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If God is sovereign, is He responsible for evil?

Discussion in 'Other Christian Denominations' started by Revmitchell, May 6, 2013.

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  1. Revmitchell

    Revmitchell Well-Known Member
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    No. Scripture says that when God finished His creation, He saw everything and declared it "very good" (Genesis 1:31). Many Scriptures affirm that God is not the author of evil: "God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone" (James 1:13). "God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all" (1 John 1:5). "God is not the author of confusion" (1 Corinthians 14:33)-and if that is true, He cannot in any way be the author of evil.

    Occasionally someone will quote Isaiah 45:7 (KJV) and claim it proves God made evil as a part of His creation: "I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things" (emphasis added).

    But the New American Standard Bible gives the sense of Isaiah 45:6-7 more clearly: "There is no one besides Me. I am the Lord, and there is no other, the One forming light and creating darkness, causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the Lord who does all these." In other words, God devises calamity as a judgment for the wicked. But in no sense is He the author of evil.

    Evil originates not from God but from the fallen creature. I agree with John Calvin, who wrote,

    . . . the Lord had declared that "everything that he had made . . . was exceedingly good" [Gen. 1:31]. Whence, then comes this wickedness to man, that he should fall away from his God? Lest we should think it comes from creation, God had put His stamp of approval on what had come forth from himself. By his own evil intention, then, man corrupted the pure nature he had received from the Lord; and by his fall drew all his posterity with him into destruction. Accordingly, we should contemplate the evident cause of condemnation in the corrupt nature of humanity-which is closer to us-rather than seek a hidden and utterly incomprehensible cause in God's predestination. [Institutes, 3:23:8]

    John MacArthur

    http://www.gty.org/resources/articles/A189
     
    #1 Revmitchell, May 6, 2013
  2. BobRyan

    BobRyan Well-Known Member

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    In the Arminian model that we find in the Bible - God sovereignly chooses free will as the model for the universe. His offer of salvation is to 'Whosoever will". It is to "as many as received Him" that he gives the right to be called the children of God John 1.

    "Behold I stand at the door and knock -- if anyone hears my voice AND opens the door I will come in".

    Thus when we sin - it is not God causing it.

    When we open the door it is God enabling our free will to do it but not God opening the door for us.

    God "draws all" unto Him John 12:32

    God "Convicts the WORLD of sin and righteousness and judgment " John 16.

    But God does not force us to come to Him - nor does He cause us to sin.

    in Christ,

    Bob
     
    #2 BobRyan, May 6, 2013
  3. saturneptune

    saturneptune New Member

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    This is exactly why the SDA movement is a cult. There is no such thing as an Arminian model in the Bible. There is a mix of God's sovereignty and the free will of man that your obviously do not have a handle on. Not only is an element of "whosoever will" an element of salvation, so is "I chose you, you did not choose Me."

    The one statement in your post that is correct is that God does not cause us to sin. Although the SDA movement is a cult, notice I did not say SDA membes were lost.
     
    #3 saturneptune, May 6, 2013
  4. SolaSaint

    SolaSaint Well-Known Member

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    Is it better to have God sovereign or not?
     
    #4 SolaSaint, May 6, 2013
  5. Revmitchell

    Revmitchell Well-Known Member
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    I do not understand the purpose in the question. But the answer is yes. Are you implying that if He is not the author of evil He is not sovereign?
     
    #5 Revmitchell, May 6, 2013
  6. SolaSaint

    SolaSaint Well-Known Member

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    No sir, I just always refer to Isaiah 55 and let God be God. I'm sure He laughs when we all try to put Him in a box.
     
    #6 SolaSaint, May 7, 2013
  7. Revmitchell

    Revmitchell Well-Known Member
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    Ok what does that mean "put Him in a box"? What specifically are you talking about?
     
    #7 Revmitchell, May 7, 2013
  8. Yeshua1

    Yeshua1 Well-Known Member
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    See that you quoted a Calvinist in regards to this topic, so credit for that!

    Would also say that though God is NOT the author of Sin/Evil in his creation, he also had ordained/decreed that they would come to pass, as part of "history", yet stan and Adam also freely chose to both sin and rebel against Him!
     
    #8 Yeshua1, May 7, 2013
  9. Yeshua1

    Yeshua1 Well-Known Member
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    Think its when we try to assert that we have free will equal to His free will, for God is in the absolute sense, the ONLY fully free Moral Agent!
     
    #9 Yeshua1, May 7, 2013
  10. Yeshua1

    Yeshua1 Well-Known Member
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    actually, God chose the "model" of the Cross for sinners to get saved by, for no one after the fall even as real free will to accept/reject christ!
     
    #10 Yeshua1, May 7, 2013
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