Is God morally responsible for all the evil in the world?

Question

If God created Satan, and Satan is responsible for all the evil in the world, doesn't that make God ultimately and morally responsible for all the world's woes?

Answer 1

At first it might seem that if God created all things then evil must have been created by God. However, there is an assumption here that needs to be cleared up. Evil is not a "thing" - like a rock or electricity. You can't have a jar of evil! Rather, evil is something that occurs, like running. Evil has no existence of its own - it is really a lack in a good thing. For example, holes are real but they only exist in something else. We call the absence of dirt a hole - but it cannot be separated from the dirt. So when God created, it is true that all that existed was good. One of the good things that God made was creatures who had the freedom to choose good. In order to have a real choice, God had to allow there to be something besides good to choose. So God allowed these free angels and humans to choose good or non-good (evil). When a bad relationship exists between two good things we call that evil, but it does not become a "thing" that required God to create it.



Perhaps a further illustration will help. If I were to ask the average person "does cold exist?" - his/her answer would likely be yes. However, this is incorrect. Cold does not exist. Cold is the absence of heat. Similarly, darkness does not exist. Darkness is the absence of light. Similarly, evil is the absence of good, or better, evil is the absence of God. God did not have to create evil, but rather only allow for the absence of good.



Look at the example of Job in Job chapters 1-2. Satan wanted to destroy Job, and God allowed Satan to do everything but kill Job. God allowed this to happen to prove to Satan that Job was righteous because he loved God, not because God had blessed him so richly. God is sovereign and ultimately in control of everything that happens. Satan cannot do anything unless he has God's "permission." God did not create evil, but He allows evil. If God had not allowed for the possibility of evil, both mankind and angels would be serving God out of obligation, not choice. He did not want “robots” that simply did what He wanted them to do because of their "programming." God allowed for the possibility of evil so that we could genuinely have a free will and choose whether we wanted to serve Him or not.



Ultimately, there is not an answer to these questions that we can fully comprehend. We, as finite human beings, can never fully understand an infinite God (Romans 11:33-34). Sometimes we think we understand why God is doing something, only to find out later that it was for a different purpose than we originally thought. God looks at things from an eternal perspective. We look at things from an earthly perspective. Why did God put man on earth knowing that Adam and Eve would sin and therefore bring evil, death, and suffering on all mankind? Why didn’t He just create us all and leave us in Heaven where we would be perfect and without suffering? The best answer I can come up with is this: God didn’t want a race of robots who did not have a free will. God had to allow the possibility of evil for us to have a true choice of whether to worship God or not. If we never had to suffer and experience evil, would we truly know how wonderful heaven is? God did not create evil, but He allowed it. If He hadn’t allowed evil, we would be worshipping Him out of obligation, not by a choice of our own free will.

Answer 2

The problem with your conclusion is that Satan is not responsible for all the evil in the world.

Much of the evil in the world is a result of a choice made by people. And Satan had no part in the act.

To say, "Satan made me do it." Is a cop out! :)

Therefore, God is not morally responsible for all the evil in the world.

Answer 3

God is responsible for the world, but he also gives us free will. Evil is responsible for evil--aka Satan and his dark forces. The Bible tells us that right now we see through a mirror darkly. In other words, not everyything is going to be completely clear to us in this world. However, we will one day understand and see things clearly. We will understand why evil exists. My suspicion is because without evil, how would we know what was good? We would have nothing to measure it by. Without evil there could be no good without good no evil.

Answer 4

If you're talking about the theistic God, then yes. Theistic Gods are said to be omniscient, so, if they create a source of evil, they know what will happen involving said evil. So, when God created the apple to tempt Eve, then He would be morally responsible for it, since He knew it would happen. If God really was benevolent, there would be no evil in the world, since He wouldn't've created it.

But, that's only my opinion on it all.

Answer 5

No.Satan is a fallen angel.Thats like saying You raised your children to respect,they murder,so YOUR the one responsible.No,they are the one responsible.They did the murder.The world is evil because of the curse of the first sin.People that choose to do evil is because without the gift/power of the Holy Spirit in them evil runs the will of mind.Therefore evil.

Answer 6

god created Satan to see if people would follow the good path or the bad don't forget we are only here to be tested the real world is after this one so be good

Answer 7

I don't believe so.

Satan was cast from Heaven when he revolted against God. In my opinion, laying blame at God's feet for Satan's actions is the equivalent of charging me for the crimes of my grown son who no longer lives in my home due to his poor choices. If he made the decision, after being raised in a loving, structured, nurturing home, to set fire to the Vatican....HE is responsible, not his father and I.

Side note: Who knew Vatican bricks could burn like that???

Answer 8

No, God created His creatures good and with the ability to stay in that goodness. They used the abilities God gave them for good to rebel against God so they, being created as moral creatures with moral ability which necessarily implies an ability to do wrong, did just that.

Answer 9

After a child is grown, are his parents still ultimately morally responsible for any wrong that child does?

Answer 10

If god is omnipotent and omniscient, it inevitably follows that god is responsible for everything, good and bad. But there is no reason to suppose that a god exists.