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YOUR QUESTION (No. 59)
Why would God
create evil??
Answer
When the Father created the world and placed humans within it, He tells us that He created man in His own likeness. The Father has free will, therefore we humans have free will, and it is His purpose for us that we freely choose to love Him and desire from the heart to go to Him in Glory. He could, of course, have placed us in Glory at the beginning, but we would have had no choice and our presence would not be motivated by love. The Father's will for us is that we love Him and desire, through the resurrection, to go to Him. Jesus defined the Father's will: John.6 Humans, in our freedom, choose to love the life that is in this world and to do whatever is necessary to defend it. That is what is taking place in Iraq today. That is evil. God did not create evil, but in giving to us the freedom to make choices, and the real options of this world, He so placed human beings that we create evil, all contrary to His will. Finally, he sent Jesus to explain His will to us, to make disciples who would preserve the knowledge of His will in the world. Jesus then demonstrate what pleases the Father by laying down his life on the cross to go to the Father. Jesus, on the cross, was demonstrating the significance of the Great Principle and leading all who can hear and follow him to the Father in heaven. Here is one of his statements of the Great Principle. John.12 [25] He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. This is the ultimate choice placed before us -- eternal life of the life that is in this world only. So, the Father did not/does not create evil; humans do. He created humans with the freedom to displease him, and out of our poor choices comes the evil that is in the world. The love of life in this world is the root of both evil and sin. Let us consider a household consisting of parents and a child. The parents are very careful to keep everything clean and in its place within the home. The child, an adolescent, has a bedroom all its own, for which the parents hold the child fully responsible as to cleanliness and tidiness. Mom looks into the room and to her great displeasure sees that it is a mess. Soiled clothing strewn about, nothing in its place, bed unmade, spilled food soiling the carpet. Did the parent create the mess? No! So likewise, this world is our room and we are making a mess of it! |