Well Mr. T you're close. For Christians creation begins with the Book of Genesis. We all know the story of Satan tempting Adam and thus bringing "death" into the created order. Ah but consider this. In Genesis it says "And the earth was without form, and void". The Greek word that describes this condition is chaos which means disorder. Well, one can't have disorder without prior order. Which leads us to Lucifer and that prior order.
In Ezekiel we read Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth [creation]; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.
But nowhere in the Bible does God take away the dominion over prior order from Satan. That's how he comes in the New Testament to be able to tempt Jesus by offering him the kingdoms of the Earth. That was no idle boast. And Jesus Himself does not challenge Satan's or his ability to produce these realms but merely says, begone, Satan for it is written thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
So that brings me to the question of evil in the world. People ask how a loving God can permit all the bad things that happen here. They aren't the passive or tacit will of God but the active work of Satan. And it won't stop until the second coming of Jesus.
Ever read the John Henry Newman? Surely, there is at this day a confederacy of evil, marshalling its hosts from all parts of the world, organizing itself, taking its measures, enclosing the Church of Christ as in a net, and preparing the way for a general Apostasy from it...and all its tokens and instruments, are of the Evil One, and savour of death.
I try not to dwell on this too much because it's kinda depressing.
M
Mr. Testicles (imported) wrote: Mon Nov 23, 2009 11:22 pm
Well, believe it or not, I spend a lot of time pondering these sorts of issues. I know this might sound odd for a happy testicle.
Anyway, I think even though it may be a simplistic answer that may not satisfy the intellectually curious the best way to describe our world is using the concept of good and evil. I would think that there has to be a spiritual component to this great battle that goes on between people and also in our inner soul.
It is perplexing that God would allow evil to exist and that brings some to the conclusion that God must not exist. How could a good God allow little children to die of starvation before they are 5 years old ? There are a many number of evils that one could bring up as an example. There is many number of conclusions or theories for the allowance of evil by a loving God but one is the theory of free will. Would love even be love if it wasn't a choice ?
So it must have been worth the gamble for God to create beings that may choose to disobey and or shun or perhaps in Satan's case to displace Him. According to the Bible Satan was one of the most beautiful creatures of all creation. Satan at some point believed he was better than God. Thus creating what we now know as evil. All the negative results of evil can probably be rooted back to this first sin of pride. If there is a tree of evil I am sure Pride would be at the top and all the limbs would trickle down from there.
So it is my belief that God had to have some plan in place to deal with the advent of evil and that the creation of man has something to do with it. I am sure there are other reasons but the battle between good and evil has to be a big part of the meaning and reason of life.
We as humans can decide if we will choose the things that are good or the things that are evil. God gives us this ultimate civil liberty.
We must all admit one thing here. Life is a great training ground for understanding the nature of evil. Where and what and how evil came about is up for debate.
