September 9
THE PURPOSE OF EVIL / PART 1
THE ORIGIN OF EVIL
According to A. P. Adams:
-"There is probably no subject in all the range of religious thought so hard to deal with as that of the purpose
of evil. Writers on Biblical lore have tried to account of the origin of evil; but it seems to me that the real difficulty
is the bare fact of its existence, whatever may have been its origin. The great question for theologians to wrestle
with is this: How can you account for the existence of evil alongside a supreme, all-wise, holy and benevolent God? First
let me say that there is no help out of this trouble in orthodoxy. In regard to this subject orthodoxy is hopelessly contradictory
and utterly absurd. Thus it speaks: "It was not in God's original plan that evil should exist, but evil has come into existence
and done incalculable harm; yet God's plans cannot be thwarted nor disarranged in the least, because He is all-wise and almighty.
Evil being in existence before man was created, God allows it to come into contact with the man He created when He might have
prevented it, knowing full well what the result would be; yet He is in no wise responsible for the consequences of evil. In
fact, it is blasphemy to entertain any such idea. Evil having come into existence contrary to God's will, He cannot put it
out of existence, but it will continue as long as He exists, an eternal blot on His otherwise perfect universe and a perpetual
offense unto all the purified; yet His will is absolute and sovereign and the redeemed will be perfectly happy. Thus, God
is in no wise responsible for either the origin, existence, consequences or continuance of evil; yet He can have everything
as He pleases, and is the Creator of all things." And so Orthodoxy goes on, stultifying common sense, throttling
human reason, and stupidly expecting that intelligent, thoughtful men and women will accept its idiotic patter as the
infallible utterances of divine inspiration. Cannot everyone see that the entire orthodox view is contradictory and absurd
in the extreme, and hence self-destructive and untenable?" ( The Purpose Of Evil, A. P. Adams )
-Now that we have heard the ABSURD thoughts of organized religion, let us next consider what the Bible has to
say about this all-important subject. We will be pleased to discover that there is a grand and …
-GLORIOUS PURPOSE FOR EVIL!-
