Which is stronger

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I’ve heard some people argue that it took God thousands of years to undo what the devil did with a few whispers in a garden. Therefore, the devil must be much cleverer than God.
 
Actually God could easily defeat evil but that would effectively remove free will which is someting we all desire. We cannot better ourselves nor can we truly love if we cannot choose.
 
That comes down to the question of which is stronger, existence or non-existence?
…
I should hope the answer was fairly obvious 😉
 
There is no such thing as evil in the sense many claim to understand it. God is good and therefore can not sin. The evil acts many humans commit are not evil as a contrasting parallel to good. Evil is simply a lack of good. Just as there is no such thing as cold. Simply a lack of heat. God can not create evil for He is good. Therefore He can not do anything or allow anything evil to happen. Our actions simply lack the goodness of our Lord when we act in our interests and basic instincts instead.
 
“Patience is the companion of wisdom” - St Augustine

Obviously, the Lord God almighty has immense patience to “take thousands of years to undo what the devil did in a few whispers.”, so what else can be concluded then?
 
TheTrueCentrist said:
I’ve heard some people argue that it took God thousands of years to undo what the devil did with a few whispers in a garden. Therefore, the devil must be much cleverer than God.
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“Patience is the companion of wisdom” - St Augustine

Obviously, the Lord God almighty has immense patience to “take thousands of years to undo what the devil did in a few whispers.”, so what else can be concluded then?
 
TheTrueCentrist said:
I’ve heard some people argue that it took God thousands of years to undo what the devil did with a few whispers in a garden. Therefore, the devil must be much cleverer than God.
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Much like the fable of the tortoise and the hare, evil tends to act swiftly, yet sloppily. God in His goodness works thoroughly. It takes more time but the victory is complete and the end result more glorious than even the beginning.
 
dje101 said:
“Patience is the companion of wisdom” - St Augustine

Obviously, the Lord God almighty has immense patience to “take thousands of years to undo what the devil did in a few whispers.”, so what else can be concluded then?
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Its ok to be passive about evil?
 
TheTrueCentrist said:
Its ok to be passive about evil?
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I don’t consider thousands of years of God communicating to Israel that he will save them and the world, how he will save them, and how glorious that salvation will be, and the most obvious act being what took place on the cross, to be passive.
 
Being is a good. Therefore “perfect evil” would cancel out.

Evil can exist only by parasitizing on good.

The more good occurs, the more evil can appear, only by highjacking the good.

We see this in human life, in that as the world has become more crowded, more evils can be seen, only because there are more human beings (being is good) for it to affect.

ICXC NIKA
 
There are some fascinating points that have been made here. From the Catholic point of view, of course, unless you get into the mystics and contemplatives, there being a clear difference between the two, What I find in this regard that we as Catholics tend to not do the contemplative do and rely on the adoption of dogma as a substitute. That seems to work up to a point, that point being at the division between book learning and the need for genuine introspection and a spirituality based on hard inward looks and assessments made under the aegis of a passion for union with God. That passion is a bit different than the usual level of faith found in the flock,as far as I can tell,

Also, as far as I can tell, at that level of intimacy with God the whole question of “good and evil” is not quite the same in quality or texture as in what is the public face of the Church. The kind of question asked as the thread theme becomes increasingly difficult to see as relevant in any truly useful way. Of course, that is counter intuitive from the standpoint of book learning, but, hey, there it is, the reason why books fail where soul triumphs, given that the effort is made. A diligent survey of the works of mystics and contemplatives will indeed reveal to the interested exactly what is coming to fruition in that area of consideration,provided that there is as well some experiential element present that has convinced one of the inadequacy of rote learning in these matters.
 
Perfection precedes imperfection as actuality precedes potentiality. As evil is contingent on what already exists, good is therefore greater than evil which is understood as privation of good. Created things can be corrupted because it is not purely actually good, pure actuality cannot be corrupted because it is unchangeable in nature and the fact good precedes evil, the purely actual being is the highest good.
 
PJM said:
Which is stronger:

GOOD OR EVIL?
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Good is stronger than evil because evil can exist only in the absence of good. The cause of evil is the lack of something good: evil is the effect of the lack of goodness, and no effect can be greater than its cause.
 
dje101 said:
I don’t consider thousands of years of God communicating to Israel that he will save them and the world, how he will save them, and how glorious that salvation will be, and the most obvious act being what took place on the cross, to be passive.
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“Guys, don’t worry, I got this whole evil thing under control. Just be patient for a few more of your generations. Sorry that you guys don’t experience my forgiveness in your lifetime, but I’ll get some of you out of hell eventually.”
-God
 
🙂
=Micorhizea;9075709]There are some fascinating points that have been made here. From the Catholic point of view, of course, unless you get into the mystics and contemplatives, there being a clear difference between the two, What I find in this regard that we as Catholics tend to not do the contemplative do and rely on the adoption of dogma as a substitute. That seems to work up to a point, that point being at the division between book learning and the need for genuine introspection and a spirituality based on hard inward looks and assessments made under the aegis of a passion for union with God. That passion is a bit different than the usual level of faith found in the flock,as far as I can tell,
Click to expand...
Also, as far as I can tell, at that level of intimacy with God the whole question of “good and evil” is not quite the same in quality or texture as in what is the public face of the Church. The kind of question asked as the thread theme becomes increasingly difficult to see as relevant in any truly useful way. Of course, that is counter intuitive from the standpoint of book learning, but, hey, there it is, the reason why books fail where soul triumphs, given that the effort is made. A diligent survey of the works of mystics and contemplatives will indeed reveal to the interested exactly what is coming to fruition in that area of consideration,provided that there is as well some experiential element present that has convinced one of the inadequacy of rote learning in these matters.
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INTERESTERING RESPONCE:hmmm:

BUT AS THE OP,

THE QUESTION DOES NOT SEEK A REOLY FROM BOOK LEARNING ALONE:)

God Bless,
Pat
 
TheTrueCentrist said:
“Guys, don’t worry, I got this whole evil thing under control. Just be patient for a few more of your generations. Sorry that you guys don’t experience my forgiveness in your lifetime, but I’ll get some of you out of hell eventually.”
-God
Click to expand...
“God, why aren’t You helping me when I am rebelling against You? I constantly turn away from you, commit evil and complain about existing. It was me who divorced from You, but why do you not pursue me? I do not ask for forgiveness nor want it but why don’t you give it anyways, my Fall I caused is Your fault anyways.”
-Man
 
PJM said:
Which is stronger:

GOOD OR EVIL?
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Good is stronger because its image is good when it sees itself and it knows its good. Evil’s image is unbearable because its image appears corrupted due to the influence of good an evil person is consumed by the knowledge (light) that good shines upon the evil within the person’s image. An evil person is not completely evil. There is at least a knowledge of good within every person. That knowledge shines upon the image that the person stares at. When you die you will have to stare at your image. You stare at your image right now as you live but are ignorant of truth. It is not the same as in the afterlife. The truth will be known to you and you will have to bear your image as the light of good shines upon it within your reflection. We are all reflecting beings and we stare at the image of that reflection. When you come to know and believe in the Truth (of all goodness) then you will come into being and the light of truth will be inside you. But right now you’re all made of ignorance and evil dwells in your thoughts; therefore, since you are ignorant you cannot see the truth of your image, as the evil that swells your mind; but when you see the light dwelling within you then you will see how strong the good is. You will either beget the good or be slain by the good, within yourself. You’ll all understand when you have died and see your images for the first time, where you once were ignorant.
 
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