***I am distinguishing between God requiring evil in order to fulfill His plan as He wants it, and God requiring evil because He is lacking of something. I think the latter was being asserted as a Reformed belief and so I objected to it.***
I don’t think that either of us considered God to be lacking of anything. We simply state that the Reformed God requires evil and that is what we reject. God using evil is not Christian.
***The ultimate test is always scripture of course. If teachings are not consistent with scripture, as so many from the Magisterium are not, then we can know they are wrong.***
Concentrating on certain verses and ignoring others always leads to differing theologies.
As well, different people with different mindsets can look at the same verse and come up with different interpretations.
***Calvin and Luther were obviously very close in the great majority of their interpretations. They had in common a desire to follow the scriptures, so they were led in the same direction.***
Calvin and Luther developed incompatible theologies from each other. Not the same direction at all.
Then the Bible isn't Christian either :) For example:
Gen 50:15-20 : 15 When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, "What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him?" 16 So they sent word to Joseph, saying, "Your father left these instructions before he died: 17'This is what you are to say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.' Now please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father." When their message came to him, Joseph wept. 18 His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. "We are your slaves," they said. 19 But Joseph said to them, "Don't be afraid. Am I in the place of God? 20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.
Matt 10:34-36 : 34 "Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to turn "'a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law— 36 a man's enemies will be the members of his own household.'
Matt 13:24-30 : 24 Jesus told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. 26 When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared. 27 "The owner's servants came to him and said, 'Sir, didn't you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?' 28 "'An enemy did this,' he replied. "The servants asked him, 'Do you want us to go and pull them up?' 29 "'No,' he answered, 'because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.'"
Matt 13:36-43 : 36 Then he left the crowd and went into the house. His disciples came to him and said, "Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field." 37 He answered, "The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, 39 and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. 40 "As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. 42 They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.
There are lots of examples. The Bible is clear that God uses the evil of others to accomplish His purposes. Look to the entire story of the crucifixion or prophecy in general. Was that all by accident? I don't think so.