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From: ken@gitpyr.UUCP (Ken Hall)
Newsgroups: net.religion
Subject: Re: Why is there evil?
Message-ID: <352@gitpyr.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 15-Nov-84 10:04:29 EST
Article-I.D.: gitpyr.352
Posted: Thu Nov 15 10:04:29 1984
Date-Received: Fri, 16-Nov-84 06:41:01 EST
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Organization: Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA
Lines: 47

> > This is a basic problem... why did God put evil in the world.
> 
> Good question.  Both Judaism and Christianity claim that God did not "put"
> evil in the world; but it is abundantly clear that if He exists, he
> allows it to continue.
> 
> This a fundamental problem with both Judaism and Christianity, and doesn't
> appear to have any really satisfactory explanation which makes everybody
> happy.  I suggest, for starters, Harold Kushner's book _Why Bad Things
> Happen to Good People_.
> 
> I personally don't have an explanation.

Why is there evil?  A very good question that both Judaism and Christianity
answer.  I don't want to get too involved, as it is a very profound question;
but it does have an answer.

Many places in the Old Testament it says, to the effect,

	"Can there be evil in the world and God has not created it?"

or to put it as Isaiah said, 

	"God creates light and darkness,
	"He creates good and evil" (paraphrased)

Also, we have to realize that the Bible, Old and New Testament, put a very
great responsibility of evil upon all men and women.  I do not think I have
to quote Scripture here.

So, who is responsible for evil?  God.  Man.  Or the devil. 

My opinion is, and I'll admit that it is shortsighted at best, but from what
I know about the Scriptures, etc, etc, I think that man is the cause of evil,
yet God allows or permits man to do evil, and God also allows or permits
satan to do evil; but God allows evil to exist for a GOOD reason.  It has to
be for a good reason since God is all-good and all-loving.  It could be no
other way.  $$But catch this:  God takes the responsibility of evil upon 
Himself, knowing that man cannot deal with it by himself, and He comes into
this world in the form of a man in order to destroy evil or to kill evil or
to nullify evil in this world.

I know this is very simplified, and that words are not the best way to
understand such things, but I offer this short blurb and a beginning to
understand this thing called "evil".

Ken Hall