Mr. EZ

"It is a counterfeit love that is contingent upon authority, punishment, or reward. True love is respect and admiration, compassion and kindness, freely given by a healthy, unafraid human being."

If "God did not create evil" then what of the following?
 
Isaiah 45:7
I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.
 
Exodus 32:14
And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.
 
Joshua 23:15
Therefore it shall come to pass, that as all good things are come upon you, which the LORD your God promised you; so shall the LORD bring upon you all evil things.
 
Judges 9:23
Then God sent an evil spirit
 
1 Samuel 16:14
But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him.
 
2 Samuel 12:11
Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house
 
1 Kings 9:9
...therefore hath the LORD brought upon them all this evil.
 
1 Kings 14:10 
Therefore, behold, I will bring evil upon the house of Jeroboam

2 Kings 6:33 ...Behold, this evil is of the LORD;

2 Kings 21:12 Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Behold, I am bringing such evil upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whosoever heareth of it, both his ears shall tingle.

2 Kings 22:16 Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place

2 Chronicles 34:24 Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof...

Nehemiah 13:18 Did not your fathers thus, and did not our God bring all this evil upon us, and upon this city?

Jeremiah 4:6 Set up the standard toward Zion: retire, stay not: for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction.

Jeremiah 6:19 Hear, O earth: behold, I will bring evil upon this people

Jeremiah 11:11 Therefore thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon them

Jeremiah 25:29 For, lo, I begin to bring evil

Jeremiah 35:17 Therefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring upon Judah and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evil that I have pronounced against them:

Jeremiah 44:2 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Ye have seen all the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, and upon all the cities of Judah

Jeremiah 45:5 ...behold, I will bring evil upon all flesh, saith the LORD:

Jeremiah 49:37 ...I will bring evil upon them, even my fierce anger, saith the LORD; and I will send the sword after them, till I have consumed them:

Micah 1:12 .... evil came down from the LORD

Micah 2:3 Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, against this family do I devise an evil

Exodus 22:29-30 "You shall not delay to offer from the fullness of your harvest and from the outflow of your presses. The first-born of your sons you shall give to me. You shall do likewise with your oxen and with your sheep: seven days it shall be with its dam; on the eighth day you shall give it to me.”

Ezekiel 20:25-26 Moreover I gave them statutes that were not good and ordinances by which they could not have life; and I defiled them through their very gifts in making them offer by fire all their first-born, that I might horrify them; I did it that they might know that I am the LORD.”


"It is a counterfeit love that is contingent upon authority, punishment, or reward. True love is respect and admiration, compassion and kindness, freely given by a healthy, unafraid human being."

BigMike Loc: yerington nv

Indeed! God did all those things. He created a perfect universe. Put man in it. Gave man the ability to choose. Built consequence into the universe and hey! Here we are. No use blaming God for what we would have done regardless. That's my motto.

Mr. EZ

God blamed himself. Please re-read the Scripture that I provided.

BigMike Loc: yerington nv

Not necessary. The book Of Job begins with God bringing Job to Satan's attention and then a description of all God allowed Satan to put Job through. Saul was tormented by "an evil spirit from God'. There's no question God is large and in charge and nothing can happen unless He allows it to happen. If you have questions about why bad things happen you might read C. S. Lewis's A Severe Mercy. You might also read his book The Great Divorce. They're both short and to the point. The Great Divorce is actually an allegory, like Lewis's children's books. They explain very well why bad things happen and why people voluntarily do things that have bad consequences.

As far as God blaming Himself...that's a very incomplete description.

Mr. EZ

God made us and created evil. Who else to blame, if it is real?

Mr. EZ

There is a Samaritan Law in a number of states. Essentially this law states that if you allow harm to come to another individual that was within your power to avert, intercede, or prevent such harm, you are accountable. How is God doing?

BigMike Loc: yerington nv

God did not create evil. He merely made evil possible by giving us the power to choose our will rather than His. Interestingly, the Hebrew word most commonly translated as "sin" in our English bilbles, at its root means "miss the mark", which is an archery term. Sin is when we fail to hit the bull's-eye.

BigMike Loc: yerington nv

How do you know God doesn't avert tragedy for millions of people every day despite their best efforts to destroy themselves? You sound like you're trying to blame God for the bad things that we do. You're also judging Him from a child's perspective...which is what we all are. Are you asking these questions out of a desire to know, or have you made up your mind?

C. S. Lewis wrote a very short allegory called The Great Divorce. It's the story of a group of people who take a bus trip from hell to heaven, what happened when they met the people who lived there and why many of them chose to go back.