Note on Christian Shock
To read the writings of pagans and heretics is instructive if only for the reason that it highlights the remarkable nature of the Christian worldview.
We hold that the cosmos, human life, and all meaning in life comes from love, for God is love; takes its being from love, for God is “I AM”, that is, the necessary being and source of being; and is aimed toward love, for God is the summit and final cause of all things.
Evil hence is temporary, enduring for a short span while it is cured, punished, and corrected, and moreover is merely the beginning infinitesimal fragment of our existence, which is eternal.
Evil itself is a perversion or a disease of love, love misdirected or out of proportion. It is not a thing itself. It has no substance, and ultimately, no power. Nothing is nothing.
Considering the pain and woe of life, the tragedy of being born, and the inevitability of death, this is a shocking sentiment.
We should be more amazed at God.