by Nikolas Nies

Created on: May 17, 2009

Good and evil are relative terms. The absence of good is evil. When examining the question, Why is there evil in the world, we must ask another question. What if there was no evil? What would the measure of good look like? Would all good be the same? Or perhaps the greater good would be considered good and the lesser good would now become evil. To say that there was no evil, all good would be the same, and free will would not enter the equation.

In the Bible, James 4:17 tells us "Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin." In this scripture, knowledge is the key. Good people can commit evil acts unaware that they are doing wrong; thus it is not sin. However, when you know to do good, and don't, this evil act is counted as sin. This takes us back to the tree in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve were pure, made in God's image. There was no knowledge of good and evil. Everything was good, as God had said as he created the world. But when they went against God, and ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, evil entered their world. They were no longer innocent in the actions.

When God created the universe, there was no evil. As he created everything step by step, he examined his work and declared it good. Even the creation of man; God saw as good. Evil entered the world when he gave man free will. Adam and Eve had a choice. They could do good, and evil would never present itself. But when they chose to go against God they presented evil into the world.

Evil presents itself in the form of free will. As James 4:17 tells us, we have a choice to do good, when we choose not to do the good, we sin. Evil is a creation of man and his ability to do what he wills. The question arises among many, Why do bad things happen to good people? This goes back to the relativity of good and evil. You cannot define evil in degrees. How good are good people? How bad is bad? As long as we have a choice, there will be evil. There is not an arm of protection around people who presume to be good. This would eliminate the free will of someone seeking to do evil. If indeed, we had such protection, there would be no need for laws. Laws were presented to us to temper the extreme desires of someone's free will. The effectiveness of laws and the prosecution of justice determine the amount of evil that is present in the world. Deterrence from evil would have a stronger effect if justice were administered to the perpetrator. However, it is these same men, who have the ability to commit evil acts that are responsible for laws that prevent evil actions.

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