last12C is offline last12C Post #1  September 3,2009, 3:00pm
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I recently put up a post in a thread on the main board regarding Good and Evil.

My response to the generic question was...

I think that good and evil represent the ultimate in equal opportunity influences. They both fly above all things that artificially separate mankind. Gender, age, race, color, nationality, religion - all of it. They are what gives the entire species something in common - the ultimate equalizers, the ultimate uniters. They are both shared without exception by all who are driven by a conscience. There has never been a time in history where both did not exist in equal measure. Any attempt to separate evil into degrees is merely a ploy to justify self. It is pride and denial that separates us, not good or evil.

I also believe that it is a sad propensity to see evil where it doesn't exist and to not recognize good when it is right in front of your face.

Without evil there would be no good. They are two sides of the same coin. Without both of them we would have nothing to motivate us.


The first response that I got from my reply was....


God is good- in him there is no darkness at all. Sorry, but I do not subscribe to your belief in dualism. I don't want ot get into a religious discussion in what is definately not a religious board. But I had to voice my objection to the implication that it is essential for evil to exist for God to be good.


To which I replied...


My post was clearly specific to creature not Creator and made no mention whatsoever of Creator, so your classifying of my views as dualism is both hasty and inaccurate. Metaphysical monism is rejected by Christian belief because it does not make that Creator-creature distinction.


Following replies included...


God is only good and everything He made was good. The existence of evil comes only because God doesn't want us to act like robots but gave us the free will to choose for Him or against Him. It is definitely not essential for evil to exist for God to be seen as good because otherwise Jesus would not jhave needed to come and defeat evil. One day evil will be completely anihilated and there will be a new heaven and new earth with only good.


and...


We can be motivated to do good for good's sake. Those of us who are doing good can be motivated by God Who is the Father of all that is good and holy. We don't need evil to motivate us. In fact, it often also happens that evil can motivate us not to do good because it often makes us feel defeated before we have begun. I have heard the phrase so many times, "What's the use? Things are never going to be better anyways."


Because the thread in question was on the main board I didn't want the subject to veer off on a tangent, so I thought I'd bring it over here for discussion. I would like to ask, however, that people actually read what was written rather than jump in and respond to something that was not said.


This is about the nature of good and evil in the world, how we perceive them and how both motivate us as human creatures - and as Christians.
Last edited by last12C; September 4,2009 at 12:17pm.
 
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last12C is offline last12C Post #2  September 3,2009, 4:27pm
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Like it or not, evil exits in this world, and as with everything else, it exits because God allows it. Along side of both good and evil free will exists as well at His command. Without that choice between good and evil free will loses is very definition. To say that we can be motivated by good for goodness sake ignores the fact that we could not recognize good without the contrast to bad to clarify it.

To say that we are motivated by God alone - who is indeed the very embodiment of Good in all of its purity - a purity that does not exits in the cursed world, but above it - rather than the choice that he has given us is myopic and totally ignores the fact that we have to first chose God. Without that fundamental choice, which determines our eternal destiny, only good and evil are left to direct us. It is the recognition of good against the backdrop of evil that inspires us to choose goodness - to choose God. That choice is the first and most important motivation of mankind.

Monism, as was used in the first reply to my response is a term that is applied to the JudeoChristian belief in One God. Dualism has many various applications, many of which are incompatible with Christian beliefs. God is not a dualistic creature. Gnosticism suggests dualism within our nature, dividing spirit (good) from soul (bad) - which is also incompatible with traditional Christianity. Metaphysical monism, however, is the belief that there is only one being or type of being, and as such is rejected by Christianity because it denies the distinction between Creator and creature. It is in opposition to both monism and to dualism.

The view in my post has absolutely nothing to do with heretical dualism. Belief in the coexistence of good and evil in the world, of the battle between the two, is perfectly compatible with traditional beliefs - and always has been. How can God exist without good? He IS good. How can one deny the evil that dwells in mortal flesh? How can we discern evil if it does not exist? If we are called to discern evil and to mortify it how can it be said that its existence cannot motivate us? Belief in good and evil as motivators of the human spirit does not in any way diminish the power of God, the efficacy of salvation through Christ or deny the Victor of the final battle.

How does evil motivate us? When we observe evil in the world it motivates us to do good. A good number of Christian ministries have been established in direct response to the manifestation of evil in this world. It motivates us to shun that which is evil and to turn to that which is good. It motivates us to point to Good. When we discern it with ourselves it is that which motivates us to turn to God.
Last edited by last12C; September 3,2009 at 6:06pm.
 
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