Can a person be inherently evil?

The case of serial killers such as Lucy Letby raises hard questions about the nature of evil. There may be no neat answer, but biblical principles can provide some guidance, says Dr Matthew Knell

The starting point for discussions such as these is always the fallenness of humanity. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” says Romans 3:23. Paul then goes on to say that our very nature is to be “slaves to sin”. This is an important biblical principle: being comes before action. What we are leads to what we do. Think of Jesus talking about good and bad trees and the fruit they produce in Matthew 7:17-23.

This does not need to lead us into discussions of Augustine or doctrines of Original Sin. It merely points to the consistent Church teaching that after our first parents, humanity needed salvation; that sin and its effects are, universally, part of our nature. Additionally, no aspect of a human person is separate from another – mind, body, spirit – so we should not limit what is affected by sin, nor the types of evil that can result from the corruption that exists.