Absolute Good or Evil?

[Trusting Jesus]

Good response, Joe.

In John chapter 8 there is an incident where the Pharisees (the religious leaders of the day) were trying to trap Jesus. The brought a woman to Him who they caught in adultry. Keep in mind that Jewish law said that in cases like this the man and the woman both were to be stoned to death. But the Pharisees only brought the woman before Jesus accusing her and wanting to kill her. Not unlike the Priest in your own life. Jesus told them that whichever of them was without sin could cast the first stone at the woman. They all saw the sin in their own life and left without harming her.

"When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more. Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." John 8:10-12

You sin, the Pharisees (the Priests) were full of the darkness of sin. Jesus is the Light of the World.

The first thing God did when He created the universe was to make light.

"And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day." Genesis 1:2-5

Jesus is the Light of the World. He is absolute good.

<>< ><>

Nathele

[Blien]

You know spiritual darknes is upon the face of the Earth but no where else, so I can't belive that darkness has consumed the rest of the universe or even heaven in the spiritual world because, who is Satan this created being that he is to challnge or be just as strong as God???

Jesus came as the light to the WORLD not all of the heavens and the Earth and all creation thereof.. some of creation which has not even been infected with sin. Did Adam's decision in the garden also bring sin and cursing to Mars, Jupiter, Saturn?? Therefore, based on these things its impossible to call Satan absolute evil. No, he is abomination of desolation but like a mere black dot on a piece of perfect white paper.

The Most High God is greater than even the strongest of these and from eternity to eternity HE IS GOD. Who is like him? Who can you compare HIM to? There is no absolute evil. Rebellion and Absolute evil are not the same thing.

[Ovedya]

You know spiritual darknes is upon the face of the Earth but no where else, so I can't belive that darkness has consumed the rest of the universe or even heaven in the spiritual world because, who is Satan this created being that he is to challnge or be just as strong as God???

Jesus came as the light to the WORLD not all of the heavens and the Earth and all creation thereof.. some of creation which has not even been infected with sin. Did Adam's decision in the garden also bring sin and cursing to Mars, Jupiter, Saturn?? Therefore, based on these things its impossible to call Satan absolute evil. No, he is abomination of desolation but like a mere black dot on a piece of perfect white paper.

The Most High God is greater than even the strongest of these and from eternity to eternity HE IS GOD. Who is like him? Who can you compare HIM to? There is no absolute evil. Rebellion and Absolute evil are not the same thing.

I tend to disagree with that, because evil in and of itself is absolute. So if Satan is the personification of evil, then logically he would be absolutely evil.

[Blien]

You know what I take back everything I said, my apologizes. I'm watching this show called Origins of Creation where Evolutionists and Creationists debate each other and its amazing. I say what I say now because of

Psalm 102:25-26

"they will all grow old like a garment"

check out the video its amazing!

[Agape_CTL]

I am reading everyone's responses. I have a question..... I thought the universe was a balance of light and dark, positive and negative, etc. So, my brain is not wrapping around this "absolute" evil thing. If there is to be a balance, then how can their be absolute anything - either good or evil?????

I know the bible tells us that God is absolute good. There is no darkness or negative in God. In God there is no balance of good and evil. It is not easy to think about because nothing in the world is like that. I can not imagine what it was like for Jesus in this world.

Think about the word purity. Define it, we define it by what it is not. Purity is not hate, anger, it is not defiled. The list can go on. (The list of what purity is, is a short one; love, goodness.) Is there balance in something that is pure? What is pure in this world?

Some people do good things, we all have done some bad things. Some days we feel we are just living our lives and that is all we think we are doing. The bible tells us a lot more is happening. Every thought everyone has matters, each one is a big moment of choice for us. Balance is not what the bible tell us we can obtain. With the Holy Spirit we can get back to God created all the world and saw that it was good. Not balanced, just good. That is what the bible tells us we can obtain with God.

The bible says the sinners heart is evil. All that is saying is a sinners heart dosen't have God in it. Without God all that is left is evil. But Jesus said that even an evil person knows how to give good gifts to their children. So the bible says evil people can do good things. But those good things won't last forever. If they are not done with a heart that God desires.

(Edited to add the words "with God" to the end of my 3rd paragraph.)

Edited December 19, 2007 by Agape_CTL

[the_interactionist]

I am reading everyone's responses. I have a question..... I thought the universe was a balance of light and dark, positive and negative, etc. So, my brain is not wrapping around this "absolute" evil thing. If there is to be a balance, then how can their be absolute anything - either good or evil?????

I know the bible tells us that God is absolute good. There is no darkness or negative in God. In God there is no balance of good and evil. It is not easy to think about because nothing in the world is like that. I can not imagine what it was like for Jesus in this world.

Think about the word purity. Define it, we define it by what it is not. Purity is not hate, anger, it is not defiled. The list can go on. (The list of what purity is, is a short one; love, goodness.) Is there balance in something that is pure? What is pure in this world?

Some people do good things, we all have done some bad things. Some days we feel we are just living our lives and that is all we think we are doing. The bible tells us a lot more is happening. Every thought everyone has matters, each one is a big moment of choice for us. Balance is not what the bible tell us we can obtain. With the Holy Spirit we can get back to God created all the world and saw that it was good. Not balanced, just good. That is what the bible tells us we can obtain with God.

The bible says the sinners heart is evil. All that is saying is a sinners heart dosen't have God in it. Without God all that is left is evil. But Jesus said that even an evil person knows how to give good gifts to their children. So the bible says evil people can do good things. But those good things won't last forever. If they are not done with a heart that God desires.

(Edited to add the words "with God" to the end of my 3rd paragraph.)

The only "absolute" evil is Satan. It's not that a man's heart is absolute evil when Jesus doesn't reside there, but there does exist a potential (balance) for good or evil within a our hearts. It's man's choice. It all goes back to the free-will defense of "If God is all-knowing, all-powerful, and all-good, why is there evil in the world?" Although God may not be in man's heart, if he or she hasn't accepted Him, and therein evil resides, it doesn't mean man's heart is absolute evil. It has the potential for absolute good as well. It's not so cut and dry as it is with God and Satan. They are the balance of good and evil in the universe; the balance of good and evil in man's heart is according to the choices he makes.

I would have to conclude, certainly, absolute good and absolute evil exist, but that doesn't mean man (mankind) is necessarily either one, but rather has the potential for either one, based on the choices he or she makes.

[Matthitjah]

Grace to you,

It's not so cut and dry as it is with God and Satan. They are the balance of good and evil in the universe;

This is a new age lie. The yin and the yang.

God has control over satan and limits his activity. They are not equal and there is no balance, at any moment God can and will enter the picture, ending forever the reign of satan.

The only thing keeping Him from doing this currently is His Longsuffering Mercy and Loving Kindness towards you, desiring that you not perish.

Peace,

Dave

[Gentledove]

I am reading everyone's responses. I have a question..... I thought the universe was a balance of light and dark, positive and negative, etc. So, my brain is not wrapping around this "absolute" evil thing. If there is to be a balance, then how can their be absolute anything - either good or evil?????

I know the bible tells us that God is absolute good. There is no darkness or negative in God. In God there is no balance of good and evil. It is not easy to think about because nothing in the world is like that. I can not imagine what it was like for Jesus in this world.

Think about the word purity. Define it, we define it by what it is not. Purity is not hate, anger, it is not defiled. The list can go on. (The list of what purity is, is a short one; love, goodness.) Is there balance in something that is pure? What is pure in this world?

Some people do good things, we all have done some bad things. Some days we feel we are just living our lives and that is all we think we are doing. The bible tells us a lot more is happening. Every thought everyone has matters, each one is a big moment of choice for us. Balance is not what the bible tell us we can obtain. With the Holy Spirit we can get back to God created all the world and saw that it was good. Not balanced, just good. That is what the bible tells us we can obtain with God.

The bible says the sinners heart is evil. All that is saying is a sinners heart dosen't have God in it. Without God all that is left is evil. But Jesus said that even an evil person knows how to give good gifts to their children. So the bible says evil people can do good things. But those good things won't last forever. If they are not done with a heart that God desires.

(Edited to add the words "with God" to the end of my 3rd paragraph.)

The point is we do not always know what is good or bad, we have to rely on what God says is good, that's what faith is.

[the_interactionist]

Grace to you,

It's not so cut and dry as it is with God and Satan. They are the balance of good and evil in the universe;

This is a new age lie. The yin and the yang.

God has control over satan and limits his activity. They are not equal and there is no balance, at any moment God can and will enter the picture, ending forever the reign of satan.

The only thing keeping Him from doing this currently is His Longsuffering Mercy and Loving Kindness towards you, desiring that you not perish.

Peace,

Dave

I never said they were equal. That's to convey that they have equal power. I never said they have equal power. Rather what I said is that one is absolute evil, the other, absolute good - NOT equal in power. There is a difference. I think you're misunderstanding the statement. I agree that God could "enter the picture" at any minute and end the reign of evil in the world; however, as for the present time, there remains a balance of good and evil in the universe because God has not intervened thus far. This has nothing to do with New Age ideas or Yin and Yang. Besides, Yin and Yang goes farther back than Christian thought and ideology and can't be accurately considered New Age.

But that's irrelevant here. Again, I never said they were equal, rather they are opposites. The word absolute doesn't even mean the same thing as equal. I don't really see where you got that idea from

[Matthitjah]

Grace to you,

However, you did say that they are a "balance". That there is a balance between Good and Evil in the universe. I beg to differ, the Good has indeed won and is only waiting to make full His Victory. There is no Balance, the Good far outweighs the evil, it is only our limited human perspective that is flawed.

The yin and the yang do not go back farther than God Himself, Judeo/Christian thought springs forth from the well head that is God. God prexisted human thought.

By the way, opposites would connotate a flip of the coin with both sides being equal. This is not the case with God and satan. satan is a cheap fallen imitation of God, or at least that is his purpose. He is not a flip of the coin, he is beneath the coin itself and dreadfully deceitful to even make mention that he is the balance.

Peace,

Dave