Why I think evil is necessary

ImAllLikeOkWaitWat

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I think we need evil so we can experience the greater good. Without evil what need is there in going out of your way to do more than good? But with evil you become awoken and do the good necessary to stop the evil and that goes on forever. So if there was no evil there would still be good but that is quite limited compared to good and evil.
 
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Blade

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Sin was found in Satan. The fall of man was not Gods will. Man that listen to Satan that lied was not more wise or smarter then God. Man didn't know that the only way to truly know good was to know sin? God said don't eat of this tree or you will die.

So man that was walking with God is not not walking with God.. Satan is now the god of this world. What you said goes against the word of God. Your looking at this from the fallen state. So mans view will be skewed. God is only good. There is no evil in Him. Satan comes The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

See the problem here is evil can only lie. There is no truth in it..none. So you never learn good your learn you are away from God.. and this evil will never enter heaven. Why its written we can only serve one not both. Can't embrace both. Satan can only lie.
 
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Tolworth John

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See the problem here is evil can only lie. There is no truth in it

Sorry but that is a gross over simplefication.

Evil can tell the whole truth, especially when we don't believe it, half truths or be economical with the truth in order to promote a lie..

Had Adam not sinned, we would have been able to enjoy all the goodness of God's blessings, for us this is stressed and made clearer because we know all to well the alternative of living with sin and it's consequences.
 
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ImAllLikeOkWaitWat

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Romans 6 explicitly argues against this idea. More evil doesn't magically make the good stand out.

I'm not saying people should do evil or that its good. I am simply saying why i think it at least fills a need. If there is no evil then all you have is good. Add in evil and now you have good and beyond good. There would be no beyond good if there was no evil. So something greater than good arises from evil. Whatever this greater good is I believe is necessary because I don't believe people can live in the good for eternity. It's too restrictive. Evil removes the restriction allowing one to take actions that are beyond good which leads to the personal fulfillment we are all chasing.
 
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Triumvirate

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I'm not saying people should do evil or that its good. I am simply saying why i think it at least fills a need. If there is no evil then all you have is good. Add in evil and now you have good and beyond good. There would be no beyond good if there was no evil. So something greater than good arises from evil. Whatever this greater good is I believe is necessary because I don't believe people can live in the good for eternity. It's too restrictive. Evil removes the restriction allowing one to take actions that are beyond good which leads to the personal fulfillment we are all chasing.

Living in the good for eternity is literally what heaven is, so it's perfectly consistent with how God's plan is set out for people to live in an existence of pure goodness. Which makes one wonder why that wasn't just the plan from the getgo, but figuring that one out is not my circus.
 
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Amoranemix

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ImAllLikeOkWaitWat in OP said:
I think we need evil so we can experience the greater good. Without evil what need is there in going out of your way to do more than good?[1] But with evil you become awoken and do the good necessary to stop the evil and that goes on forever.[2] So if there was no evil there would still be good but that is quite limited compared to good and evil.
[1] None. With evil, what need is there in going out of your way to do more than good ? Also none.
[2] Me ? No, and I doubt I am worse than average.
You seem to be arguig that evil is not completely useless, rather than necessary.

Blade 2 said:
See the problem here is evil can only lie. There is no truth in it..none. So you never learn good your learn you are away from God.. and this evil will never enter heaven. Why its written we can only serve one not both. Can't embrace both. Satan can only lie.
How can evil lie ? The evil of the collapse of the Morandi bridge august 14 2018 suggested something was wrong with the bridge. How is that a lie ?

Triumvirate 5 said:
Romans 6 explicitly argues against this idea. More evil doesn't magically make the good stand out.
Romans 6 seems to talk about sin, not evil.

ImAllLikeOkWaitWat 6 to Triumvirate said:
I'm not saying people should do evil or that its good.[3] I am simply saying why i think it at least fills a need. If there is no evil then all you have is good. Add in evil and now you have good and beyond good.[4] There would be no beyond good if there was no evil. So something greater than good arises from evil. Whatever this greater good is I believe is necessary because I don't believe people can live in the good for eternity.[5] It's too restrictive. Evil removes the restriction allowing one to take actions that are beyond good which leads to the personal fulfillment we are all chasing.
[3] You appear to be saying that there is some good to evil, but that its cost-benefit balance is still firmly negative. Hence the benefits of evil have not practicle implication. One should still avoid it like the plague.
[4] What is that, beyond good ?
[5] Can that allegedly necessary greater good be achieved with other means than evil ? If so, how ?
 
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Ken-1122

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I think we need evil so we can experience the greater good. Without evil what need is there in going out of your way to do more than good? But with evil you become awoken and do the good necessary to stop the evil and that goes on forever. So if there was no evil there would still be good but that is quite limited compared to good and evil.
So does that mean in Heaven, the good is limited? Or are you assuming there is evil in Heaven.
 
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plain jayne

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I think we need evil so we can experience the greater good. Without evil what need is there in going out of your way to do more than good? But with evil you become awoken and do the good necessary to stop the evil and that goes on forever. So if there was no evil there would still be good but that is quite limited compared to good and evil.

I'm not following you at all. None of your posts in the thread. You are being very vague.

Help me out with an example.

You say evil is necessary so that we can experience a greater good. OK - how do these evils bring about a greater good?

  • the rape of a three-year old
  • the Holocaust
  • inappropriate contentography
 
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Sophrosyne

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The problem with evil is many people consider it in a fashion of doing things that are immoral in the secular world when in reality there is good (God) and evil (not God). Essentially rejecting God is evil as it is what keeps you from going to heaven. I think that God wants us to be with him but by choice not because there is no other choice but him then you can't really choose God because there is "not God" as an alternative. The thinking that Satan is the source of evil may not be entirely true as he "found" the "not God" choice and revealed it to Adam and Eve as IMO the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil could be considered the opening of your mind to what "not God" is.
The "not God" in a sense is also the "I'm my own god" choice and in the end you decide what is good and evil instead of what God says. Perhaps Satan was smarter than Adam and able to figure out that "not God" is a choice and was tempted to choose it first but maybe if Satan did not trick Eve, Adam and Eve still would have figured out that choice and be likewise tempted.
Salvation puts the options from and center... accept God means heaven, reject God means "not heaven" or hell with those who likewise chose "not God". It could be considered good/evil in that respect.
 
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Amoranemix

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ImAllLikeOkWaitWat said:
Amoranemix 9 to OP said:
[3] You appear to be saying that there is some good to evil, but that its cost-benefit balance is still firmly negative. Hence the benefits of evil have not practicle implication. One should still avoid it like the plague.
[4] What is that, beyond good ?
[5] Can that allegedly necessary greater good be achieved with other means than evil ? If so, how ?
[No response]
Can you please answer my questions ?

Sophrosyne said:
The problem with evil is many people consider it in a fashion of doing things that are immoral in the secular world when in reality there is good (God) and evil (not God).[6] Essentially rejecting God is evil as it is what keeps you from going to heaven.[7] I think that God wants us to be with him but by choice not because there is no other choice but him then you can't really choose God because there is "not God" as an alternative. The thinking that Satan is the source of evil may not be entirely true as he "found" the "not God" choice and revealed it to Adam and Eve as IMO the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil could be considered the opening of your mind to what "not God" is.
[6] That good is God and evil not God remains to be proven.
[7] If not going to Heaven is evil and rejecting God prevents you from going there, then that would make rejecting God a cause of evil, but not evil by itself.
 
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ImAllLikeOkWaitWat

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[

[3] You appear to be saying that there is some good to evil, but that its cost-benefit balance is still firmly negative. Hence the benefits of evil have not practicle implication. One should still avoid it like the plague.
[4] What is that, beyond good ?
[5] Can that allegedly necessary greater good be achieved with other means than evil ? If so, how ?

The good to evil is it allows people to mature. Without evil we would all be naive. So I do think the cost benefit of being mature vs being naive is worth it. So while we should avoid evil once we know evil we should still allow others to experience it if they don't know it.

Beyond good is maturity it's the benefits of evil that can't be had without evil. It's going the extra mile when good isn't enough. Evil opens the door to maturation that can't be had any other way. It builds character.
 
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Ken-1122

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The good to evil is it allows people to mature. Without evil we would all be naive. So I do think the cost benefit of being mature vs being naive is worth it. So while we should avoid evil once we know evil we should still allow others to experience it if they don't know it.

Beyond good is maturity it's the benefits of evil that can't be had without evil. It's going the extra mile when good isn't enough. Evil opens the door to maturation that can't be had any other way. It builds character.
If God can do anything and does not like evil, why would he purposely create mankind in a way that requires he resorts to evil in order for him to mature and become whole?
 
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ImAllLikeOkWaitWat

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If God can do anything and does not like evil, why would he purposely create mankind in a way that requires he resorts to evil in order for him to mature and become whole?

Because there is no other way.
 
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