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God created a very special Angel (Satan) who eventually rebelled against The Creator and not only fell away from God...but despised all that God stands for including (but not limited to) Goodness and Righteousness . Therefore evil entered the world initially thru Satan ., against the will of God. God is not the cause of evil .
Regarding the second part of your query : It was a good act for God to give us personal freewill choice to willfully choose him if desired , as well as to choose what we do with our lives....whether it be for good or evil. While there is a risk that people will rebell and choose evil , it is based on ones own volition ; just as our Parents bring us into the world and sincerely hope we as children will freely choose to return their love back to them ... they also are aware that it could go the other way. Regardless, they dont try to force / coerse our love ... but rather they extend their unconditional love towards us in addition to teaching/grooming/nurturing us on toward an adult life of personal responsibility / integirty / and uprightness . As adult children of our Parents, is it our Parents fault if we choose to disobey their diligent instruction and choose a destructive road ? Our propensity to do as WE want out of pride, rebellion, and/or arrogance....cannot be visited on our Parents nor the Creator of our Souls .
Our actions are based on our nature + nurture. Most christians, probably including yourself, would say EVERYTHING is God's will. Is everything God's will or did he not intend for evil to exist?
Isa 45:7 - "I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things."
”Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that good and evil come?” (Lam. 3:38).
”...that I may repent of the evil, which I purpose to do unto them because of the evil of their doings” (Jer. 26:3).
”...all the evil which I purpose to do unto them; that they may return every man from his evil way; that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin” (Jer. 36:3).
”For thus saith the Lord; as I have brought all this great evil upon this people, so will I bring upon them all the good that I have promised them” (Jer. 32:42).
”...shall there be evil in a city, and the Lord hath not done it?” (Amos 3:6).
Our actions are based on our nature + nurture. Most christians, probably including yourself, would say EVERYTHING is God's will. Is everything God's will or did he not intend for evil to exist?
No...our actions dont have to be based on 'nature' , which implies no responsibility or choice ; we each have something called The Moral Law as part of our fiber which our Moral Conscience is a manifestation of --- or, moral oughtness if you will. And it is up to us whether we want to follow it , or suppress/veto it .
Secondly, certainly not is everything Gods will ... and that is demonstrated most clearly when we willfully choose to go an immoral, unethical, or evil route when we could have avoided doing so. Neither did God intend for evil to exist for that would violate his infinite character trait of love and ultimate goodness .
No...our actions dont have to be based on 'nature' , which implies no responsibility or choice ; we each have something called The Moral Law as part of our fiber which our Moral Conscience is a manifestation of --- or, moral oughtness if you will. And it is up to us whether we want to follow it , or suppress/veto it .
Secondly, certainly not is everything Gods will ... and that is demonstrated most clearly when we willfully choose to go an immoral, unethical, or evil route when we could have avoided doing so. Neither did God intend for evil to exist for that would violate his infinite character trait of love and ultimate goodness .
Ok then, so you believe that God is not in charge of everything, he did not know how we would turn out when he created us, and he either can't or doesn't care to fix evil in the world. Just a reminder, not everything evil in this world is the work of humans. Natural disasters come to mind..
Isa 45:7 - "I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things."
”Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that good and evil come?” (Lam. 3:38).
”...that I may repent of the evil, which I purpose to do unto them because of the evil of their doings” (Jer. 26:3).
”...all the evil which I purpose to do unto them; that they may return every man from his evil way; that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin” (Jer. 36:3).
”For thus saith the Lord; as I have brought all this great evil upon this people, so will I bring upon them all the good that I have promised them” (Jer. 32:42).
”...shall there be evil in a city, and the Lord hath not done it?” (Amos 3:6).
Im wondering if you have taken the time to investigate these verses to see if there are adequate explanations for each ? Have you looked these up in the scholarly book called 'When Critics Ask' by Dr . Norman Geisler who addresses over 600 alleged contradictions of the Bible in chronological order from Genesis to Revelation ? If not, id be pleased to address each when I get home tonight . Please advise.
Im wondering if you have taken the time to investigate these verses to see if there are adequate explanations for each ? Have you looked these up in the scholarly book called 'When Critics Ask' by Dr . Norman Geisler who addresses over 600 alleged contradictions of the Bible in chronological order from Genesis to Revelation ? If not, id be pleased to address each when I get home tonight . Please advise.
Strange that your perfect god with its perfect book would need a third party explanation for the average person to 'get it', whatever hidden meaning this Geisler guy claims is behind the actual words in the bible.
Ok then, so you believe that God is not in charge of everything, he did not know how we would turn out when he created us, and he either can't or doesn't care to fix evil in the world. Just a reminder, not everything evil in this world is the work of humans. Natural disasters come to mind..
God IS totally soveriegn over everything in addition to providing his most beloved created (us) , freewill .. which is a profound example of lavished love .
Yes, God did know how we would turn out even before we were created and he cared enough to provide a way for us to be redeemed from our poor choices, willful rebellion against him , harm we do to another , and self centeredness we enjoy marinating in. Instead of destroying the entire world, again, because if peoples wickeness / rebellion / and arrogance....he chose in his love to provide a sacrifice that would be totally sufficent and would forgive people of their sins while at the same time being reconciled back to God in complete fellowship . This is phase one.
Phase two, as promised, will be when The Creator abolishes all evil on the Earth in his time and according to his Will. It is inevitable however .
I never indicated that all evil on the earth comes from humans , but a good part of it in fact, does. Natural Disasters are the result of a once perfect created world being thrown into chaos , however, as a direct result of mans sin entering the world. It affected the physical world . But again, God promises to redeem that anomoly one day to where the Earth will be restored to its original perfection (aka: Heaven coming to Earth) . You have the opportunity to be a part of that if you wish to be reconciled to God thru his only devised way : Trusting Christ who is God in human form sent to earth to pay the sin debt you have incurred and have stored up..then making him the authority over your life and allowing him to put his righteousness and qualities into you. Its not 'a religous experience' ... its Gods global plan of salvation for you to be reconciled to him...made before the foundations of the world were layed. Yes, it requires putting a knife thru our personal pride, but its going to be fully worth it in the final analysis. That too, is a freewill choice -- to return the Creators love back to him , just as your Parents hoped you would with them.
Strange that your perfect god with its perfect book would need a third party explanation for the average person to 'get it', whatever hidden meaning this Geisler guy claims is behind the actual words in the bible.
Most things in life need an explanation , whether it be scientific / philosophy / human motives / or Court of Law trials . Certainly , literary works also . God is perfect , his instruction Book is the same , the average person is weighted down with preconcieved biases , and people often need clarification because they are prone to misunderstandings / misconceptions / and previous stigmatized iideologies from other biased Sources .
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