Does God Create Evil

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This is a question posed on the forum from www.newcreationstudies.org

Also included is my response there, but I would like to hear more from others. Thank you.

What is best way for we, as Christians and true believers, to answer the following question(s) that was submitted on our guestbook?

Could a God of love create cancer cells, rattlesnakes, and earthquakes?

Remember that the great God of Love will act always consistently with his character. His desire is for us to have fellowship with Him.

Sin stops that. Our choice of sin alienates us from the God who created us to have that fellowship with Him. As a result of sin, Adam and Eve lost fellowship with God as does every soul that sins (Ez 18:4). Paul tells us that the wages of sin is death and that all have sinned and fallen short of God's glory, which is to say that they have become alienated from His glory and thus His fellowship. (See Rom 3:23 and 6:23) God told Adam that in the day he ate of the forbidden tree, he would surely die. It is later recorded that Adam lived to the age of 930. Though some think of this as a contradiction, the death that occured on the day he ate was a spiritual death, or alienation from the presence of God which took place in the spiritual realm.

But since man has a difficult time dealing outside the physical, temporal world, God works to lift our understanding of what is occuring in the spiritual realm. To do that he moves us from the physical to the spiritual (I Cor 15:46).

In order for us to realize the devastating effects of being alienated from the glory of God, and because of His great love for us, God allows the physical pain, suffering and decay. By allowing these things in the physical realms, it pictures for us our true condition in the spiritual realm.

So God, being true to His character, loves us in such a way as to warn us of the severe consequences of falling short of His Glory by allowing suffering. This prompts us to look beyond a decaying universe for a true hope of everlasting life that is not confined to a limited universe.

Praise our Heavenly, Loving Father

-- Anonymous, June 25, 2000

Answers

YES. However the creation of evil is only due to the fact that he is JUST. As a just god he gives free-will, as created beings we have the choice to follow his word or not. The word of THE ALMIGHTY is GOOD,the choice of not following is to follow evil, thus any thing that is not following or part of God is evil and is attainable by choice.

-- Anonymous, February 08, 2001

Adam and Eve had an entirely free will, with the capability of obedience acceptable to God. After the fall, the essential nature of humanity changed and we are no longer capable of a perfect obedience acceptable to God. Yet, he provides a savior in Christ to restore us to a right relationship to him. That is Love. It takes such a sacrifice to make us acceptable to him. That is Justice.

You asked about the origin of sin. We are not given explicit information on that. The possibility for sin results from the existance of a command, and the opportunity for disobedience.

-- Anonymous, February 09, 2001


Evil is not a created thing, but rather it is a shadow. Like darkness is the absence of light, so evil is the absence of good.

-- Anonymous, February 10, 2001

quote: "...so evil is the absence of good."

I agree with this.... somewhat. It does, however, beg the question - If God is good and in the beginning there was God, did He allow for the absence of himself? It seems that if the answer is yes, that God, by removing Himself, created evil. If the answer is no, that suggests that evil existed seperately from God.

The defect in genetic code accounts for some of the deformation of our human bodies. I suspect that Adam and Eve, before the fall, had perfect DNA.

-- Anonymous, February 12, 2001


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