There is a saying that says "the shadow proves the light". We all know that a shadow is merely the absence of light - it is not an energy within itself. So
IF the above statement is true, then we could conclude that evil is merely the absence of good.
Basically the reasoning behind this would be:
1. Everything is created by God - there is not one thing that exists that God didn't create (John 1:3)
2. Everything God created, He created "good" (Gen 1:31)
Therefore evil was not created and cannot exist as an independant force.
3. Man was given freewill (Gen 2:16,17)
Therefore something / someone is evil only because they disobey God and His laws, IOW when there is an absence of what should have been good (turning away from good).
IF you accept the above reasoning then it follows that for evil to exist, good has to exist.
So... would you agree with the reasoning, definition of evil and the final conclusion? If there is any biblical support for or against please could you list it.
Thanks
Chris
The absence of good isn’t the sum of evil.
The absence of evil isn’t the sum of good.
We need a broader definition.
Further, this description of evil and good assumes codependency. This is a flawed and often dangerous fallacy. Evil does not need good, and good doesn’t need evil. Both evil and good can and do exist as wholly separate forces, and although they coexist in the plane of our struggles, one day both will be rightly separated and it will be seen that good needs no evil to define itself, and evil will continue as such without the presence of good.
The root of evil is the denial of the sovereignty of God. When the will of self-aware beings becomes perverted and says to itself that God is not sovereign, that will has become evil.
Some may now say, well if evil is the denial of the sovereignty of God, then how can evil exist without God. But, this would be the fallacy I mentioned above.
Actually, while the root of evil is the denial of the sovereignty of God, this denial takes place in the
will of the being, and this
will is a gift from God; so while we can say that the
creation of will is dependent upon God, the decision to pervert that will is dependent upon the being—praise God is so kind, and not a slave master!
Ok then, lets see if evil is really the denial of the sovereignty of God.
Why is it evil to practice witch craft and fall into superstitions?
Suppose you spill salt, should you throw it over your shoulder?
The devil would be happy if you did, and it is my opinion that he and his demons encourage just such behavior.
Why?
Salt is ignorant, and so is the table it was spilled on. Neither the salt nor the table can influence the future or have played a hand in the past. It gains nothing from being thrown over your shoulder and when it hits the ground behind you it remains salt.
Why then should you think salt, the table, or the act of spilling salt on the table should influence anything under or in Heaven?
You shouldn’t, unless of course you deny that God is sovereign and He alone can change the future and created all things. Unless you think salt can usurp the authority of God to dictate all things. Fear is a favorite of the devil.
For the same reason salt is ignorant, so is witchcraft.
All evil can be traced to the denial of the sovereignty of God and the disobedience that is a result of this denial.
Now then, what is good?
The root of good is God.
Good is not the absence of evil or even simply the opposite of evil, for what evil can aspire to falls well short of all that is good; this is to say, that in some places evil is the opposite of good, but good surpasses evil so much so that for some good there is no equivalent e.g. opposite to be found in evil—praise God who will have no opposite!
This being the case, it becomes difficult for us to aspire to understand all of that which is good—some good, if not most good, having no opposite evil must be revealed by God Himself. For, if all good were merely the opposite of evil, then we being masters of evil would readily find all that is good. But alas we can’t, and we struggle!
