Where did evil come from?

Question

Without googling and cutting and pasting an answer, please. Using your own "God given" brains. If god created all, he created evil too. Why?

I form the light, and create darkness; I make peace, and create evil. I am Jehovah, who does all these things” (Isa. 45:5-7). Don't dodge and say it was translated incorrectly. The hebrew word for "evil" here is "ra" and it truly means "evil."

If god is all powerful, he could have limited evil in any way he could. Take for example, raping a child. God could have placed limits on our ability to do that. It doesn't interfere with free will, we already have lots of limitations similar to that. For instance, I can't kill with my thoughts or set someone on fire by breathing on them. These are natural limits to the evil I can do. God could have set up lots of natural limits.

Thanks for your answers.

Zebra, I vote we all get t-shirts of our favorites here. I have dibs on:
"I think your trying to understand to much, who cares where it came from as long as we can all be saved from it. Don't you think. "

Answer 1

Jim Carrey, who has incredible moments of genius, once said, "Madness is as close as saying 'yes' to the wrong impulse."

To me, evil is a form of madness. It's when we get that urge in our brain to do something we know is either wrong, harmful, or selfish (or some other negative adjective), and we act on that urge. So, because I'm inclined to believe in psychology over religion, I'd say that evil is a human reaction to various circumstances.

However, I firmly believe that if god exists, he/she/it literally did create everything including evilness like child molestation, murder, rape, etc. It's all out there. God then gave us free will. If we are judged in the afterlife, it won't be for all of the little mistakes we made, but how often we made those impulse decisions and how remorseful we were about them.

I'm still working on this one, but this is where I am on this life philosophy. :)

Answer 2

Isaiah 45:7 affirms that God creates darkness and disaster. It is not a creation of mankind, nor of fallen beings or Satan. The Hebrew word here that is translated as "disaster" could also mean "wickedness", "hurt", "affliction" or "adversity". God creates these things directly. Any argument that asserts that evil is a result of Human free will must first get over the fact that the Christian Bible states that God creates evil and disaster itself. Not only does this God create darkness and disaster, but it actively "does" them too. It doesn't merely create them as possibilities for other people, it actively chooses to do them itself.

If God is all-powerful and all-good, it would have created a universe with no suffering and no evil, just like you said. But, evil and suffering exist. Therefore God does not exist, is not all-powerful or is not benevolent. Attempts to justify the existence of evil are called theodicies. There have been no fully working theodicies created to date, even popular ones such as the free will theodicy were rejected thousands of years ago for reasons that still stand today. It's a shame many of the Christians answering your question don't realize that.

Answer 3

God gave us an intellect and a conscious. Our conscious can tell the difference , for some of us, between good and evil. Our intellect can do the same, but, some of those that can shut down their conscious , can feed their intellect with evil deeds. The intellect can rationalize reasons for perpetrating evil and reasons to subdue the conscious and listen to an evil sub conscious. As a child it starts as a learned behavior. The ability to do something and see the results. Like hurting an animal and watching it suffer. While a child with a good heart may have pity for the animal an evil child will take delight, not only in the suffering of the animal, but, also the distress it may cause others around him. This "sociopath" behavior has been displayed by many a serial killer in our prisons today. Not only have they committed crimes against man , but, also against God. I don't think God purposefully intended to create evil, but, in creating Man he made us with the ability to do great things and weakness also. We have the ability to distinguish the difference from good and evil and also the willingness to combat evil. The evil here on Earth is of our own doing and only we can fight or correct it. When we die that is when God will judge.

Answer 4

There's an argument that says that "sin" was born from good, God-created things in unfortunate proportions. For instance, if pride is a sin, where did Lucifer's pride come from? Maybe from a desire to make Heaven "better" - technically, a good thing, but then the logic kicks in. How do you make perfection better? You have ideas. You evolve from what exists. Now if what exists is by definition prefect, then however you try and change it is in opposition to perfection. But because it's your idea, and it might in fact be "good", you support it. Which is when you cross the line between "Making something better" and "Inordinate Pride". Next thing you know you're chained to the bottom of the pit of Hell, wondering what happened and why your head hurts. It's kinda the same deal that the Eden pair seem to have fallen into, according to the story - created with curiosity, they exercised that curiosity on the principle that it could help them know more and be better creatures for their creator, despite the fact that He'd told them not to do a thing. See, the whole Heaven thing only works if you don't question it at all and time doesn't move on. But everything exists to question its existence, and therefore, the deck is kinda stacked against imagination and evolution. Which means stacked against Lucifer, and against us.

Answer 5

1. There is mental illness. The Virginia Tech killer was mentally ill.

2. Some people believe that there are dark souls. These souls were created by God just like all of us but they came here too soon. They did not wait to make a plan or get a guide. They are confused and without guidance. Just a thought.

Answer 6

Evil comes, when we grow up. It is the price of maturity. Don't consider yourself mature, if you don't recognize evil, when you see it in others, and yourself. The two observations are mutual. You can't do one without the other. Don't consider yourself human, until you recongnize it. Young people are predators, yet morally, no more accountable for their actions than a predator in the wild. Mature humans are predators held accountable, by themselves, others, and God.

Lions, lightning, Satan, and a well trained soldier are all forces of nature, with no recognition of evil. They swim in violence, like a fish in water. When a fish notices, that his fellows are all wet (as if he could), does he break out in a cold sweat? Not likely. Only someone who has been inspired, like Adam and a few other humans, can see evil. It is among us, it is in us, we are in it. But some are not of it.

Can a fish dry himself? Only if he takes the bate, swallows the hook, and pays the tragic price.

Disturbing isn't it? A God that fishes for men, in an evil sea.

Answer 7

Long before Christianity the tribes, castes and other groupings had their own moral codes. Most proscribed murder, adultery and theft whilst most had marriage and child care morals. There was of course no such thing as sin.

Along came Christians and the concept of sin was produced by them. So it has to have come from Christianity. Recent research has shown that where specific sin is talked about, it actually weakens peoples resolve and makes them more liable to sin! So some sin may simply come from preachers referring to it!

The pseudo Christians here will of course try and claim it came from atheists but since they do not believe in a God their argument falls at the first hurdle. It also amply demonstrates that they are committing the sins of false pride and either theft or fraud by trying to claim morals and freedom from sin as theirs!!

Good Christians recognises that sin exists, that they sin, and probably recognise their sins far more than the bad pseudo Christians that boast on here. But they believe in a loving, tolerant exclusive and forgiving God and having sinned ask forgiveness!

Answer 8

Ok here comes the old christian answer I was taught in sunday school..... God gave man free will. He had to create evil to give man the choice between good and evil. Gosh I hated sunday school. I'm not doing that for you again.

Answer 9

The concept of good and evil existed long before Jesus showed up... dating back to as early as mankind itself. To be really honest, I tink mankind introduced the whole "good and evil" thing to themselves. They started categorizing their action as such based on emotion. Basic G&E repeats itself throughout every religion and culture, whether its stealing, killing...etc

A starving child in a third world country would find it necessary to steal bread or fruit from a shop. The same applies to all deprived people. And with recent developements in psychology, we can also explain why "sick" people behave as "evil". Essentially, most of it boils down to despair, others probably much more complex (as in the case of the VA tech Shootings).

Basically whatever basal necessity that goes on in your head drives you to take such action, regardless of ethics.

Another thing, G&E is relative and not absolute. Picking up trash from a sidewalk and dispensing it in a trash can is "good" because, when you compare it to littering--a filthy act of "evil"--you commited the opposite of what is generally agreed to be filthy and "evil."

To stretch that last thought even further, you cant have "good" without "evil." if there was no "evil," EVERYTHING would be a good act. So why call everything "good" then?

theres plenty of reasons why "evil" exists, and I could go on forever... But if you think about it, "evil" is just as necessary as "good".

Answer 10

I wonder, if the concept of good and evil exists in the world of lesser animals. But humans are supposedly "rational animals" with so-called free-will. It is our capacity to reason, that created morals and ethics and this further generated in our heads thoughts of, "moral and immoral, ethical and unethical, good and evil, et al."

THIS IS ONLY A PERSONAL OPINION AND "THE COMPLETE ANSWER," MAY HAVE MUCH MORE TO IT THAN I HAVE TRIED TO SIMPLIFY AND STATE ABOVE.