Where Does Sin Come From?

[newton3003]

The Bible tells us that God is good. People have asked, ‘If God, who is the creator of all things, a God of goodness, then where does evil like sin come from? After all, God, who is goodness, wouldn’t be the author of evil, would he?’

We can almost stop right there, and say, ‘God wouldn’t create sin, which is evil.’ But some may have a hard time reconciling God, whom they believe to have creating everything, for does it not say in GENESIS 1:1 “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth”? with the idea that God did not create sin.

There is no question that God created the heavens and the earth. But then, what constitutes the heavens and the earth? It would appear, from reading the Bible, that God did not create the angels around him, including Satan. One clue to that may be in Genesis 3: 22 in which God says, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil.” Arguably it could be said that God created the angels, but Genesis does say that. It merely says that God “created the heavens and the earth.” More plausible is that God and the angels existed before He created the heavens and the earth. Which brings us to Satan.

Satan is an angel, albeit an angel of evil. He first makes his appearance in the Bible in the form of a serpent, inducing Adam and Eve in Genesis 3 to eat from the Tree of Good and Evil. How or why he ended up on earth, the Bible doesn’t say. It is believed by some that God threw him out of Heaven after He created Heaven. In any event, Satan makes Adam and Eve do something that God forbade them to do, and inasmuch as evil is defined as anything which is not good, and God is good, then to disobey God would be to commit the evil of sin, Satan induced them to sin. Jesus in John 8:44 acknowledges the power of Satan to exert sin on others, when, in addressing those who were determined to kill him he says, “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him…” Needless to say, it is a sin to murder.

When God created Adam and Eve, He gave us a mission in Genesis 1:26 to “have dominion over…all the earth.” Well, the earth includes Satan, so we have been given a mission to, among other things, overcome the evil in the world which Satan encourages.

From Genesis to the arrival of Jesus, this has been a hard battle, such that by the time Jesus makes his appearance, it became apparent that God felt that evil stood a good chance of overcoming the goodness in the world. In other words, he must have felt that had we been left to our own devices, every city in the world would be like Sodom and Gomorrah, and full of people like the Ninevans who went against God in the way they acted.

But with the arrival of Jesus, as it is written in John 3: 16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave his only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life,” since it says in EZEKIEL 18: 20, “The soul who sins shall die,” God gives us hope for our salvation.

So, contrary to what some people may believe, God did not create sin; sin was already in existence, in the form of Satan, at the time that God created the heavens and the earth.

 

[MattforJesus]

Eze 28:14 Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.
Eze 28:15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.

Satan was created perfect in his ways without sin, but he rebelled and sinned.

Ecc 7:28 Which yet my soul seeketh, but I find not: one man among a thousand have I found; but a woman among all those have I not found.
Ecc 7:29 Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.

People were made upright to do good, but they sought out their own ways, which we are born innocent with no sin on our record until we sin, which all humans will do.

God created everything good, but the evil came from the fallen angels, and rebellious people.

Isa 45:7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

The Bible says God did create evil, but this is not directly for He created all things good, but the fallen angels and people have sinned, which is a result of God creating everything, so it comes from His creation but He did not do it directly by His Spirit.

Jas 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:
Jas 1:14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.

 

[Ugly]

The Bible tells us that God is good. People have asked, ‘If God, who is the creator of all things, a God of goodness, then where does evil like sin come from? After all, God, who is goodness, wouldn’t be the author of evil, would he?’

We can almost stop right there, and say, ‘God wouldn’t create sin, which is evil.’ But some may have a hard time reconciling God, whom they believe to have creating everything, for does it not say in GENESIS 1:1 “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth”? with the idea that God did not create sin.

There is no question that God created the heavens and the earth. But then, what constitutes the heavens and the earth? It would appear, from reading the Bible, that God did not create the angels around him, including Satan. One clue to that may be in Genesis 3: 22 in which God says, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil.” Arguably it could be said that God created the angels, but Genesis does say that. It merely says that God “created the heavens and the earth.” More plausible is that God and the angels existed before He created the heavens and the earth. Which brings us to Satan.

Satan is an angel, albeit an angel of evil. He first makes his appearance in the Bible in the form of a serpent, inducing Adam and Eve in Genesis 3 to eat from the Tree of Good and Evil. How or why he ended up on earth, the Bible doesn’t say. It is believed by some that God threw him out of Heaven after He created Heaven. In any event, Satan makes Adam and Eve do something that God forbade them to do, and inasmuch as evil is defined as anything which is not good, and God is good, then to disobey God would be to commit the evil of sin, Satan induced them to sin. Jesus in John 8:44 acknowledges the power of Satan to exert sin on others, when, in addressing those who were determined to kill him he says, “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him…” Needless to say, it is a sin to murder.

When God created Adam and Eve, He gave us a mission in Genesis 1:26 to “have dominion over…all the earth.” Well, the earth includes Satan, so we have been given a mission to, among other things, overcome the evil in the world which Satan encourages.

From Genesis to the arrival of Jesus, this has been a hard battle, such that by the time Jesus makes his appearance, it became apparent that God felt that evil stood a good chance of overcoming the goodness in the world. In other words, he must have felt that had we been left to our own devices, every city in the world would be like Sodom and Gomorrah, and full of people like the Ninevans who went against God in the way they acted.

But with the arrival of Jesus, as it is written in John 3: 16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave his only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life,” since it says in EZEKIEL 18: 20, “The soul who sins shall die,” God gives us hope for our salvation.

So, contrary to what some people may believe, God did not create sin; sin was already in existence, in the form of Satan, at the time that God created the heavens and the earth.

Convoluted and sloppy.
If God created satan and satan is the existence of sin, then God created sin. You actually just proved the opposite of what you're speaking against. At least within the faulty confines of your logic.
And, really, you didn't prove God didn't create sin simply because satan existed before the earth. The existence of sin and the time of the creation of earth are separate and unrelated and cannot be used to prove your point.
What you did prove was sin existed before the earth, but, again, saying that is zero evidence of whether or not God created sin.

A more formidable argument for the notion of God creating sin would be that if God knew the outcome and chose to set in motion the creations and events that would lead up to it then he indirectly created sin.
Without the creation of satan satan would not have sinned. That is indirect creation of sin, regardless of humanity and earthly creation.
Yet when we add humanity into the mix with the belief God knew ahead of time how sin would spread and the misery and horrific atrocities it would bring, we can then say God is responsible for the spread of sin.
If God knew ahead of time all of the horrendous outcomes of certain creations and created them anyways we could conclude that God is responsible. And if he did this with foreknowledge he could not be viewed as loving or holy. And if he is not those things he is not the God the bible teaches he is.
Or we assume he made these creations without foreknowledge and this, again, removes him from the claim of Godhood he makes in the bible.
God either knew the horrors to come and created anyways, an unloving and unholy act, or he didn't know and exaggerates his power and capacities for the sake of self glorification. Either outcome removes him from being the God shown in the bible.

See, that's how logic works. Not whatever that mess you did is.

 

[newton3003]

Convoluted and sloppy.
If God created satan and satan is the existence of sin, then God created sin. You actually just proved the opposite of what you're speaking against. At least within the faulty confines of your logic.
And, really, you didn't prove God didn't create sin simply because satan existed before the earth. The existence of sin and the time of the creation of earth are separate and unrelated and cannot be used to prove your point.
What you did prove was sin existed before the earth, but, again, saying that is zero evidence of whether or not God created sin.

A more formidable argument for the notion of God creating sin would be that if God knew the outcome and chose to set in motion the creations and events that would lead up to it then he indirectly created sin.
Without the creation of satan satan would not have sinned. That is indirect creation of sin, regardless of humanity and earthly creation.
Yet when we add humanity into the mix with the belief God knew ahead of time how sin would spread and the misery and horrific atrocities it would bring, we can then say God is responsible for the spread of sin.
If God knew ahead of time all of the horrendous outcomes of certain creations and created them anyways we could conclude that God is responsible. And if he did this with foreknowledge he could not be viewed as loving or holy. And if he is not those things he is not the God the bible teaches he is.
Or we assume he made these creations without foreknowledge and this, again, removes him from the claim of Godhood he makes in the bible.
God either knew the horrors to come and created anyways, an unloving and unholy act, or he didn't know and exaggerates his power and capacities for the sake of self glorification. Either outcome removes him from being the God shown in the bible.

See, that's how logic works. Not whatever that mess you did is.

> If God created satan

***The Bible doesn’t say that God created Satan.

> The existence of sin and the time of the creation of earth are separate and unrelated…

***Riight. The Bible doesn’t say that God created Satan.

>What you did prove was sin existed before the earth, but, again, saying that is zero evidence of whether or not God created sin.

***All I know is that the Bible doesn’t say that God created Satan, the father of sin.

> A more formidable argument…See, that's how logic works. Not whatever that mess you did is

***You’re trying to argue with logic. I’m merely reflecting what the Bible says and doesn’t say. And God doesn’t want us to try to understand Him, inasmuch as Proverbs 3:5 says to trust in God with all your heart and do not lean on your understanding.

I trust in God, the creator of all that is good, as many passages in the Bible have reflected that. And as 2 Timothy 3:16 says that all scripture is breathed out from God, and nowhere in the Bible does God say he created Satan, then I trust that God did not create Satan the father of sin and therefore He did not create sin.

If the Bible said we can lean on our own understanding, you and I can debate this forever.

 

[pjharrison]

The Bible tells us that God is good. People have asked, ‘If God, who is the creator of all things, a God of goodness, then where does evil like sin come from? After all, God, who is goodness, wouldn’t be the author of evil, would he?’

We can almost stop right there, and say, ‘God wouldn’t create sin, which is evil.’ But some may have a hard time reconciling God, whom they believe to have creating everything, for does it not say in GENESIS 1:1 “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth”? with the idea that God did not create sin.

There is no question that God created the heavens and the earth. But then, what constitutes the heavens and the earth? It would appear, from reading the Bible, that God did not create the angels around him, including Satan. One clue to that may be in Genesis 3: 22 in which God says, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil.” Arguably it could be said that God created the angels, but Genesis does say that. It merely says that God “created the heavens and the earth.” More plausible is that God and the angels existed before He created the heavens and the earth. Which brings us to Satan.

Satan is an angel, albeit an angel of evil. He first makes his appearance in the Bible in the form of a serpent, inducing Adam and Eve in Genesis 3 to eat from the Tree of Good and Evil. How or why he ended up on earth, the Bible doesn’t say. It is believed by some that God threw him out of Heaven after He created Heaven. In any event, Satan makes Adam and Eve do something that God forbade them to do, and inasmuch as evil is defined as anything which is not good, and God is good, then to disobey God would be to commit the evil of sin, Satan induced them to sin. Jesus in John 8:44 acknowledges the power of Satan to exert sin on others, when, in addressing those who were determined to kill him he says, “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him…” Needless to say, it is a sin to murder.

When God created Adam and Eve, He gave us a mission in Genesis 1:26 to “have dominion over…all the earth.” Well, the earth includes Satan, so we have been given a mission to, among other things, overcome the evil in the world which Satan encourages.

From Genesis to the arrival of Jesus, this has been a hard battle, such that by the time Jesus makes his appearance, it became apparent that God felt that evil stood a good chance of overcoming the goodness in the world. In other words, he must have felt that had we been left to our own devices, every city in the world would be like Sodom and Gomorrah, and full of people like the Ninevans who went against God in the way they acted.

But with the arrival of Jesus, as it is written in John 3: 16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave his only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life,” since it says in EZEKIEL 18: 20, “The soul who sins shall die,” God gives us hope for our salvation.

So, contrary to what some people may believe, God did not create sin; sin was already in existence, in the form of Satan, at the time that God created the heavens and the earth.

Isaiah 45: 6-7
6 That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the Lord, and there is none else.
7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things.
God gave us a soul, spirit and a body. Sin comes from the soul. I believe that it doesn't matter that Adam and Eve ate from the tree of good and evil. I believe soon as they would have disobeyed anything that God told them not to do, sin would have enter the world. It just happen to be eating from a tree he told them not too. The soul fights against the spirit, because the soul wants to control. Sin came in because they disobeyed. I think it would have happened sooner are later anyway. God knew they would disobey.
Genesis 2:17 17but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.

 

[newton3003]

Isaiah 45: 6-7
6 That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the Lord, and there is none else.
7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things.
God gave us a soul, spirit and a body. Sin comes from the soul. I believe that it doesn't matter that Adam and Eve ate from the tree of good and evil. I believe soon as they would have disobeyed anything that God told them not to do, sin would have enter the world. It just happen to be eating from a tree he told them not too. The soul fights against the spirit, because the soul wants to control. Sin came in because they disobeyed. I think it would have happened sooner are later anyway. God knew they would disobey.
Genesis 2:17 17but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.

***From Isaiah 45:7 (ESV) I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the LORD, who does all these things.

From Isaiah 45:7 (NIV) I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the LORD, do all these things.

No mention of evil in these passages. To be sure, the following is from
https://www.gotquestions.org/Isaiah-45-7.html

Question: "Why does Isaiah 45:7 say that God created evil?"

Answer: Isaiah 45:7 in the King James Version reads, “I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.” How does Isaiah 45:7 agree with the view that God did not create evil? There are two key facts that need to be considered. (1) The word translated “evil” is from a Hebrew word that means “adversity, affliction, calamity, distress, misery.” Notice how the other major English Bible translations render the word: “disaster” (NIV, HCSB), “calamity” (NKJV, NAS, ESV), and “woe” (NRSV). The Hebrew word can refer to moral evil, and often does have this meaning in the Hebrew Scriptures. However, due to the diversity of possible definitions, it is unwise to assume that “I create evil” in Isaiah 45:7 refers to God bringing moral evil into existence.

 

[pjharrison]

***From Isaiah 45:7 (ESV) I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the LORD, who does all these things.

From Isaiah 45:7 (NIV) I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the LORD, do all these things.

No mention of evil in these passages. To be sure, the following is from
https://www.gotquestions.org/Isaiah-45-7.html

Question: "Why does Isaiah 45:7 say that God created evil?"

Answer: Isaiah 45:7 in the King James Version reads, “I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.” How does Isaiah 45:7 agree with the view that God did not create evil? There are two key facts that need to be considered. (1) The word translated “evil” is from a Hebrew word that means “adversity, affliction, calamity, distress, misery.” Notice how the other major English Bible translations render the word: “disaster” (NIV, HCSB), “calamity” (NKJV, NAS, ESV), and “woe” (NRSV). The Hebrew word can refer to moral evil, and often does have this meaning in the Hebrew Scriptures. However, due to the diversity of possible definitions, it is unwise to assume that “I create evil” in Isaiah 45:7 refers to God bringing moral evil into existence.

Well, what does these mean? adversity, affliction, calamity, distress, misery. Are they not a form of evil?

 

[jimd]

You cant have an up without a down, in the same way you cannot have good without bad. God created the concept of good and bad but we actualize them and if we could understand satan is a metaphor for the man of flesh we could understand the righteous man is a man of the Spirit.

 

[newton3003]

Well, what does these mean? adversity, affliction, calamity, distress, misery. Are they not a form of evil?

***These are what God used in the Flood, Sodom, Gomorrah, Egypt, and enemies of the Hebrews, to rid the world of evil. Is that evil to do so?

 

[pjharrison]

***These are what God used in the Flood, Sodom, Gomorrah, Egypt, and enemies of the Hebrews, to rid the world of evil. Is that evil to do so?

Well, and God did create the tree of good and Evil. So yes he did create Evil.

 

[DudleyDorite]

***From Isaiah 45:7 (ESV) I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the LORD, who does all these things.

From Isaiah 45:7 (NIV) I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the LORD, do all these things.

No mention of evil in these passages. To be sure, the following is from
https://www.gotquestions.org/Isaiah-45-7.html

Question: "Why does Isaiah 45:7 say that God created evil?"

Answer: Isaiah 45:7 in the King James Version reads, “I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.” How does Isaiah 45:7 agree with the view that God did not create evil? There are two key facts that need to be considered. (1) The word translated “evil” is from a Hebrew word that means “adversity, affliction, calamity, distress, misery.” Notice how the other major English Bible translations render the word: “disaster” (NIV, HCSB), “calamity” (NKJV, NAS, ESV), and “woe” (NRSV). The Hebrew word can refer to moral evil, and often does have this meaning in the Hebrew Scriptures. However, due to the diversity of possible definitions, it is unwise to assume that “I create evil” in Isaiah 45:7 refers to God bringing moral evil into existence.

"Gotquestions" is better than it use to be. Several years ago I emailed them and showed them what appeared to be a major blunder on one of their pages and they corrected it. I'm not convinced about their take on Isaiah 45:7.

The interlinear I use as well as Strong's defines the word "ro or ra" as evil or bad. Looking at the word "create" it implies "of new conditions and circumstances." The way I interpret this is by creating "free willed beings" God has created the conditions and propensity for evil by creating these "free willed beings" like humans and angels. IOW-

Evil is the result of creating free willed beings capable of doing evil.

I have to disagree with' gotquestions' on this one. They are much better than they were 4-5 years ago.

 

[Dooms]

God is innocent of evil. He has endeavored to help us in this world by bending backwards to hear him through Jesus Christ. Sin is a creation of the rebel angel Lucifer.

God did indeed create Lucifer, the "dawn's star". But he did not create him to rebel. He was given every chance to repent for it's ways. And it rejected them for the short term chance to indulge in becoming a tyrant in our world. Which is why Jesus came to seperate the wicked from the righteous for a time.

As far as the relationship between blameless God and His rebel creation goes, well I suppose that will be between them. As far as me and in the context of this world, we are called to suffer the rejection of mammon until the end of this age with Lord Jesus, the Redeemer of Men.

 

[jb]

Sin has no existence by itself, and was not created by God, who created all things. It is simply a possible attitude of soul, and its existence depends solely upon the will of the sinner. If all sinners repented all sin would disappear: it is only the eternal refusal of sinners to repent which will keep sin in eternal existence. God is in no way responsible for it: He has created free wills, but not evil wills, as some theologians have stated, thus making God the Author of evil. Sin was the child of the first Will which chose evil, although the possibility, but not the actuality of it, lay dormant in the freedom of the will: but sin has no separate existence by itself: it is only a possible attitude of will, leading to sinful actions of body.

 

[trofimus]

Evil can be:

a) physical (pain, suffering)
b) metaphysical (imperfection, limited knowledge -> mistakes, limited ability etc.)
c) moral (sin)

Moral evil (sin) comes from our evil inclinations mixed with either a weak will (you loose the struggle) or from a corrupted will (you want to sin).

 

[pjharrison]

Sin has no existence by itself, and was not created by God, who created all things. It is simply a possible attitude of soul, and its existence depends solely upon the will of the sinner. If all sinners repented all sin would disappear: it is only the eternal refusal of sinners to repent which will keep sin in eternal existence. God is in no way responsible for it: He has created free wills, but not evil wills, as some theologians have stated, thus making God the Author of evil. Sin was the child of the first Will which chose evil, although the possibility, but not the actuality of it, lay dormant in the freedom of the will: but sin has no separate existence by itself: it is only a possible attitude of will, leading to sinful actions of body.

Everything created came out of God. So he also created sin.

 

[newton3003]

Everything created came out of God. So he also created sin.

Where in the Bible does it say that Bog created everything? No mention of Him creating Satan or his angels. Satan is the father of evil, as Jesus inferred, and sin is a tool of evil.

 

[Endoscopy]

Convoluted and sloppy.
If God created satan and satan is the existence of sin, then God created sin. You actually just proved the opposite of what you're speaking against. At least within the faulty confines of your logic.
And, really, you didn't prove God didn't create sin simply because satan existed before the earth. The existence of sin and the time of the creation of earth are separate and unrelated and cannot be used to prove your point.
What you did prove was sin existed before the earth, but, again, saying that is zero evidence of whether or not God created sin.

A more formidable argument for the notion of God creating sin would be that if God knew the outcome and chose to set in motion the creations and events that would lead up to it then he indirectly created sin.
Without the creation of satan satan would not have sinned. That is indirect creation of sin, regardless of humanity and earthly creation.
Yet when we add humanity into the mix with the belief God knew ahead of time how sin would spread and the misery and horrific atrocities it would bring, we can then say God is responsible for the spread of sin.
If God knew ahead of time all of the horrendous outcomes of certain creations and created them anyways we could conclude that God is responsible. And if he did this with foreknowledge he could not be viewed as loving or holy. And if he is not those things he is not the God the bible teaches he is.
Or we assume he made these creations without foreknowledge and this, again, removes him from the claim of Godhood he makes in the bible.
God either knew the horrors to come and created anyways, an unloving and unholy act, or he didn't know and exaggerates his power and capacities for the sake of self glorification. Either outcome removes him from being the God shown in the bible.

See, that's how logic works. Not whatever that mess you did is.

You confuse God allowing free will with him causing sin to exist. How would God prevent sin from taking place? He would have to put in man a sin prevention mandate forcing the man to be unable to sin!! Kind of like a robot. That most likely would create anger in him. Also God wants man to willingly come to him.

 

[trofimus]

Where in the Bible does it say that Bog created everything? No mention of Him creating Satan or his angels. Satan is the father of evil, as Jesus inferred, and sin is a tool of evil.

All things came into being through Him, and without Him not even one thing came into being that has come into being.
J 1:3

For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.
Col 1:16

 

[pjharrison]

Where in the Bible does it say that Bog created everything? No mention of Him creating Satan or his angels. Satan is the father of evil, as Jesus inferred, and sin is a tool of evil.

In the beginning he created the HEAVEN and the earth. He created the angels or why else would God call them sons.

 

[trofimus]

In the beginning he created the HEAVEN and the earth. He created the angels or why else would God call them sons.

Where does God call angels "sons"? They are created from nothing, not begotten from God.