This is a fascinating discussion. It is good to have in the face of this world. God makes it clear in the bible that there is a stark and everlasting difference between the light and the world. “The world” is not of God. My family is reading the book of Matthew throughout March 2024. As one reads Matthew, we see how evil tries to trap and trip up Jesus. Reading Jesus’ words (red letter) is fascinating. In the face of Evil, Jesus is the light. The glory of God on earth. The Son. The savior.
Here is a modern day example of the devil trying to lie about truth. For all parents who send their children to highschools, universities and “institutions of higher learning,” this is what our children face. Our children are being tripped up and trapped by the very Pharisees, Sadducees and Sanhedrin Jesus faced. It is serious.
The good news is that we can teach our children to read, pray and embrace the red letters of The Bible – Jesus’ own words. He whipped evil from birth to death. He sits at the righthand of God, our Father, and He lives in us today, through The Holy Spirit.
This is from a post I read from John Rich on X. I found it very wise and sound.
Interesting and deep.
John Rich’s Post:
Why did God create evil?
A professor at the university asked his students the following question:
- “Everything that exists was created by God?”
One student bravely answered: - “Yes, created by God.”
- “Did God create everything? – a professor asked.”
- “Yes, sir,” replied the student.
- The professor asked :
- “If God created everything, then God created evil, since it exists. And according to the principle that our deeds define ourselves, then God is evil.”
- The student became silent after hearing such an answer. The professor was very pleased with himself. He boasted to students for proving once again that faith in God is a myth.
- Another student raised his hand and said:
- “Can I ask you a question, professor?”
- Of course,” replied the professor.
- A student got up and asked:
- “Professor, is cold a thing?”
- “What kind of question? Of course it exists. Have you ever been cold?” barked the professor.
Students laughed at the young man’s question.
The young man answered:
- “Actually, sir, cold doesn’t exist. According to the laws of physics, what we consider cold is actually the absence of heat. A person or object can be studied on whether it has or transmits energy.
Absolute zero (-460 degrees Fahrenheit) is a complete absence of heat. All matter becomes inert and unable to react at this temperature. Cold does not exist. We created this word to describe what we feel in the absence of heat.”
A student continued:
- “Professor, does darkness exist?”
— “Of course it exists,” said the professor.
- The wise stident replied, “You’re wrong again, sir. Darkness also does not exist. Darkness is actually the absence of light. We can study the light but not the darkness. We can use Newton’s prism to spread white light across multiple colors and explore the different wavelengths of each color. You can’t measure darkness. A simple ray of light can break into the world of darkness and illuminate it. How can you tell how dark a certain space is? You measure how much light is presented. Isn’t it so? Darkness is a term man uses to describe what happens in the absence of light.”
In the end, the young man asked the professor:
- “Sir, does evil exist?”
This time it was uncertain, the professor answered:
- “Of course, as I said before. We see him every day. Cruelty, numerous crimes and violence throughout the world. These examples are nothing but a manifestation of evil.”
To this, the student answered:
- “Evil does not exist, sir, or at least it does not exist for itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is like darkness and cold—a man-made word to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is not faith or love, which exist as light and warmth. Evil is the result of the absence of Divine love in the human heart. It’s the kind of cold that comes when there is no heat, or the kind of darkness that comes when there’s absence of light.”