Evil doesn't "exist"

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NinJaGGS

Guest
#1
#1
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I believe in the goodness of God. The darkness of evil is not anything. It is not a creation of God; it has no being. It is a direction and a movement away from goodness and being. In most cases it is a stumbling and a falling away. It is only in rare instances that it becomes a willing force that pushes away all goodness and despises existence itself (not its own so much as that of others). This malevolence (literally “evil willing”) is described as a “mystery” in 2Thess. 2:7. God will destroy it. ...
-Father Stephen Freeman
 
eugenius

eugenius

Senior Member
#2
Jul 17, 2009
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In modern times, evil just like good is a subjective notion. What is good for you is not necessarily good for me, and what is evil for you may not be evil for me and all that.

I still believe in the objectivity of good and evil. God defines evil, and God defines good. Its as simple as that.

I understand what youre saying man, but all you need to do is google some videos of the holocaust to see examples of evil. What caused that? Hate? Insanity? A combination of the two?

I can't watch those videos. Especially considering that this happened to my relatives and would have happened to me have I been alive in 1941. They create feelings in me that I cannot describe. Hatred. Deep hatred for all people. Not Nazis, or Germans, but just people in general. Or is it the evil that I hate?
 
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clarkthompson

Senior Member
#3
Jul 8, 2012
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evil is still here today we know what is good by what the bible says is good and we also know what is bad by what is in the bible while everything is not in the bible what is we can only pray to follow all that is good but because of the fall of man we born into sin so this is why we need to turn to Christ and are sins will be forgotten byGod today the morals of man are not bibical based they are based off what people think and feel not what God's word says
 
shawntc

shawntc

Senior Member
#4
May 7, 2010
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I think it was Saint Augustine who said that evil is "the privatization of good." In other words, evil does not exist on itself, but rather it is dependent on good for its existence.

Think of a flashlight emitting light. Take a ball and put it in front of it. That shadow created by the ball, darkness, is a privatization of the light. It's a reduction in the light emitted by the flashlight. You can't do it the other way around.

Good and evil is like this. Evil is that darkness caused by obscuring good.
 
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NinJaGGS

Guest
#5
#5
I don't believe in privation. God does not will evil, evil is not necessary at all for Good to exist
evil is not the obstruction of good, it is the willful turning away from the source of good. There is nothing obstructing us from the glory of God but our own willingness to listen to demons (wicked thoughts) and worship idols (passions, obsessions, anything that takes our attention away from God)
The testament to this radical and seemingly foolish statement are the martyrs... men and women who were tortured horribly for faith in God and did not complain... did not grumble... even went joyfully for the privilege to suffer like Jesus. They were completely turned toward God, and saw heaven on earth.
God engulfs evil. there is no duality. evil is NOT strong. the Nazis were NOT strong. Idi Amin was NOT strong. satan is NOT strong. God is so powerful that he engulfs this evil with His Good. his Good does not stop respecting the free choice of his twisted creatures, thus is he Good, he loves us men and women and gives us respect....
I assert that the best way to oppose evil is to cut it off in our selves, meet it with our dignity and grace that God has given us and stand aright in its face with the humble defiance of the martyrs...
 
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Siberian_Khatru

Guest
#6
#6
NinJaGGS said:
I don't believe in privation. God does not will evil, evil is not necessary at all for Good to exist
evil is not the obstruction of good, it is the willful turning away from the source of good. There is nothing obstructing us from the glory of God but our own willingness to listen to demons (wicked thoughts) and worship idols (passions, obsessions, anything that takes our attention away from God)
The testament to this radical and seemingly foolish statement are the martyrs... men and women who were tortured horribly for faith in God and did not complain... did not grumble... even went joyfully for the privilege to suffer like Jesus. They were completely turned toward God, and saw heaven on earth.
God engulfs evil. there is no duality. evil is NOT strong. the Nazis were NOT strong. Idi Amin was NOT strong. satan is NOT strong. God is so powerful that he engulfs this evil with His Good. his Good does not stop respecting the free choice of his twisted creatures, thus is he Good, he loves us men and women and gives us respect....
I assert that the best way to oppose evil is to cut it off in our selves, meet it with our dignity and grace that God has given us and stand aright in its face with the humble defiance of the martyrs...
Click to expand...
There is a lot of truth to this response, and I appreciate what you're saying. The notion of Good and Evil are both real - relativeness aside. The actual existence of the two is seemingly real enough, also.

evil is not the obstruction of good, it is the willful turning away from the source of good. There is nothing obstructing us from the glory of God but our own willingness to listen to demons
Click to expand...
And yet:

The testament to this radical and seemingly foolish statement are the martyrs...
Click to expand...
The logic here is counterintuitive. In one hand, you're presenting the notion that Evil is relative and not a [transcendent] reality; that it is subjective to human nature and the depravity of the heart. And in the other hand, you're presenting the same argument to defend the existence of Good.

If I may ask - for some clarification: If Evil is nothing more to you than the turning away from Good, then how do you define what is Good? By this logic, couldn't Good be the polar opposite: the turning away from Evil?

God bless!
 
Kathleen

Kathleen

Senior Member
#7
Oct 13, 2009
3,570
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I view evil like this:

Darkness by definition: Is the partial or total absence of light.

Darkness is not such a 'something' but the lack of something.

In the same manner...

Evil is not so much a 'something' but it the result of a lack of God or Godliness.

Though I agree that it complicated etc...but I like explaining it like that...

When people ask me How I can believe in a God that creates or allows such evils (hitler..wars..droughts) etc....

I explain it to them in the way i did above. It is not so much that the world is full of evil, but empty of God.

-Kath
 
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NinJaGGS

Guest
#8
#8
Siberian_Khatru said:
There is a lot of truth to this response, and I appreciate what you're saying. The notion of Good and Evil are both real - relativeness aside. The actual existence of the two is seemingly real enough, also.



And yet:



The logic here is counterintuitive. In one hand, you're presenting the notion that Evil is relative and not a [transcendent] reality; that it is subjective to human nature and the depravity of the heart. And in the other hand, you're presenting the same argument to defend the existence of Good.

If I may ask - for some clarification: If Evil is nothing more to you than the turning away from Good, then how do you define what is Good? By this logic, couldn't Good be the polar opposite: the turning away from Evil?

God bless!
Click to expand...
Good transcends words... how can you define Good? St. Paul does a pretty good job... you know.. good report, beautiful, so on and so forth...
I don't like making evil the center of anything... making Good the turning away from evil makes it sound like evil was there first or something.
The potency of evil in the world doesn't speak to the strength of evil, but rather to the weakness of mankind. Angels even fell when they were separated from God by their choosing...
I guess my point in this whole thread is to argue with this undercurrent in society of spotlighting evil, like its something that deserves our attention, is really detrimental to our spiritual endeavors..

Today I was having a fit for hours.. angry, sad, ashamed, sad, angry, laughing, it was absolutely insane. I put evil in the spotlight.. look what it got me... it drove me crazy! So I speak from personal experience.... I don't think it is a good idea to ever indulge evil with the attention it wants.
 
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Siberian_Khatru

Guest
#9
#9
NinJaGGS said:
Good transcends words... how can you define Good? St. Paul does a pretty good job... you know.. good report, beautiful, so on and so forth...
I don't like making evil the center of anything... making Good the turning away from evil makes it sound like evil was there first or something.
The potency of evil in the world doesn't speak to the strength of evil, but rather to the weakness of mankind. Angels even fell when they were separated from God by their choosing...
I guess my point in this whole thread is to argue with this undercurrent in society of spotlighting evil, like its something that deserves our attention, is really detrimental to our spiritual endeavors..

Today I was having a fit for hours.. angry, sad, ashamed, sad, angry, laughing, it was absolutely insane. I put evil in the spotlight.. look what it got me... it drove me crazy! So I speak from personal experience.... I don't think it is a good idea to ever indulge evil with the attention it wants.
Click to expand...
Amen! And hopefully nothing in my post came across as defiant in logic or argumentative.

You know, American culture in particular is prevalent in glorifying evil - or at least, personifying it more often than good, it would seem. Good and Evil are inherent in everyone; it's sad to see the latter be more of a trend because of the influence pop culture/society invoke. :(
 
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Paulie079

Guest
#10
#10
I think evil is a very real thing as the Bible talks about it being that way. And contrary to what you said before, NinJaGGS, Satan is very strong. He was of the highest rank of all of the angels before he fell. In comparison to God, is he strong? Absolutely not. He has no power over us because of Jesus Christ. But that doesn't mean that he doesn't have strength.

The evil that we experience in this world is all wrapped up in sin or rebellion against God. Sin brings death, decay, pain, bondage, and suffering all flowing out of rebellion against God. It's very real, which is why we are so desperately in need of the full armor of God. This is something that I rarely think about and I'm beginning to discover that the more that I take spiritual warfare seriously, the more I can stand up against temptation, grow in my affections for Christ, and experience deep joy in Him.
 
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