Subject: Is God responsible for evil? |
Bible Note: Lionstrong, I have read your postings and I do not remotely believe, or suggest, that you are anything less than sincere, or that your motives are base, or anything else of the kind. I, therefore, do not impugn your motives; I patently disagree with your conclusions about God being responsible for evil in the world. I truly believe your method of arriving at this conclusion is the major culprit. I will address that promptly, but first I will tell you that I did indeed look at how JVH defined "responsible" and at how my Merriam-Webster Collegiate dictionary defined it, and there is absolutely no difference between the way JVH used the word and the way the dictionary defines it. "Responsibile" is not really too difficult a concept for most of us to grasp. I think it fair to say that the average fourth-grade student has a working knowledge of what the word means.The Bible verses which you claim support your hypotheses are John 1:3 and 1 Cor. 8:6. The former merely states that "all things came into being through Him" -- Him being the antecedent of the Word in verse 1. The Word (logos) was, of course, Christ. The latter is a Christian affirmation of the Shema in Deut. 6:4; both are strong foundational statements that Judaism and Christianity are, both of them, monotheistic. From those two verses you were able to postulate that (1) God is the primary cause of evil (2) God is not liable to be called on to answer for evil (3) God is to blame for evil (4) Evil is all God's fault. Have you ever studied logic? Let's use a couple of examples.EXAMPLE 1 -- A car maker makes a car. A careless driver runs the car into a bridge abutment, destroys the car and kills himself. Therefore, the car maker is responsible for the driver's death, because if the car had never been made (or created, so to speak) the driver never would have had the accident. EXAMPLE 2 -- A carpenter builds a house. An airplane crashes into the house, destroying it and inflicting serious injury to the occupants of the house. Therefore, the carpenter is responsible for the injuries, because had he never built the house, the airplane could not have crashed into it, and obviously there would have been no occupants in a house that did not exist.What it is wrong with these examples? They have assigned the effect to the wrong causation. In the first example, the creator of the car had nothing to do with the car wreck. The driver did, by not obeying the rules. In the secod example, the carpenter (creator of the house) had nothing to do with its distruction and the injuries that ensued. The airplane (possibly the pilot) was the responsible agent in the destruction of the house.Let's put one of your hypothoses in a formula of logic. God created the world. There is evil in the world as the result of man's disobedience to God's laws. Therefore, God is responsible for evil. You see, the "logic" to your argument is not logical.Lionstrong, I do not blast you. I don't even know your name, and I bear no personal ill will against you in any manner. I echo your call to pray for each other, and I do pray. What I "blast" if that is a word you feel befits my former posting, is any statement, suggestion, or innuendo that says, in effect, that our pure and holy God is responsible for evil in this world. He is the God who sent His precious Son to die so that we, having our evils and sins cast on Him, might live eternally. Blessing and peace to you in Jesus' name. --Hank |