Does God cause evil?

Question

Hmm?

If you believe the Devil is capable of subverting God's will and causing evil, then you believe that the Devil is as powerful as God, and you shouldn't call yourself a monotheist. Plus, if the Devil can do whatever he wishes despite God's will, then God is not all powerful.

Answer 1

No, human's cause evil or do evil to others in the name of God.
Of course, saying that, it could be said that to a delusional being such as Phelps, who believes he is doing God's work, it could be said that God caused his evil doings. God didn't cause them directly, but, by Phelps belief in God, God did cause his evil deeds indirectly.
Of course, some cause and/or do evil for absolutely no good reason whatsoever and don't blame God, instead they blame everyone else.

Answer 2

No, god does not.However the bible points out that the devil is responsible for evil, and evil deeds, god did not create the devil evil, yes he created him as he did the other angels but he became bad and was ousted from heaven taking demons, his henchmen with him thus influencing people on earth to do bad things to each other.Everything god does is motivated by an unselfish love for humankind, by supreme wisdom and unbiased justice...thats why christ was sent to give humans a chance to be forgiven and to side with god against the devil.If you look deeply into the bible you will see why god has allowed the devil to continue on his path of destruction, and when he is going to end the devils reign over the world.It does not mean god is less powerful or cannot control him.Even the mere mention of gods name is powerful enough to frighten the demons (as proved by jesus in his day) into running away with terror, the bible explains even gods name is a protection from them, and that everyone calling upon gods name will be saved.When Adam and Eve sinned they, among the angels watching the devils cunning inflience over Eve, asked if god truly had the authority to rule mankind and if it was wiser and fairer to allow humankind to rule themselves, would they indeed do a better job.?Time has proved the devil and his cohorts wrong.God sent his son to replace Adams mistake so that humankind who wanted to prove the devil a liar also and show that they agreed that God should be in a ruling place over them, that they were willing to conform to his rules now in preparation for the future, when god destroys people who oppose him and the devil who has controlled them.It is points out that despite the devils influence some people choose to oppose God anyway and they are also guilty as much as the devil and his minions.

Answer 3

That's a really good question. If God created everything, then He created evil. However, we are all capable of "causing" evil to occur as part of having a free will, so if you believe we have the freedom to choose right action instead of wrong action, then perhaps God does not "cause" evil. Perhaps we do when we exercise free will and make the wrong choice.

I like to think this is the answer to the question, "Why does God let bad things happen to good people?" If we are free to choose the wrong thing instead of the right thing, then it follows that the exercise of free will can lead to bad things happening to good people.

An example of this is if someone decided to steal my bike, which would be a bad thing because I need my bike. If God prevented the theft (as in "not allowing bad things to happen") then the exercise of free will would not occur.

So my guess is that God created evil, but does not cause it. Free will causes evil to occur.

Answer 4

God does not cause evil. The devil is the ultimate source of all evil -- but we humans are capable of committing quite a bit of evil all on our own.

It is true that God is not all-powerful because there is one thing He refuses to do -- and that is to force you to love and to choose Him over satan.

Thus, the devil does not have the power to subvert God's Will; but, God allows His Will to be subverted by humans whom choose not to follow that Will.

Answer 5

No. The ability of beings that exist with freewill cause evil.

If God stopped everyone from doing something he didn't agree with all the time -- then we would not be free in a practical sense.

The devil can't do whatever he wishes, because his power is limited. Just like humans have a finite existence, so we are limited in our power -- ie. we can't fly even if we wish to (obviously without mechanical aid).

Answer 6

Some good reasoning but here's something to consider. The Devil is not equal with God on three fronts. He is powerful, but he is not omnipotent. He is not omnipresent. And he is not omniscient.

God is the original creator and he did create Lucifer who later became Satan and evil sprang from his doings. So, one could do a reverse trace and say while God did not directly 'cause' evil , evil did in fact come from his creation.

Answer 7

Depends on what you think God is and what you think evil is. No two people have the same meaning for either of those two words... so there's no right answer.

If you think that God is the creator of everything and that he knows everything and can do anything... then he knew evil was going to happen in the universe he created.

He also would have known that if he didn't create the universe there would be no evil.

So in that case... yeah, God was behind it from the very beginning.

Answer 8

Hail no does God cause evil: SATAN causes evil! And people cause evil by choosing to fall into Satan's trap instead of praying to God asking help and be given strength to avoid the temptations of sin. People got to make the sincerest effort to avoid sin. True, we're not perfect, but then we sincerely ask God for help!

I love you because God loves you first. Go in peace and God bless!

Answer 9

I don't know-no one can possibly now for sure.... but many of "his" followers are complete morons who definately make it seem that way. Who the hell are they to judge people? To tell me that i'm a sinner and i'm going to hell because i have my own beliefs is a total laugh on their part. Who they hell are they to judge anyone when they have NO facts that their "god" is real. And to tell homosexual people that they're sinners and they're going to hell is also a complete laugh....what is wrong with loving someone? They're humans just like every last one of us. And if this "god" created everything-he must have created evil. He created the people who carry out these "sins". And he supposedly created the devil.

Answer 10

nope....sorry God does not cause evil. the choices that we human people make is what causes evil. There are consequences and rewards for every choice that is made. FOr instance if I were to choose to drive my can while intoxicated then my consequences could range anywhere between a DWI to killing someone in an accident. Now If I choose to help a homless man/woman on the street then my reward could range from getting the help I need to the warm fuzzies I get knowing I helped one of God's children. Kinda makes you want to make better choices....huh?