Questions and Answers

Did God Create Evil Or Does He Just Allow It?
By Adam Bartlett

There are many out there that want to claim that because God created everything then that must mean that He created evil also. They use this theory to try to cause doubt in a loving God by saying that a loving God could not create evil and be fair. The Bible does have something to say regarding this.

What the Bible says:

James 1
13: Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:

1 Corinthians 10
13: There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
21: Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils.

2 Peter 2
9: The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:

Jeremiah 29
11: For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

2 Corinthians 6
14: Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?
15: And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?
16: And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
17: Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,
18: And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.


Ephesians 1
4: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:

There is a great story that have circulated the internet through email for a long time and it summarizes this point very well.

At a certain college there was a professor with a reputation for being tough on Christians. At the first class, every semester, he asked if anyone was a Christian and proceeded to degrade them and to mock their statement of faith.

One semester, he asked the question and a young man raised his hand. The professor asked, "Did God make everything young man?" He replied "Yes sir he did!" The professor responded, "IF God made everything, then he made evil." The student didn't have a response and the professor was happy to once again proved the Christian faith to be a myth.

Then another man raised his hand and asked, "May I ask you something, sir"? "Yes you may," responded the professor.

The young man stood up and said, "Sir, is there such a thing as cold?" "Of course there is, what kind of a question is that? Haven't you ever been cold?"

The young man replied, "Actually, sir, cold doesn't exist. What we consider to be cold, is really an absence of heat. Absolute zero is when there is absolutely no heat, but cold does not really exist. We have only created that term to describe how we feel when heat is not there."

The young man continued, Sir, is there such a thing as dark?" Once again the professor responded, "Of course there is." And once again, the student replied,

"Actually, sir, darkness does not exist. Darkness is really only the absence of light. Darkness is only a term developed to describe what happens when there is no light present."

Finally, the young man asked, "Sir, is there such a thing as evil?" The professor responded, "Of course, we have rapes, murders and violence everywhere in the world, Those thing are evil."

The student replied, "Actually, sir, evil does not exist. Evil is simply the absence of God. Evil is a term developed to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. It isn't like truth, or love which exist as virtues like heat or light. Evil is simply the state where God is not present, like cold without heat, or darkness without light."

The professor had nothing to say.

For God to create evil would not only be contrary to His nature, but it would be against the scriptures listed above as well as many more. Unfortunately evil does exist and we must confront it and combat it and that can only be accomplished through a relationship with Jesus. He gives us the power through His name to overcome any evil that comes against us. That is part of the power of attorney we have through Him as part of our relationship with Him. We must keep in mind that all the forces of evil are subject to the name of Jesus.

So, in answer to the question, evil is allowed because of continual rejection of God by individual choice. It is not created by God, rather allowed because He wants us to be “Willing” servants and not robots. That choice He gives us opens the door for evil to exist.

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