Did God Create Evil? The Implications to Your "Yes" or "No"

Mark Twain once wrote, "But who prays for Satan? Who in eighteen centuries, has had the common humanity to pray for the one sinner that needed it most?" (Mark Twain: 'But who prays for Satan? Who, in eighteen centuries, has had the common humanity to pray for the one sinner that needed it most?' — The Socratic Method)

This question seems to challenge our compassion and humanity. But on a deeper level, this question is an ideal doorway through which we can enter the discussion about the origin of evil.

(Before we take up this question, am I the only one who thinks Mark Twain and Buddy Ebsen could be brothers?)

We first meet the concept of evil in the Garden of Eden.

God created. For six days, the Hebrew text tells us, God created. At the end of each day, as God observed His creation, He decreed that it was good. When He created man and woman, God declared this work to be very good.

This should not be surprising. Hundreds of years later, John, a close and beloved disciple of Jesus, declared that Jesus was good and full of light!

1 John 1:5, NLT

"This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all."

Jesus referred to Himself as light.

John 8:12, NLT

"Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, "I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won't have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life."

There are two kinds of light in this world. There is natural light, which we think of as "day" and associate with the sun, and there is spiritual light.

Jesus speaks of himself as the spiritual light - the light that keeps us from walking in darkness. Darkness is the opposite of light, which describes the truth and holiness of God.

So, God is good. God created good. Then we come to this place in the garden where we see something emerge that is not good.

Genesis 3:1, NLT

"The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the LORD God had made. One day he asked the woman, "Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?"

We know the rest of the story. Adam and Eve ate the fruit from the tree God told them to leave alone. Sin crept in to the place where God had declared only good. Death entered into the place where there was only life. Chaos and separation thundered into relationships meant for peace and unity.

Did God create this evil and simply leave it out of our bibles? Did God plant the darkness in Satan's heart, in some cosmic game of Gotcha?

We must be careful with how we answer this question, because how we answer this question has huge implications for how we understand God.

We are left with two choices, though some philosophers may find more choices than our two. Either God willfully created evil, or God did not.

If we believe He did, this impacts our view of God’s goodness.

If we believe He did not, this impacts our view of God’s sovereignty. Sovereignty means supreme power or authority.

In Colossians we meet Jesus - God in human form - who is supreme in His power and authority.

Colossians 1:15-20, NLT

“Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, [16] for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can't see- such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him. [17] He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together. [18] Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So he is first in everything. [19] For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, [20] and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ's blood on the cross.”

In verse 16, Paul seems to make short work of our question. If everything in the heavenly realms and on earth was created through Jesus and for Jesus, this might be understood to include evil.

Let's revisit where Satan came from. In short, God created Him, just as Paul writes in Colossians. Scripture gives us several descriptions. We will start with Revelation and work our way back.

Revelation 12:9, NLT

"This great dragon-the ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, the one deceiving the whole world-was thrown down to the earth with all his angels."

2 Corinthians 11:14, NLT

"But I am not surprised! Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light."

Ezekiel 28:14-17, NLT

"I ordained and anointed you as the mighty angelic guardian. You had access to the holy mountain of God and walked among the stones of fire. [15] "You were blameless in all you did from the day you were created until the day evil was found in you. [16] Your rich commerce led you to violence, and you sinned. So I banished you in disgrace from the mountain of God. I expelled you, O mighty guardian, from your place among the stones of fire. [17] Your heart was filled with pride because of all your beauty. Your wisdom was corrupted by your love of splendor. So I threw you to the ground and exposed you to the curious gaze of kings."

Finally, we will look at the most direct passage of scripture about the created angel who would rebel against God. Scripture says that this angel was blameless from the day he was created until the day evil was found in him. Pride and greed led to violence and sin.

May this be our reminder that things like pride and greed can lead us to violence, as well, and into sin.

Isaiah 14:12-15, NLT

"How you are fallen from heaven, O shining star, son of the morning! You have been thrown down to the earth, you who destroyed the nations of the world. [13] For you said to yourself, 'I will ascend to heaven and set my throne above God's stars. I will preside on the mountain of the gods far away in the north. [14] I will climb to the highest heavens and be like the Most High.' [15] Instead, you will be brought down to the place of the dead, down to its lowest depths."

God did create this angel, but God did not create him to be evil or to possess evil.

God did create him with free will - the freedom to choose.

Jude 1:6, NLT

"And I remind you of the angels who did not stay within the limits of authority God gave them but left the place where they belonged. God has kept them securely chained in prisons of darkness, waiting for the great day of judgment."

Because of the consistency of scripture on this question, I believe that God did not create evil.

If God created Satan to be evil, then we would have to take this to its sensible end that God also created Adam and Eve to be evil.

God created Adam and Eve and declared this work to be very good. I do not see how God would create humans - especially the first two - to be very good, but with a pre-creation and intentional predisposition for evil. This does not track with God's goodness, truth, and holiness.

I do not believe that free will reduces God's sovereignty one iota. Nor do I believe that God created some of us to follow Him and some of us to be damned. I rest in an Old Testament statement.

Deuteronomy 30:19, NLT

"Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live!”

If God didn't create evil, where does it come from?

Sin, sickness, death, hatred, abuse - all of these things - were never part of God’s very good creation. These entered the world through humanity’s disobedience and the brokenness that followed the fall in Eden.

We experience these things because creation itself is corrupted and because spiritual forces opposed to God distort His good work.

Evil is perhaps best understood as a lack of good, much as darkness is the absence of light and cold is the absence of heat.

Humanity was given the freedom to obey or to disobey God’s commands, and angels had the capacity to remain faithful or to rebel. The presence of sin in the world is not the result of God’s design, but of creatures misusing the freedom God graciously gave.

We must be careful to use the freedom God gives us in ways that both honor God and bring glory to God.

Let us not be deceived! Even though God did not create evil or darkness, God is absolutely sovereign and He can take difficult, broken situations and use them for good purposes.

It says in Romans that God works in all things for the good of those who love him.

Instead of asking why the bad thing happened, we can ask God to show us how He can use a difficult situation or season for His glory and for our good.

God doesn’t waste anything. The place where we have experienced our greatest heartbreak and brokenness is often where God will us to bless others in similar situations.

Anchor your mind in God’s goodness. God is good. God’s nature is full of love and mercy, and He is sovereign. When you face difficulties, remember His love, His mercy, and His sovereignty.

Be active in your faith, and not passive. Be quick to worship and serve God, and be just as quick to bring peace, patience, and kindness with you.

And by the way - about that question that Mark Twain once asked, who prays for Satan?

In scripture, we get the perspective that Satan's eternal end is fixed.

Matthew 25:41. NLT

"Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, 'Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons."

One last thing - next time you walk into a pitch-dark room, observe how you handle the darkness. You don't swing on it with your fists or scream a sermon at it. No, you reach for the light switch and flip it on. Darkness is the absence of light. Turn on the light.

About the spiritual darkness and evil around us - passive faith will never push back the darkness. Following Jesus means we bring His light to dark places. We flip on the light as we walk in the light of Jesus and His truth and love, bringing the gospel and all of its fullness with us wherever we go.