M
mgrfin
Guest
That ain’t going to happen.
It is obvious that God cannot be the direct source of evil.Evil is not something in itself, that it is not a positive thing, but something privative. It cannot be the object of a positive creative act.
It is clear that God does not directly intend evil as such. In fact, no rational being ca n desire evil if it is apprehended merely as evil.
God permits moral evil in that he does not impede it, though he prohibits it by his law. We can see several reasons for this negative permission:
- God is self-sufficient, and althogether independent of the work of his hans. He would be limited in his operations by the malice of human beings if he were constrained to prevent moral iniquity.
- It is the function of providence to preserve and not to destroy, the nature of the thing that is governed. Liberty of choice, even between good and evil, is of the nature of the freedom mankind.
- the morally good is rendered more desirable. The iniquity of man forms a background for the manifestation of some of the divine attributes. We see in the divine tolerance for sin, the evidence of bounless mercy and patience of God.
- It does not pertain to divine providence to bring about the total exclusion of evil from the universe, but to order to some good end whatever evils may arise. St. Augustine lays down a principle that God would not permit evil were it not for the consequent good. God permits moral evil in one case, in order that greater moral good may obtain in another. St. Thomas says that the wickedness of Nero led to the gaining of many martyrs’ crowns.
