Don’t you know that Adam ate of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil? They go hand in hand and can be distinguished but not separated. Good and evil are metaphysical ideas and not physical ones. They can be logically deduced but not proven by normal means as you would think. Note that you cannot prove anything without making some assumption that cannot be proven, even in science they assume that nature is orderly, consistent, and knowable and put faith in the scientific method. NOTE: All knowledge is contingent and begins in faith!
You would have to first assume that good exists, and then define evil as its privation, distortion, or twisting. For instance, if you assume justice, injustice must also exist by definition whether realized or not; also laws exist so lawlessness must also even if not reckoned; and if there can be righteousness, there is also unrighteousness by nature. An atheist may even assume he is good without God in the equation and even think evil of others or think they are evil compared to him (not God!).
Note: there’s no perfect evil but it’s always mixed with enough good to deceive just like lies that have an element of truth—enough to make you immune to the real thing or the ultimate Truth with a capital T. That’s why cults thrive—they have enough truth to inoculate from the truth and reality which it corresponds to.
It is difficult to define good without God in the equation as Plato defined God as the only Supreme Good and standard of it to recognize it by. How can you conceive of justice without a Judge, order without an Orderer, laws without a Lawgiver, righteousness without rights? You may ask how is this possible, yet Communists believe in justice without a Judge and laws without a Lawgiver. Atheists will tell you they are or can be moral without a moral center to the universe, God the Judge.
If there were no moral or good and evil, what is the purpose of our conscience or moral compass (given us by God)? Does anything repulse you at all, not even the Holocaust? Is there anything you wouldn't do because of your principles, scruples, or inhibitions? That’s why we see good in light of evil, light in view of darkness, blessings in spite of cursing, love in contrast to hate! Soli Deo Gloria!
About Me
- Karl Broberg
- I am a born-again Christian, who is Reformed, but also charismatic, spiritually speaking. (I do not speak in tongues, but I believe glossalalia is a bona fide gift not given to all, and not as great as prophecy, for example.) I have several years of college education but only completed a two-year degree. I was raised Lutheran and confirmed, but I didn't "find Christ" until I was in the Army and responded to a Billy Graham crusade in 1973. I was mentored or discipled by the Navigators in the army and upon discharge joined several evangelical, Bible-teaching churches. I was baptized as an infant, but believe in believer baptism, of which I was a partaker after my conversion experience. I believe in the "5 Onlys" of the reformation: sola fide (faith alone); sola Scriptura (Scripture alone); soli Christo (Christ alone), sola gratia (grace alone), and soli Deo gloria (to God alone be the glory). I affirm TULIP as defended in the Reformation.. I affirm most of The Westminster Confession of Faith, especially pertaining to Providence.
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