God did not “create” evil when He set the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil in the garden of Eden. Evil is the degradation and corruption of something that otherwise is good. God allowed evil to enter the equation because He is sovereign. But it's not accurate to say that He caused it or created it.
"God allows evil," Pastor John stated, "in order that He might put His glory on display." He went on to explain that while God's glory is evident in creation and in His providential control of history, it's most magnificently revealed in His grace. This point resonated deeply with me.
Evil exists because we are fallen in nature. Evil and sin are consequences of our choices while having free will. In order for us to be free and live as God intended with by coming to Him willingly we must have the capacity for evil.
Yes, God allows evils because he foresees goods that can come about that otherwise would not be possible if evil did not exist. He wants those goods to exist, and he wants them to exist in us, and he wants us to live forever in his Kingdom. Ultimately, these goods could not be a part of the Kingdom without evil.
Therefore to answer the question, “Why does evil exist?”: It exists because there are people in this world who have decided not to obey God. Dear friends, it has to be understood well–should be understood well– that well, although God created us for good, He does not force us to be good.
John MacArthur: Why Does God Allow So Much Suffering and Evil?
Why doesn't God remove evil from the world?
God's judgment is coming, but He is delaying it to give time for people to repent. His judgment might seem slow in coming, but it is coming. God's patience, His long-suffering, and His mercy motivate Him to wait — He does not want anyone to perish. We can be confident that God will destroy evil in His own time.
God allows evil men to rule because of man's choice to reject the authority of God. God in his mercy thereafter looks for godly men to help guide His people. Even King David, 'a man after his own heart', 1 Sam. 13.
Who wrote the Bible? Its books have no bylines. Tradition long identified Moses as the author of the Pentateuch, with Ezra as editor. Ancient readers also suggested that David wrote the psalms and Solomon wrote Proverbs and Qohelet.
So, to answer the question as posed, yes, good can exist without evil just as evil can exist without good. They are not connected in essence, only relative to their impact on others.
While Paul could not propose a timeline, he emphatically promised a purpose. He goes on to explain: “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us”. (Romans 8:18) Suffering remains part of our human experience now until the end of the ages.
So while we may not have all the answers for why and how sin and evil are present in our world, we do know that we have a God who determined to permit sin so that He may demonstrate His righteousness and love toward us who believe in His Son.
Although we can't fathom the inscrutable mind of God, Romans 5:20 of today's passage gives us some insight: “Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.” The presence of sin in the world is an opportunity for God to display who He really is—a being of endless and unconditional grace.
Plantinga claims God and evil could co-exist if God had a morally sufficient reason for allowing evil. He suggests that God's morally sufficient reason might have something to do with humans being granted morally significant free will and with the greater goods this freedom makes possible.
It is because, for reasons we may never fully understand on this side of eternity, His glory will be best magnified, His good purposes fully come to pass, and His character in us more completely developed because of that hardship. Either way, He is still God, and we can still trust Him with our whole hearts and lives.
Don't be misled: our actions can have very real consequences. That doesn't mean that mental illness is a punishment from God for something we're doing wrong. Rather, the existing sin and brokenness in the world often lead to the struggles we face today.
Many scholars believe that the Deuteronomistic history preserved elements of ancient texts and oral tradition, including geo-political and socio-economic realities and certain information about historical figures and events. However, large portions of it are legendary and it contains many anachronisms.
Written over the course of almost a century after Jesus' death, the four gospels of the New Testament, though they tell the same story, reflect very different ideas and concerns. A period of forty years separates the death of Jesus from the writing of the first gospel.
The Bible's origin is both human and divine—not just from God and not just from humans. The Bible's narratives, poems, histories, letters, prophecies, and other writings come from a profound collaboration between humanity and God.
Evil is a parasite that feeds on a host. God did not “create” evil when He set the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil in the garden of Eden. Evil is the degradation and corruption of something that otherwise is good. God allowed evil to enter the equation because He is sovereign.
Bad things happen because we, as people, cause them to happen. Yes, God could force us to stop doing bad things but then He would also be taking away our ability to choose to do good things, and that would make it impossible for us to ever truly love.
Because God has given freedom, He chooses to not intervene when we use this freedom in sinful and evil ways. In fact, He cannot interfere and allow freedom to remain free. Maybe this is too strongly stated. It is not that God doesn't intervene; He does intervene, probably more than we know.
