Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Yigal Levin <leviny1 AT mail.biu.ac.il>]

Dear Harold,

Nowhere in the verses below is a statement that God does not create things 
He "hates". Are you saying that wicked people, whom God "hates", are not 
God's creatures? I would certainly not expect this attitude from a 
Christian, but "even" from a Jewish perspective: God created everything and 
every one. He gave humans free choice between "good", which means obeying 
God, and "evil", which means disobeying. This is something that only humans 
are capable of. God advises us to chose the former - but if we chose the 
latter, we carry the responsibility.
"Good" and "evil" are not absolutes. Let's take natural disasters: hundreds 
of thousands killed by a tsunami. Was this NOT an act of God? Or at least, 
could God have not chosen to avert it? From our perspective - a horror, 
certainly not "good". From God's perspective - well, we work for Him, he 
does not OWE us explanations. But, unless we resort to belief in an 
independent Satan, there is no "evil" at work.
So the only true evil is that which is in the human soul. We all have some - 
it is our choice do fight it or not. If there is a "satan", then it is a 
metaphor for the yetser ha-ra that GOD CREATED in each of us.

Yigal Levin

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Harold Holmyard" <hholmyard AT ont.com>
> HH: Moral evil is due to a contradiction of God's will, so God does not
> have to create it. It is simply a perversion of something He has
> created. He created the human will, which is capable of contravening
> God's will. When we do that, moral evil arises, first of all
> disobedience. God hates moral evil and does not create it, just as he
> does not incite murder:
>
> Prov. 8:13 To fear the LORD is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance,
> evil behavior and perverse speech.
>
> Psa. 11:5 The LORD examines the righteous, but the wicked and those who
> love violence his soul hates.
>
> Prov. 6:16 There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are
> detestable to him:
> Prov. 6:17 A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent
> blood,
> Prov. 6:18 An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be
> swift in running to mischief,
> Prov. 6:19 A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth
> discord among brethren.
>
> HH: He does not create the things he hates.
>
> Yours,
> Harold Holmyard