Americans still reel from the implausible and traumatic murderous and suicidal actions of two high school students in Littleton, Colorado.

Of course, child and youth crime and violence have been mounting for years. But society paid little attention. Perhaps now we shall.

Most everybody has taken a stab at answering the question: "Why?"

The usual political, psychoanalytical, sociological answers have been run by. I do not discount the value of some of these. Yet a deeper problem exists that none of these answers can reach.

This horror happened in the temple of our contemporary political and cultural deity: education. Every political leader keeps promising that education is omniscient and omnipotent. "If we only improve the schools, problems of our children, society and future will be solved."

Nobody believes in education more than I. A large part of my life I spent going to school. But to say that it is valuable does not mean that education is "the power of God unto salvation." For mankind's present condition results not from primordial error or ignorance that knowledge can right. To the contrary, it was "through wisdom that the world did not know God."

Government and law are also important. But the most delusional and counterproductive belief we could adopt is that a new law or governmental program will eliminate the problem. As with education, the malady lies deeper than laws or government can reach. For "by the works of the law nobody is made righteous."

Well, "to whom shall we go?" If we have eyes to see, Littleton is driving us back to Scripture. We need to hear again the Biblical warning about the reality, threat and power of evil. The devil indeed is a "roaring lion who walks around seeking whom he may devour." Youths are not exempt. The only power that conquers is the Christ who when His gospel confronted evil, Satan fell "like lightning from heaven."

And Littleton is driving us back to Biblical ethics. As a nation, we must repent of our embracing amorality and do-it-yourself moral codes. We must take Biblical ethics off the shelf, dust them off, study them, practice them. And we must teach them to our children.

Adolescents must learn to "practice hospitality with one another." So that ostracism, ridicule, fun poking, elitism do not create hurt, resentment, anger and hate that fosters violence. And Christian youths must be taught to make hospitality their ministry at school.

We must renounce the "get even" philosophy of the culture. We must practice and teach children forgiveness, turning the other cheek, returning good for evil, loving enemies and praying for persecutors. We must teach children that this Jesus ethic, not bullets and pipe bombs, is the way to resolve controversy.

We must see that the problems we face are of the heart. For it is "out of the heart that evil thoughts and murders proceed."

So if out of the tragedy of Littleton, this nation returns to acknowledge the truth of Scripture, then good can triumph over evil.

And if we believers renew our faith in the gospel as mankind's only answer, then light can shine out of darkness.