I’ll respond more later, but Calvinism leads to assurance, real assurance.
Below is a little portion of a paper on evil. There is much more than this that can be said, but it gets you started. Once I understood sovereignty and Calvinism, evil was much less troubling to me than it was when I held to free will.
Last thing, I too swore I would never change my mind. I learned that if God wants to teach me something, I’m learning it : )
Clarifying the issue
There are two errors that must be avoided concerning the problem of evil. The first error would be to believe that God is the source of evil. This terrible error would blame God for evil and hold that evil was produced by God out of His own nature. The second error would be to believe that evil occurred apart from God’s sovereign plan. This position would hold that evil entered the universe because God was helpless to prevent it, and thus it overthrew the purposes of God. The position the Scriptures seem to teach is that mankind is to be blamed for and is the source of evil, while nonetheless the entrance of evil into the universe was ordained by God as part of God’s plan from the beginning. God could have prevented evil from entering into the universe had He desired to, but chose not to prevent it for wise and holy reasons.
Let’s probe this issue a little further. God is not the author of evil because He created the universe good. In its original state, there was nothing evil or sinful in the universe. Evil first entered God’s creation as a result of the disobedience of the angels who rebelled. Evil then entered the physical universe and human race as a result of mankind’s sin in Adam. God is not the source of evil or sin; evil is a result of the disobedience of God’s creatures. For these reasons, God cannot be blamed for the existence of evil—all responsibility for the presence of sin and evil in the human race falls upon mankind. All responsibility for the presence of evil in the spiritual realm falls upon the angels who rebelled.
But in order to have the full picture, we cannot stop here and conclude that God was powerless to prevent evil. Since God is sovereign and He “works out everything in conformity with the counsel of His will” (Ephesians 1:11), none of His purposes can be thwarted (Job 42:2). Therefore we must conclude that evil did not occur apart from the purpose and plan of God. The ultimate reason that evil occurred is because God planned it, not because His creatures are able to overthrow His plans. These two truths we must hold together even if we cannot fully understand how they fit: man is responsible, yet God is absolutely sovereign and controls all things.
Last of all it is necessary to understand that evil is not permanent. It was defeated at the cross and will be quarantined in hell for eternity at the final judgement. Then God will create a new heavens and new earth where only righteousness and purity will dwell forever.
Isaiah 45:7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.
re: “I’ll respond more later,. . .”
There is no need to .45 Long Colt. I will not ever see the Calvinist point of view. It makes no logical sense to me. I’ve heard the Calvinist response for responsibility for evil, but it doesn’t logically follow, at least to me. If God is totally sovereign, in the Calvinist view, then every act, whether good or bad, it was ordained by God first.
If there is no ability to act on one’s own volition, there is no way to “rebel” against God, either by angels or man, because every thought, every act, every single thing that happens was ordained by God (in the Calvinist view).
Therefore, God is the source of evil. I don’t believe that, but I see no other way around it and keep the Calvinist view of sovereignty.