The phrase ‘God and Evil’

The Contradiction of God and Evil

The phrase “God and Evil” is a typical contradiction in religion, and both concepts are seen as opposing opposites. God is defined as “the one and only one living and genuine God” according to the Southern Baptist Convention. According to most Christian Christians, God is a supernatural being who created and controls the universe. Matson defines God’s trinity as God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Evil, on the other hand, is a wrongdoing that is either natural or moral. Most philosophers have questioned the co-existence of God and Evil with arguments that God, who promotes good, cannot exist with bad. However, the co-existence of both is validated by Karz’s argument that, “the existence of Evil does not eliminate God.” Therefore, despite the disparity between God and Evil, it is evidence that good and evil are mutually existing, but each form manifests independently.

The Relationship Between God and Good

According to the belief of the Southern Baptist, God is the promoter of good in the society. In addition, the relationship between God and good can be validated through various verses in the Bible. According to the New International Version Bible, the definition of God is described in Isaiah 6:3, which states, “And they were calling to one another: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of His Glory.” Based on the International Standard Version, the righteousness of God is seen in Psalms 7:11, which states, “God is a righteous Judge, a God who is angry with sinners every day.” In addition, the Holy Bible defines the Justness of God in Deuteronomy 32:4, which states, “He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.” From the three distinct verses, God is defined as Holy, righteous, just, and upright. These virtues validate the fact that God embraces good virtues and does not entertain wrong. However, the main question remains, if God is good and just why does evil still exist?

The Proof of the Co-Existence of Good and Evil

The first proof of existence between good and evil is revealed in the Bible through the story of creation. The southern Baptists believe that God created man on the sixth day and gave man a companion. In this period, both Adam and Eve were made innocent but had the ability to choose between evil and good. The decision of Eve to disobey God’s Instructions and to eat the forbidden fruit was an evil choice, which resulted to sin. This proves that good and evil co-exist and it is a personal choice to avoid engaging in morally evil actions.

The Philosophical Perspective on the Co-Existence of Good and Evil

In the philosophical perspective, Plato validates the existence of good and evil through practical scenarios. He develops the analogy of good as a movement called metaxy, which means “in-between.” In his analysis, Plato defines the existence of humanity as a struggle between form and lack of form. He indicates, “because we desire a good life and not a bad life, we are in-between these dialectic opposites attempting to achieve our own goodness. In becoming aware of there, we become aware of the possibilities of human excellence...Every good action is a reminder of the forms and of the idea of the good. Every bad action is a reminder of the lack of forms...If we did not have these; we would not be able to become good, but rather evil.” Therefore, Plato’s argument dictates that the existence of good and bad is developed by the forms, which shows that both terms exist and interchange in nature.

Criticism of the Co-Existence of Good and Evil

The naysayers of this motion argue that the existence of good and evil is impossible. A recent study conducted by Royce regarding the perspective of Christians towards life found out that many Christians believe in good, but not in the existence of bad. In the study, Royce identifies a common factor that controls the Christians’ reasoning, which is faith. Some believer argues that God and evil cannot exist because God is holy, thus does not allow evil to manifest. Furthermore, some of the naysayers believe that two powers cannot exist mutually and if so, one must overcome the other.

The Co-Existence and Manifestation of Good and Evil

In as much as we agree the argument that darkness cannot exist in light, fact remains that both light and darkness exist, but when one is out the other takes over. This means that good and evil co-exist, but one form manifests at a time. An article by Young ’Beyond good and Evil’ indicates that for every force, there must be an opposing force, not necessarily an equal one.’ This means that the believing in one form, let us say ’good’, and disregarding the evil form is fallacious and inconsistent.

The Role of Temptation in the Co-Existence of Good and Evil

Based on the perspective of the Southern Baptists, it is clear that temptations exist and are meant to test a believer’s faith. Moreover, what is temptation? Temptation of the desire of a human being to attempt something that is wrong. This means that temptation is a course of action, which is evil in nature and draws a believer to engage in a wrong action. For this reason, the fact that a believer who embraces good is tempted means that the existence of good and evil is evident. However, fact remains that when one form dominates, the other form paves way, and this revolves mutually. This means that in as much as good and evil exist, the manifestation of each form occurs independently. For instance, a person cannot be good and bad at the same time. This argument is backed up by the biblical perspective in Romans 12:21, which states “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” This means that good and evil cannot co-exist simultaneously, thus one must overcome the other.

Conclusion

In conclusion, in as much as evil and God are antagonistically opposite terms, it is evident that both good and evil exist, but one form manifests at a time. Based on the Southern Baptists’ perspective, God, who is the creator of all, is the giver of good and manifests in good deeds. Nevertheless, since temptations occur to believers, we can deduce that evil also exists, but they occur independently. This argument is revealed in the New International Bible in the book of 1 John 5:1-21, which states “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” This means that the Christian believers need Jesus Christ to provide good in their lives to eliminate evil deeds. Therefore, God provides good and both good and evil exist, but independently.

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