The third chapter of the book by Plantinga talks about the fall of man and how that has affected everything in this world. Corruption has spread throughout creation. There aren’t exactly evil people, but there is evil in everyone’s hearts. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn said,
“If only there were evil people somewhere, insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?”
During class there was the whole discussion about the origin of evil. I don’t think I have a clear answer to that question, but I think that evil is anything that is not of God. It is true that God created everything, so does that mean that God created as evil as well?
I don’t think so. As I said, I believe evil something that is not of God, so God didn’t create evil. But it exists not because God created it, but because He is a God of love. Love is a choice. He didn’t want us, or I guess even the angels, to not have a choice but to be with Him. He allowed something opposite from him to exist, namely evil, so that we can have a choice. How could we really love God if we didn’t have a choice?
Sadly, human beings chose sin and evil in the beginning of history. Because of that, the world became corrupt. However, our story doesn’t end there. As a matter of fact, there could something so beautiful and magnificent that can happen despite of fall, or even because of the Fall.
In Luke 7:40-50, Jesus tells a Pharisee that those who are forgiven much will love much, but those who are forgiven little will love little.
We became filthy because of the Fall, but God demonstrates his love by coming down to us despite our filth. We can see the greatness of God’s grace through our failures. I wonder if we would have ever understood that our God is a God of grace if we never sinned. The evil in this world is most definitely painful, but God can even use that to create something so incredible and beautiful.
I like the way you explain evil. I think you are right on (not that I know the exact answer to the question of evil). Your emphasis on choice is key. I like to think of God as goodness. Anything bad is simply the absence of goodness, the absence of God. We get their by choice, like you explain. Nice job, Josh. Very insightful.
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