Posted on 09/24/2022 9:27:48 PM PDT by OneVike
The debate about who created evil is an important one, since atheists and skeptics use the existence of evil in their arguments against theism. To begin with, Christians are told we must believe what the Bible tells us. Even a popular children's song has in its lyrics these words,
“Jesus Loves Me this I know, for the Bible tells me so"
If it is incumbent upon Christians to believe what the Bible tells us, then we can start with the first verse of the Bible that says,
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
(Genesis 1:1)
So, if God created everything, and if evil is in the world, doesn't it follow that God created evil? After all, in his Gospel, the most beloved Disciple tells us,
“All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.”Thus God made everything through Christ. However, are there any Scriptures that specifically say God is the author of evil? Well, the closest we can get is,
(John 1:3)
“I make peace and create calamity”Then we read what the Prophet Amos wrote,
(Isaiah 45:7)
“If there is calamity in a city, will not the LORD have done it?"Ok, so can we then point to any passages that might elude to God condoning evil? Probably the best examples would be the time Joseph confronted his brothers who sold him into slavery,
(Amos 3:6)
“you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good"Then in Exodus we read that God sent Moses to Pharaoh with this message, Now, to make an honest Scriptural argument for my stance on this issue, I had to first share with you the verses used by those who argue that Scriptures prove God is the author of evil. Those who come from the persuasion that God has foreordained the entire course of events as Calvinists do, then reason and logic would suggest that God must be the author of evil. However, Calvinists who teach that God is the author of evil would be wise to pay attention to the following quote from (John Calvin) himself:
(Genesis 50:20)
“It is helpful, I think, to understand that sin is not itself a thing created. Sin is neither substance, being, spirit, nor matter. So it is technically not proper to think of sin as something that was created. Sin is simply a want of moral perfection in a fallen creature. Fallen creatures themselves bear full responsibility for their sin. And all evil in the universe emanates from the sins of fallen creatures.” Calvin goes on to state unequivocally that, “God's role with regard to evil is never as its author. He simply permits evil agents to work, then overrules evil for His own wise and holy ends. Ultimately He is able to make all things--including all the fruits of all the evil of all time--work together for a greater good.”
[Institutes, 3:23:8]
Mind you, the biggest defenders among Christians who believe God created evil are those who adhere to the teachings of John Calvin. Well it seems to me that there is a bit of a schism in the ranks of the Calvinist movement.
Two verses used to defend the belief that God created evil are (Isaiah 45:7) and (Amos 3:6). In both instances the word evil, not calamity, is used in 12 of the 21 Bible translations I have. It is important to note that all but one of the translations using the word evil were published before 1948. This is important, because in 1948 the (Dead Sea Scrolls) were discovered by a shepherd boy in the caves of Qumran in 1948. After exhaustive and painstaking investigation,it was learned that the Scrolls revealed that the proper translation for these verses would actually be disaster or calamity, not evil.
Now some may argue that a calamity is an evil, because it causes pain and misery and so they will still argue that God is the creator of evil. However, when speaking of evil in regards to the nature of sin, it should be observed that there are three kinds of
(Excerpt) Read more at trfmf.com …
Humans create evil. God gave them free will to do so.
So the fact that Satan started committing evil before man was even created, doesn’t give you pause on that belief?
Doesn’t the Tree of Knowledge of Good snd Evil existing in the Garden of Eden predate man? I mean..if we’re getting literal, here.
Editor!!
Lmao!
Evil is not a thing in and of itself, but the absence of righteousness and, ultimately, (derivative) holiness which created being had in their original state.
The resolution of sin and therefore evil is to be conformed to the likeness of Christ by having holiness imputed to you on account of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
In our mortal lives though, we still have what has been called the body of death and it is still trying to get us to obey it rather than us obey the Holy Spirit— and I’m convinced that it will be a nice little moral / religious body of death if that’s what it takes to get us to obey it (I associate that with the works of wood, hay and stubble that are consumed in judgment vs those that do not perish which must come from actual obedience to the Holy Spirit).
When saints are perfected in resurrection then the body of death will be removed and the only nature that we will have is in accordance to the new birth.
Otherwise, the tree our parents ate from was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, not just evil. In becoming merely moral beings they fell from the created derivative holiness they had possessed. They did not become as bad as bad can be instantly but merely capable of being bad.
Lacking holiness is mankind’s defect, what separates us from the Lord.
And having His Holiness imputed to us, being sealed by it, resolves the fall, ultimately in fact and not just positionally ... but even then it will remain His righteousness.
I believe these views are sustained by Scripture, including the truth that no one will be condemned because of what will be found in the books recording everything they did but only because their names are not found in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
Democrats?
Good is not the source of evil.
Good can not be the source of evil.
somebody who doesn’t have the option to be evil, can’t be good
without the possibility of being evil, there can be no “good”
good, requires the possibility of evil
Democrats.
They ruin everything they touch.
Pretty much sums it up.
God creates and provides life.
Evil is “Live” spelled backwards.
Evil is “Anti-Life.”
That’s about as simple as it gets.
(For the wise guys, I know that God is dog spelled backwards!)
🙏🙏🙏
Democrats-
Pro-baby killing
Pro drug use
Anti-religion
Anti- family
Anti- freedom
What are the characteristics of evil again?
And Pro- Hatred
Pro- crime
Not editor.
But Romans 3:7 seems to be striving too justification.
Seeming that God is Truth, and the glory that abounds, I’m thinking He really does not need any body “making Him look good”.
Satan created Evil as he become prideful in himself and challenged God in his role as Creator thus was kicked out of Heaven with a 1/3 of his following Angels ...
Evil comes about when the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is not foremost in our minds, driving everything we do.
Evil is the absence of God in thought, deed and desire.
Perhaps it’s not so much a thing in and of itself, but a result of absence of God in one form or another?
I have often thought of human nature as a horse with a saddle on it. If God is not in the saddle, Satan is.
Satan’s mind drifted away from the thoughts of God, and focused on himself. The father of lies was born in that instant.
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