Evil : (noun)

a: morally reprehensible : SINFUL, WICKED; an evil impulse

b: arising from actual or imputed bad character or conduct; a person of evil reputation

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Evil is what many people (especially Christains) believe to be a powerful force, the cause of all the wicked and bad things in the world. 

In Genesis 3 we find an account of the origin of evil which Christians refer to as evil it has a physical quality and can be transferred from one person to another. The third chapter of Genesis, recounts what Christians call "The Sin of Adam", the consequence of which they say have been passed on down to all humanity and hence to us. They claim that evi; is the "force which (under the direction of the "fallen angel" Lucifer, i.e. Satan) has enslaved the whole world throughout all of human istory.                    

It is said that God placed two special trees in the Garden of Eden, i.e. Paradise. Adam and Eve could freely eat of the Tree of Life, but of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil they were told there would be consequences if they partook of it. (Genesis 2:9, 16 - 17). But that is only one view.

The noted 19th century Hebrew scholar, Fabre d'Olivet, prepared a translation of the Hebrew Old Testament unburdened by tradition or foreign mythology.  The following verses are based upon d’Olivet's 1815 translation. Compare them with the King James translation.

 And in the lower parts of the astral world, the Eternal produced all the systems of perception and growth including a system of lives and a system of experiencing good and evil (desire and aversion). And the Eternal told humanity, 'You may freely partake of every system here, but if you partake of the system of experiencing good and evil, you do you will become corrupted.' Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the God had made. And he said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. And God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now he will put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever, Therefore God sent him forth from the  garden of Eden, and he placed at the east of the garden cherubim, and a flaming sword  which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.                                  - Genesis 3

 We see here that the original Hebrew is not identical to the traditionally accepted versions and provides us with a completly different view.

Christianity teaches that, because of what Adam and Eve did, all humanity has been separated from God. 

But another view is that each of us learn right and wrong, good and  evil, from our parents and society and thus make decisions based on this conditioning. When we do things that violates this arbitrary code, we  experience guilt andshame.

When we try to atone, to pay for past sins - our present sense of guilt - we merely exacerbate the condition.  As long as we believe that there is a good and an evil,  we  will  continue  to eat of  the tree and fill our system with guilt.

And so it is with all the systems of men.  They are filled with judgement and they are based on the principle of good and evil, reward and punishment.  These systems only perpetuate the problems they are trying to solve.

 In contrast, however, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil is a system of experiencing good and evil, of placing values on things. 

The book of Genesis teaches that Adam and Eve ate of the fruit and began to feel shame. : "Then the Lord God said, 'Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know [experience] good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live [in shame] forever..." (Genesis 3:22). Adam and Eve were prevented from accessing the tree of life (verses 23 - 24).

All this begs another crucial question. How can man exist without judging things and evaluating them relatively?  The definition of right and wrong, as the Western world came to know it through the Ten Commandments, did not exist in the Garden of Eden.. During the development of Judeo-Christian religion, it was supposed that there were certain  universal moral laws, intended to regulate the conduct of men and women, that reflect the mind and character of God Himself.

These same philosopher's postulated a world which was at war with God.  A world which he was was trying to conquer. They defined God as "good" --all that is right. And the rebellious world was one of selfishness, hostility, hatred and lies, the opposite of all that God stands for.  And this fundamental differentiation between good and evil was seen to be embodied in the world around them.  The material world was defined as evil - . the opposite of good,

Try as they might to say otherwise, this scriptures are forced to lay ultimate responsibility for the existence of evil with God Himself. Thus we see as a philosophical contradiction within the teachings of Judeo-Christianity.