Alright, so here’s a string of thought that could simply drive you mad . . .
What is the capacity for “choosing” evil that seemed to exist for Lucifer and Adam/Eve? It cannot be a concept that exists apart from God, for God
is infinite and therefore all things existing were pre-existing in His “mind” (a Platonic concept).
And yet may it be ventured to guess that God Himself does have this very
capacity, except that in the perfection of His nature he will always “choose” the good and therefore
the concept of “choosing” evil is an impossibility? It seems to be so: the very
nature of God (the Holy Trinity) is perfect goodness and holiness and He is not limited
to such, but simply is (exists) perfectly in such. Where does this leave the creation (anything/person outside of God)? We know that evil does not orginate in the mind of God, for”in Him is no darkness at all.” [1 John 1:5] It seems to exist in the universe, therefore, as a force counter or opposite to
all that God is. Does this mean that in all created beings there is simply an awareness of what is NOT God–simpy because we are without excuse as to the knowledge of God? And did that “awareness” originate with Lucifer simply because he acted upon it, or was it already acted upon previously by angels without such grievous consequences? . . .
What brought about about this train of thought was the suggestion (in religion class, of course) that, to date, understandings of the Biblical concept of predestination, election, grace, free will, etc. fail to address the idea of a “Pelagian Adam.” That is, were Adam and Eve completely “free” to choose between good and evil because they were essentially perfect prior to the Fall? If so, where did the notion come from–essentially, Lucifer…so where did it come from for him? Certainly, they were all predestined to fall/sin because it was foreordained in the perfect will of God, through the working of His immutable and holy will, to bring Himself greater glory by the redemption of fallen humanity through Christ (and really I could just stop there because I don’t need much more explanation). But for the sake of discussion and “deep thoughts” (ha ha), how in the world is one supposed to think about these things, or worse, answer the questions of an Arminian who happens to actually think about this?
hiddenart
Good questions.
Read Isaiah 45 esp vs 7 I form the light and create darkness: I make peace and create evil: I the Lord to all these things.
Granted God is not evil and there are NO contradictions in the Bible, but it is difficult for my human mind to understand.
carlosqp79
I agree… good questions!
Mind is I think about it for a few days? I’ll try to get back to you.
-carl
FabiusMaximus
In my definition ‘evil’ is simply anything outside the perfect will of God. God’s will is that all creation lift up his name. Lucifer was the cheif musician in heaven, and was the most beautiful and perfect creature in God’s creation. Pride overtook him and he desired to no longer lift up God’s name, but to have his own name lifted up. Pride is the original sin.
The serpent told Adam and Eve that eating the fruit would make them like God. Again, pride is man’s downfall.
There really are too many questions to answer so I’ll just rant. =)
Interesting thought about whether God CAN choose evil or not. I don’t intend to be able to explain the nature of God in any way at all, but here are a couple thoughts from both sides. Today, one of our elders was speaking in church and he asked the question, “Is there anything God can’t do?” To which everyone saw the trick question coming and kept mum. The answer he gave is, yes. He can’t go back on his word. He can’t lie. He can’t sin. He is bound by his covenant to his people.
Yet, is he bound by it in such a way that a computer is bound by programming code, or is he just perfect enough to never forget and break it?
Its all mind blowing, really. I like to think that since his will is ‘good’ and anything outside of his will is ‘evil.’ Thus any action he choses to take is inherently ‘good.’ Since he never changes he will never have a will contrary to the will he had when he established his covenant.
On a side note: I doubt I answered any questions. Whenever I start thinking about such subjects my mind races, so I go off on tangents. It is one thing to know in one’s spirit an aspect of the nature of God, but its a whole different thing to try to put it into words. You weild the pen with skill. Keep it up. I can take a lesson from you! 🙂
FabiusMaximus
It is interesting to note that the rainbow was created to remind HIM about his covenant to us. He destroyed man once with a flood, and was willing to do it again in the time of Moses, but Moses ‘talked him out of it’ by appealing to the covenant he made with Noah.