Why does God allow evil?

[eddieb]

Deu 30:19 I call Heaven and earth to record today against you. I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore, choose life, so that both you and your seed may live,
Deu 30:20 so that you may love Jehovah your God, and that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him. For He is your life and the length of your days, so that you may dwell in the land which Jehovah swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give it to them.

thats the mkjv.

 

[jiggyfly]

This was the part I was focusing on when I was stating my agreement. I honestly thought I had quoted that selected text.

Ok I think I got it straight now:wink:

So you don't agree with the "God doesn't allow evil" part. Glad to hear that brother

 

[Boanerges]

Well if He does not allow evil it simply cannot happen.

 

[paganmystic]

So God does not allow evil, we choose it, nor is He restricted from interfering. If God interferes He will remove the choice we have; To follow Him or not.

jiggyfly please do not take my posts out of context. You appear to have an issue with me. Why? Who knows.

That statement I made goes to the heart of the question that this thread raised; "Why does God allow evil?"

Boanerges agreed with the whole statement, I presented, not part of it.

Exactly, God created good and evil so that we may choose. No one wants the object of their love to have to come to them but rather to want to come to them.

pay particular attention to the underlined part.... this explains "Exactly"

It is really easy to twist others motives when you chop up a quote and try to put them on the spot.

So are we now saying that it is not in God's power or ability to control, stop or prevent evil?

... This statement was also out of place, because absolutely nothing said by either of us allow any credibility for it.

 

[Boanerges]

Agreeing with some of what someone said is common is it not.
No offense PM but God does seem to offer us choice:

Deu 30:19 I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:

Jos 24:15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

 

[paganmystic]

Yes, I do understand that. That is actually what I took this thread for. Almost everyday I deal with this question, at work, at home and in the community. That is why I used the quotes I did, they are self explanatory that is what I had addressed.

I also understand not everyone agrees on everything either... that would make for quite a boring life (ROFL). That is why making full quotes becomes so important. If God wanted to end evil and suffering He could with just with a thought, but that will remove all choice, and as you said, He wants us to come to Him willingly, and our day to day lives affirms the choices we make to that end.

Have a blessed day... your brother in Christ.

 

[eddieb]

havent we all done "evil" to some degree. God gave us free will. the purpose of free will is so we can CHOOSE the Lord. he wants to spend eternity with people who love and cherish Him and His ways. His righteousness.
when we become saved we automaticly(sometimes) have a preconcieved notion that every body has seen the light to the degree that we have.

Isa 54:16 Behold, I have created the smith who blows the coals in the fire, and who brings out a tool for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy.

in the niv it says it is I who have created the destroyer to work havoc.

faith needs oposition to grow. but most importantly in a war there will only be one side thats victorious. God uses the foolish things of this world to confound the wise. man and the destroyers wisdom thought that if Jesus died on the cross he would loose. but He didnt loose. He overcame all life and death. even the grave. and now is risen and given a seat of honor in eternity. He alows it because He is mighty. because He is Almighty. and He will defeat the evil one once and for all. and he will reign forever and ever. its all His glory. and he will have it.
how blessed are we to be able to CHOOSE to be apart of it.
praise Jesus. Praise The Most High God. not the storms or the mountians are to big for Him. he is conquor and LORD OF ALL!!!

 

[jiggyfly]

jiggyfly please do not take my posts out of context. You appear to have an issue with me. Why? Who knows.

That statement I made goes to the heart of the question that this thread raised; "Why does God allow evil?"

Boanerges agreed with the whole statement, I presented, not part of it.



pay particular attention to the underlined part.... this explains "Exactly"

It is really easy to twist others motives when you chop up a quote and try to put them on the spot.

... This statement was also out of place, because absolutely nothing said by either of us allow any credibility for it.

What a ludicrous post, I am sorry but I am failing to see where I twisted anything you said. If there is clearly point it out by using copy/paste method.

 

[paganmystic]

Boanerges how can I possibly be offended when I originally posted, that we were given the choice... lol. I used Adam & Eve but even Jesus gave us the choice to follow Him or not.

It is most unfortunate though, that some choose to shred another point, in what appears to be an attempt to discredit it. Here is the case in point:

Yes, I did say, "So God does not allow evil" but I did clarify what I was getting at, which was omitted from the quote string made by jiggyfly. That clarification is, "we choose it, nor is He restricted from interfering" which is why I said his (jiggyfly's) statement, "So are we now saying that it is not in God's power or ability to control, stop or prevent evil?" The question simply doesn't make sense because of what I have underlined, in the above quote fragment. (nor is He restricted) very clearly states that evil is not only in His ability to control but to utterly eliminate. Thus, your point that God created everything including the tempter, temptation itself and all the evil that goes with it.

I then concluded with, which again brings us back to our ability to choose, "If God interferes He will remove the choice we have; To follow Him or not." That will take us back to the way I started my original reply to this thread. "God does not allow evil, our gift of choice is what allows us to follow after evil." God wants us to follow after Him, in the person of Jesus, who lived a life free of sin, He lived that life in a way we all can, again only if we choose to. Mind you, we will never be free of sin (lol) because good people do evil things too, that is why we have the Spirit in our heart, as both a comforter and a teacher. So stated that way, it becomes easy to understand my statement. Providing you look at the entire statement not just a part of it.

This should appease jiggyfly's request about being specific about how my post got twisted. He later clarified that himself as well with is attempt to discredit me when he posted this:

So you don't agree with the "God doesn't allow evil" part. Glad to hear that brother

jiggyfly's request; What a ludicrous post, I am sorry but I am failing to see where I twisted anything you said. If there is clearly point it out by using copy/paste method.

 

[jiggyfly]

Boanerges how can I possibly be offended when I originally posted, that we were given the choice... lol. I used Adam & Eve but even Jesus gave us the choice to follow Him or not.

It is most unfortunate though, that some choose to shred another point, in what appears to be an attempt to discredit it. Here is the case in point:

Yes, I did say, "So God does not allow evil" but I did clarify what I was getting at, which was omitted from the quote string made by jiggyfly. That clarification is, "we choose it, nor is He restricted from interfering" which is why I said his (jiggyfly's) statement, "So are we now saying that it is not in God's power or ability to control, stop or prevent evil?" The question simply doesn't make sense because of what I have underlined, in the above quote fragment. (nor is He restricted) very clearly states that evil is not only in His ability to control but to utterly eliminate. Thus, your point that God created everything including the tempter, temptation itself and all the evil that goes with it.

I then concluded with, which again brings us back to our ability to choose, "If God interferes He will remove the choice we have; To follow Him or not." That will take us back to the way I started my original reply to this thread. "God does not allow evil, our gift of choice is what allows us to follow after evil." God wants us to follow after Him, in the person of Jesus, who lived a life free of sin, He lived that life in a way we all can, again only if we choose to. Mind you, we will never be free of sin (lol) because good people do evil things too, that is why we have the Spirit in our heart, as both a comforter and a teacher. So stated that way, it becomes easy to understand my statement. Providing you look at the entire statement not just a part of it.

This should appease jiggyfly's request about being specific about how my post got twisted. He later clarified that himself as well with is attempt to discredit me when he posted this:

jiggyfly's request; What a ludicrous post, I am sorry but I am failing to see where I twisted anything you said. If there is clearly point it out by using copy/paste method.

I quoted you exactly, nothing was twisted so I suggest you drop it, you were wrong, it happens to everyone, just move on.

 

[jiggyfly]

My apologies to you Paganmystic, I asked the mods to revue this thread and see if I was in error here and they helped me to see my mistake. I think I see the point you were trying to make and agree somewhat with you just like Boanerges.

Now here is my opinion, I agree we must choose and of course it is allowed by God but in the same manner as God allows our choice He also allows evil, this is how persecution comes to those who are serving Christ. We choose what is right or what is good but evil still comes against us and God allows it.

Again my apologies to you PM and to anyone else that I have confused.:wink:

 

[paganmystic]

Thank you jiggyfly that does mean more to me than you know.

In a blog comment, I mentioned that for me, to write threads are very difficult because they all carry the same theme, the need to live according to what Jesus taught, during His life. I have strived to conduct my life that way for over 30 years. I have never re-interpreted the Gospel only used that Gospel's entries that applied to what was discussed which make them more testamonies to what it means to have Christ in my life.

That simple fact is what causes more confusion in what I write than my name, since one of my first posts was about that specifically. No, more so than not it is the way I believe that creates the issues simply because in a hopeless society the Gospel becomes more theory than an actual way of life, which should be wrong. Like I said, I think it was to GraceAlone, I cannot harbour any ill-will toward anyone, no one has been able to say or do anything to shake me off that foundation, forgiveness is as natural as my prayers that include them.

I will have a request though, that I will pm you about again thank you.

May you always be well in the Will of our Lord.

 

[Giggles4God]

As I read some and scanned some over the thread I wanted to share with you something.

This is how I see the choice thing.

In the beginning, there was God-Creator, Father, etc.

God created all things. The human being being the last thing. He created man from the dust and woman from out of man.

There was a time when it was just God and His children. And God had told Adam (who was to tell Eve) NOT to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge Good and Evil. But we know what happened.

Then, God came calling to His children. "Where are you? Why are you where you are?"

Adam and Eve were scared and embarrassed because they were naked.

In the end, God had to send them out of the Garden of Eden. (I don't think He jumped up and down about that!)

Then, as years...thousands of years go by...God's children go farther and farther away from Him, choosing the things of the world.

Finally, God says "I can't take being far from my children anymore! They have to choose. I will send them a way out of the mess they are in."

God sends Jesus, His only Begotten Son, to die for all sin.

Now, all we have to do is choose. Sin or God.

I know God is a God of love and justice.

For Him to sacrifice Jesus and turn His face...such love...unconditional. He sent Jesus no matter what we chose.