Some of the big questions we ask cannot be answered, at least not with definitive answers. Often, such questions are open to interpretation, opinions and points of view, inviting many possible answers.
Questions about who or what God is are precursors to a deeper yearning to put facts to fiction. Such questions as, is God a person, or does he sit on a throne overpowering everything and everyone? One other common question usually starts with a question questioning itself. If God created everything and God is responsible for the existence of everything, should God be therefore responsible for the evil in the world?
It’s that type of philosophical question that stumped me for many years. How could I answer that question? Where is the gap in my understanding? Surely there must be a rational answer. Every time I found a possible answer, I followed it by picking holes in the new found explanation, like an inspector looking for flaws.
Some years into my spiritualistic learning, I began to understand what philosophy meant, what role it played and how important it was in my journey of finding answers. I realised that many questions could not be answered in a few sentences of meaningful words, laced with facts or evidence. Instead, the answers to the big questions lay within seeing the bigger picture.
A few months ago, someone asked me the age old question about God creating everything, therefore he must have created evil. In that very moment I could not offer an answer. I could not recall any of the knowledge I’d gained some years previous that, at the time, had satisfied me enough to temporarily put this big question on the back burner. So I couldn’t offer any input there and then. But during the archiving of my personal notes onto this website, I uncovered an explanation to the big question that I’d stumbled on and made note of.
What follows is a direct copy/paste of my notes made around 2010. The words weren’t written by me. At the time I copied them into my journal. Now in 2024, I realise that the best possible answer I had found for the ‘Evil’ question back fourteen years ago remains the best answer even today.
Why did God create evil?
A professor at the university asked his students the following question:
“Do you agree that everything that exists was created by God?“
One student bravely answered:
“Yes, created by God.”
“So you believe that God created everything? Right?” the professor replied.
“Yes, sir,” replied the student.
The professor asked:
“If God created everything, then God created evil, since it exists. And according to the principle that our deeds define ourselves, then God is evil.”
The student became silent after hearing such an answer. The professor was very pleased with himself. He boasted to the class for proving once again that faith in God is a myth.
Another student raised his hand and said:
“Can I ask you a question, professor?”
“Of course,” replied the professor.
The student stood up and asked,
“Professor, is cold a thing?”
“What kind of question is that? Of course cold exists. Have you never been cold?”
Other students laughed at the young man’s question. After a few moments of waiting for the class to quieten, the student standing up responded.
“Actually, sir, cold doesn’t exist. According to the laws of physics, what we consider cold is actually the absence of heat. A person or object can be studied on whether it has or transmits energy. Absolute zero (-460 degrees Fahrenheit) is a complete absence of heat. All matter becomes inert and unable to react at this temperature.
Cold does not exist. We created this word to describe what we feel in the absence of heat.”
The class was silent. The student continued speaking.
“Professor, does darkness exist?”
“Of course it exists.” the professor retorted.
“You’re wrong again, sir. Darkness also does not exist. Darkness is actually the absence of light. We can study the light but not the darkness.
We can use Newton’s prism to spread white light across multiple colours and explore the different wavelengths of each colour. You can’t measure darkness. A simple ray of light can break into the world of darkness and illuminate it. How can you tell how dark a certain space is? You measure how much light is presented. Isn’t it so? Darkness is a term man uses to describe what happens in the absence of light.”
Seeing the professor’s face in a state of deep thought, the student asked another question of the professor.
“Sir. does evil exist?”
The professor thought deeply for a few seconds, as the remainder of the class sat in complete silence. The student asked again.
“Sir, does evil exist?”
“Of course, as I said before. We witness it every single day. Cruelty, crimes, violence and wars throughout the world. These examples are nothing but a manifestation of evil.”
To this, the student answered:
“Evil does not exist, sir, or at least it does not exist for itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is like darkness and cold—a man-made word to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is not faith or love, which exist as light and warmth. Evil is the result of the absence of Divine love in the human heart. It’s the kind of cold that comes when there is no heat, or the kind of darkness that comes when there’s no light.”
The student’s name was Albert Einstein.
This example story is an example of the importance of opening our minds and understanding the bigger picture. Philosophy, like this story, can’t always offer definitive answers, but the more we open our minds and accept alternative views, the closer we get to the truth.
I hope you feel more able to answer that question the next time it comes up in a conversation. In summary:
The presence of dark and evil is nothing more than the absence of light and love.
2 responses
I really enjoyed reading this. Lucky you kept something from 14 years ago that you had copied and pasted (and not a paint brush in sight, lol) Fascinating conversation from the Professor and The Student, the answer warmed the cockles of my heart ♥ (I know a weird statement but true) Thank you very much Trevor. I have just experienced another “School Day” x
Hi Trevor
This is a question that has puzzled me. I find myself asking the same question – If God is all powerful surely he can stop the wars in Ukraine, Israel, Lebanon and all the other war torn areas of the world. An answer that appeared to solve this dilemma is, possibly, found in the Bible where we are told that God gave man dominion over all that was in the world. Free will, freedom of choice and over time mankind has used that freedom to try to subjugate others, wipe out whole cultures using any evil practices they can devise. God, whatever you perceive that term to mean, doesn’t allow evil to exist. Mankind creates evil to further their selfish desires.