This isn’t the gotcha you think it is, because the Bible literally says as much in Isaiah 45:7:
I form the light and create darkness,
I make peace and create calamity;
I, the LORD, do all these things.
However, it’s not valid to conclude from the fact that God created evil that He must therefore be evil, because He created good as well. At best you could say He is neutral.
In fact, it is you who is evil because you ignore all the good that He does and focus only on the evil.
…it’s not valid to conclude from the fact that God created evil that He must therefore be evil, because He created good as well. At best you could say He is neutral.
I hate splitting hairs, but in this case I do feel it’s an important distinction to point out that I said he must “also be evil”; in the sense of being in addition to good, he is also evil. So he is both things, and not just one or the other.
In my personal experiences with Cristians, I have often heard how “God is good” because of all the good things (more often in reference to things other people have done to solve a problem; e.g., doctors, nurses, and firefighters), and that anything considered bad or evil is the work of Satan. At the same time, Christians that I have known are all too happy to acknowledge that God created everything, yet thy conveniently fail to acknowledge that evil is one of those things having been created too.
And for what it’s worth: while my focus here in this conversation has been on the negatives I see in life, that does not mean I do not acknowledge and rejoice in the positives when they present themselves. Mind you, I do suffer from depression and suicidal ideation, so I will acknowledge that it can be difficult from time to time to remember the positives when I feel like I’m drowning in the negatives.
Do with that as you will. I do thank you for the opportunity for discussion. 😊
Thanks for your response, and please accept my apology for misinterpreting what you said. I think my mistake came from the fact that “also” in this context could mean both “consequently” and “as well”.
I do agree that a lot of Christians seem to be struggling with this idea, but let’s be honest, it IS a tough pill to swallow. While I think there is value in overemphasizing the goodness of God in order not to get depressed by the sometimes overwhelming amount of evil that may present itself, it’s a mistake to lose sight of it, because that’s how it continues to fester and grow.
I think the parable of the wheat and the tares (Matthew 13:24-30) is a helpful metaphor in this regard: to an extent, we have to accept the presence of evil even while focusing on growing the good, but that’s okay as long as we don’t let it get out of hand and we have a plan for dealing with it eventually.
My parents, bless their hearts, were unfortunately not very good at this. My dad in particular focused so much on getting rid of all of my evils that he destroyed pretty much all hope of ever being good enough in eyes, which of course did not exactly motivate me to try to do better. But as much as I’d like to be angry about that, I know it’s of no use because I’ll be the one paying the price for it by becoming bitter and resentful, so all I can do is take it as a lesson learned in what not to do, and try to figure out a way to do better.
I hope that was helpful and I wish you all the best. Depression is an awful condition and it takes a lot of courage and willpower not to give in to that. Keep fighting the good fight!
This isn’t the gotcha you think it is, because the Bible literally says as much in Isaiah 45:7:
However, it’s not valid to conclude from the fact that God created evil that He must therefore be evil, because He created good as well. At best you could say He is neutral.
In fact, it is you who is evil because you ignore all the good that He does and focus only on the evil.
I hate splitting hairs, but in this case I do feel it’s an important distinction to point out that I said he must “also be evil”; in the sense of being in addition to good, he is also evil. So he is both things, and not just one or the other.
In my personal experiences with Cristians, I have often heard how “God is good” because of all the good things (more often in reference to things other people have done to solve a problem; e.g., doctors, nurses, and firefighters), and that anything considered bad or evil is the work of Satan. At the same time, Christians that I have known are all too happy to acknowledge that God created everything, yet thy conveniently fail to acknowledge that evil is one of those things having been created too.
And for what it’s worth: while my focus here in this conversation has been on the negatives I see in life, that does not mean I do not acknowledge and rejoice in the positives when they present themselves. Mind you, I do suffer from depression and suicidal ideation, so I will acknowledge that it can be difficult from time to time to remember the positives when I feel like I’m drowning in the negatives.
Do with that as you will. I do thank you for the opportunity for discussion. 😊
Thanks for your response, and please accept my apology for misinterpreting what you said. I think my mistake came from the fact that “also” in this context could mean both “consequently” and “as well”.
I do agree that a lot of Christians seem to be struggling with this idea, but let’s be honest, it IS a tough pill to swallow. While I think there is value in overemphasizing the goodness of God in order not to get depressed by the sometimes overwhelming amount of evil that may present itself, it’s a mistake to lose sight of it, because that’s how it continues to fester and grow.
I think the parable of the wheat and the tares (Matthew 13:24-30) is a helpful metaphor in this regard: to an extent, we have to accept the presence of evil even while focusing on growing the good, but that’s okay as long as we don’t let it get out of hand and we have a plan for dealing with it eventually.
My parents, bless their hearts, were unfortunately not very good at this. My dad in particular focused so much on getting rid of all of my evils that he destroyed pretty much all hope of ever being good enough in eyes, which of course did not exactly motivate me to try to do better. But as much as I’d like to be angry about that, I know it’s of no use because I’ll be the one paying the price for it by becoming bitter and resentful, so all I can do is take it as a lesson learned in what not to do, and try to figure out a way to do better.
I hope that was helpful and I wish you all the best. Depression is an awful condition and it takes a lot of courage and willpower not to give in to that. Keep fighting the good fight!