Did God create evil?

[GoldenEagle]

God is not a passive observer in history. He is an active participant.

I agree. Reminds me of the following quote:

 

“The cross is the ultimate statement of God's involvement in the world on this side of heaven.” - Tullian Tchividjian

[Edwin]

GoldenEagle, you ask,

 

Did God create evil?

 

Well it would seem the He did create the "evil one" according to the verses below.
 
Eze 28:13 You were in Eden, the garden of God; Every precious stone was your covering: The sardius, topaz, and diamond, Beryl, onyx, and jasper, Sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold. The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes Was prepared for you on the day you were created.
 
Eze 28:14 "You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; You were on the holy mountain of God;  You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones. 

Eze 28:15 You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, Till iniquity was found in you.
 
Eze 28:16 "By the abundance of your trading You became filled with violence within, And you sinned; Therefore I cast you as a profane thing Out of the mountain of God; And I banished you, O covering cherub, From the midst of the fiery stones.
 
Eze 28:17 "Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor; I cast you to the ground, I laid you before kings, That they might gaze at you.
 
Eze 28:18 "You defiled your sanctuaries By the multitude of your iniquities, By the iniquity of your trading; Therefore I brought fire from your midst; It devoured you, And I turned you to ashes upon the earth In the sight of all who saw you. 

 

[bfloydo]

 

 

I believe evil is a necessary ingredient to understanding good. Without bad, good would not exist because there would be nothing to compare it too.

 

Just my opinion.

 

 

I thought the same thing...

Question posed to me: So if Satan didn't exist and sin is no longer a part of the world is evil still necessary? Does it make God any less good if there is no evil?

 

 The real question might be what do you consider evil....... many times have people supposed themselves to be standing on high morale ground, only to be determined by history as being deeply immoral and evil........ Maybe if we considered evil as a method God uses(or allows) so that those who desire his love above all else, will mature(grow up) and prove their Love and Faith by holding on to God and his Love, though they lose all else(including their flesh lives).

 Running around naked in public would be considered by most as an immoral action, how could this be immoral or evil if; Adam & Eve where not clothed till they consumed what they where forbidden to eat? Did not Isaiah walk naked, or other prophets do things that may have seemed evil or immoral(even killing some)?

 If evil is considered as only--- not following God's will(for you alone) --- then evil at all levels is not doing God's will, either willfully or thru ignorance, either way punishment(correction) should be given for improvement .... punishment is not evil, it is a means to correct or improve bad behavior.

 It should also be considered that death or suffering is not evil but, as we are told a way for us as Jesus followers to help bear the burdens of others and purify or mature in our Faith.

Edited November 14, 2013 by bfloydo

[truthseeker]

Good and evil has always existed in the Universe, but I think there was a perfect balance between the two forces. God kept it out of Eden, but it was the Serpent aka Satan who allowed evil to be brought into the world through temptation.

[Guest shiloh357]

Good and evil has always existed in the Universe, but I think there was a perfect balance between the two forces. God kept it out of Eden, but it was the Serpent aka Satan who allowed evil to be brought into the world through temptation.

Evil is not a force. 

[bfloydo]

Question: Is God's love selfless love for us or love for His glory? Or possibly both?

Edited November 16, 2013 by bfloydo

[One With Him]

God has always given us choice. To that end I don't think him creating light and dark was just physical. That is not to say that God is evil, on the contrary. God wants us to serve him because we want to not because we have to. We have a clear choice. Heaven or Hell. Light or dark. Eternity, smoking or non-smoking!

Edited November 19, 2013 by One With Him

[2404]

 

In reference to the three of the knowlege of good and evil, what you have is a  figure of speech known as a merism.  A merism expresses totality in terms of polarity.  When some says that they "searched high and low" they mean they searched everywhere.  The phrase "good and evil"  means "everything."  The tree of the knowledge of everything, both good and evil.

 

The tree wasn't evil. God can't create moral evil because God, is light and there is no darkness in him at all according to 1 John.  So God creates only that which is perfect.  Sin corrupted God's creation but there is no basis in the Bible for making God  the creator of evil is not necessary for knowing or understanding God's character, much less applying God's communicable attributes to our own lives.  If it were a necessary ingredient, God would have engineered moral evil and its consequences (death, pain, suffering disease) into HIs creation, but He didn't. 

Question then: Was sin intentional on God's part? In other words did God create Adam and Eve knowing He would need to send His Son to die for the sins of mankind?

 

William Branham has said that in God were attributes such as creator, love, to be a God the father, a savior, healer etc and so to express these attributes we have space, time and that which is in it.

 

Albert Einstein had said: As cold is the absence of heat and darkness is the absence of light so is evil the absence of God.

Although Einstein would not have considered himself a Christian he did say we live in an 'intelligent universe'. 

[Edwin]

Why was the devil created ?

What follows will I trust answer the question, and at the same time praise God from whom all blessings flow.
 
In respect of the devil. I was once asked,
 
"why was he created?"
 
My reply was,
 
I will now try to answer this as follows.
 
Ask your self the question, "What is it that we all of us want more than anything else?"
 
Answer:
 
To be loved for ourselves, for what we are, not for any material advantage that might be gained, is it any surprise that the Lord our God also wants to be loved for Himself, for His nature, His integrity, His personality, His dedication, and so on, but most of all His Love, and not only for the, "material advantages", He provides.
 
That is why it is written.
 
Mar 12:28 Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving[fn4] that He had answered them well, asked Him, "Which is the first commandment of all?"
Mar 12:29 Jesus answered him, "The first of all the commandments is: 'Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one.
Mar 12:30 'And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul,
with all your mind, and with all your strength.'[fn5] This is the first commandment.[fn6]
Mar 12:31 "And the second, like it, is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'[fn7] There is no other commandment greater than these."
 
Our Lord Jesus is here quoting Deuteronomy Chapter 6 verses 5, and 6.
 
Deu 6:4 "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one!
Deu 6:5 "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
 
Now how can we fallen creatures love Him as He wants to be loved, unless we have a demonstration, a sign, well Jesus said at verse 39 below,
 
Mat 12:38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, "Teacher, we want to see a sign from You."
Mat 12:39 But He answered and said to them, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.
Mat 12:40 "For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
 
The sign to which He referrers is of course His death by crucifixion.
 
When we know that our Creator God, deliberately caused Himself to be born into the human race, knowing full well in advance just what we would do to Him, and did not use one iota of His limitless power to extricate Himself from the excruciating agony of this horrible death, how can we not love Him for the person that He is.
 
But this sacrificial death would be meaningless, if there was no need for it, and for this reason there had to be an alternative to God, (The Devil), and we had to become sinners in order to be saved.
 
Perhaps this explanation will help to answer the question, "Why was the Devil created?".
 
The Lord bless you, and keep you safe.
 
Edwin.

 

 

         

[JohnMenthol]

Origen, On First Principles

 

"And those belonging to heretical sects reading this (statement), “A fire has been kindled in Mine anger;” 2861 and this, “I am a jealous God, visiting the iniquities of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation;”2862 and this, “I repent of having anointed Saul to be king;”2863 and this, “I am a God that maketh peace, and createth evil;”2864 and, among others, this, “There is not wickedness in the city which the Lord hath not done;”2865 and again this, “Evils came down from the Lord upon the gates of Jerusalem;”2866 and, “An evil spirit from the Lord plagued Saul;”2867 and countless other passages like these—they have not ventured to disbelieve these as the Scriptures of God; but believing them to be the (words) of the Demiurge, whom the Jews worship, they thought that as the Demiurge was an imperfect and unbenevolent God, the Saviour had come to announce a more perfect Deity, who, they say, is not the Demiurge, being of different opinions regarding Him..."

 

2861 Cf. Jer. xv. 14.
2862 Cf. Ex. xx. 5.
2863 Cf. 1 Sam. xv. 11.
2864 Cf. Isa. xlv. 7.
2865 Cf. Amos iii. 6.
2866 Cf. Mic. i. 12.
2867 Cf. 1 Sam. xvi. 14; xviii. 10.

 

from Ante-Nicene Fathers. ed. Philip Schaff

 

 

As to what it means when He says He creates evil... it means in terms of bringing judgment on wicked men it does imply evil because in the perpective of the group being judged it actually is calamity which has befallen them. So evil here isn't implying anything contrary to justice but actually the other aspect of justice, judgment, that none of us want to suffer.

Edited December 31, 2013 by JohnMenthol