Posted on 05/22/2024 7:07:39 PM PDT by Roman_War_Criminal
Here’s what RC Sproul had to say about it.
“The Mystery of Evil”
https://members.adoringgod.org/articles-and-downloads/topics/evil/the-mystery-of-evil-by-rc-sproul/
That all depends on what one defines what the noun, “evil”, is.
God created free will.
People create evil as an exercise of that free will
If he is omnipotent, then yes. If not, then no, which might mean that there is someone above/beyond him that is? If going down that path, I’ve always wondered where would it end.
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The craziest thing of reform theology is that god created evil and it is a slander against god.
He created free will. Free will has the possibility of wrong choices inherent. That is with the chooser not the Creator. There were two paths. It is not Gods preference, fault or choice that we err.
God says:
Isiah 45:7 KJV
I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.
Isaiah 45:7 states this in the KJV:
I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things.
Strong’s Concordance:
ra’: adversity
Original Word: רַע
Part of Speech: Adjective; noun masculine; noun feminine
Transliteration: ra’
Phonetic Spelling: (rah)
Definition: bad, evil
evil, distress, adversity
https://biblehub.com/hebrew/7451.htm
FWIW, I am not at all suggesting that He did create evil.
Free will, evil, and our ability to choose our own destiny opens up many questions.
No- He simply created the conditions that would allow evil-
We show our love by obeying Him- the unsaved choose to reject His love. without the possibility of choosing, we woudl be nothing but robots incapable of choosing good or evil- Free will is the only way someone can prove love-
Satan and those that followed him are the originators of evil- but the possibility for evil was always present- Satan and his followers who were cast from heaven proved that they chose evil over God
Yep
God did not create evil itself. It was a byproduct of the creation of good.
If you are in a darkened room, you do not know it is a darkened room if that is all you ever knew. It only becomes a darkened room when you turn on a light, because the darkness is now defined as the absence of light.
The Word Ra likely simply meant calamity, or disaster- not evil itself- while it can mean evil- in this verse it need not be the definition- because we know God controls weather and can and does create chaos, calamity etc for his own will, so there is no reason to htink that hte word RA must be translated evil in that translation- other translations have it as disaster, calamity, etc
I don’t disagree with you.
If evil didn’t exist, Establishments would have nowhere to hang their hats.
Henry Morris in his Study Bible notes it is not the moral kind. He allows free will which culminated in evil. He also created the angels, many of which rebelled and tempted Eve. The meaning there is not one of creation, but interference, otherwise God is nothing more than evil.
Deut. 29:29: The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.
[[It is not Gods preference, fault or choice that we err.]]
Great way to put it-
[[It is not Gods preference, fault or choice that we err.]]
= = =
But we will err (sin), and God knew all about that from the start.
That is why Jesus died for all my errs. All of them. Thank you Jesus.
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