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  • From: Harold Holmyard <hholmyard AT ont.com>
  • To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] origin of evil
  • Date: Fri, 08 Sep 2006 09:46:56 -0500

Dear Charles,

Why is it that an all good God cannot create darkness, or "evil"? The text
says that He did create darkness and "evil". Does that make him a bad God?
Or is it that we all have preconceived notions about what a good God can, or
cannot do. I would conclude that the text does say that He did create
darkness and "evil", but it says nothing about the goodness, or badness, of
God.




HH: Yes, by creating a world God created darkness if there was no light. Darkness would be an automatic by-product of a world without light. Since he created the world, he created darkness.


I actually think that Isaiah here is expounding upon, or even disagreeing
with Gen. 1. Gen. 1 says that God's first creative act is to create light,
the darkness is already there, uncreated, like the ocean and the
earth even, all uncreated. Only light is created.


And isn't this a preconceived notion about what the text says? Isaiah says
God created darkness. Genesis 1:3 does not say "God created light", but
rather "Be light". That would be like walking into a dark room and turning
on a light switch. Light isn't created, but it becomes light.




HH: The phrase implies the creation of light. The form is not an imperative but a jussive. So it is something like: "Let light exist." The same wording in used in Gen 1:6 about the creation of the sky, and in 1:14 for the creation of the great lights in the sky, the sun, moon, and stars.

Yours,
Harold Holmyard




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