To all, believer or non, where do you think "evil" comes from?

Question

Thanks for your responses.

Answer 1

Evil has no objective reality any more than cold. It is a state of corrupting moral things away from their original purpose. Men turn their hearts away from God and seek something else apart from Him, anything else apart from Him. Cold is the absence of heat, but it is not a thing. Likewise, evil is the absence of good and God's grace. It isn't a thing, and it has no objective reality. When we pursue it so vehemently, we are attaching our hearts to a fantasy. It is rather sad :(.

Answer 2

Evil comes from our own selves. To blame it on the 'devil' or otherwise is to be superstitious and undignified.

No, we fall prey to 'evil' when we give into temptations that we know better not to do. 'Evil' is whatever makes a decent person feel like garbage when they get away with it. It bites at the conscience and leaves a feeling of guilt.

Spiritually, the 'evil whispers of the devil' can't do us any harm unless we take heed to them and fulfill what they ask us for. But you can't say that 'I was told by others to do thus' or 'Virtue wasn't convenient at the time' on Judgement Day. No, that won't suffice.

Because even though a leader may move a follower or a parent may claim a child, your soul is in your keeping ALONE. In the end, the greatest gift that God may have given us other than life itself is a CHOICE.

Answer 3

Human philosophy and theology have not offered a better explanation of the origin of evil than that given in the Bible. What the Scriptures say about Satan is fundamental to understanding the origin of evil and of human suffering, as well as why the worst imaginable violence gets worse each year.

Some may ask: ‘If God is the good and loving Creator, how could he create a wicked spirit creature like Satan?’ The Bible lays down the principle that all of Jehovah God’s works are perfect and that all of his intelligent creatures are endowed with free will. (Deuteronomy 30:19; 32:4; Joshua 24:15; 1 Kings 18:21) The spirit person who became Satan must, therefore, have been created perfect and must have deviated from the way of truth and righteousness by deliberate choice.—John 8:44; James 1:14, 15.

In many ways, Satan’s rebellious course parallels that of “the king of Tyre,” who was described poetically as “perfect in beauty” and ‘faultless in his ways from the day of his being created until unrighteousness was found in him.’ (Ezekiel 28:11-19) Satan did not contest Jehovah’s supremacy or his Creatorship. How could he, since he had been created by God? Satan did, however, challenge the way Jehovah was exercising his sovereignty. In the garden of Eden, Satan insinuated that God was depriving the first human couple of something to which they had a right and upon which their well-being depended. (Genesis 3:1-5) He succeeded in causing Adam and Eve to rebel against Jehovah’s righteous sovereignty, bringing sin and death upon them and their descendants. (Genesis 3:6-19; Romans 5:12) Thus the Bible shows that Satan is the root cause of human suffering.

Sometime before the Flood, other angels joined Satan in his rebellion. They materialized in human bodies to satisfy their cravings for sexual pleasures with the daughters of men. (Genesis 6:1-4) At the Flood, these renegade angels returned to the spirit realm but not to their “original position” with God in heaven. (Jude 6) They were abased to a condition of dense spiritual darkness. (1 Peter 3:19, 20; 2 Peter 2:4) They became demons, no longer serving under Jehovah’s sovereignty but living in subjection to Satan. While apparently unable to materialize again, the demons can still exercise great power over the minds and lives of humans, and they are doubtless responsible for much of the violence we are witnessing today.—Matthew 12:43-45; Luke 8:27-33.

The End of Satan’s Rule Is Near

It is clear that evil forces are at work in the world today. The apostle John wrote: “The whole world is lying in the power of the wicked one.”—1 John 5:19.

Fulfilled Bible prophecy, however, shows that the Devil is intensifying earth’s woes because he knows that he has only “a short period of time” left to wreak havoc before being confined. (Revelation 12:7-12; 20:1-3) The end of Satan’s rule will usher in a righteous new world, where tears, death, and pain “will be no more.” Then, God’s will shall “be done on earth as it is in heaven.”—Revelation 21:1-4; Matthew 6:10, New International Version.

Answer 4

I don't believe in evil, certainly not in absolute evil or absolute good. Each and every thought, each and every moment has so much history and so many complex things that make it up that it cannot be described as evil. Ultimately, it does us little good to contemplate evil but to conentrate on bettering ourselves, our lives and the lives of those around us.

I think that the things that are usually described of as evil are the result of mistaken assumptions or lack of evidence or a "skewed view" of the situation. Was Hitler evil? Not really, most of the time he thought that what he was doing was right and necessary (he was crazy, but I don't think he was evil). If Bill Gates gives millions of dollars to charity, is he good? It is self-serving in many ways, maybe he is, maybe he isn't.

Answer 5

Evil, comes from the boogie man people often potray in books to scare little childrens to be good little boys and girls.
True Evil is one self.
When you see people killling another person, what occurs in your mind ? "this evil person"
How do you define what is evil when there is no good ? how do you say something is hot if there is no Cold ?
Evil is an essance that lingers within everyone of us. A parent who loves their childrens but abuse other childrens. Do you call those individuals Good or evil ?
Evil comes from within .. again like I mentioned before and perhaps you should grasp what I am saying.
Evil can be seen in different angles from Spiritual, Moral and Ethical.
Spiritual-
God vs demons. The traditional cliche we see nearly everyday about how great is god and how terrible is the evil demons.
It's all based on culture and believes that God is the almighty protector of all. And Demon or Lucifer the bearer or light is the fallen Angel who oppose God.
In other words, God defines all those of disobeys him "evil" just because others have an opinion of their own.
If there any different from discrimination ? it seems like God has a "gag" order to his kingdom of light.

Moral,
When a man kills another man and was sentenced to death by "law" is that morally acceptable ?
To most , yes he gets what he deserves for killing another person.
However, when a man was killed in a war for protecting his own country by people who are supposedly "righouteous". Are they the killers morally acceptable ? shouldn't these invaders be sentenced to death for killing another man too ?
To most, no! these people are the "crusaders" of a certain government and party. Who killed a threat to the world whether the threat existed or not, it doesn't matter to most people.

Ethical-
This is a tough one ...
In certain cultures there are many ways to define what is evil and what is not.
if I drive a car above the speed limit, Am I Evil because I didn't follow the speed limit ?
I do not kill humans but I kill animals for ritual purposes. Am I an Evil person ?
I hate a certain group of people and I think it's right for them to suffer. Am I an evil person even when I love my community of people?

So Evil is really defined by me when you look deep within yourself. Are you an evil person by your own mean ? Can you understand the question ?
It simply points out that if what you are doing is truely acceptable not only for youself but to all others that is not only around you but the entire world. Than you can say "I'm not entirely evil."

Notice why i say "NOT ENTIRELY EVIL" ? because lets just assume the whole world is against "jews" and to the world these people doesn't even mean anything to them. So by destroying them is acceptable. However, it conflicts with the Moral view of Evil and goodness.

Therefore, Evil is neither spiritual, moral, nor Ethical. It's Individual.

In Buddhism, Evil Deeds and Good Deeds are called "Karma" which means Actions.

Whatever you do will have an Equal or More in return.

Therefore, Evil is not a What but an ACTION from WHO.

Answer 6

Evil comes from the hearts and minds of humans. If we are tempted to do evil things, it is not because of some outside force, but because of what is within us. In some cases it is natural to be tempted.
It is by overcoming our temptations to do evil, or things that would hurt others, that we learn to be better people, we become stronger.

Answer 7

Mark 7:20-22
20He went on: "What comes out of a man is what makes him 'unclean.' 21For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly.

Matthew 13:19
When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path.
(The evil one being satan)

Most importanty, the one who does not know God, who does not believe or is saved in Christ:
Job 18:21
Surely such is the dwelling of an evil man; such is the place of one who knows not God."

But through Jesus Christ we are made righteous, when we believe in His death and resurrection and repent of sin--when we are born again through Him:
Romans 5:17
If, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.

Proverbs 16:6
Through love and faithfulness sin is atoned for; through the fear of the LORD a man avoids evil.

Answer 8

Both Evil and Good are human-generated concepts based on what is or is not acceptable in a particular group or society.

In some societies, for example, it is (or was) acceptable to kidnap people from neighbouring tribes and eat them. In our culture we would regard this practice as evil but within that particular society it was normal acceptable ("good") behaviour.

Holy books such as the Bible just list what is good and what is evil but the trouble is that the concepts of good and evil (acceptable and unacceptable behaviour) change with time, certainly in terms of social customs etc.

Answer 9

Evil comes from human beings.

Answer 10

Proverbs 16 : 4