FREE ESSAY ON WHO CREATED EVIL?

WHO CREATED EVIL?

Where did evil come from? Ever since the beginning of time our reality has been based on
the conflict between good and evil. From the story of Adam and Eve to modern day and
everything done by the human race has been a battle between these two. Many theologians
and scholars have tried to argue the creation of evil. They question if God created it or
if man and his perversion of the good created it. Still many have reached the conclusion
that evil is man's perversion of God's great gift of free will. However, I do not agree.
I believe that evil is inherent in man. I believe that God, whether directly or
indirectly, created evil. 
St. Augustine was one of the great theologians in church history. He had the idea that
man was inherently and totally good until the fall. After the fall, man was both good and
evil. A dualistic thought, but nonetheless a very Christian statement because we now had
the ability to sin. From that point on, man was not prone to evil, but was born with evil
in him. This is what drives us to sin in the first place. How could we perverse a good
without having that perverseness, evil, in us already? Augustine himself identifies with
this in his famous story of the theft of the pears. When he stole those pears he didn't
have "any desire to enjoy the things [he] stole, but only the stealing of them and the
sin." What he's saying is that there was no reason for him to steal the pears, no need or
desire. It was simply the fact that it was evil and sinful that drove him to commit his
pointless theft. He realized that there was a side of him that was naturally drawn to the
enjoyment of evil. He realized that he had evil in him. And that part of him is what
delighted in sin. Augustine admitted that it could not have been a perversion of a good
because if that were so, and he was naturally all good, then he would have felt remorse.
He would not have felt such pleasure in the act. It was the evil that part of him craved.
How could anyone enjoy such sin if it wasn't already in him or her? The reason is that he
had evil in him, we all do. If we didn't, then we wouldn't sin. Some would say that we
are good and the gift of free choice allows us to sin. But if that were true, then we
still wouldn't sin. How would we be able to perverse good if the ability to do it isn't
in us? The ability and desire too perverse is evil. So if we do possess that ability and
desire then we must possess evil. 
This paradox goes back a long time before Augustine. It goes back a long time before man.
The angels themselves were created as beings of worship for the Lord. After an extensive
search of the bible, I have failed to locate any passage that explains the creation of
the angels. Nowhere in the bible does it state whether or not angels have free will.
Assume that they do have free will, Lucifer and his angels' chose freely when they
decided to go against the Lord. This choice of Lucifer's is not documented at any point
in the bible. When the war in Heaven broke out it was divided into two sides, God's and
Lucifer's. Michael, God's general, won the battle. Lucifer and his minions were cast down
from the heavens. From this time on Lucifer would be known as the very epitome of evil.
Since then it has seemed that all evil has originated from Lucifer, Satan. The part of
the story that seems to be a bit odd is that God, as we understand him, is all knowing.
Augustine described God as having "supreme knowledge of all things." So if the Lord were
all knowing, then he would know that Satan and his angels would rebel. He would know that
Satan would be evil and bring evil in to the world. In this sense God created evil. God
was the only thing that existed before He created angels and Lucifer. In order for him to
choose to be evil, (assuming free choice), evil had to exist before him. Understand I'm
not saying the Lord is evil and in no way am I saying the Lord likes evil. I am simply
stating that, indirectly or directly, the Lord created evil. Since God is all knowing and
omnipotent, he would know that Satan was going to create evil with his actions and He
would have the power to stop that from happening. Again some would say that it was His
love that allowed Lucifer to chose that end, but that would still mean that God
indirectly created evil. God created Lucifer and Lucifer is evil, or created evil, so
therefore God had a part in the creation of evil itself. 
Another thought that I have encountered while pondering this topic is free will itself.
Free will is the gift God gave to us allowing us to choose between good and evil. If that
were truly what free will is, then what good would it be without evil? What would we have
to choose between if there was no evil? We would only be able to choose good because it
would be the only option available to us. This means that the greatest gift God gave to
mankind, the ability to choose out of our own will, would not exist without evil. The
thing we value the most, as Christians, relies on the existence of evil. Not only that
but whom defines evil. All of our laws are based on past or present religious beliefs on
what is right and wrong. All of those beliefs began from what God told us was evil. So
God not only allowed evil to be created, so that He could give us free will that we might
choose Him, but He also gave it definition. He brought it to our attention. Man had no
knowledge of evil until God told us of it. Even in the Garden man didn't know evil. He
did not know that eating from the one tree in the center of Eden was evil until God told
him. So why would God put the tree there in the first place if He didn't want man to eat
it? He knew that Adam and Eve would eat the fruit and He knew what would happen when they
did. He had to know because He knows all. So what was His reason for putting evil with
man, why was the tree placed in the Garden of Eden? It was put there so man would have a
choice between evil and God. The Lord knew that his gift of free will would be
meaningless if man had no other option but to obey and worship God. He did not want man
to love him because there was no other choice; he wanted man to love him because he
chooses God over evil. That is why the tree was placed in easy access to Adam and Eve.
And that is why the good Lord allowed the entrance of evil into the world. He was greatly
disappointed when they chose evil, but He knew that if He did not give them a choice then
their love for Him would have no other meaning than simply a lack of options. This way
every time someone chooses God over evil the Lord knows they do it because they truly
love Him and that love is stronger than any temptations that evil may give them. 
St. Augustine is a good example of the love God desires. As we have discussed, Augustine
was an extreme sinner. Not in the acts that he did, but in their rationality. He sinned
for the evil in sinning. He fought the evil in himself for many years before he chose
God. And when he chose the Lord, he chose full heatedly and knowing of the evil he was
turning away from. He said to God, "I will love you, Lord, and thank you, and praise your
name, because you have forgiven me such great sins and such wicked deeds." This is why
God gave us free will. Not only because of his love for us, but because he wants our love
for him to be real. If you have only known one person your whole life and you love that
person dearly than it will mean a lot to them. However, the meaning, depth, and trueness
of your love for them will be exemplified to them if you show many other people, some
very tempting to be with in different ways, and you still come back to the one you've
always know was there for you. You might not love that person any more than before, but
your love will mean more to them because out of all your choices, you choose them. That
is why God allows evil to exist and that is why God gave us free choice, to show us his
love in hopes that we will return it to him. In addition, we know that God is incapable
of doing evil, because everything that comes from God is good. Whether we see the good in
it or not, it is still good because the Lord created it. 
However that doesn't mean that some things God does can not be vengeful, evil in and of
itself. That means that when the Lord destroyed Sodom and killed some Egyptians to free
the Jews, his actions were not evil and he did not commit any evil. However the fact that
people were killed is evil. The actual taking of life, in and of itself, is evil. So in
doing so God does not do evil. The killing done by the Lord is just; good will come of
it, but the taking of life is evil in itself. Many would argue that it is not evil
because God has the right to take life even when unjustified, that He is above the laws
that He has given to humans. That is false. God gave us those laws, in part, to define
evil. Since the definition of evil was given to us by God, then He must know evil just as
we do. So He can not commit any sin because it would be evil, and the Lord can not do
evil. The Lords actions are not good just because he is the Lord, they are good because
He knows good from evil and always chooses good. In the same sense, everything that is
evil is so because God doesn't do it. So if God tells us "thou shall not kill" then He
shall not either because He knows it is evil and He can not do any evil. Therefore, when
someone dies at the hands of God it is good. What he has done is good, but the fact that
a life was taken is still malum in se. There are a few places in the bible where things
such as this are evident. 
In conclusion, I believe that I have given strong evidence to back up my idea that God,
either directly or indirectly, created evil. That is not a bad thing because all the
reasons that God allows for evil to exist are for good. So that our free will is truly a
gift in the respect that we have a real choice. He created, or allowed the creation of,
evil so that when we experience evil we will know better what good is and how to achieve
it. So when we choose God it is because our love for him is so strong that it can
overcome all evil. Overall the basis of our reality is the struggle between good and
evil. That means that good and evil have been in existence since our reality began. And
since God created our reality, God created both good and evil. But he only created evil
so that we would know and choose good.