Expert: Spirit Sword - 4/23/2007

Question
I am a freshman college student and have a class in Philosophy.  The question of evil came up and the idea was since God is suppose to be a good God - Why does He allow evil?  Is God then both good and evil?  
As we were debating in class I realized that God made the Garden of Eden a perfect place and that Adam and Eve would never have experienced evil and could have lived in paradise forever if they obeyed the Word of God.
But God also created the serpent so - Does this mean that God also created evil?(this the question on which I want your opinion)
One other thing, I have always believe that the Bible told stories as they actually happened and that they are true.  We are asked to help fill out surveys and a common question on the survey is - Do you believe the Bible stories acutally happened as written?  Then has a 1(Definetly) - 5(Definetly Not) scale and it seems that there are some people that do not believe the stories in the Bible.  Do you think that the stories are true of just stories to make us think?

Thank you for your time,  

Answer
Hello John,

Thank you for your question.
No, God did not create evil nor is evil in His nature.  God created the law and those who transgress against it are the ones who do evil.  When God created Adam and Eve they were created perfectly good and innocent.   When they were tested they had fallen and are the ones that are held responsible for their actions. The same can be said about
Satan as well.   
Yes God created us all but He did not take action through us nor did he force us to do evil and therefore it is illogical that He should be the one held accountable for wickedness.  If you have children and God forbid they go down the wrong path and murder an innocent individual does it mean that you are evil since your children are a part of you and came from you?  Does it mean that you created evil?     

Evil is allowed to exist because through it God accomplishes a higher purpose.  Through evil God demonstrates His love for mankind by sending His only Son Jesus to die for our sins.   

I think the stories in the scripture are 100% accurate and true.  I'm convinced that the scriptures are divine in origin and that is why I believe that the messages contained within it.  

Spirit Sword