Inherent Evil

[Nils]

The minds of all of Iluvatar's creations can be read and understood by Iluvatar Himself, so in a sense Melkor's mind is a part of Iluvatar's mind. I do not think that Gwaihir meant this to mean that in some realm of his brain Iluvatar thinks similarly to Melkor, that there is a part of his brain trying to break free, as it were, and act evilly.

I believe that is pretty much what Gwahir said. Each Ainu is a piece of Eru's mind.

Gwaihir

Yet evil, I believe, is present in Eru as well.

and

Gwaihir

It does not mean that Illuvatar is like Melkor, because he isn't. He is also like Manwe, Yavanna, Mandos, Ulmo and all the others. As I said, his mind is all-encompassing and understands all of these minds.

Notice the "he is also like". This is telling me that Gwaihir's view is that the evil itself, which Melkor came to be was originally evil within Eru. It did not dominate Eru as it did Melkor, but evil started within Eru.

It is my understanding that he simply meant that Melkor's mind is reflected in Iluvatar's mind, since Iluvatar can see the minds of all others.

What does 'reflected' mean?

And since Melkor was born of Iluvatar, who is the creator of all and understands all, then Melkor's mind would certainly make up a part of Iluvatar's thought.

Originally yes. As Gandalf stated, nothing starts out evil. The evil arrives when we make wrong decisions. Our ability to make these decisions is a result of free will, which is a result of the Flame Imperishable.

I think that this topic would certainly qualify as an excellent topic for an essay, but I have just hastily thrown together my ideas.

I agree, this would be an excellent topic for an essay. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

[ August 03, 2003: Message edited by: Nils ]