No Consensus

The obvious result of Noe’s literature review was that no consensus exists among scholars for the problem of, the purpose of, or the origin of evil. Rather, he found a vast array of confusing and conflicting human opinions. This lack of consensus seems to characterize this whole subject area. His major and consistent criticism of all the above articles, the books reviewed, and the book reviews lies in the question, “What does the Bible really teach about God and the origin of evil?”

But if we truly do subscribe to the concept of an omnipotent and omniscience God and the inspiration and inerrancy of his Word, then we must also submit to the realization that God through Christ is the Creator and Sustainer of everything in the universe—i.e. He is the first cause behind everything that exists (Isa. 42:5; 45:7; Job 41:11; John 1:3; Rom. 11:36; 13:1; Col. 1:16-17; Heb. 1:3; 2:10; Rev. 4:11). Evil cannot be excluded from these passages. Still many Christians presume that God could not have created anything evil. They believe, like Augustine, that it exists because some angels and then human beings chose to rebel against God. Or, it resulted from human mismanagement or misuse of freedom. Or, it was a non-existent entity and outside of God’s original program until sin entered. Or, it pre-existed creation.

Clearly, God is good and “in him there is no is no darkness” (1 John 1:5). But there is no scriptural reason why God could not have created something that is “incompatible” with his own nature. After all, He is separate from his creation. And just as clearly, the Bible says, He created evil, at least in the form of a tree. Who can deny it? Both good and evil were structurally present in the original, pre-Fall, “very-good” creation.

But there is greater proof. God specifically tells us that He both created and creates evil:

I form the light, and create darkness; I make peace,
and create evil: I the Lord do all these things.
(Isa. 45:7 KJV)

The Hebrew word ra (Strong’s #7451) is translated as “evil” here in the KJV, as “disaster” in the NIV, and as “calamity” in the NAS. It means “bad, evil, adversity, affliction, calamity, distress,” etc. It’s derived from the verb raa (Strong’s #7489), which means “to spoil.” The noun ra is used numerous times throughout the Old Testament in this consistent manner.

For example, Isaiah further writes (KJV): “Therefore shall evil come upon thee” (Isa. 47:11), “and keepth his hand from doing any evil (Isa. 56:2), “righteousness is taken away from the evil” (Isa. 57:1), “Their feet run to evil” (Isa. 59:7), “he that departeth from evil” (Isa. 59:15), and “hear, but did evil before mine eyes” (Isa. 65:12; also 66:4).

For instance, Jeremiah records these collaborative, evil-disaster-sending statements from God Himself:

“I will send the sword, famine and plague against them until they are destroyed from the land I gave to them and their fathers” (Jer. 24:10).
“‘But you did not listen to me,’ declares the LORD, ‘and you have provoked me with what you hands have made, and you have brought harm to yourselves’” (Jer. 25:7).
“This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, said to me: ‘Take from my hand this cup filled with the wine of my wrath and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it. When they drink it, they will stagger and go mad because of the sword I will send among them’” (Jer. 25:15-16).
“Perhaps they will listen and each will turn from his evil way. Then I will relent and not bring on the disaster I was planning because of the evil they have done” (Jer. 26:3).
Also see: Jeremiah 21:5-6 and 10.
And less one think that this was just the wrathful God of the Old Testament, see: Matt. 18:21-35; 23:35; Acts 5:1-11; 1 Cor. 11:29-34; Rev. 22:18-19, for instance.

Failure to recognize this truth of creation and God’s ongoing role in it has not only undermined the authority of the Bible and the unity of the creation account but it has also created many unnecessary speculations and problems of understanding. Like it or not, we simply must square our discussions of evil with the fact that the origin of evil is God! He intended it. He created it. He sustains it. He creates it. Apparently, evil was part of his creative purpose and is “good” (1 Tim. 4:4).

Is it any wonder then why we have so much confusion and conflict regarding the so-called problem of evil? In actuality, it is not a problem at all. Nor does it impugn upon God’s existence, his power, or his goodness. Again, it was part of his original creation. This identification of the origin of evil and recognition of God’s responsibility for creating and sustaining a world and conditions in which it can operate will greatly impact and rearrange our understanding in two major and related subject areas: theodicy and eschatology.

Source:

1 Why Not Evil? (future book – est. 2014) by John Noe