The Point of Evil

I form the light, and create darkness; I make peace, and create evil. I am Jehovah, that doeth all these things. Isaiah 45:7 (ASV)

Why would God create evil? Some translations of Isaiah say calamity or disaster, but either way, what would be the point?

The answer is not as difficult as it might appear. If we accept that nothing exists that God did not create, then we must accept that evil did not catch him by surprise. To believe otherwise would be to suggest that God made a mistake and that the universe was defective in design. While many things do not make sense to the human mind, the overwhelming anthropism of the universe demands that we believe everything was created for a purpose.

So, if God knew that evil would enter into the earth, why did he allow it? First, it was to test us and shape us. In this school of souls we call life, we learn more from hardship than we ever will from triumph. It is a sad characteristic of humanity that we turn to God for help more than we turn to him in praise. He wants us to turn to him.

The second reason evil exists is simple. Without evil, free will could not exist.

If there was no good versus evil, we could not choose good. Unless we can choose, we cannot LOVE.

I love those “Life is Good” t-shirts that are popular now. They have such a simple message of truth on them—a positive theology of their own. Life is good, it is just not always easy. God created good and evil to teach us to seek that which is good. All things serve his purpose, even blogs.