Is God Evil?

except that evil isnt an intrinsic part of ones being...its an actYou perform evil, you cannot be evilIts like hate...a person cannot be hate...they can however, hate. again because evil is an act performed
In the Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary the term evil is said to designate not only moral badness or offense; wrongdoing; wickedness, but also anything impairing happiness or welfare or depriving of good; injury; disastercan God impair the happiness? Yes ie he allowed Isreal to suffer imprisonment at the hands of their enemies.
Can God bring disaster? Yes ie flood in Noahs day
Can God cause injury? Yes ie plagues upon the egyptionsSo evil is something that God can create or do just as you or I can create or do it. It doesnt mean that God IS evil. I just want to point out that you have this passage of scripture backward. In Ezekiel 20, the Prophet condemns the nation of Isreal for following the pagan custom of burning their firstborns in the fire. This was a cannanite religious custom that God had forbidden the isrealites to do. The scripture you posted is pointing out that the nation became defiled because they had begun to do the very things that God had fobidden them.

quote:

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EZ 20:30Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord Jehovah has said: In the way of YOUR forefathers are YOU people defiling yourselves, and after their disgusting things are YOU going in immoral intercourse? 31And in lifting up YOUR gifts by making YOUR sons pass through the fire, are YOU defiling yourselves for all YOUR dungy idols down till today? At the same time shall I myself be inquired of by YOU people, O house of Israel?’ ‘As I am alive,’ is the utterance of the Sovereign Lord Jehovah, ‘I will not be inquired of by YOU. 32And that which is coming up into YOUR spirit will itself positively not happen, in that YOU are saying: Let us become like the nations, like the families of the lands, in ministering to wood and stone.’ 33‘As I am alive,’ is the utterance of the Sovereign Lord Jehovah, ‘it will be with a strong hand and with a stretched-out arm and with outpoured rage that I will rule as king over YOU people

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This is strong denunciation by God for the evil deeds that the Isrealites were doing...he certainly wasnt praising them for it. He condemend their actions. Edited by Peg, : No reason given.

no, the scripture in Ezekeil was just used to somehow prove that God committed the evil deed of having the Isrealites sacrifice their children to him in a fireEzekeil is in fact Gods condemnation of the Isrealites for doing so.The scripture was misapplied and therefore the claim made that God performed the evil is completely false and misleading.

Yes he does and the bible referres to God as the Creator of evil or calamity. (Isa 45:7) For instance, when he enforced the penalty for sin, he imposed an evil, or a calamity, on mankind.But its important to realise that evil is not always synonymous with wrongdoing. Examples of evils or calamities created by Jehovah are the Flood of Noah’s day and the Ten Plagues on Egypt the destruction of the cities of Sodomm & Gomorrah. These evils were not wrongs. They were the administration of justice against wrongdoers.So sometimes evil is necessary. What makes evil morally wrong is when evil is created without justification. And God has never brought evil about without justification. evil can be morally bad i'll agree, but it all depends on the context. Would you say that America's decision to kill Sadam Hussain was Morally evil? I'm sure you wouldnt because you would know that it was an act of justice upon somone who caused alot of misery for many people.
In all the instances of God creating evil, it has been for the purpose of administering justice and therefore God cannot be accused being morally bad. The evil he has used was for the purpose of removeing those acting in morally evil ways. its easily reconciled when you realise that 'context' plays a vital role in understanding right from wrong, good from evil.Was it morally wrong to war against Hitler knowing that many people would die in the process?the point being that evil is a necessity to bring about justice and therefore it is not always morally wrong.
Edited by Peg, : No reason given.

you just asked iano what free will has to do with Gods bringing evil upon someonenow i'll ask you what a child born with aids has to do with this subject? you'll have to ask the people who spread the virusIf you want to ask God why babies are born with Aids, he would probably remind you that we are independent of him and therefore we are not in his jurisdiction. Some people think independence from God is a good thing and they wouldnt have it any other way, i personally dont and judging by your comment, you believe that an all powerful being should be more responsible for us. I agree with you and Im pretty confident that God also agrees, however for now mankind are independent and we must live with all the problems the come from independence. no one can be an evil entity, there is no such thingevil, as i've mentioned, is a verb. Yes God can bring evil on someone, just as you or I can...but we cannot be an 'evil' just as we cannot be a 'shout' or a 'smack' or a 'throw' etc etc for him to rearrange reality, he would need to control every living being. He does not force us to do anything, however at times he has stood up for his righteous standards and removed those who do not adopt them such as at the time of the Flood.He did it when the badness of the cities of Soddom and Gomorrah became too great, and he did it to various nations from time to time and Yes, he will do it again to show us that his righteous standards are binding on all whether they acknowledge them or not.

God does not transgress his own laws, he abides by them perfectly.
Any decision he makes with regard to punishment/disaster on humans is brought about by his desire for justice.I undestand your contention about the execution of people including their children/babies. What I have come to appreciate as a parent, is that the decisions I make will affect my children. If i make a bad decision, my children my suffer as a consequence of my own actions.this is the case with the children of people who have been executed by God. If people make themselves enemies of God, then they are making that decision for the children in their care. When a Leader of a nation goes to war with another nation, that leader puts the whole nation at risk of harm. Saddam was an example of one who refused to submit to the orders of the UN and in doing so he willingly harmed the lives of his people.Would you blame the UN for the harm caused by food shortages and medical supply shortages...is it the UN's fault that many children died as a result of Saddams decisions?Im sure you would not agree with that. This is the same thing that God has been faced with. When nations chose to war with him (by attaking his people) he was forced to act upon them...he was forced to bring evil upon the attakers in order to bring justice to his own people. Its a sad consequence that many children of those enemies died as a result of their parents decisions. One thing we can be absolutely certain of is what God himself says at Ezekiel 18:21, 23 Now as regards someone wicked, in case he should turn back from all his sins that he has committed and he should actually keep all my statutes and execute justice and righteousness, he will positively keep living. He will not die. Do I take any delight at all in the death of someone wicked, ... and not in that he should turn back from his ways and actually keep living?the death of anyone is not something God enjoys or takes any delight in...he would much rather they practiced justice and righteousness. This assures us that the death of any innocent child is not what he wants and my confidence is that in the resurrection, he will bring all those who died back from the grave to enjoy a peaceful happy life on earth.
The resurrection is a sure hope even for those who did not know God or worship him...he will do this because of his justice. If the children died as a result of their parents actions, then that it is an injustice, one that God can and will justify.

Hi Wotak,i feel very inclined to respond to these verses you've mentioned. I can see that they appear to be completely contradictory so it is not hard to see why you have the opinion you do. What i want to show you is that these verses are not speaking about the same subject. The first 3 scriptures are refering to general sin that we all have. The bible is clear that each persons sin is his own and punishment for such sin goes only to the individual. It was written into the Mosaic Law that if a father sinned, his children were not to be punished for the mans sin.However, Exodus 20:5 Numbers 14:18 Deuteronomy 5:9 & Exodus 34:7 are speaking about a different type of sin. The subject in these verses are to do with the worship of false gods. In the case of such sin, the laws about not punishing the children does not apply. The reason it does not apply is because false worship was something that corrupted everyone...including the children...and all suffered as a result of it. God did not protect people from their own evil, its in this way that 'God is bringing punishment upon the 2nd generation and upon the 3rd etc'Besides this, anyone involved in false worship stood in opposition to God by default. When the nation of Israel turned to idolatry, it suffered the consequences of this for generations thereafter. Even the faithful Israelites felt its effects in that the nation’s religious delinquency made staying on a course of integrity difficult for them. The children suffered as a result because false worship, by its very nature, is destructive. The cannanites worshiped Molech who demanded child sacrifices for instance. So false worship was something that God was completely against and anyone who practiced it constituted himself, and his families/children, enemies of God.That probably will not be satisfying for you, but im merely trying to show you that the verses you use are not contradictions. They are speaking about completely different subjects. Edited by Peg, : No reason given.Edited by Peg, : No reason given.

the verse you are referencing is a prophecy about Syria's future attack on the Isrealites. This was a prophecy about what Syria would do to the Isrealites. God had removed his protection from them because of the idolutrous worship they were participating in. So God was not the one dashing anyones children to the rocks...it was an invading army who did this. Edited by Peg, : No reason given.

Satan is not a creature designed to perform evil acts. He was one of the foremost angels in heaven who chose to rebel. He was created perfect and without any defect...without any sin. But he, like many of us, chose to go his own way and opposed God.For this act of rebellion he became a 'satan' and a 'devil' which means 'resister' and 'slanderer' in Hebrew.this is the one you should be blaming for all the injustice in our world, not God.

we could pose the same question about why Eve didnt consult with her husband before she made such a huge decision without him...or why Adam didnt consult with God to get Gods viewpointGod would have certainly gave A&E the right direction had they asked for it because for them, to sin was a choice and therefore it was within their power to reject that option put before them. God made them with free will so just as they could have freely chosen to obey God, they could have freely chosen to reject the snakes offer.It also highlights the issue of mans integrity which is another reason why God did not prevent the first couple from experiencing the snakes deception.Mind you, if they maintained loyalty to God and rejected the snakes offer, God would have destroyed the snake then and there so as not to disrupt the peace and happiness of the first couple. The fact that they followed the snake meant that all the children born to them were genetically disposed to the condition of sin....but thats another subject. Edited by Peg, : No reason given.

Adam was a man proably older then yourself. He was over 100 years old when he was expelled from Eden. So he lived long enough to know that snakes, which he himself named, didnt talk. The fact is that Adam was not decieved by the snake.
God allowed the satan in the garden because like all of his creations, they had free will. The angel who became the 'opposer' was challenging God which is why God allowed him access to the garden.If God silenced all his opposers before their case could be heard, then he would be abusing his own laws about free will. He had to allow this opposing angel to state his case. His case was that all humans would turn their backs on God. The account from the book of Job clearly demonstrates the issue that Satan raised about humans. we know that God would have destroyed Satan then and there because if A&E kept their integrity to God, then the issue that Satan raised would have been answered then and there. God would not have needed to allow time for Satans claim to be proved. Remember his claim (from the book of Job) is that all mankind will turn their back on God and that they will only serve him because of what God provides.The only way for this issue of human integrity to be resolved was for God to allow mankind to be tested over a period of time.This is why i can confidently say that if the issue was resolved back then in Eden, then there would have been no need for A&E to be expelled from Eden and their children would not have been born separated from God. well 'lucifer' wasnt the highest created being, Gods son Jesus Christ was. Jesus was the 'only begotten' Son who was the firstborn of all creation. And when Jesus was tested to the point of torture and death, he did maintain his integrity right to his last breath.Jesus gave the final answer to Satans challenge and because of his integrity the issue has now been resolved. Humans can maintain integrity even if God does not provide for them. Edited by Peg, : No reason given.

i generally never give a reason becasue i am usually going back and correcting spelling erros and suchwhat could i be hiding??and do i think that God is a meglomanic who kills on a whim? Certainly not.If he did then i doubt anyone would be alive to talk about him in such a way.

more evil then satan hey!im sure that what satan wants you to believe...perhaps you're in cahoots with him lol Edited by Peg, : just keeping it real

sin is genetic...its a flaw that is passed onbut to be doomed would mean to have no hope of getting out of this condition...God has provided a means of getting out of this condition

im most certainly not OK with itthe reason why I became a christian was because I wasnt happy with it. You may not realise it, but Gods Kingdom is a real government that will rule mankind. It will take action against all the bad things that go on and solve mankinds woes including war, sickness and death.
Daniel 2:44 "the God of heaven will set up a Kingdom...it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms and it itself will stand to times indefinite" starting over is exactly what God intends to do....however he wont do it by wiping everybody out and creating a new couple to repopulate the earth. That would not be true justice. Instead he is doing it by gathering people from all the nations who want to be members of a world ruled by him.If we were under his dominion, we would not have the terrible conditions we have today. Edited by Peg, : changed the word 'the' to 'that'...for wotaks sake

yes i used to wonder why God did not simply created a new perfect couple. Adam and Eve were out of the garden, he could have put them to death...but then you or I would not have been bornfortunately he did allow them to live and have children, but the consequence of that is that we were born with their genetic defect. Im sure you know that defects are passed along genetically from parents to children...mental defects are passed along just as personality traits are passed along and just as physical conditions are passed along.have you ever noticed how young children want to do the things they are told not to do? Its gets worse as they get older.Adam and Eve have passed that trait onto us. This is why we have a tendency to do what we are not allowed to do or what we are told we cannot do. This tendency is 'sin'. Its been passed onto us and God could not prevent that unless he got rid of Adam and Eve and created a new perfect coupleBut God will remove sin from mankind. It wont happen until his kingdom is ruling, but then mankind will return to the perfect state. This is what I am looking forward to.