Thus, does it seem true that God dislikes evil; but, allowed it to exist? — Shawn
And in the universe, even that which is called evil, when it is regulated and put in its own place, only enhances our admiration of the good; for we enjoy and value the good more when we compare it with the evil. For the Almighty God, who, as even the heathen acknowledge, has supreme power over all things, being Himself supremely good, would never permit the existence of anything evil among His works, if He were not so omnipotent and good that He can bring good even out of evil. For what is that which we call evil but the absence of good? In the bodies of animals, disease and wounds mean nothing but the absence of health; for when a cure is effected, that does not mean that the evils which were present—namely, the diseases and wounds—go away from the body and dwell elsewhere: they altogether cease to exist; for the wound or disease is not a substance, but a defect in the fleshly substance,—the flesh itself being a substance, and therefore something good, of which those evils—that is, privations of the good which we call health—are accidents. Just in the same way, what are called vices in the soul are nothing but privations of natural good. And when they are cured, they are not transferred elsewhere: when they cease to exist in the healthy soul, they cannot exist anywhere else. — St Augustine, The Enchiridion
Could you have faith in a being who does not make direct contact with you, does not manifest in any way you recognize, is described differently by every cult, each of which has has profound and irreconcilable internal contradictions?According to common belief, evil is one of the reasons people abandon faith in God as an omnibenevolent and all good being. — Shawn
does it seem true that God dislikes evi — Shawn
:chin:According to the Bible, God very much dislikes evil in its various forms. — BC
I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things. — Isaiah 45:7, KJV
But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? — Job 2:10, KJV
Which also tells someone was thinking that just how important the written word would be (in the New Testament). Still, even if we do have this evident way to put things into perspective, people just pick the most convenient part for them.It's a collection of diverse narratives for various purposes--NOT a unitary whole. — BC
Thus, does it seem true that God dislikes evil; but, allowed it to exist? — Shawn
Augustine mixed Positive (by positive I mean consisting in or characterized by the presence rather than the absence of distinguishing features, such as vision), and negative (such as blindness) with good (such as love) and evil (such as hate).I'm still swayed by Augustine's 'evil as a privation of the good'. To put it another way, evil has the kind of existence that holes, fractures, shadows and illness has. — Wayfarer
Knowing that they fall but allowing them to commit evil is evil. — MoK
Correct. I should have said God gave them access to eat the fruit.God didn't allow anything. — javi2541997
God knew that they would fail since He is omniscient. God prohibited them not eating but He gave them access to the tree whether they eat the fruit or not. There was the serpent who intervened as well. The serpent said that you will not die if you eat the fruit. So there was not only the element of greed. There was confusion due to what the serpent said as well.He just induced Adam and Eve to eat the apple with the aim of tasting if they would resist the greed or not. — javi2541997
According to Genesis, God created Adam and Eve with free will too weak to resist temptation and not disobey. God also created the serpent and the Tree of Knowledge. Adam and Eve are set up to fail by God then, when they do fail, God punishes them for His failure to make their free wills strong enough as well as for His failure to tell them that He, not the forbidden fruit, would cause them to die (i.e. denied access by God to the fruit of the Tree of Life). Adam and Eve didn't Fall, God set the trap for them and all of their descendants; thus, Evil was created – "allowed" – by God in the first book of the Torah. :fire: :eyes: :pray:God didn't allow anything. — javi2541997
The serpent said that you will not die if you eat the fruit. So there was not only the element of greed. There was confusion due to what the serpent said as well. — MoK
I think they were simply in a situation to believe God's or the serpent's words. They wouldn't eat the fruit if they believed in God's words. They ate the fruit therefore they believed in the serpant's words. It is important to notice the passage from Genesis which is about the serpent telling Eve that you certainly will not die after she says that God said that you will die if you eat the fruit. This means that they were resisting their temptation to eat the fruit before the serpent's intervention.Good points from you, too. But I liked to quote that specific phrase of your text with the aim of analysing the following: I guess we agree with the fact that interpreting Genesis is complex because it is full of metaphors and contradictions. You claim that Adam and Eve acted with confusion, I rather think that they acted doing what a large number of people also do: greed (why did they eat the apple when there were other foods?) and disobedience (why do they listen to the serpent when they should have obeyed God blindly?). — javi2541997
If you treat the story of the fall as a metaphor then one could also argue the act of creation is a metaphor. The same applies to the existence of God as an agent so that is a metaphor as well.It is a metaphor. People always want more than they need and also disobey the authority when they don't need to in most cases. — javi2541997
Remember that the Bible was not, after all, written by the Holy Spirit in one go. It's a collection of diverse narratives for various purposes--NOT a unitary whole. — BC
Yet, God could have not liked evil for He is an all good being. — Shawn
Does an all good being like evil? — Leontiskos
From what other sources can we learn the nature and desires of God? — Vera Mont
Did the conspiracy between good and evil against Job make any sense to you? — Shawn
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