How Can a Holy God Ordain Evil to Exist? (Reformed Caucus )

BENEATH THE CROSS ^ | )3/07/2011 | James Pruch

[RnMomof7]

The secret counsel of the Lord belong to Him alone

Jer23:18 For who hath stood in the counsel of the LORD, and hath perceived and heard his word? who hath marked his word, and heard [it]?

[RnMomof7]

Ping for discussion.. This seems timely as we approach the Easter season and one more time get to contemplate the cross of Christ .... ordained of God but the sin of men

[1raider1]

I think it is written that Satan is god of this world.

[gop4lyf]

I thinks it is pretty simple. The absence of Good = Evil.

[JPG]

Darkness is the absence of light, cold the absence of heat and evil the absence of good. God ordained ‘good’, it is man shunning it that leaves evil. God has nothing to do with evil.

[mountainlion]

Oh man, that's way too long for my ADD. Evil was not ordained he was kicked out of heaven, remember?

[pnh102]

Funny, none of the anti-Christian types who invoke tragedies like these to "disprove" the existence of God ever seems to ask the question "Where was God?" whenever these things happen:

• Politicians enact gun bans which directly violate the teachings of Jesus in Luke 22:35-37.
• Criminals break the secular law, in violation of Romans 13, by obtaining guns illegally.

It is insulting for people to "call God to task" for only a subset of bad things. Perhaps people should simply accept the truth that in a world that has fallen to sin because of the bad things that man chose to do, that bad things will happen, but God allows us the freedom to try to protect ourselves as best as we can from them. We should be calling out the people who seek to prevent us from doing these things, instead of cursing God for the bad things that He told us would (either natural disasters over which man has no control, or man-caused atrocities) in this fallen world.

[Dutchboy88]

"There are hundreds of other passages that show this same theme. In Isaiah 45:7, God says, “I form light and create darkness, I make well-being and create calamity, I am the LORD who does all these things.” The word “calamity” in this verse is the Hebrew word rā‘ which is translated as “evil” in Genesis 2:9, speaking of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Most likely, it is to be used in a broad sense of general evil."

This is the true biblical perspective. Thank you for posting. Those who wish to advocate a weakened creator, one who wrestles with his own creation getting out of hand, one who is as surprised evil showed up as any of us mortals, do not realize they have remade the God of Israel in their own image.

[Dutchboy88]

Curiously, I thought this was “Reformed Caucus”. What are all these argumentative types doing here?

[circlecity]

God’s all about love and wants a people capable of love and loving him. We cannot love without the choice to hate. Love has to be totally voluntary of it’s not love. God could have prevented evil by creating us as robots without the ability to chose evil - but God doesn’t want robots, he wants a people who can love.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Against all odds, living organisms are spawned out of a universe of chaos.

Every instant of life is a gift.

It's not a question of God allowing evil to exist.

It's a question of how fortunate we are that He gives us any respite from it.

[RnMomof7]

Gods free will ?

Are you reformed?

[Free Vulcan]

God gave us free will. We chose rebellion. We paid the price with all the resultant consequences we see in history.

As far as why do bad things happen, read this passage from Revelation:

9:1 The fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star from the sky which had fallen to the earth. The key to the pit of the abyss was given to him.

9:2 He opened the pit of the abyss, and smoke went up out of the pit, like the smoke from a burning furnace. The sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke from the pit.

9:3 Then out of the smoke came forth locusts on the earth, and power was given to them, as the scorpions of the earth have power.

9:4 They were told that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree, but only those people who don’t have God’s seal on their foreheads.

9:5 They were given power not to kill them, but to torment them for five months. Their torment was like the torment of a scorpion, when it strikes a person.

9:6 In those days people will seek death, and will in no way find it. They will desire to die, and death will flee from them.

This is what the world would be like without God’s hand - demons feasting on our flesh. Any time none of that is going on, it’s a good day.

[RnMomof7]

I think it is written that Satan is god of this world.

We do not have 2 Gods waring with each other..that would be dualism ... We have ONE God who is also the God over Satan.. please read Job for the whole picture :)

[RnMomof7]

I thinks it is pretty simple. The absence of Good = Evil.

How can an omnipresent God be absent? He is even in Hell ( Psalm 139:8)

[RnMomof7]

Oh man, that's way too long for my ADD. Evil was not ordained he was kicked out of heaven, remember?

LOL I have ADD as well.. read it in small parts ...God is the God of Satan too :)

[RnMomof7]

Finally :) Thanks

[RnMomof7]

Yea ... protestants always like a discussion on this.. I am not a good gatekeeper :(

[RnMomof7]

This is reformed cacuses

Actually Revelation proves the sovereignty of God...

Take some time to read the article