by disordered desires and mistrust of God, redirect them toward destructive ends. The pattern grows from Adam and Eve to Cain and Abel, the Flood, and Babel.

  • What is the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil? In Tim’s reading, it’s less a ban on knowledge than a first lesson in trust: deciding good and bad by what your eyes and appetites tell you leads to death. He notes the Hebrew opposite of tov (“good”) is ra, which is closer to “bad,” meaning whatever undoes what God has made good.

  • Is evil a real thing? Tim says yes, but it isn’t the most real thing. Drawing on C.S. Lewis, he describes evil as a “parasite reality,” a degradation of what is good.

  • How do Cain and Abel, the Flood, and Babel connect? They show the same distortion scaling up, from a couple to a family, a city, and finally an empire.

  • What does Solomon have to do with Eden? Solomon asks God to give him the knowledge of good and bad rather than grabbing it, which Tim sees showcasing a kind of (movement towards) a reversal of Adam and Eve’s choice.

  • How does Jesus fit in? The Gospels present Jesus as the true human who lives out the vocation Adam, Eve, and Israel failed to fulfill.

  • Is there a part two? Yes. It looks at how to read the Bible’s difficult stories of destruction and violence. Check it out here.

Resources

📚 Learn more about the BibleProject at www.bibleproject.com

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