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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | Who created evil? | Gen 3:1 | John Reformed | 92427 | ||
Hello Sal, I've been following this thread and (correct me if I am wrong) you seem to hung up on one particular verse in th KJV; Isa 45:7. Is'nt it true that when God created all things, that He saw that they were all good? I am a calvinist and I believe that all things that occur have been ordained by God to occur. Yet God is not the author of sin. I also agree with others who have pointed out that evil (and I would add "good") are not created things. It is also true that evil could not "be" unless God had ordained that it "be". The very fact that evil "is" means that it was in accordance with His good pleasure and suited His eternal purpose. I would recommend C.S Lewis' book "Mere Christianity". Lewis shows that evil is merely a distortion of good. He also shows that nothing is purely evil in itself. For instance, pleasure is a good thing in itself, however when one seeks pleasure in fornication, the good becomes twisted because fornication is forbidden by God. Evil is the pursuit of that which is good, but in the wrong way. Wealth is good thing in itself, but theft is the wrong way to acquire it. Until the commandment was given there was no sin. Did God create sin? The Bible says "God is not the author of sin". So then, what is sin but the pursuit of that which is good in itself (the Tree of Knowlege) by the wrong means (disobediance to the commandment). I really hope this helps. John (So. Brooklyn)Reformed |
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2 | Who created evil? | Gen 3:1 | Emmaus | 93048 | ||
Sal, And a little more teaching on evil and Providence. PROVIDENCE 314. "We firmly believe that God is master of the world and of its history. But the ways of his providence are often unknown to us. Only at the end, when our partial knowledge ceases, when we see God 'face to face',[1 Cor 13:12 .] will we fully know the ways by which - even through the dramas of EVIL and sin - God has guided his creation to that definitive sabbath rest[Cf. Gen 2:2 .] for which he created heaven and earth." 324. "The fact that God permits physical and even moral EVIL is a mystery that God illuminates by his Son Jesus Christ who died and rose to vanquish EVIL. Faith gives us the certainty that God would not permit an EVIL if he did not cause a good to come from that very EVIL, by ways that we shall fully know only in eternal life. " 385. "God is infinitely good and all his works are good. Yet no one can escape the experience of suffering or the evils in nature which seem to be linked to the limitations proper to creatures: and above all to the question of moral EVIL. Where does EVIL come from? 'I sought whence EVIL comes and there was no solution', said St. Augustine,[St. Augustine, Conf. 7, 7, 11: PL 32, 739.] and his own painful quest would only be resolved by his conversion to the living God. For 'the mystery of lawlessness' is clarified only in the light of the 'mystery of our religion'.[2 Th 2:7 ; 1 Tim 3:16 .] The revelation of divine love in Christ manifested at the same time the extent of EVIL and the superabundance of grace.[Cf. Rom 5:20 .] We must therefore approach the question of the origin of EVIL by fixing the eyes of our faith on him who alone is its conqueror.[Cf. Lk 11:21-22 ; Jn 16:11 ; 1Jn 3:8 .]" 386. "Sin is present in human history; any attempt to ignore it or to give this dark reality other names would be futile. To try to understand what sin is, one must first recognize the profound relation of man to God, for only in this relationship is the EVIL of sin unmasked in its true identity as humanity's rejection of God and opposition to him, even as it continues to weigh heavy on human life and history. " 391. "Behind the disobedient choice of our first parents lurks a seductive voice, opposed to God, which makes them fall into death out of envy.[Cf. Gen 3:1-5 ; Wis 2:24 .] Scripture and the Church's Tradition see in this being a fallen angel, called 'Satan' or the 'devil'.[Cf Jn 8:44 ; Rev 12:9.] The Church teaches that Satan was at first a good angel, made by God: 'The devil and the other demons were indeed created naturally good by God, but they became EVIL by their own doing.'[Lateran Council IV (1215): DS 800.]" 396. "God created man in his image and established him in his friendship. A spiritual creature, man can live this friendship only in free submission to God. The prohibition against eating 'of the tree of the knowledge of good and EVIL' spells this out: 'for in the day that you eat of it, you shall die.'[Gen 2:17 .] The 'tree of the knowledge of good and EVIL'[Gen 2:17 .] symbolically evokes the insurmountable limits that man, being a creature, must freely recognize and respect with trust. Man is dependent on his Creator, and subject to the laws of creation and to the moral norms that govern the use of freedom." The Catechism of the Catholic Church |
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