God is a creator of evil?

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I’d like to read some bible scholar’s justifications or excuses or for these supposed God statements. If you believe what He supposedly said, He is a creator of evil.

King James Bible: I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

Jubilee Bible 2000: I form the light and create darkness; I make peace and create evil: I am the LORD that does all this.

American Standard Version: I form the light, and create darkness; I make peace, and create evil. I am Jehovah, that doeth all these things.

Douay-Rheims Bible: I form the light, and create darkness, I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord that do all these things.

English Revised Version: I form the light, and create darkness; I make peace, and create evil; I am the LORD, that doeth all these things.

Young’s Literal Translation: Forming light, and preparing darkness, Making peace, and preparing evil, I am Jehovah, doing all these things.’
 
In general I blame people and the enemy for evil and thank God for all good things. I like to keep it simple.

However, if God allows some evil I’d see it as something like inoculation, a little bit of misfortune can help us to grow and develop our resistance to misfortune and strengthen our prayer life and resolve too. Too much evil though is not helpful and can destroy us if we’re not careful. My cousins twenty eight year old daughter died a few months ago, just after he was told he had cancer which killed him on December the second. Needless to say his wife won’t be thanking God for the opportunity for growth I don’t expect.

If you believe that God created all things then, yes, it seems he also created evil. I’ve heard that God allows evil to draw good from it, as I’ve mentioned above. Personally I think that as life is the experience of the nature of things and the nature of things appears to be pretty autonomous then what we call bad can be the natural unfurling of autonomous events. Even human evil could be seen in that light though we do have the ability of will to draw on and can control our own nature to some extent.

I wonder would evil exist if there were no…mankind?
 
clarkgamble1 said:
I’d like to read some bible scholar’s justifications or excuses or for these supposed God statements. If you believe what He supposedly said, He is a creator of evil.
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The Hebrew word for “evil” in the translations you have selected is חֹ֔שֶׁךְ .

חֹ֔שֶׁךְ would be better translated as “gloom” or “calamity” as in other translations .

This topic has been addressed in a previous thread .
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Isaiah 45:7 - God creates evil Sacred Scripture
So I came across a reference to this passage this morning and decided to look it up: I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things. Why would God create evil?
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Evil stands as evidence of free will.

When God created his creatures with free will, humans and angels, the opportunity arose for the creatures to not choose to follow God and be a force of good. This was where evil arose, from the free exercise of will.

However God due to omnipotence can redeem evil and thereby overcome evil with good.

This is the story behind the Incarnation, to take on our nature and from there overcome evil with good.
 
And God said let there be light, and it was good (Genesis). How then could not God or someone else create darkness without it being bad? Light and darkness both being abstract representations of good and bad, peace and war, or love and hate. I personally find that it is usually mostly in the context of the situation which is which, with the end goal that people should love and respect one another. That being said, most everyone would have to be hurt at some point in their lives to see the difference, for it is not a life full of pleasure and fluff and stuff, but of service. How could God have cast evil out of heaven without dividing the houses, for a house divided against itself cannot stand(Mathew). How could God allow hell to exist and have heaven stand on top of it without saying it was good, for it could cause people in heaven to behave better? (If you think I am calling God bad let me assure you the darkness on God is probably a reflection) In short, I think you could call God the creator of evil, because he created Adam and Eve who ate the apple. If God were by himself and the angels, the world would be completely good. The world was still completely good with Adam and Eve in it, until they ate the apple. At which point they wanted to be like God and decide what good and evil was, but they were not God. By that argument though you could call Adam and Eve the creator of evil for eating the apple. Then Jesus died on the cross to reconnect everyone to God and eventually the whole world will be good again one day. If you think you know what Good and Evil is then let God who has no sin cast the first stone(John 8:7). If you do not think you know what Good and Evil is then let us live together in peace and friendship. If you are starting to discover what good and evil is then please do not be so judgmental, as you observe the world of darkness, but be not of it.
 
" supposed God statements " - lol

I’m not a Bible Scholar - but I am a Bible reader - and believer of the inspired printed word.
 
Like many passages in scripture if one yanks it out of it’s context GOD indeed appears to be some kind of weirdo.
The passage is in the book of Prophet Isaiah. Who lived and wrote at a time of great tribulation for the people of Israel.
So, No. GOD is not the “creator” of evil.
HE has created entities that have “free will” who choose to create evil.

GOD does allow evil, because if HE did not, then we would not have free will.
 
As Auctorem said, afflictions and punishments.
 
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He is omnipotent. But people cannot partake Him fully on His power despite His love for them. The original sin consisted of getting to know good AND evil. And it wasn’t accepted by God. That is his border He put. And it looks pretty much final a decision from a biblical point if view imho.
 
clarkgamble1 said:
I’d like to read some bible scholar’s justifications or excuses or for these supposed God statements. If you believe what He supposedly said, He is a creator of evil.

King James Bible: I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

Jubilee Bible 2000: I form the light and create darkness; I make peace and create evil: I am the LORD that does all this.

American Standard Version: I form the light, and create darkness; I make peace, and create evil. I am Jehovah, that doeth all these things.

Douay-Rheims Bible: I form the light, and create darkness, I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord that do all these things.

English Revised Version: I form the light, and create darkness; I make peace, and create evil; I am the LORD, that doeth all these things.

Young’s Literal Translation: Forming light, and preparing darkness, Making peace, and preparing evil, I am Jehovah, doing all these things.’
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Let me encourage you to move beyond fundamentalism to a more whole (Catholic) Christianity.
Fundamentalism can never satisfy you. It locks you in the words on the page and depersonalizes Christ.
 
English has this usage too, as in “the evils of my situation.” The situation would not be full of evil serial killers; It would be full of annoyances and difficulties.

But “I create annoying difficulties that teach you something, or make you strong enough to carry your cross” just doesn’t sound as catchy.
 
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