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It was a few years ago when I discovered a Scripture that blew my fragile little mind. Here it is...
"I form the light, and create darkness; I make peace [good], and create evil: I the Lord do all these things" (Isa. 45:7).
Wha? Huh? Zuh?
I had my eyes checked and studied it out a bit. I am now of the opinion that God created evil for a purpose, and that everyone and everything in the universe is playing the part that God gave them.
Wondering what everyone's position is on the purpose and origin of evil?
Here's some more in the same vein, lest I be accused of picking 1 scripture that is (seemingly) at odds with the rest of the Bible:
"Out of the mouth of the most High proceedeth not evil and good?" (Lam 3:38).
" ... an experience of evil hath God given to the sons of man to humble him thereby" (Ecc. 1:13).
" ... I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives..." (II Sam. 12:11).
"That which is molded will not protest to the molder, 'Why do you make me thus?' Or has not the potter the right over the clay, out of the same kneading to make one vessel, indeed, for honor, yet, one for dishonor?" (Rom. 9:19-25).
" ... I have created the waster to destroy." (Isa. 54:16).
"The LORD hath made all things for Himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil." (Prov. 16:4).
" ... I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction." (Jer. 4:6).
" ... Hear, O earth: behold, I will bring evil upon this people ... " (Jer. 6:19).
"And he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets." " ... And He [God] said, ... go forth, and do so." (I Kg. 22:22).
"He [God] turned their heart to hate his people ... " (Psa. 105:25).
" ... Thus said the Lord; Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you ... " (Jer. 18:11).
" ... For God locks up all together in stubbornness, that He should be merciful to all." (Rom. 11:32).
"O LORD, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear?" (Isa. 63:17).
" ... so shall the Lord bring upon you all evil things, until He have destroyed you from off this good land ... " (Josh. 23:15).
" ... shall there be evil in a city, and the Lord has not done it?" (Am. 3:6).
"For whom the Lord is loving He is disciplining, Yet He is scourging ever son to whom He is assenting" (Heb. 12:5).
"By His spirit He hath garnished the heavens; His hand hath formed the Crooked serpent" (Job 26:14).
"And the great dragon was cast out, the Ancient serpent called Adversary and Satan ... " (Rev. 12:9).
"Yet he who is doing sin is of the Adversary, for from the beginning is the Adversary sinning." (I Jn 3:8).
"What? shall we receive good at the hand of God and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips." (Job 2:10, see 42:7).
"Thus saith the Lord of hosts ... go and smite Amalek ... destroy ... slay both man and woman, infant and suckling ... " (I Sam. 15:2-3).
" ... God will be sending them an operation of deception for them to believe the falsehood ... " (II The. 2:11-12).
I think that Scripture proves that God not only created evil, but that He, Himself, is responsible for it.
This sounds like what that Smith dude says...someone else mentioned him here a while ago and I brought up a thread about him too...
Yes, I believe God must have created evil, since God created everything. Even if God hadn't created evil, which would be an inconsistency then in the Bible (not the first, to be sure), if He was, say, surprised to find evil lurking behind the gooseberry bush, He could have stamped it out then, if it wasn't His. I mean finding an intruder in your house makes one pretty ticked off...no? So, yes. God must have created evil; from a Biblical POV, it is stated outright that God created evil; and yep, there must be a purpose.
Good work Jeffncandace. I've often thrown this at Christians that insist that god hates evil and that all evil things are our fault or the fault of satan.
Good work Jeffncandace. I've often thrown this at Christians that insist that god hates evil and that all evil things are our fault or the fault of satan.
Thanks! I should clarify that I don't think we are to act evilly...the Bible is clear we are to love one another. In other words, we aren't to embrace evil, but the fact remains that God created it for a purpose! I think the purpose is this...we learn about things by learning opposites. Cold from hot, bitter from sweet, short from tall...good from evil.
Thanks! I should clarify that I don't think we are to act evilly...the Bible is clear we are to love one another. In other words, we aren't to embrace evil, but the fact remains that God created it for a purpose! I think the purpose is this...we learn about things by learning opposites. Cold from hot, bitter from sweet, short from tall...good from evil.
This resonates in me, for sure. Life would obviously be pretty bland if it were just "good" with nothing bad to compare it to. If life in paradise were fabulously fulfilling, why would Eve have wanted more and been tempted when the snake told her that if she ate it, she could have more? (That her eyes would be opened.) If paradise were enough, she wouldn't want or need her eyes opened any further.
I'm thinking of Star Wars (weird things happen when your house is already clean, your kids are with Gramma and you don't have to start another freelance project yet). Anakin had to turn bad before he could fulfill the prophecy that he would actually save the universe. As just Anakin and not Darth Vader, he would have been happy and satisfied in his life with Padme and they'd have their babies, who would have probably grown up to be sheister politicians like their parents and yadda yadda. And Anakin would not have bothered trying to save the universe b/c as far as he was concerned, it would already be just ducky. It took turning evil for Darth to be in a position close to the most evil being in the series, the Emperor...which was required in order for him to kill the Emperor, and fulfill the prophecy.
And the whole Luke and Leia and Han thingie...would there have been a movie without the bad? There would have been nothing to fight for. For that matter, there would have been nothing to fight against. And they would not have been all ecstatic in the very end when they had overcome something really difficult. They would never have appreciated the goodness if they hadn't had to defend it.
I think that Scripture proves that God not only created evil, but that He, Himself, is responsible for it.
God's quite a rascal isn't he? On a thread I started about demons the posts said that satan got a little out of control in heaven and before you know it he'd convinced a third of the angels to bail out on God and start their own little empire with satan, formerly Lucifer, as their new boss. The quotes listed here seem to suggest that maybe God was in on the plot as well. I don't believe that God or satan exist anyway but it could make some interesting discussions.
I'm out for the weekend everyone! Hope this thread creates some interesting discussion.
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Here it is...
On a thread I started about demons the posts said that satan got a little out of control in heaven and before you know it he'd convinced a third of the angels to bail out on God and start their own little empire with satan, formerly Lucifer, as their new boss. The quotes listed here seem to suggest that maybe God was in on the plot as well. I don't believe that God or satan exist anyway but it could make some interesting discussions.
