Most people imagine the devil as a comic figure in a red suit and pointed tail carrying a flaming pitchfork. It’s an idea that originates from mediaeval paintings. The question remains is the devil a spirit being, or merely the “ego” in our own personality exerting itself? Many people talk about evil being unleashed in the world;that is it’s a force beyond our power to control. Throughout the ages people have wrestled with the problem of evil. Has it a personal origin or is it merely an aberration - something that’s gone wrong by accident, like a science experiment, with disastrous results? Some religions, notably Zoroastrianism, believe in two equally powerful and exactly opposite forces at work in the world with neither being able to gain the upper hand. Christianity on the other hand talks of a world that has become abnormal through the intervention of an evil being that has set himself up against the God of the Universe - a cosmic thug bent on destruction. Jesus once told a story about a man who had sown a good crop of wheat, but discovered later that his enemy had sown a poisonous crop in the same field, a counterfeit form of wheat that was indistinguishable from the main crop until the seed heads had formed. On discovery, the man’s farmhands wanted to go out an uproot the poisonous plants, but were told that should they do so much of the good crop would be harmed in the process. “Wait till harvest” they were told, “then you can gather the poisonous plants first and burn them, and afterwards go and reap the good crop.” If we are realistic, we will agree that evil is different from good, and that’s not simply a matter of definition; it’s a malevolent power bent on destruction of all that is good. The trouble is, sooner or later we discover that we are part of the problem, that we’ve become infected with destructive desires ourselves.