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Did evil always exist before Adam? -
April 16th, 2012, 03:40 PM
I believe that evil always existed. James 1:14-15 "But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." This implies that lust brings forth sin. In genesis 3, Adam and eve were tempted,drawn away from their own lust and enticed which produced sin but they were already capable of committing evil. As to the reason why evil may have always existed was because in the beginning, Gods "ultimate will" was not yet fulfilled. His ultimate will is to be glorified by ending death (1 Cor. 15:26) and to create a new heaven and earth (revelation 21:1) Your thoughts are welcome.
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Hope sees the invisible, achieves the impossible.
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April 16th, 2012, 03:56 PM
If not evil, then the potential for evil had already existed. Adam and Eve's obedience could not have been a good thing if they were unable to do otherwise. But I think most likely Satan had already fallen by that time and rebellion against God's will was not totally new when Adam and Eve also rebelled.
"So as not to exchange one evil for another, this poor land must be saved from the scourge of friend and foe alike." - Friedrich Schiller
Posting ability officially rated "pretty good" by Delmar.
Slogan/motto:
"The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money" - Margaret Thatcher
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April 16th, 2012, 04:20 PM
If evil has always existed then the Bible verse in the OP doesn't say that. It says that evil exists in man's hearts and minds, and man hasn't always existed. God has always existed so the OP is saying that God is evil. Bad OP, bad.
If evil has always existed then the Bible verse in the OP doesn't say that. It says that evil exists in man's hearts and minds, and man hasn't always existed. God has always existed so the OP is saying that God is evil. Bad OP, bad.
Demons are also evil, one extraordinary example are the sons of god (job 1:6 and genesis 1-4) so evil can also exist within supernatural beings.
Good and evil are relative terms. They exist as long as there are beings who understand responsibility. That's where Adam and Eve came unstuck - they ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and swapped the possibility of unending child-like life for the adulthood of knowing good and evil and all the responsibility that brings.
Total Misanthropy. Uncertain salvation. Luck of the draw. Irresistible damnation. Persecution of the saints.
Right!
GOD is uncreated infinite being, necessarily thoroughly and infinitely good.
If evil has always existed then it would have found its' origin in GOD, thus GOD would be infinitely evil.
Evil, sin, rebellion finds its' origin in the good gift from GOD which we call free will. Evil results from choices which are contrary to GOD's immutable good nature.
The end of evil, rather the separation of evil from the good, will occur when GOD separates those who have freely chosen Him from those who have freely chosen to remain autonomous from Him. This separation will be permanent.
Evil existed only with the dark angels, not with humans until the source was open and that source came from the evil and caused the evil of pride and this led to disobedience and the desire ti rule oneself.
Slogan/motto:
"And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful."
2 Timothy 2:24
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April 17th, 2012, 06:48 PM
I agree with Spitfire that the potential for evil always existed. That is, as long as free contingent beings have existed. As long as beings have been able to choose, they have been able to choose wrong.
believe it!
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