"Evil" - Author Unknown

(Administrator's Note - This post is by Ryan who is having trouble posting on his own. Address all questions, comments, concerns, misunderstandings, and straw men toward him - Buddy)

I would like to raise some issues to explore concerning the magical origin of evil. It's a difficult concept to wrap our minds around, but the conclusions most Christians come to feel inaccurate or incomplete to me. So dig with me and tell me what you find.

When it comes to the question of how evil came into the world, we all can say that it's a slight mystery at best. But when it comes to authorship or responsibility, most Christians would rest on the statement "God cannot be the author of evil." This might make you sleep better, but to me it just makes me ask more questions, b/c I believe I am trying to serve the God and author of all things.

Col. 1:16 says that by Him all things were created. I Timothy 4:4 says that everything God created is good. This would lead people to the question: "If God created everything, and it's all good, then where does evil fit into a good creation?" There are a few things that are typically spoken in response to this, and I respect what is said, I just want to talk about it for a bit.

First, people would say that God created everything good, but that the fall of man brought evil (and death) into the perfect creation. Now, let's go to Genesis and see how God says things occurred. Before the fall, we see God creating the garden and at its center he placed the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Okay, so evil being an option already exists before man sinned, whether or not it was carried out yet or not. Some could argue that the serpent brought evil into the world, but that's a different discussion that I'd like to hold off on for just a moment. All the scripture really tells us here is that evil was within the realm of possibility in God's perfectly created garden. In fact, it was at the very heart of it.

Second, more abstract thinking Christian minds (C.S. Lewis) would say that evil is not a physically created thing, it is merely a lack (or perversion) of good. So therefore, nobody could've created it, b/c it's not something that is creatable. Now, let's go back to Genesis, even closer to the beginning. First, there is only God, who is good. No separate force of evil working and scheming against Him, like dualism would have you believe. So before God started creating, there was no evil within the realm of possibility. Now, the concept that evil isn't a created thing makes sense to me, even though I wouldn't stand by it. If He can create a tree that gives off the knowledge of good and evil, I would say it's possible for Him to create anything, even things that aren't physical. But, I tend to agree with the stance that evil wasn't created the way God created everything else; He didn't create evil on the 8th day or anything like that. But I would say that it's clear that evil is a by-product of His creating.

Did God not know that evil was brought into existence by His creating? Or did he maybe just "allow" evil to be there, and then try to use it for His glory? I would hold strongly to the fact that He did know, and that it was His desire for that option to be there. He looked out at His creation, including the tree of knowledge of good and evil and He said "It is good." Ok, meaning what? It means to me that God thinks that humans’ having an option to do evil is better than us not having it. I have further thoughts and speculations as to why God wants the option for us, but I would like us to focus first on WHAT happened, then we will get to why. Not ask why He would do it that way and try to cram what happened into our view of WHY we think things should be done. I welcome and encourage all thoughts on this.

Ryan