Evil Parasites

 

In Christian thought, it is a common but misleading error to view evil as a rival power equal and opposite to God. Such a perspective attributes to Satan a creative power and independent existence that he does not possess. A more biblically grounded understanding frames Satan and the evil he represents not as a sovereign king, but as a parasite. This parasitic nature reveals evil's fundamental lack of autonomy and its utter dependence on the good that God has created.

A parasite is incapable of creating its own life. It must attach itself to a host and draw its sustenance from that host. In the same way, Satan is incapable of generating anything on his own. He is an exclusively reactive force, existing only in relation to what is good and holy, which are attributes of God. Satan does not forge new things; he only perverts, exploits, and spoils what is already there. For example, a lie has no substance of its own; it is a twisting of God's truth, drawing its entire meaning and power from the reality it seeks to deform. A destructive act, likewise, is a corruption of the inherent impulse to create and preserve, an impulse placed in humanity by our Creator. Pain can only be inflicted because joy and comfort are real states of being, designed by God. Evil is, therefore, a hollow imitation, a dark shadow that can only be cast by the light of God it attempts to obscure.

This parasitic relationship is the critical point of vulnerability for evil. Satan's power is not absolute; it is derived and conditional. His influence is most effective when he is able to convince humanity—his host, created in God's image—of his own legitimacy or even his benevolence. He whispers doubts, sows division, and causes us to forget God's strength and promises. In this way, evil’s true danger lies not in its might, but in its deceit. Satan can convince a person, or an entire society, that the good on which he feeds is either absent or an illusion. His survival depends on the cooperation—or at least the ignorance—of his host. He thrives in the absence of faith and resistance.

The parasitic analogy can be further understood by examining how evil perverts specific divine concepts. Pride, for instance, is not a new creation but a distortion of the God-given sense of self-worth and purpose. Rather than finding a healthy identity in one’s divine origin and unique gifts, pride inflates the self into an idol, consuming the very value it purports to celebrate. Similarly, false worship does not invent a new form of reverence but redirects the innate human impulse to worship toward something or someone other than God. This redirection is a parasitic act, as it leeches the spiritual energy and devotion intended for the Creator and attaches it to a counterfeit. The act of cruelty is a perversion of the power to exercise justice, while lust takes the good of human intimacy and twists it into a self-serving, dehumanizing caricature. Each of these acts of evil is fundamentally an act of sabotage, a violent and grotesque twisting of a perfect original.

Furthermore, a closer look at biblical narratives reveals a consistent pattern of Satan's attempts to imitate God’s divine actions. In the Garden of Eden, Satan's deception in the form of a serpent was a parasitic act upon a created being, a perversion of a creature meant to be part of God's good world. In the temptation of Christ, Satan offers a counterfeit kingdom and authority, a twisted reflection of the true dominion that Christ rightfully holds. In the eschatological vision of Revelation, the Antichrist is depicted as a direct imitation of Christ, a false messiah who performs signs and wonders to deceive humanity. This consistent behavior demonstrates that Satan's entire strategy is one of mimicry. He has no original ideas, no independent source of power, and no ability to create anything new. He is forever a follower, a dark reflection of the divine reality he so despises. His ultimate goal is to convince humanity that the shadow is the substance, and that his borrowed power is his own.

The effectiveness of this parasitic deception is contingent upon humanity's consent. Unlike a biological parasite that can invade without permission, evil requires a degree of cooperation from its human host. This is where the concept of free will becomes central to the analogy. The parasite's influence is most potent when it can persuade its host to believe its lies and willingly succumb to its influence. This is not a passive infection but an active, willful entanglement with deceit. Satan's tyranny is a "tyranny of suggestion" precisely because its power is not absolute; it can be broken by the active resistance of the host. God, in His wisdom and mercy, has provided the means for this resistance: the Holy Spirit as an indwelling force of good, the truth of Scripture as an antidote to lies, and the community of believers as a source of mutual support and accountability.

Ultimately, the parasite is a temporary resident in God's creation. Satan cannot survive the destruction of his host, for that would mean his own demise. His existence is a temporary rebellion against the natural and divine order, and it is a rebellion that is doomed to fail. God, as the original and self-sustaining reality, will endure. The parasitic nature of evil means it will, in the end, be revealed as nothing more than a temporary corruption, a fleeting sickness that will be expelled from the system it attempted to infest when God's final judgment is rendered. The culmination of history will not be a climactic battle between equal forces, but the definitive expulsion of an unwanted invader. The host will be healed, the original design restored, and the parasitic force that could only mimic and destroy will be utterly cast out.