why are there so many evil people in the world?

Jude1:3Contendforthefaith

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why are there so many evil people in the world?

I don't know but they seem to be getting worse and worse and increasing in number.

The amount of legit true Christians and even just decent human beings in general is getting smaller and smaller.


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Ophiolite

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I don't know but they seem to be getting worse and worse and increasing in number.

The amount of legit true Christians and even just decent human beings in general is getting smaller and smaller.
That is a perception. Can you back it up with well founded data?
 
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zephcom

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why are there so many evil people in the world?
Probably that is because there way more people in general in the world. Let's just pick an arbitrary number and say that thirty percent of the world's population will be evil people.

If the world's population doubles, the number of evil people will double also.

However, I think there is something else in play here too. Communication today is vastly better than it was even 20-30 years ago. That means we learn about more evil people than we did then.
 
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grasping the after wind

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why are there so many evil people in the world?

Are there? Or are there simply people that do evil things. The problem with looking around and thinking that there are evil people and good people is that one then can persuade oneself that whatever one does must be good because one is a good person. In my experience there is no such thing as a good person or an evil person. There are however people doing very evil things and people doing very good things. They may be seen at different times doing both kinds of things. Many of them thinking, while doing evil things, that they are good people doing good things.
 
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Dave L

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why are there so many evil people in the world?
You can get many different answers about this, but I believe Satan is now loosed and deceiving the nations and spiritually attacking the Church as mentioned in Revelation 20, just before the Lord returns. This is the Amillennial position on the end times.
 
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eleos1954

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why are there so many evil people in the world?

SIN

Romans 1:28
Furthermore, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, He gave them up to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.

Matthew 24:21

For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be.

Matthew 24:42

Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.
 
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Ophiolite

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That is your opinion.
.
Until you have provided sound documentation that justifies the statement then it remains a perception.

This is a serious subject and I had hoped you would respond in a serious manner to my simple request. Simply shrugging your shoulders and staying with your perception does nothing to address the issue. So, I ask again, respectfully, do you have any sound data, research, etc that would substantiate your perception.
 
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2PhiloVoid

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why are there so many evil people in the world?

Human sin; and human sin continually divides human beings into antagonists of one another, but especially of God.
 
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expos4ever

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That is your opinion.


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I am almost certain his (or her) “opinion” is legit. If your position (that things are getting worse) is correct, you should have evidence to back it up.

Otherwise, it really is just a “perception”.
 
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expos4ever

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What evidence there is, I suggest, shows that things are actually getting better, not worse. Happy to post some if asked. However, I am confident that data wilk show that in general:

1. Poverty decreasing;
2. Literacy increasing;
3. Women’s rights increasing;
4. Violence decreasing (dramatically);
5. Wealth increasing:
6. Animal treatment getting better.

I am talking big picture here - globally and over large time scales.
 
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Jude1:3Contendforthefaith

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I am almost certain his (or her) “opinion” is legit. If your position (that things are getting worse) is correct, you should have evidence to back it up.

Otherwise, it really is just a “perception”.

And this is your opinion.


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Unofficial Reverand Alex

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why are there so many evil people in the world?
It's a fair question to bring up in a thread; there's several directions I could take this question, but I want to give what I've found to be a more useful response:

If Christians would get our act together, it wouldn't be so much of an issue!

There has always been evil; anyone who's read the Old Testament knows this. From the very beginning, humanity has been seriously screwed up. While this evil can't be eliminated in this world, it can be greatly reduced.

I have a friend who does a lot against human trafficking, and has passed that passion down to me. There's so many incredible people who volunteer to go where evil is at its deepest, and try to make it better. (That's something very crucial to remember: Where evil is at its worst, you see the worst of mankind, but you also see the very best.) These organizations help a lot against trafficking; there's awareness, interception, counseling, all sorts of angles to help out people who desperately need it. But most Christians know next to nothing about human trafficking, let alone do anything to stop it. I guess playing video games, watching TV, and focusing sermons on feeling good about ourselves is a little more important in people's minds.:crossrc:

Why so many evil people? I can't give a solid answer, but I think I can give some tips:

1) Don't be one! Be critical with yourself; where am I spending my money? How am I spending my time? Do I give as much as I should, or do I spend money on snacks & make-up? Do I love as much as I should, or am I too concerned with the football game to think about others? High levels of virtue have always inspired people, and this comes from prayer; let God guide your examination of conscience. Be very humble; I can tell from experience that you'll have to give up things you don't want to give up, but accepting God's will leads you to a greater state of life.

2) Pray for them. Remember what God says in 2 Chronicles: "...if then my people, upon whom my name has been pronounced, humble themselves and pray, and seek my face and turn from their evil ways, I will hear them from heaven and pardon their sins and heal their land." Prayer is powerful, and God repeatedly tells people to pray (and fast, and give alms) as a way of cleansing themselves & their nation from evil. And if we're supposed to love our enemies, what could be more loving than praying for them to know the source of all love, God? (And if we see our enemies as anyone who commits injustice, even if it's not against us, that speaks well of our spiritual life).

3) Never lose hope. Evil may appear to abound, but it's an illusion. I heard a great sermon from someone I know as "Episcopalian Priest Guy", who started his homily by saying, "I was talking to a friend about cutting the head off a snake." Now that he had everyone's attention, he went on to make a very good point about sin. "Didn't Jesus conquer sin on the Cross?", some ask. "Then why is it still so prevalent?" Sin has been killed; still, when you cut the head off a snake, the body still goes through muscle spasms, and even though it's dead, it can still thrash about & cause damage. Similarly, sin has been conquered, but it's still thrashing about; remember that it's going to stop, because it's already been killed!

God's peace & blessings upon you & this conversation!

"Why are you downcast, my soul;
why do you groan within me?
Wait for God, for I shall again praise him,
my savior and my God." --Psalm 42:6
 
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Pedra

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why are there so many evil people in the world?
I think it's to be expected if you read the bible, it teaches that the world is in rebellion against the Holy God. In order not to follow the pattern of the world that is perishing...the people need to turn away from sin and repent and believe in the Gospel of Jesus Christ and be saved.
Apostle Paul , in 2 Tim informs us the world will wax worse and worse as it gets closer to the latter days, before the Lord Jesus return. Paul describes the state of mankind in the latter days....

2Tim 3:13 "1But understand this: In the last days terrible times will come. 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, without love of good,4 traitorous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Turn away from such as these!………"
 
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hedrick

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What evidence there is, I suggest, shows that things are actually getting better, not worse. Happy to post some if asked. However, I am confident that data wilk show that in general:

1. Poverty decreasing;
2. Literacy increasing;
3. Women’s rights increasing;
4. Violence decreasing (dramatically);
5. Wealth increasing:
6. Animal treatment getting better.

I am talking big picture here - globally and over large time scales.
I agree. However the very real improvements are being threatened by a rise of right-wing politics throughout the first world and increasingly effective tyranny in other areas.
 
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expos4ever

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The Bible doesn't teach that the world will get better.
Whether the Bible teaches that the world will get better is debatable - some readers interpret all the predictions of doom and gloom as referring to events in the first century.

What is clear is that, in general and over long time scales, life is definitely getting better - much better - for almost all people. This does not mean that there are not very serious threats facing us. But the data is pretty clear - things are getting better.
 
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expos4ever

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I agree. However the very real improvements are being threatened by a rise of right-wing politics throughout the first world and increasingly effective tyranny in other areas.
Agree. To accept the clear trend of general improvement is NOT to claim that we can relax and expect this will continue indefinitely.
 
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