The balance between good and evil

[Azure24]

Can dark exist without light? can the strong exist without the weak? Can heat exist without cold? (but more to the point) Can Good exist without Evil? Since most Reigions have the idea of the creator being good could this mean that the create made Evil? And do you think as long as their is good, Evil can never truly be destroyed? Wgats your opinion?

[wil]

Can we imagine not having either of anything?

When we are developing photography, is light evil?

When we are trying to take the picture, is dark?

I don't think the analogy holds water, evil is totally dependent on the situation.

[juantoo3]

Ah! In the grand tradition of dualist thinking! May I present this:

Isaiah 45:6 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.

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

Also:

Isaiah 54:16 Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy.

Isaiah 54:17 No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.

-Both quotes from KJV, emphasis mine

[Dondi]

Originally Posted by juantoo3

Ah! In the grand tradition of dualist thinking! May I present this:



Also:

-Both quotes from KJV, emphasis mine

What do you think God meant in this passage about the word "evil"?

Certainly He couldn't have been talking about sin, for He is Holy and doesn't tempt man to sin. But couldn't he use the world "evil" in a destructive sense, as in allowing a natural disaster to occur or some misfortune to someone for the purpose of discipline or teaching or in a trial of faith as in the case of Job?

[juantoo3]

Kindest Regards, Dondi!

Originally Posted by Dondi

What do you think God meant in this passage about the word "evil"?

I have long taken it to mean the adversary, but in fairness that was an assumption on my part.

Certainly He couldn't have been talking about sin, for He is Holy and doesn't tempt man to sin. But couldn't he use the world "evil" in a destructive sense, as in allowing a natural disaster to occur or some misfortune to someone for the purpose of discipline or teaching or in a trial of faith as in the case of Job?

I don't know, what do you think? Natural disasters I think are a part of nature, not good or evil, just reality. How that impinges on human life may be another story, one I hadn't thought to pursue.

[wil]

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

Originally Posted by juantoo3

Natural disasters I think are a part of nature, not good or evil, just reality. How that impinges on human life may be another story, one I hadn't thought to pursue.

I read the evil as error thinking, bad judgement. Free will allows us jealousy, hatred, envy, deceit, all sorts of stuff we may deem as evil. As you indicated, in the creation stories G-d created this earth, which includes our tornadoes, earthquakes, snakes, scorpions....all the percieved bad/evil is part of the cleansing process of our earth. Death, leprosy, cancer, blindness also part of society it is no wonder the writers included the text.

The writers were trying to explain the unexplainable, and they did the best they could with the knowledge they had...and thousands of years later we are still doing the same thing.

[AletheiaRivers]

A friend of mine (online) who is a scholar of Hebrew and Greek had the following to say about Isaiah 45:7

That is the most cited verse supporting the contention of God creating “evil”. However...

Isaiah was juxtaposing opposites, light and darkness, crooked and straight and then “peace and evil? I give Isaiah a bit more credit than that. The two Hebrew words translated as “peace” and “evil” respectively, if given the meanings from their roots: “Shalowm” meaning “whole” and “ra’a” meaning ‘broken”, give us a completely different understanding of the verse.

It would read “I make whole and I break apart”.

Jesus says the same thing in John 12:47, “I have not come to divide the world, but to make the world whole”.

[juantoo3]

Kindest Regards, AletheiaRivers!

Originally Posted by AletheiaRivers

A friend of mine (online) who is a scholar of Hebrew and Greek had the following to say about Isaiah 45:7

Sounds to me like a pretty good friend. I like his interpretation.

[AletheiaRivers]

Originally Posted by juantoo3

Kindest Regards, AletheiaRivers!

Sounds to me like a pretty good friend. I like his interpretation.

I wish we were friends. More like very casual online acquaintances. "Friend" was shorter to write though.

He's very smart. You should hear some of the cool etymological stuff he's dug up on Genesis.

[juantoo3]

He's very smart. You should hear some of the cool etymological stuff he's dug up on Genesis.

Sounds interesting...