If God Is Perfect and Loving, And Created Everything, Then Why Did He Create Evil?

Photo by Alexei Scutari

Many may ask, if God created everything, and is always good and loving, then why did he create evil? But did you know this common question has a major false assumption built right into it, and cannot be given a reasonable answer because of that? Why? Simply because this ignorant question just assumes evil is actually “something”.  But according to the Bible, evil is not even “something”, therefore it is not something which could have even been created by God. Many may not know this, but the Bible collectively defines evil as just the lack of good – or the lack of something good in the free will choices of mankind (and the demonic realm if you want to get technical). And the Bible also teaches us plainly that all the pain, suffering, and death in this world only comes from man’s sin, which entered God’s perfect creation totally against his will when Adam and Eve first disobeyed God (Rom. 5:12)!  In fact, God was even playing very fair because he even warned Adam and Eve ahead of time of the harsh consequences if they should rebel (Gen. 2:17).  So then what sense does it actually make to blame the God of the Bible for all the sin and suffering in the world, if according to the Bible, all sin and suffering is only caused by the wrong free will choices of man, and came into God’s perfect creation totally against his will? The truth is that it doesn’t make any sense at all, because if one is going to go by the Bible when blaming the God of the Bible, then one should at least be consistent by believing all the relevant biblical facts involved, and put the blame where it really belongs – on the wrong free will choices of mankind! So, you can see, those who blame our perfect eternal creator for all the evil in the world, are simply ignorant of what the Bible has always taught on this important subject.

But then, why in Isaiah 45:7-8 (In the King James Version), does God say “I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things”? Here, where God says, “I create evil”, the whole context is the mysteries of nature or natural disasters – not a moral evil. Other versions of the Bible actually use the words “calamity”, “disaster”, and “woe” instead of “evil”. So “evil”, as it is used here in the King James version, refers to the physical calamities of nature – like storms, etc. which are all part of the “curse”, which God had to place upon his perfect creation because our sin corrupted it. But it is not referring to God himself creating a moral evil. The “evil” here then, would be no different than the “thorns” and “thistles” (or weeds) mentioned in Gen. 3:18 which have come from our ground ever since God had to place a curse on it. And because he is totally in control of all physical aspects of his creation down to the molecular level, in that physical sense, he technically “created” weeds, tornadoes, floods, etc. But in a moral sense (not physical sense), it was ultimately our moral evil which “created” or caused all negative physical ramifications which ensued because of our sin (Gen. 3:17).

And when you reasonably stand back and think about it at all, it really makes no decent sense to believe our eternal creator (who must be morally perfect to even exist eternally) would actually create evil or be against his own creation in any way. After all, who would reasonably love us more than our very own creator?! But what does make sense is just what the Bible has always taught. And that is that Satan, our jealous adversary, who would have us share in his fiery fate, wants us to believe any and all lies about God which would pull us away from our one true loving creator and the awesome eternal life he has for us! So, if you are rejecting Jesus because of all the moral evil in the world, are you sure that you are actually putting the blame for that evil where it really belongs? If the truth be told, we have all contributed into the pool of sin created by the wrong choices of man. No, you may not have done the very same wrong things others have done. But does that mean you haven’t made just different wrong choices which have hurt God, yourself, or others in a completely different way? To God, who is morally perfect, it is all the same sin which separates us from others and himself. So just what is the answer for all the moral evil in our world? We may not be able to change natural disasters or how our sin has affected nature. But we can have a change of heart, which in turn will make our lives better, and help us to have a better influence on others. But according to the Bible, just how do we get that needed change of heart? Just grab your copy of part 1 of “Answers for the Honest Skeptic”, and meet the real biblical Jesus who loves you more than you know, and find out. After all, why let the unbiblical lies of Satan, rob you of your perfect God – and the awesome eternal life he has for you!