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Did God Create Evil?

A debate, and a very passionate one at that, was started in Sunday School because somebody stated that "God created evil." Well, some people were for this statement, and others against it. Some people argued that it was Lucifer who started evil, and not God. Others argue that God knew that Lucifer would defy him, and by creating him, He created evil in doing so. An arguement that was stated is that anything not of God is considered evil, and He gives us a choice to follow Him, and by creating free will, evil was inacted in that.

What do you think? What do you base your belief on? Did God create evil, even if in a roundabout way?

Evil Create God Did

I don't believe God created evil. He created man, who can be evil, but that is not the same as creating evil. God gave us all our will or agency. He allows us to make choices, even evil ones. Allowing us to be evil is also not the same as creating it.

Did God Create Evil? Beliefs Religious General

I do not understand the reasoning behind thinking that God created evil. If that would be the case, then He would be a very unjust God and we know He is just because it would mean that all of us did not have equal opportunities to grow, making each other different by the way we were created.

We were all created in the same way, "on his image" and we all have the freedom to choose between good and evil. In there lies the answer. Man creates evil by his own choices.

Evil Create God Did

When somebody in our Sunday School brought up both points you did, someone else brought this point of view up: If God created Lucifer and man knowing that evil deeds would be done, did he, in a roundabout way, create evil?

I thought it was a great topic for debate because of how much debate it caused in our Sunday School class. It was a question I had never thought about, but I stayed out of the debate because I was trying to formulate my own belief, which I"m still doing.

Evil Create God Did

If tomorrow you have a baby and that baby in the future becomes a criminal, does it mean you "created" a criminal?. I don't think so. I think God knew that not each one of us will choose to do good, he knew there would be a percentage of people that will choose otherwise because of their free agency he was willing to give us. It was all part of the plan: Opposition in all things are necessary to test our faithfulness to Him but to say he created evil, I would not agree with such statement because it would make God evil himself and an unfair God as I said before. He created men and gave them free agency knowing that some of us would choose evil, but the fact that some of us do not choose evil would prove that it is all in our hands based on our own choices. He definitely did not create evil in my opinion.

Did God Create Evil?

No. He created the being that then became evil. He allowed evil to come into existance. He knew there would be evil, but he didn't created it. Not even in a round about way. I don't argue that he knew evil would occur, but allowing it's occurance is not the same as creating it. Creating the being that creates it, also isn't the same as creating it.

If I grow apples, knowing that you can create a poison from the seeds, does that mean I created poison in a round about way, if someone buys my apples and then makes poison from the seeds? I think not.

Edited: funbikerchick on 10th Jan, 2006 - 12:53pm

Did God Create Evil

I really should stay out of this debate, but I just can't help it, its so darn intriguing!
Several points stand out to me that others have stated. My apologizes, I'm to lazy to put it in quotes.

1. God created man in his image.
A. If this is true, then, since we have the capacity for evil, then God would also have the capacity for evil. God could be evil, though I'm not saying he is, being all powerful enables him to do whatever he wants. If he absolutely cannot be evil, then he would not be all powerful. Thus, if God created us in his image, with the capacity for evil, then in a round about way, God did create evil.

2. Did Lucifer create evil
A. Lucifer does not have the capacity to create anything from what we can tell in the Bible or other documents. So Lucifer could not create evil, but simply utilize what was there.

3. Did Man create evil.
A. Man was created in the image of God, thus is man created evil, he was given the ability to do so via God and thus could not directly, on his own, create evil.

4. Did God create evil.
A. If God is innately good, and just, why would he create evil? He could create it for the purpose of allowing a choice for free will beings. But what defines evil, anything not of God, including disobedience?

5. Is evil really a thing that was created, or merely a perception of events?
A. Evil is a definition given to things considered to be morally wrong or not of God. Therefore it is possible that evil is not evil to everyone. It is also possible that something considered holy to one religion is innately evil to another religion.

My thoughts:
Evil is created by man. Evil is not a thing at all, but a perception and a title that man pins to things considered against God. Therefore evil in and of itself is not a created thing but a created perception. Disobedience is real, idol worship is real, murderer is real. These are considered evil, but are in themselves actions and not created things. Thus we have attributed the term evil to these actions that are considered against God. So we see that evil was a perception created by man to describe things that are wrong and against God. Things that are considered evil are actions committed by men, no actual things, but the product of free will and thus not created by God.

Did God Create Evil General Religious Beliefs

Wether evil is an actual "thing" or just the perception of events occured is beside the point. It is like saying 1/2 dozen of one, 6 of another. Even if you don't believe that there is a such a thing as evil, the acts that men have done have certainly been evil.

You can't have your cake and eat it, too. Either God is omnipotent, or he isn't. He either created all, or he didn't. There is no middle ground.

If you believe the Bible, then God made man in his image... this means that God has the potential to do evil. His commandments state "thou shalt not kill" yet how many has he killed? After the flood, he made a promise to all mankind to never do it again (albeit only in a certain way). Now why would someone promise never to do something again? Was it remorse?

Lets compare apples to apples, and oranges to oranges - shall we? If you grew them.. perhaps not. Yet if you created them with the same knowledge that their seeds contained poison.. then yes! By all means you DID create poison!

Again... apples to apples/oranges to oranges: If you knew ahead of time that your baby was going to grow up to be Hitler, would you not have willingly created a genocidal, drug addicted maniac? ABSOLUTELY!