Answers From a Christian

Is God Evil? - Pt. Two (Immoral?)

So, if God is not amoral by the Bible's standards and is hinted to not be amoral by the universe's standards, the question then is God immoral? As mentioned earlier, for God to be immoral, we would have to see Him violating the code which He Himself has created for Himself.

The Bible, to be honest, does not talk about God creating a moral code for Himself very much. It DOES talk about Him creating a moral code for humans. For example, He has given humans two commandments - love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind and love your neighbor as yourself.

Now, the rest of the laws such as do not murder, do not steal, do not worship other gods, etc. are merely built off those two. So, this law does not really make a whole lot of sense when applied to God though. Perhaps, the idea of God's morality is His love for humankind.

That is purely theoretical though. The Bible says God IS love. With that being in mind, that may be why love is the ultimate morality for man, and in like manner may be the ultimate moral code God follows as well.

Do we see God violating this law of love? While there is Hell, there is also a promise of total, pure forgiveness for all creatures that have ever lived regardless of their past as long as they are willing to accept that forgiveness. This forgiveness God was willing to achieve, even if it meant total humiliation and giving up of all that is His for a time, even to suffer the humiliation of being put to death physically by those who He create. I can think of no greater act of selflessness and pure love than this.

So where do the accusations of God being evil come from?

First, is the accusation that God allows evil, so He must be evil.

For a second, let's imagine God did not allow evil. If that was true, you, yourself, would not be able to do anything wrong ever. You would not be able to even have a choice to do right or wrong. Even if you didn't see a problem with something like pre-marital sex or "white lies", if it didn't fit God's view, you are not even given an option to do it. Would you enjoy that? Would that be love? God allows all evil, including mine and yours, because He gives us the choice to obey or not. That choice causes pain, but we are the ones who choose to cause the pain, not God. If your mom says you can watch your favorite or least favorite movie and you pick the second, it's on you because you had the choice. If your mom tells your brother not to take something from you and he does anyway, that's not your mom's fault, but your brother's. God is in no way violating His own laws by allowing us to violate them.

Evil exists because freedom to choose exists. By loving humans enough to give them choices, even bad ones that hurt others, does not violate His law of love, but rather validates it. It proves that God's love is so great, that He is willing to allow choices EVEN if they are not what He would want.

Secondly, humans have been given responsibility for the earth. The Bible says God gave dominion over all the earth to us. Both in a moral and physical sense. In a sense then, it is not necessarily God's responsibility to make us good or make the world good as of right now. It IS His responsibility to inform us, which He has. God also has become Jesus Christ, a human, and promises to return to reign over the world forever one day. When He does so He will totally regain responsibility for the world. Meanwhile though, it has been given to us.

Genesis 1:28 - And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

Another thing said though is that there are those who say God is evil because He punishes people with Hell.

So, just so things are clear, if God were to punish people for what they did, they would claim God is an evil dictator and tyrant. Yet if God does not judge people, they claim He does not care and is evil for letting it happen? So either way, God is put in this dilemma where He is "evil" regardless of what He does.