Restoring Apostolic Faith

Why the Answer Depends on What You Mean by “Evil”

Few theological questions generate more confusion than this one:

Did God create evil?

Many Christians will answer “absolutely not.”

Others immediately quote Isaiah 45:7:

“I form light and create darkness,
I make well-being and create calamity…”
(NASB95)

Some translations even render the final word as “evil.”

Case closed, right?

Not quite.

The problem is that modern English uses the word evil for several different ideas, while the biblical writers often distinguished between them.

Until we define our terms, we risk answering a different question than the one being asked.

What Kind of Evil Are We Talking About?

When modern people say “evil,” they usually mean:

• wickedness,
• sin,
• moral corruption,
• rebellion against God.

But Scripture also uses language that can describe:

• disaster,
• calamity,
• judgment,
• catastrophe,
• national destruction.

These are not identical concepts.

A hurricane is not morally evil.

A murderer is.

Both may be described negatively, but they are fundamentally different categories.

The biblical writers knew that difference.

Modern readers often blur them together.

Isaiah 45:7 Is About Calamity, Not Sinfulness

The Hebrew word in Isaiah 45:7 is ra’ (רע).

Like many Hebrew words, it has a range of meanings depending on context.

It can refer to:

• wickedness,
• trouble,
• disaster,
• adversity,
• calamity.

The context determines the meaning.

In Isaiah 45, God is speaking about His sovereignty over nations and history.

The contrast is:

• peace vs calamity,
• prosperity vs judgment,
• blessing vs disaster.

The point is not:

“I create moral wickedness.”

The point is:

“I am sovereign even over national judgments and calamities.”

The same God who blesses Israel can send Babylon.

The same God who grants peace can send judgment.

Isaiah is discussing God’s rule over history, not His authorship of sin.

Scripture Never Portrays God as the Source of Moral Evil

Throughout Scripture, evil actions arise from rebellious creatures.

Humans rebel.

Angels rebel.

Nations rebel.

Kings rebel.

The source of sin is consistently found in created wills turning away from God.

James writes:

“God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone.”
(James 1:13 NASB95)

Then James immediately locates the source elsewhere:

“Each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.”
(James 1:14)

Notice the direction of blame.

God is not generating wicked desires.

The desires arise within the rebel.

Why Free Will Requires the Possibility of Rebellion

This is where the discussion usually gets uncomfortable.

Many Christians want evil to appear out of nowhere.

But that creates a logical problem.

Love requires choice.

Allegiance requires choice.

Faithfulness requires choice.

Without the possibility of rejection, obedience becomes automation.

The Garden itself demonstrates this.

The tree exists before the Fall.

The possibility of disobedience exists before disobedience occurs.

Otherwise Adam and Eve could not genuinely choose.

This does not mean God created wickedness.

It means He created creatures capable of loyalty or rebellion.

The possibility of rebellion existed.

The act of rebellion came from the creature.

Those are not the same thing.

Did Evil Exist Before Humanity?

In one sense, yes.

In another sense, no.

Moral evil had not yet been committed by humanity.

Yet the possibility of rebellion clearly existed.

The serpent’s presence in Eden demonstrates that opposition to God’s will was already a reality within creation.

Scripture never fully explains the origin of angelic rebellion.

But it does reveal something important:

God creates beings capable of choosing.

Some remain faithful.

Some do not.

The rebellion originates in the rebel, not in God.

God Created the Possibility of Evil, Not Evil Itself

This is probably the most precise way to state the issue.

God created:

• free creatures,
• meaningful choice,
• genuine allegiance,
• the capacity to obey,
• the capacity to rebel.

Without those realities, covenant relationship becomes impossible.

What God did not create was:

• hatred,
• murder,
• greed,
• idolatry,
• rebellion.

Those emerge when creatures misuse the freedom they were given.

A king who grants citizens freedom is not the author of every crime committed under that freedom.

Likewise, granting choice is not equivalent to causing rebellion.

Why This Matters

The question is bigger than philosophy.

It affects the character of God.

If God directly creates moral evil, then His condemnation of evil becomes difficult to explain.

But if evil arises from created beings rejecting His will, then Scripture’s storyline makes sense:

• God creates good.
• Creatures rebel.
• Sin enters the world.
• God works to redeem and restore.
• Evil is ultimately judged and removed.

That is the narrative running from Genesis to Revelation.

Not God creating wickedness.

But God overcoming it.

Conclusion

Did God create calamity?

Yes.

Scripture repeatedly says God brings judgment upon nations and peoples.

Did God create moral evil?

Scripture consistently says no.

Moral evil originates in the rebellion of created beings who misuse the freedom and agency they were given.

God created creatures capable of choosing.

He did not create their rebellion.

The Bible’s story is not about God inventing evil.

It is about God defeating it.

Evil is not a substance God directly created. It is the corruption that occurs when a creature created for allegiance chooses rebellion instead.