A Review of Devil’s Advocate

            It is often thought within the Church that there is an unawareness in society of the nature of sin and the evil which is prevalent in this world.  Yet, as this course, and other influences have shown, oftentimes those outside the church have a grasp on this subject which is greater than those within the Christian community.  The movie Devil’s Advocate is such an example.  It is very open and honest in its view of sin and evil.  Rather than being just a subtle exploration of corruption, dishonesty, and perversion it pulls back the cover from these sins and exposes the source.  It does not simply stop at human vice, but it shows the results, the deep seated consequences, of sin and evil while at the same time exposing that this is not simply the “way people are” (though it is also not outside of who they are), but that there is a malevolent will, acting in such a way as to corrupt, pervert, and destroy humanity in a quest for its own promotion.  In the movie this evil was given a name and face.  John Milton, an ironic choice of name, lawyer, indeed head of an international firm, defender of the rich and corrupt, millionaire playboy, was in fact the Devil himself, not simply in hyperbolic terms, but actually the very one kicked out of heaven and now prince of hell, seducer of mankind.  This is a tale of seduction, corruption, and destruction. Thus, we find in this movie an exploration of sin, from its most seemingly innocent expressions to its most diabolical.  We also find a insightful exploration of the interaction between man and devil, free-will and determination, and our role in sin and how sin is imposed upon us.  In this brief paper I will seek to examine the movie’s understanding of sin and evil, later interacting and analyzing the conclusions which the movie arrives at.

            “There is a place (if ancient and prophetic fame in Heav’n err not) another world, the happy seat of some new Race call’d Man… Thither let us bend all our thoughts, to learn what creatures there inhabit, of what mould, or substance, how endu’d, and what their Power, and where there weakness, how attempted best, by force or subtlety.” [1]   So speaks Satan at the outset of his plan, just beginning to reach out to an uncorrupted humanity and seek to destroy this creation to spite God.  In Devil’s Advocate we see the result of not only the first act of corruption but the results of perfecting the understanding of how best to bring corruption and destruction.  In many movies, Satan is portrayed as an obviously malevolent force, fiercely wicked in appearance as well action, openly wielding the tools of evil, in an all too obvious way.  Yet here, the evil one is “small, a surprise, not seen coming”, he is one who “stays in the trenches” and interacts with humanity on its own level.  In a most powerful speech he states, “I’ve nurtured every sensation man has been inspired to have.  I cared about what he wanted and I never judged him.  Why?  Because I never rejected him.  In spite of all his imperfections, I’m a fan of man!”  He is not the powerful destroyer, he is the corruptor, not the evil army, but the wasting disease. 

            Yet, he admits his own limitations.  He is not able to force or coerce, but to lead and influence.  With this we come to the idea of personal culpability in sin.  Interestingly, at every point John Milton sought to lead Kevin Lomax into farther corruption he himself gives a way out of the dilemma.  He held out the candy, explained why one would not want it or could be understood in refusing it, and left it to the decision of Kevin whether or not to take it.  The sin was not just in the temptation, it was in the decision to overcome conscience and choose the sin for oneself.  Kevin was tempted by his own desires, goaded into accepting the sin by his own weakness, and ultimately could not place the blame on anyone other than himself for his continued descent into sinfulness and corruption. 

He began the movie by defending a child molester who he knew was guilty, thus he was brought into a situation to continue to perfect this art of defending the known guilty.  Fighting the wishes of those in his family, and his own soul, he delved deeper and deeper into his own corruption, his wife being destroyed by the effects of what he was doing, and finally leading him to the point where only his own death could save him.  Sin is attractive, sin is convincing, sin makes sense, and is promoted by the ideals of this world, yet sin is corrupting, corrosive, pervasive and destructive.  Kevin Lomax was taken to the top of a tall building and shown the world, the kingdom which was the Devil’s was offered to him, and, unlike the scene which inspired this, he accepted the kingdom, and bowed before the one who gave it to him.  At the end we are shown that the entire movie was a vision given at the moment of his first temptation given while defending the child molester.  In a scene reminiscent of The Last Temptation of Christ, though in my mind more powerful and convincing,  the vision of the results of temptations drove him to overcome the present temptation and by listening to his conscience, do the right thing in giving up on the trial.  Yet, at the very end we see John Milton in the guise of a reporter once again acting as the tempter, never pausing in discouragement at his loss, but rather like a good general, redirecting his forces and re-engaging his prey.  For the overcoming of sin is not a simple one time decision, but one which we are faced with at every point in our life.

Sin is not so much a one time action as it is an orientation, a direction toward destruction, and a breaking apart that which is solid.  It is a tree whose roots break apart stones, and water which forms channels and chasms in the earth. The act of sin breaks apart one’s conscience, eventually de-sensitizes it and kills it, so that there is nothing in the way of total destruction.  Cornelius Platinga in his book Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be:  A Breviary of Sin discusses the nature and effects of sin in a way more theological in its language than the movie, but equally poignant.  Indeed, the views of sin in this book and the movie are so similar that Platinga’s book could be used as a study guide, and more formal treatise, on the movie.  His basic thesis is that sin is the culpable breaking of Shalom, which he defines as “a rich state of affairs in which natural needs are satisfied and natural gifts fruitfully employed, a state of affairs that inspires joyful wonder as its Creator and Savior opens doors and welcomes the creatures in whom he delights.” [2]  

According to Platinga, corruption is essentially a “spiritual AIDS”, in which a small force comes in systematically destroying our natural moral defenses, and breaking us down so that we are no longer able to fight spiritual battles or to even live life as we should.  It starts small, but ever increases in its force and ferocity weakening us and those around us, so that we become shells of what we once were.  Kevin was corrupted by his desire for money, for his seeking to feed his pride and vanity, so he successfully fought his own conscience to help him achieve what he thought were his highest goals.  In doing so, however, he increasingly destroyed his very ability to stop himself, eventually running over anything in his way.  What is interesting in the movie, and the book, is how this is not simply the actions of an individual.  The rallying cry in our world today is that everyone is allowed to do what they want to as individuals, because it is no one else’s concern.  Yet, in this movie we see sin and corruption as being the breaking down of community.  Although Kevin is corrupted, the real effects of his decisions are seen in the lives of others.  He sought his own vanity rather than offering true community and honor to Mary Ann, his wife, who simply asked to be loved.  A decision to offer that love over his own promotion would have radically changed the story, yet he in his vision chose the way of sin.  So whether it is his wife, whose own conscience and spiritual awareness destroy her mind and body before she will be totally corrupted, or the ten-year old found in the trunk of the child molesters car, or any of the countless stories we were not shown, the sin and corruption of Lomax and the firm affected in adverse ways the community and world around them sometimes in a profound way.  For sin is pervasive, and like in the classic image of a butterfly flapping its wings in Hong Kong causing a Hurricane off the coast of Texas in descriptions of the Chaos theory, sin causes widespread influence far beyond its initial appearance. 

The evil and sin in this movie were shown to be real, active, and pressing.  The temptations do not come in obvious ways, suddenly asking us to murder or commit atrocities.  Rather, sin is a path, a journey down a road to death in which steps and choices are taken along the way.  Certainly there are those who are cheering the travelers, urging them onwards, providing refreshments.  Hitler did not start out as a madman, committing and ordering atrocities, yet his continued path down the road of sin and corruption, in the name of truth and light, eventually led to the deaths of over 45 million men, women, and children.  In the movie John Milton states that the 20^th century was his, because in it we saw the effects a man given totally over to sin can have on the world.  We are shown in history a story which is even scarier and more wicked than that shown in the movie.  Yet, there is hope.  As in the movie we are not pre-destined to our destruction.  We make the choice and can choose to overcome the temptations before us.   As Platinga states, “Corruption never wholly succeeds” and that “God wants shalom and will pay any price to get it back.” [3]   Grace finds its way into the worst circumstances and allows us to resist evil and fight for good.  Sometimes the resistance is our own death, but in the scope of eternity that is a small price to pay.  For ultimately it is better to serve in heaven than reign in hell, especially since the monarchy of hell is already established, and our efforts in that direction will lead to total death and misery.  For in heaven we find peace, and joy, and a full understanding of what it does mean to be human.  God is worthy to be worshipped, worthy to be served, and he calls us to him so that we might find ourselves.  The enemy is a liar, a lover of developing vanity in others, but really consumed with it himself in a way which is incomparable.  His lies are couched in light, and he has spent many millennia understanding the ways and weaknesses of mankind, and is a master general in technique and strategies for our corruption and destruction.  Yet, it is our decision to sin, to choose evil at every step and to fall into death.  While our nature may be corrupted in some ways, we are given through grace the strength to stand, and continue to stand, so that at the end of the days we might be found worthy and whole, rather than wizened, corrupted, and dead.

---

[1] John Milton, Paradise Lost, II 345-358.

[2] Cornelius Platinga, Jr. Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be:  A Breviary of Sin (Grand Rapids:  Eerdmans, 1995), 10.

[3] Platinga, 199.