So far in this book we have described the evil powers of our time as a subtle and hidden phenomenon behind the screen of cultural and societal development and on the background of extrasensory evidence and philosophical discussion. And in the previous chapter we saw how this understanding and perception of evil corresponds with the perspective of the gospels, and we clarified the guidelines on evil that we learn from Jesus. But since so many Western people in modern times have turned away from dogmatic Christianity, we think there is a need in a book like this for further positive directions in order to address the problem of evil properly. In this regard we will not put forward a comprehensive philosophy of life and man. Our concern here is primarily existential and practical, because we are dealing with an imminent and real threat. Thus we have decided to conclude our account of contemporary and near-future evil with a presentation of the central Christian concepts of faith, hope and love. They are universally valid and vital to everyone independent of belief and orientation and closely connected with the human ability to cope with evil. They pertain directly to the level of soul, but are nevertheless immanent structures to be recognized from our personal experience and are easily mobilized. On the other hand, if we are lacking in of any of these existential resources, then we have no means of personal integrity or power of sustaining our true identity when confronted with Sorath’s strategy, that we can assure you from Adam’s experience! We shall be reduced to automaton and loose contact with our soul as the I-ness crumbles away. Moreover, we should not fool ourselves and think that this test will not come or that kind of development not take place. Experience of Luciferic and Ahrimanic evil is part and parcel of our evolution, and surely we have entered the last days and the turn of time if we take a look at the obvious signs.

Let us then once again remind you, that in the last resort this is above all a question of acceptance and purity of heart. The basic fact of human life remains unaltered through all times. When there is no love, there is suffering, and when there is no hope, there is evil suffering, and when there is no faith, there is evil! That is how it is, and so be it, that first we must choose between faith and evil as our fundamental choice. If we choose faith, then faith begets hope, and hope unleashes love, which in turn strengthens faith. Of course love is there from the beginning, and so is hope and good faith, but evil intervenes unceasingly, and often enough we close our open heart. When confronted with evil, we do not experience love so easily, suffering is inevitable and our hopes are down. How can we then brace ourselves without faith, which is the first, the unremitting and the final stand against evil? Faith gives us courage and the means to stay with the good, when it is no longer appreciable. Faith is the last, the perpetual and the basic good – our decision to become good. That is why we must first and foremost have faith, and since there are so many misconceptions reqarding the nature of faith, we will try to elucidate the matter further.

Jesus said: “I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’, and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." [Math. 17:20]. To Jesus faith was a core value and a principal experience, so when examining the situation of a person, he would always refer to the level of faith as the one crucial determinant of whether that person could obtain freedom from sin and the bondage of evil. Faith was the saving and transforming power available right now in his presence, since it is a choice, an affirmation and a commitment made by the personal I and not some artificial state of mind or energy, which is constructed and build up with elaborate techniques or through affiliation with a spiritual expert. Faith is a capacity within the sincere, loving, believing and faithful heart, and every one of us can always resort to this sovereign response to existence. It was and still is given as an open and free opportunity in the meeting with him, who himself was the faultless exponent of faith. So what did Jesus wish to tell us in the above quotation?

First we must remember that he was usually addressing untrained and simple people using images and metaphors, and therefore he is not propounding any faith-magic or magic faith here. The point of faith is not to obtain fantastic siddhi-powers or work miracles, much less to move mountains. Naturally there is some confusion here, since Jesus in the narratives is clad in the robes of a Hellenistic miracle-worker and ascribed with symbolical deeds and signs, which could prove and substantiate his messianic mission and authority, but we must ignore this traditional outfit and interpretive frame and focus on the existential meaning of his saying. In this regard the moving of material objects by the use of will-power is not an essential or even random purpose of faith in the same manner that highly skilled magicians in Tibet try to levitate boulders as part and parcel of their training and religion. Surely they would exceed themselves and celebrate happily if they ever succeeded in moving a whole mountain, but this magical feature is an inferior or even irrelevant element in the cited comparison. The belief-structure in the teachings of Jesus is not concerned with miracles, supernatural gifts or superstition. Faith is not a belief in the incredible or a reliance on exceptional forces. Not that Jesus was unfamiliar with extrasensory or arcane reality. He did not live within our scientific and materialistic world view, and no doubt he thought that Gods power could move a mountain in an instance. But that is not the point here. It is simply not a matter of faith. It is perfectly possible to work miracles and use siddhi-powers without having a grain of faith, and actually they are mutually exclusive attitudes.

Jesus declined to use his supposedly magic powers and save himself from the suffering and death on the cross in spite of public expectations, since this was never a criterion of faith to him. "He saved others," they said, "but he cannot save himself! He is the King of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him.” [Math. 27:42]. But he refused and died instead in accordance with his faith. Then what about all the amazing healings he performed, you might object? Did Jesus not use his faith-magic to make those miraculous events happen as a proof of faith? Well, in the narrative context these accounts are no doubt mentioned as evidence of the Messiahship of Jesus and the reality of Gods Kingdom, and so they were understood by his followers and presumably by himself. But again, the healing as an outward sign of Satan’s defeat and Gods victory is only relative to the condition of faith itself. Faith is the central issue here. Not faith in this or that, but the faithful response, the state of faith. Perhaps we should really listen to what Jesus explains to the sick woman, who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years and then said to herself: “If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed”, and she came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak. Jesus turned and saw her. "Take heart, daughter," he said, "your faith has healed you." [Math. 9:22]. Not God or Jesus in the first place, and under no circumstance any kind of magic, but first and foremost her own faith! When she came to faith, evil left her instantaneously, and that is the striking beauty of the narrative.

It is clear then that the moving mountain is only a metaphor and in no respect factual. It describes how faith has an incredible power to change every ordinary perspective and invert our relation to material existence, normally characterized by vulnerability and dependence. Humans have always been deeply impressed with the majesty, might and immovability of a mountain and imagined it as a dwelling place of the superior gods. In the same fashion we are sometimes numbed and paralyzed by the odd conditions of incarnate existence. We are so small in ourselves, so dependent, so ignorant, so inferior, so incapable, so lost, so lonely. A fragment of dust compared to the grandeur of a mountain. Physical existence separates and isolates us, the force of gravity grinds us down, the subphysical powers claim our freedom and the immortal gods, whoever they might be, monitor our transient life. But this position can be changed in a moment, since even the smallest quantum of faith is a quantum-leap and contains huge transformative powers.

Faith is remembrance of our origin in God and of the soul’s greatness. Although a mustard seed is insignificant compared with the physical size of a mountain, this viewpoint on existence shifts completely when we realize that faith is a higher order of being than our solid incarnation and material reality. In another parable Jesus tells us: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all your seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and perch in its branches." [Math.13:31f]. Thus faith pertains directly to the kingdom of heaven, which is life liberated in the living reality of God and hence true human existence on earth, quite opposite to the normal hopeless conditions of incarnate existence. And so this fragmented human life of ours in all its dependence, dispersion and fragility holds one single element of vital importance, which is faith, the key to liberation and dignity. Without faith the bulk of conditioning and the bondage of evil seem insurmountable. But faith turns that situation upside down and restores the true perspective of life.