27 November 2023
27 November 2023
Did God Create Evil ?
So let us consider, did God create evil? Surely God is good. How can He create evil? Certainly, evil is against His nature and it’s not something that He created. We are confident of that fact. When you look at Genesis chapter one, He created all things and He said, all things are good. So where does evil come from then?
Essentially, evil is the lack of goodness. Evil is anti goodness. Evil is not something that God created. Think of it this way. Think of it as cold and heat. Cold is the lack of heat. Cold in itself is not something that exists and it’s a lack of heat.
Darkness is not something that exists in itself. But it is the lack of light. Likewise, also life and death. Death in itself is not something that is tangible, but it is the lack of life. And therefore, for us, we can say evil is not something that exists in itself, but is a lack of goodness, the separation from God. And that is essentially what sin is; sin is being separated from God.
Darkness is not something that exists in itself. But it is the lack of light. Likewise, also life and death. Death in itself is not something that is tangible, but it is the lack of life. And therefore, for us, we can say evil is not something that exists in itself, but is a lack of goodness, the separation from God. And that is essentially what sin is; sin is being separated from God.
Why Does God Allow for Bad Things to Happen?
So now let us consider that we established that God did not create evil, and evil in itself doesn’t exist, but it’s a lack of something good. Now let us address the all important question. If God is all good and all powerful, why does He allow for bad things to happen or why does He allow for evil to happen.
Essentially, the first thing we need to establish is that there is a difference between God’s permission and God’s intention. God’s intention is for everything to be good. However, He does permit certain things to happen. Why is that? Essentially, this problem of evil is actually a very important philosophical problem that goes back hundreds of years, and the best answer that can be put forward by anyone of any faith or non-faith, even, is that the answer of free will is the one that ticks more boxes than most. God gave humanity free will and with free will comes responsibility and comes consequences.
Humanity has a choice to do good or to do evil, and God gave humanity this free will without limit. However, He does intervene in certain circumstances, because if He didn’t, humans would’ve destroyed themselves long ago.
"Let us not grow weary of doing good "
Galatians 6:9
Then, the question remains, what is the difference then between God’s intention and God’s permission? So, His permission is that He lets humanity work within the framework of the free will that He has given humanity. Someone may ask and say, why can’t He limit humanity to have limited free will?
Well, the answer is that’s not free will anymore, because either you have 100% free will or nothing. To have 90% free will is not free will. That is still a restriction and a limit to your freedom. And God out of His love has given humanity free will so that we may make a choice good or evil. Then, certainly now, we’re left with another question.
Are all evils equal? No. There are two types of evils, manmade evils and natural evils.
All Cateorgies
