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NASB | Genesis 1:31 God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Genesis 1:31 God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good and He validated it completely. And there was evening and there was morning, a sixth day. |
Bible Question:
did god create evil |
Bible Answer: Did God create evil ? No , what God created was choice. The choice to obey and honor God or to disobey and dishonor God. In other words the choice to love God or not to love God. For the ultimate definition of evil is disobedience to God. I will now attempt to show this through a look a scripture. First let’s look at Genesis chapter 2 : 8-9 form the NKJV 8 The LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed. 9 And out of the ground the LORD God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life [was] also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Here we see God plant or create the Garden and place in the Garden the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. So I think it is plain that God here did not create evil although He did create the potential for evil. Next lets look at Gen 2: 15-17 NKJV 15 Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 "but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." Now God has put man in the Garden with all that He has created , but still He has not created evil however there is the potential for evil. God has given man everything he could ever want except for a mate which man gets in the next verse. It is also clear that God has given man a choice as to good and evil . one can see this in the command God gives. Which is basically obey and live in peace and harmony forever or disobey and suffer and die. So yes God created the potential for evil by giving us this choice. Next lets look to Genesis chapter 3 1-7 NKJV) Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, "Has God indeed said, 'You shall not eat of every tree of the garden'?" 2 And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3 "but of the fruit of the tree which [is] in the midst of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.' " 4 Then the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. 5 "For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." 6 So when the woman saw that the tree [was] good for food, that it [was] pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make [one] wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they [were] naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings Here man actualizes evil by using their ability to choose to obey or disobey. When man choose to disobey God evil actually came into being. God did not create evil man did by choosing to go against the Word of God. There is a major difference between creating a potential for something in this case evil and actually causing it to come into being. For more information on this subject may I suggest Hank Hanegraaff’s newest book The Bible Answer Book which deals with this subject in some depth. In The Love Of Christ, Tom tgc |