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NASB | Genesis 2:17 but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die." |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Genesis 2:17 but [only] from the tree of the knowledge (recognition) of good and evil you shall not eat, otherwise on the day that you eat from it, you shall most certainly die [because of your disobedience]." |
Bible Question:
What is the origin of sin and evil? Recently I have read various thoughts and views about the origin of evil. In Norman Geislers book - Chosen But Free (Second Edition) pages 22-23 is the following text. "the power of moral free choice entails the ability either to choose the good God designed for us or to reject it. The latter is called evil. It is good to be free, but freedom makes evil possible. Free will is good in itself, but entailed in that good is the ability to choose the opposite of good, which then makes evil possible. If God made free creatures, and if it is good to be free, then the origin of evil is the misuse of freedom. This is not hard to understand. We all enjoy freedom to drive, but many abuse this freedom and drive recklessly. Yet we should not blame the government that gives us the license to drive for all the evil that we do with our cars. Those whose irresponsible driving kills others are responsible for what has happened. Remember: the government that gave us the permission to drive has also informed us to drive safely. Likewise, God is morally accountable for giving the good thing called free will, but He is not morally responsible for all the evil we do with our freedom. Solomon said it well: "This only have I found: God made mankind upright, but men have gone in search of many schemes" (Eccl. 7:29). In brief, God made the fact of freedom; we are responsible for the acts of freedom. The fact of freedom is good, even though some acts of of freedom are evil. God is the cause of the former, and we are the cause of the latter." Having read this do you agree or disagree with Geisler's view that the origin of evil can be attributed to created beings misusing their God given ability to choose good or evil? Why do you agree or disagree? New Creature |
Bible Answer: New Creature - The idea of man's ability to choose good over evil, right from wrong, obedience over rebellion comes to us very early on in Scripture. In Genesis 2:16,17 God laid it down to Adam: "And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die." ...... "Thou shalt not eat" is the strongest Hebrew form of prohibition, but the text does not say that the man cannot eat, that is, that he does not have the ability to eat. Of course he did. He had the ability to eat or not eat, and that was the freedom with which God made him. God commanded Adam not to eat of the tree, but God neither caused him to eat nor prevented him from eating. To eat or not to eat, to obey God's command or disobey it was clearly Adam's choice. As Norman Geisler rightly put it, the freedom made evil possible for Adam, but it was Adam's misuse of his freedom that led to his ruin. There are only two possibilities about the origin of sin and evil. We lay the responsibility upon God and make Him the author of evil, or else we lay the responsibility upon man for misuing his freedom in rebellion against God. The Bible thoroughly rejects the idea that God is the author of sin and evil and fully supports the idea that man is accountable for his misuse of his freedom by disobeying God. --Hank |