Is God Responsible For The Evil In The World? No He Is Not.

[Lummy]

Because, with exception of a few things I would like to change about me, *I AM* perfect.

I've never met anyone who was perfect. Nice to meet you.

Well ... Wayne Newton maybe, but I never met him.

[Helena]

Your question is heading straight into The Problem Of Evil.
Read Old Eppie down there.
Then read very carefully Plantinga down there.
__________

The answer to your question in a nutshell is this:

You do not correctly understand the Biblical
doctrine of the Omnipotence {all-powerful} of God.
You are going to blame God for the mess we are in. That is
the substance of your question. Your point is that it was
God that set the rules and parameters ---and therefore it is
HE that is ultimately responsible for the human condition,
sin, evil, death, crimes, etc.
But you are incorrect in your assumption.
God's Omnipotence does not mean that He can do anything.

God cannot create square circles.

God cannot make 2 + 2 = 7.

God cannot give humans the Free Will to choose to either do
GOOD or EVIL and at the same time prevent humans from
choosing to do EVIL.

So?

So man, not God, is responsible for all the Evil in the world {and
natural disasters as explained up-thread.}

Moving from the philosophical to the more concrete --So what
about at the personal level?
■ If John 3:16 is true, humans have a major problem.

John 3:16 presents you with a clear choice:
{1}believe and get Eternal Life
{2} refuse to believe and perish



___________


Sayeth Epicurus:

“Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not Omnipotent.
Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent.
Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil?
Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?”__Epicurus

_____________

As Plantinga summarized his Free Will defense:[14]

"A world containing creatures who are significantly free (and freely
perform more good than evil actions) is more valuable, all else
being equal, than a world containing no free creatures at all.
Now God can create free creatures, but He can't cause or
determine them to do only what is right. For if He does so,
then they aren't significantly free after all; they do not do
what is right freely. To create creatures capable of moral
good, therefore, He must create creatures capable of
moral evil; and He can't give these creatures the freedom
to perform evil and at the same time prevent them from
doing so. As it turned out, sadly enough, some of the free
creatures God created went wrong in the exercise of their
freedom; this is the source of moral evil. The fact that free
creatures sometimes go wrong, however, counts neither
against God's omnipotence nor against His goodness; for
He could have forestalled the occurrence of moral evil only
by removing the possibility of moral good."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alvin_...urther_details

End quote.


JAG

Okay. Now what?

[Calypso Jones]

JAG Wrote:
Mankind, NOT God, is the cause of sin, evil, and
natural disasters in the world."

We are in the Religion department , , , so we're talking Faith here.

The Christian explanation is in the opening sentences of the OP.
God created the world perfect.
Man used his Free Will to choose the Sin Principle.
The Sin Principle brought The Curse upon the Earth.
The Curse upon the Earth brought natural disasters like:
Earthquakes
Floods
Tsunamis
Hurricanes

JAG Wrote:
Man's Free Will is responsible for all the evil in the would.
God created a perfect world.
God created perfect human beings.
God gave human beings a Free Will.
Human beings used their Free Will to choose to do evil.
Human beings choosing to do evil is the reason we have
natural disasters and evil in the world-- and the reason
we have The Curse upon the Earth."___JAG

Did God say it was Perfect...or did he say it was Good?

[Calypso Jones]

These atheists that claim there is no God, do they also claim that there is no anti-God named Satan?

[MisterVeritis]

The world is not perfect. The solar
system is not perfect. The galaxy
is not perfect. The universe is not perfect.

And you want to blame me?

Yeah you're part to blame, as are we all, for The Curse upon the Earth.

The Opening Post does not "get into" the imperfections of the Solar System, Galaxy, and
the Universe. They were created for a reason, and my view is one day they will be
inhabited by intelligent creatures. God has a Plan. His Plan is HUGE. I hope it includes
you. It may not. But its your choice. Revelation 3:20

You err. That is why you fail.

[MisterVeritis]

I've never met anyone who was perfect. Nice to meet you.

Well ... Wayne Newton maybe, but I never met him.

Any time.

[MisterVeritis]

These atheists that claim there is no God, do they also claim that there is no anti-God named Satan?

There are no gods no matter what names you give them.

[JAG]

Did God say it was Perfect...or did he say it was Good?

Good question.

He said it was good.

However , , ,

If "good" does not mean "perfect" then we have God creating man and a world that
was flawed BEFORE sin entered the picture.

That would mean that Adam and Eve were flawed BEFORE they sinned.

That would mean that God created Adam and Eve imperfect and then we
could reasonably speculate that it was NOT entirely the Free Will choice
of Adam and Eve that caused them to choose to sin --- we could reasonably
say that it was in part because of God creating them imperfect in the first place.

Are you sure you want to "go down that road"?

_____________

Of course, I realize you merely asked a question.

JAG

[JAG]

There are no gods no matter what names you give them.

That is more than you know.
Using know to mean 2 + 2 =4 -KNOW.
Know as in "I KNOW Chicago does exist."

You could not prove there is no God if you were offered $100,000,000, to do so.

And please spare me the , , ,

Easter Bunny
Santa Claus
Flying Spaghetti Monster
Fairies
Elves

, , thingy.

None of that Fairies-stuff has the same gravity as does the God that created this Universe which
requires an Intelligent Mind. There is no sane comparison between say Fairies and the
Intelligent Mind that designed this Universe. Nor can you prove that the Universe always existed.

Anyway, the correct position is "I have never seen any evidence yet that convinced me personally
that there is a God."

For you to say that you know there is no God, is a Faith position.

JAG

``

[MisterVeritis]

That is more than you know.
Using know to mean 2 + 2 =4 -KNOW.
Know as in "I KNOW Chicago does exist."

You could not prove there is no God if you were offered $100,000,000, to do so.

And please spare me the , , ,

Easter Bunny
Santa Claus
Flying Spaghetti Monster
Fairies
Elves

, , thingy.

None of that Fairies-stuff has the same gravity as does the God that created this Universe which
requires an Intelligent Mind. There is no sane comparison between say Fairies and the
Intelligent Mind that designed this Universe. Nor can you prove that the Universe always existed.

Anyway, the correct position is "I have never seen any evidence yet that convinced me personally
that there is a God."

For you to say that you know there is no God, is a Faith position.

JAG

``

It is not my job to prove there is no god. There are no gods. Have a nice day.