Can you please comment this in an intelligent manner?

Question

The bible god admits he performs evil acts.
A Christian wrote: "God did not create evil. Evil is simply the state where God is not present."


If "God did not create evil" then what of the following?

Isaiah 45:7
I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

Exodus 32:14
And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.

Joshua 23:15
Therefore it shall come to pass, that as all good things are come upon you, which the LORD your God promised you; so shall the LORD bring upon you all evil things.
Judges 9:23
Then God sent an evil spirit

1 Samuel 16:14
But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him

Answer 1

Many people seem to regard evil is a 'thing'... something that has some form of corporeal existence in the physical universe. In that sense, evil does NOT exist.

Evil 'exists' only as an abstract concept... one that is 'dualistic' in nature. 'Evil' cannot 'exist' without 'good'. They are the two sides of the same coin, in the Yin/Yang sense. One cannot 'exist' without the other; neither can be defined or described except in terms of the other.

Good/evil is further abstracted in the sense that it represents a 'judgement'... not a 'thing'. As a judgement, good/evil is wholly subjective, since it relies entirely upon the 'criteria' that is employed in making the judgement.

So, the real issue is not good/evil per se... rather it is the criteria that people use in making their judgements of good/evil.

Since we are pretty much all wired the same, and share pretty much the same cultural values in a larger sense, we usually find ourselves on common ground when we judge questions such as "Was Hitler evil?", since we can agree on the criteria. However, we should realize that if Hitler had been asked the question "Are you evil?", he most certainly would have been thoroughly offended by the very idea. According to HIS criteria, he would have seen his actions as good, for his people and for 'The Fatherland'.

When we get down to subtler questions, where someone's 'criteria' might depend upon interpretation of a particular bible verse, for example, these kinds of judgements can get a little stickier.

Remember, though... it's not really about good/evil, it's really about criteria... which ultimately comes down to one's moral compass.

Answer 2

The bible god admits he performs evil acts. SHOW ME THE SCRIPTURE IN THE RIGHT CONTEXT!

#1 The entire text explains that God is speaking of the evil He creates to punish
the unrighteous:
Isa 45:7
I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.
7. Torrey
Isa 45:8
Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the LORD have created it.
8. Torrey
Isa 45:9
Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands?
9. Easton Torrey
Isa 45:10
Woe unto him that saith unto his father, What begettest thou? or to the woman, What hast thou brought forth?
10. MHCC
Isa 45:11
¶ Thus saith the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands command ye me.

#2Exodus 32:14
And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.
This was after Moses begged for God's mercy despite the disobedience/ungratitude of the People after the escape from Egypt....this is where God changed His mind on account of Moses begging for His mercy in sparing them and God reconsidered and decided to spare them when He had originally considered destroying them for being rebellious ingrates.

Jos 23:15
Therefore it shall come to pass, that as all good things are come upon you, which the LORD your God promised you; so shall the LORD bring upon you all evil things, until he have destroyed you from off this good land which the LORD your God hath given you.
This was Joshua reminding the people that as God gave in abundance, so could He take away if they didn't obey Him.

Jg 9:23
Then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem; and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech:

This guy was evil and had destroyed many of God's people....this was just punishment for him.

1Sa 16:14
¶ But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him.
Saul was richly blessed and at one time a man of the Lord, but he became arrogant and evil and he, himself
turned away from God, so God ''shall▬we▬say'' let him go and turned him over to the evil HE chose!

NOW ANY QUESTIONS, BUBBA?

Answer 3

I think you need to do a "word study" on each passage, and use a dictionary.

God did not create sin. Evil is a result of sin. God uses evil to his advantage. Evil may not mean "evil"- you should look up the Hebrew word in each passage that is translated into English as evil. The English language may not have a suitable equivalent. Sometimes this can be confusing. It does not bother Bible students at all. Trust me, you have misunderstood the passages. In God there is no sin-which is what you are insinuating.

Answer 4

God wanted you to never access the fruit of his knowledge. The Myth of Adam and Eve proves this. If he is the only one allowed to contradict himself. He does not acknowledge that he is the source of fourfold misery. Duality is the cause of suffering. Knowing is part of suffering. God wanted to spare us the pain of duality but with the Tree of Knowledge becoming the SOurce of Life instead of trusting in God alone. This sad world is the cause of the sin of Adam and Eve not God. God will reveal all mysteries one day to his chosen ones. Until then he asks that everyone place faith in him alone because he knows that a divine being is capable of running a domain. I mean look at what humanity has done to Earth. Even an evolutionist could say that we are nature's mistake. God created evil and Christians have a flawed understanding of God as do all fundamental and popular religions. He created evil for a reason only He knows and it was supposed to remain that way for eternity.

Answer 5

you cant have good with out evil. there has to be a balance. even the gods that i serve are all balanced in some way, they are good and evil. a thunderstorm can cause a lot of growth or it can cause a fire because of the lightning and wipe out miles of land. so yes in the christian god i do believe he may have done some evil acts but i also believe he did it either as the lesser of two evils or as a way to reach the effect he was looking for. hell he created man on this earth and in my opinion that was the most evil thing he could have done. i mean look at what we do to this earth and tell me that it isnt evil and we are sopposedly His children.

Answer 6

No inconsistencies and confusion there.And you forgot to mention the wonderful job god did on Job and of flooding the earth.Good question and hopefully food for thought for those that follow blindly.If god is all things,evil would have to be included.If one is the Alpha and Omega,it seems in theory that one would also be everything in between.One can not be omnipotent without knowing evil as it is a part of everything.Finally,if god created"everything",evil would have to be included.

Answer 7

Meaning of the word from Is 45:7 "RA" bad, disagreeable, inferior in quality; by extension: evil, wicked in ethical quality; what is disagreeable to God is ethically evil; God's actions of judgment are disagreeable to the wicked (Eze 14:21), but are not ethically evil... Find a decent translation.

Isa 45:7 I cause light to shine. I also create darkness. I bring good times. I also create hard times. I do all of those things. I am the LORD.

Answer 8

It obviously appears that the God Christians have invented for themselves today does not fit with the God that was invented by the Israelites. The God of today denies creating evil.

Personally I agree with that God. God did not create evil, because evil (like beauty) exists only in the eye of the beholder.

Answer 9

Given that God is omnipotent he can create or use good or evil in any manner he sees fit. In most of the verses you espouse the Lord is using evil to bring his people back to him. He is not just randomly handing out good and evil. There were many times when the Jewish people strayed from their path and God used evil or bad things to bring them back into the fold.

I believe that today God does not send evil to us in the manner he did with the ancients. He allows evil to come our way when we stray from the path he has set for us. He allows Satan or evil spirits to have their way at times. This then allows us to more clearly discern the path he has layed out for us.

Answer 10

You are pulling scriptures out of context and misinterpreting them. I don't know what translation you are using but mine says in Exodus 32:14 "and the Lord relented in the punishment he had intended to inflict on His people". (These were His chosen people who had the golden calf when Moses was delayed in coming down from the mountain) And all the other scriptures you mention are of different translations. You need to make sure you have an accurate translation in English if you want to quote and take things literally, and you also need to keep it in context.