The Concept of Evil

The term evil is riddled with many conceptions. Often evil is referred to as a type of entity or a particular substance. On the other hand, it is also subjective, meaning a non-physical immorality.

The question remains,

Is evil a thing or a non-thing?

If everything that God created was good as written in Genesis, then is He responsible for creating evil?

There is a common deliberation over evil. Either God created it or He didn't. This leaves the question to the origin of evil if God is all-good.

If God did not create evil, then who did?

Can evil be a physical thing?

Can a gun be evil in itself?

The trigger discipline of a sniper will hit the intended target. If the target is not hit, the gunman will not be considered a 'good' sharpshooter.

Where does evil enter into the picture?

The evil is determined by how the physical world is negatively affected. Either the sniper or target could be innocent or guilty. The consequence is good or evil.

God said that what He had made was good, but good things can turn evil through the mindful choice of free will to become morally corrupt.

Is evil a subjective illusion of reality?

The fear of evil is a reality or the fear itself is evil.

What if evil was the non-conforming choice or a decision that is opposed to the nature (order) of good?

It is created by God according to the choices of man. Evil is man's denatured consequence turning away from God's intent.

There is a distinction between moral evil and physical evil. There is the evil that has a collateral affect and also the direct responsibility of the action. The origin of evil comes from the free will of man that determines the relationship between us and God. Our bodies are formed of matter, but our personality forms the essence of how much we allow God into our lives.

The absence of good results in evil that equates to suffering. As we alienate ourselves from good, the consequences and collateral damage of evil cannot be avoided.

The definition can be interpreted through a fundamental, traditional or modernist lens.

Did the fall of man literally happen?

Is the fall of man merely symbolic?

Is the fall of man a fable?

There is significant evidence that nearly every culture has a myth or story of a time when there was no suffering, death or evil. From the human condition, there is a desire for a perfect utopia where everyone is happy with complete certainty. The fact is mankind has not achieved this, but there is an unconscious desire to reclaim it or wanting a better state.

When there is a rebellion against good, the result is evil and suffering.

The question of why bad things happen to good people assumes that there are those who are innocent of any evil. There are none.

God create evil as a consequential result of his own free will in opposition to the nature of good. All of God's creation is good, but the free will to choose one or the other has resulted in the disjointed effects of evil on all creation.

Evil is not the opposite of good, but the lack of good.

We all have the free will to choose one or the other.