>Terry wrote:
>
>>Glenn has raised the problem of evil question and this has come up
before
>>and no doubt this is a great philosophical and theological problem.
But it
>>seems to me (and to historic Calvinism in general) that the Bible
doesn't
>>flinch over this. God is holy and altogether good, but in some
mysterious
>>way he purposes (without authoring in the classic Reformed
formulations)
>>evil and accomplishes his will and glory through it and in spite of
it.
Glenn wrote:
>I actually agree with your point about God ultimately having to have
>mysteriously (oh I had to phrase it this way it will get me into so
much
>trouble)
>created Satan and his evil. As the only self-existent being, there is
no way
>to logically avoid the conclusion that God made everything including
evil.
> But that does not mean that God participates actively in every
act of
>evil by personally guiding the bullet from a robber's gun to the
beating
>heart of the store clerk. This is the view I am arguing against. God
can
>create evil as a potential but not as an acatualization.
> (I am in trouble now. The water is way over my head and I am not
>swimming very well out here. I like solid observational data; not the
waters
>of the philosophical ocean. I probably won't try very hard to defend
this
>position, cause I can see the dorsal fins of the philosophers and
>theologians moving closer and closer.... glub, bubble, bubble...)
>
Being one who cannot answer perfectly some of the above statements,
but this is another thing that God allows. As I have heard many times,
to understand any concept the Bible mentions, you need to look up first
ALL the places where the word or phrase is mentioned and then check all
possible translations of the original Hebrew,Greek or Aramaic (etc)
texts. When you say that God creates evil, I assume you are speaking of
the KJV translation of Isaiah 45:7 :
"I make peace and create evil" (KJV). The word translated "evil" here
is also translated e.g. "woe" (Tanakh-JPS);"hardship"(Peshitta-Lamsa);
"calamity"(NJB) and "disaster"(NIV).
In the 437 times "evil" is found in the NIV it is usually in the
context of a nature of rebellion/opposition against God,His Laws,His
people.
Also you say that God created Satan and his evil. This is an erroneous
statement. God created the exalted angelic being Lucifer, who by his
own will became proud and ambitious, determining to take over the
throne of God for himself (Isa.14:12-15;EZ 28:11-19). Lucifer became
Satan ("adversary") by his own actions. He is revealed as:"the ruler of
this world"(Jn 12:31) and "The whole world lies under the sway of the
wicked one."(1Jn 5:19). Some of the other angelic beings also
"abandoned their own home"(Jude 1:6).
Subsequently, does the Bible really teach that God specifically
created a rebellious,etc., being, or that God designed and maintains
evil in this Universe? No. God has made it clear that His nature is one
of Truth,Wisdom,Love,etc. Yes, He has allowed rebellion of His good
Laws, with subsequent punishment for the rebellion, but He did not
create that (spirit of) rebellion. The question is not "why does God
create it" (rebellion- and all the consequences)-for such clearly is
not the case, but rather "why does God allow it?". Nelsons Bible
Dictionary puts forward the following:
"Many wonder why God would allow Satan, this great embodiment of evil,
to exist in His creation. No completely satisfying answer to this
question has been found. Perhaps He allows it to show that evil and
wrongdoing do not provide the key to the ultimate meaning of life which
man so desperately desires."
Wayne