Introduction

“Devolution, de-evolution, or backward evolution is the concept that species can revert to supposedly more primitive forms over time.” [1] Comparing the amount of evil in modern times to that of the Old Testament and Medieval times, I wonder if mankind’s heart is devolving or if Satan is simply more active than ever. Is all this evil sufficient evidence of the non-existence of God? Is it possible for life to have a happy ending or not?

Evil in the Old Testament: Siege-induced Cannibalism

I didn’t want to believe that God would allow this horrific passage to be included in the Bible, but here it is, in all its horror. 

Because of the suffering your enemy will inflict on you during the siege, you will eat the fruit of the womb, the flesh of the sons and daughters the Lord your God has given you. Even the most gentle and sensitive man among you will have no compassion on his own brother or the wife he loves or his surviving children, and he will not give to one of them any of the flesh of his children that he is eating. It will be all he has left because of the suffering your enemy will inflict on you during the siege of all your cities. The most gentle and sensitive woman among you — so sensitive and gentle that she would not venture to touch the ground with the sole of her foot — will begrudge the husband she loves and her own son or daughter the afterbirth from her womb and the children she bears. For in her dire need, she intends to eat them secretly because of the suffering your enemy will inflict on you during the siege of your cities. Deuteronomy 28:53–57 NIV

Yes, there is evidence that cannibalism occurred as a desperate measure during extreme sieges, as mentioned in the books of Deuteronomy and 2 Kings. Textual, archaeological, and historical evidence exists to testify to the actual historical events. For example, Flavius Josephus wrote about a woman who, driven by starvation during the siege of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, cooked and consumed her child. Although human remains are often missing or damaged, archaeological discoveries of collapsed buildings, arrowheads, and widespread destruction in cities like Lachish, Jerusalem, and Samaria show clear signs of siege warfare, indicating long-term blockades that led to severe famine.

Evil in the Middle Ages: Inquisitions and Crusades

I didn’t think anything could top the evil that occurred in the Old Testament (especially in Leviticus, Deuteronomy, and Judges, where everyone did what was right in his own eyes). However, the evil of the Middle Ages (roughly 5th to 15th centuries) is right up there with it. During that time, the Roman Catholic Church held tremendous influence. By the 12th century, it officially sanctioned the Inquisitions, where alleged heretics were subjected to extreme torture as a means of extracting confessions. [2] These tortures included burning people alive, binding people to a rack, and using the “heretic’s fork” (Spanish Inquisition) [3].

Satanic evil was epitomized in the massacres and slaughter that occurred during the First Crusade (Jerusalem 1099), Fourth Crusade (Constantinople 1204), and the Albigensian Crusade (1209–1229). In these atrocities, nearly entire populations of Muslim and Jewish cities were wiped out. Fellow Christians who refused to convert were brutally killed. Many of the crusaders were driven by greed, looting, and pillaging homes, churches, and entire cities.

The Renaissance and Enlightenment: Rationalizing Evil

Evil began to be justified as “rights of the people” during the Renaissance and Enlightenment era, spanning the 15th to 18th centuries. Humanism and reason emerged as dominant forces, shaping the course of intellectual thought and cultural development.

People like Voltaire, Hume, and Kant questioned the concept of absolute evil, viewing it in terms of personal responsibility and psychological factors rather than a cosmic battle between good and evil. This philosophy of the rights-bearing individual was the justification for slavery, the marginalization of indigenous peoples, and the subordination of women.

The Modern Era: Tyrannical Evil and Depraved Society

Some of the bloodiest and most lethal evil has occurred since the 19th century. World War II was the deadliest conflict in human history, resulting in the deaths of between 70 and 85 million people. The U.S. Civil War, with an estimated death toll of between 620,000 and 750,000, remains one of the bloodiest wars in American history and, relative to population size, one of the deadliest conflicts ever fought in the Western Hemisphere.

Dictators such as Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, and Mao Tse-tung have murdered millions of people in the Holocaust, mass starvation from famine, the Khmer Rouge genocide in Cambodia, the Rwandan genocide, and Soviet repressions such as the Great Purge and the gulag system.

And the abundance of evil continues to this day. Many people, desensitized to evil from violent video games, increasingly graphic horror movies, daily news coverage of stabbings, school shootings, murders, and riots, shrug their shoulders with the attitude of “there’s nothing I can do.”

Conclusion

But is it true there’s nothing an individual can do to combat all this evil, especially since none of us (that I know of) have any superpowers with which to fight it? Well, as Christians, we DO have a superpower we can use to overcome evil. We have the power of Almighty God and His Word. We have examples of overcoming evil in the lives of Jesus Christ, the Apostles, the Christian martyrs, the early Church Fathers, the Prophets, and the brave missionaries of today. Evil may not have devolved from Old Testament times to the present, but it is increasing, probably because the devil knows his time is short. So, the question of whether life can have a happy ending or not depends on who has your back. For Christians, it’s Jesus, and because of Him, our happy ending and assurance of a happy future are secured.

References

1. Wikipedia contributors. (2025, November 3). Devolution (biology). Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devolution_(biology)

2. James, T. (2016). Rapture Ready or Not. New Leaf Press.

3. Unveiling The Heretic’s Fork: a dark chapter of medieval torture. (n.d.). https://www.medievalchronicles.com/medieval-torture-devices/unveiling-the-heretics-fork-a-dark-chapter-of-medieval-torture/