why are there so many evil people in the world?

[expos4ever]

Alright, let's talk about global poverty. I cannot view Youtubes on my computer so perhaps you can tell me what the claim is.

For my part I will present this graph:

 

[Pedra]

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.

Really? I see nothing in the bible that indicates that the biblical view is in anyway optimistic. Please show where Jesus said the world was going to get better?
Jesus warned that the majority would enter into the wide gate that leads to hell. He warned about following false Christs, about wolves in sheep's clothing. He said to Nicodemus a person needed to be born again before they could enter the Kingdom of heaven.

 

[expos4ever]

Really? I see nothing in the bible that indicates that the biblical view is in anyway optimistic. Please show where Jesus said the world was going to get better?.

Jesus said that He was initiating the Kingdom of God! That sounds like good news to me. And he clearly stated that it was good news for the poor. Now many Christians will bend that into "good news for the poor in spirit". That sounds a little unjustified to me. Granted, Jesus also said the poor would always be with us. But that does not mean that poverty will not become less of a problem over time.

Plus there is stuff in Isaiah which speaks of nations beating their swords into plowshares, etc. I suspect you believe that is post-second-coming. Well, I disagree about that.

But, remember, gospel means good news, not bad news. For some reason that is mysterious to me, Christians completely flatten this promise to being about "going to heaven when you die". That is not, I suggest, how his peers would understand the gospel.

 

[Pedra]

Plus there is stuff in Isaiah which speaks of nations beating their swords into plowshares, etc. I suspect you believe that is post-second-coming.

I came out of a denom that believed as you, but I looked around and things didn't add up, with the increasing evil.

So, yeah, I agree with the view of that scripture in Isaiah is referring to after the second coming , after the rapture, Tribulation , and the peace it speaks of will be during the Lord Jesus millennial kingdom, where His throne will be in Jerusalem according to Rev 20.

What is the Millennial Kingdom, and should it be understood literally? | GotQuestions.org

 

[Pedra]

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.

I totally disagree.

 

[expos4ever]

I came out of a denom that believed as you......

....aaaaaand we're done.

I cannot, of course, have a serious conversation when you post something like this. No hard feelings.

 

[holo]

why are there so many evil people in the world?

I think the question is wrong. Regardless of whether you're a believer or not, I think the real question is why are there so many good people in the world?

 

[Rajni]

why are there so many evil people in the world?

Quick question: Do you watch the news on a regular basis?

 

[public hermit]

why are there so many evil people in the world?

I don't know the answer, but you are right to say there are so many evil people. One is too many.

 

[Pedra]

....aaaaaand we're done.

I cannot, of course, have a serious conversation when you post something like this. No hard feelings.

That is the truth that I spoke, whether receive it is up to you. It prolly wasn't your denomination ( thought you had stated United or Presbyt on your avatar ) but it was one that believed similarly in those that believed the world was evolving better---I just didn't see it. But it doesn't surprise me one bit that you are done.
Those who believe what the scripture prophecies can see we are in the latter times that Paul & the Lord Jesus spoke of.

 

[expos4ever]

Quick question: Do you watch the news on a regular basis?

If your implied point is that the media distorts reality by only reporting bad news, I think you are absolutely right. It is well known among experts that we tend to exaggerate the likelihood of events that come easily to mind (called the "availability heuristic"). If you hear about murder and mayhem on the TV, you will greatly exaggerate the degree to which such stuff happens. Every day, thousands and thousands of planes safely go from A to B. But it is only the one in 10,000,000 that crashes that makes the news

 

[expos4ever]

From Forbes magazine:

In a powerful study entitled “The short history of global living conditions and why it matters that we know it” by Max Roser, an economist at the University of Oxford and the founder of Our World in Data, we learn that on virtually all of the key dimensions of human material well-being—poverty, literacy, health, freedom, and education—the world is an extraordinarily better place than it was just a couple of centuries ago.

 

[Jonaitis]

why are there so many evil people in the world?

I don't think we are an exception. We would do well to compare ourselves with the divine law than with each other. We are all sinful, corrupt creatures in the sight of God. "There is none righteous, no, not one" (Romans 3:10).

 

[zephcom]

From Forbes magazine:

In a powerful study entitled “The short history of global living conditions and why it matters that we know it” by Max Roser, an economist at the University of Oxford and the founder of Our World in Data, we learn that on virtually all of the key dimensions of human material well-being—poverty, literacy, health, freedom, and education—the world is an extraordinarily better place than it was just a couple of centuries ago.

A couple of centuries ago we still had slavery, no refrigeration and outhouses. Horses pooped in the street and gentlemen put their coats over the horse poop so the ladies wouldn't get their shoes dirty.

The real question is if we are better off than we were in 1957.

 

[expos4ever]

The real question is if we are better off than we were in 1957.

I am virtually certain that we are. Do you doubt this?

 

[zephcom]

I am virtually certain that we are. Do you doubt this?

I was ten in 1957. My Dad was a mail carrier during the day and after work he delivered the evening newspaper. My Mom didn't work outside the house. We had school supplies, clothes, and were buying a house. We were the first ones in our neighborhood to own a television.

I'm not so sure we are better off now than we were then. But that is anecdotal. Someone with actual figures would be able to better determine whether Americans as a whole are better off now than then.

 

[Pedra]

A couple of centuries ago we still had slavery, no refrigeration and outhouses. Horses pooped in the street and gentlemen put their coats over the horse poop so the ladies wouldn't get their shoes dirty.

The real question is if we are better off than we were in 1957.

Are we just looking at America? or the world?
and are we just focusing upon inventions and that people live in houses with heating etc....

 

[Jonaitis]

From Forbes magazine:

In a powerful study entitled “The short history of global living conditions and why it matters that we know it” by Max Roser, an economist at the University of Oxford and the founder of Our World in Data, we learn that on virtually all of the key dimensions of human material well-being—poverty, literacy, health, freedom, and education—the world is an extraordinarily better place than it was just a couple of centuries ago.

It is truly incredible how the world has changed within the last couple centuries. We have everything at our finger tips. The things that were once enjoyed by the few in the upper-class as a commodity are now available to all persons.

It was very expensive to possess sugar in the past, mostly due to the highly labour-intensive production in both growing and processing it. Nowadays, I can easily drive down to my local market within a few minutes and purchase a pound for a dollar from off the shelf. We live in great abundance.

Education was not available to all, but now (in the West at least) children are required to attend primary schools and have the basic knowledge of every subject (math, language arts, history, etc). Almost everyone are literate in this side of the world, and there are libraries everywhere, with books of every kind to be easily accessible. The internet alone gives us the power to learn anything, anywhere, all the time. We are farther in human development than most of human history as a whole. We no longer need scribes to hand-copy manuscripts, we can print and email documents as much as we desire. We can translate the works of men in different languages.

These are some examples of how very different we are than our ancestors. They would not be able to comprehend the kind of world we live in, it would be too much for them to process. The world then didn't progress very much within the same space of time as we have in these last couple centuries. It almost is scary to think about. What if we are near the end of this world, and these are signs of the times? Something to chew on. Since the beginning of the industrial age, things have rapidly been changing than ever.

 

[Kenny'sID]

That is a perception. Can you back it up with well founded data?

Since, and I hope we can pretty well agree, there are no "evil people" stats, the next best thing would be what evil people might do, crime. Go the the following site and scroll down to "United States Population and Rate of Crime per 100,000 People 1960 - 2017" to get a per capita result.

United States Crime Rates 1960 - 2017

 

[stevil]

why are there so many evil people in the world?

Define "evil person"