If Evil is the Absence of Good then is...?

Question

Good the Absence of Evil?

I see from the answers that many people agree. OK, then if evil is not created but is simply the absence of good then since good is also the absence of evil, good is also not created.

That means everything is somehow the result of random causality...? Ergo, God would not exist...

Answer 1

Theoretically, but I don't agree with either statement. See, C.S. Lewis talked about evil being the perversion of good. See, good and evil ultimately seek the same thing. Happiness, for example. It is the means by which a thing is sought that is either good or evil. I can work and earn money, which is good, or I can steal it, which is bad. So good is the absence of corruption, while evil is the corruption of good.

Answer 2

The Bible says "every good and perfect thing comes from God." Since there is no evil in God I would have to say "yes" that good is the absence of evil.

Answer 3

in retrospect on the Inquisition of the previous, and the lack of wisdom with the aid of how holy men outline evil how could you ask this question? I even have yet to discover a faith that did not have unfastened determination, and yet a lot of them nonetheless say you're doomed in case you fail to worship the comparable way they do... is this evil? there is by no ability a scarcity of GOD, in basic terms people who pick to maintain on with a various path. If there are no eyes to be sure than dark or easy is the comparable, and you may bear in ideas that too impressive of a easy will blind you in basic terms as quickly as entire darkness. believe me, once you ultimately meet evil you will are conscious of it! ME! in case you pick something to be EVIL then enable this is conflict, for the place else do the inocent get used up and thrown away interior the call of solid? .

Answer 4

Heat is the reality. It exists and has a source. Cold is the absence of it. It has no source.
Light is the reality. It exists and has a source. Darkeness is the absence of it. It has not source.

It is impossibe to make a positive (good) out of a negative (evil)

Answer 5

Who said absence of Good or absence of Evil is NOT a choice?

A choice is a decision and a decision doesn't equal randomness.

Satan *chose* not to serve God.
Adam and Eve *chose* to disobey and eat the forbidden fruit.

Answer 6

evil is not the absence of good. it is the presence of good.
our careless or thoughtless use of terms causes good and evil to seem opposites, mutually exclusive. actually they are identities -- only different sides of the same moral coin.

this deserves at least several paragraphs to further explain, but yahoo answers is not the right forum for this.

Answer 7

Evil and good are relative terms; while there have been examples of people of pure evil such as Hitler or Stalin. There have also been examples of pure good such as the Buddha, Mohammed, or Jesus. As human beings we are always consumed by both, what defines us is not always the absolute presence of one or the other but rather what choices we make despite. There are always influences to do wrong, to do that which is “evil”. What is hard is to act towards what is good despite the easier path of wrong. This struggle is what defines us as human beings, both in our greatest triumphs and our greatest failings.

Answer 8

Sorry but the absence of Good is nothing. The absence of Evil is nothing. If someone is not good or evil they have nothing.

Answer 9

Evil is the Absence of God. Good is to follow God's will.

Answer 10

The biblical answer is yes.

That is why we need the free gift of Salvation that is offered to us.

We have sin nature and our fleshly bodies desire evil.

Even after we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior, we do not become good, we become justified and therefore righteous in the sight of god.