Expert: Mr. McClellan - 4/7/2006

Question
Here is something my Dad who has shown me in context scripture that says God did in fact create evil forces. In fact he said these word's everything and everythough begins and ends with God. We started on this earth because of God in a game to chose God over the appealing powers of an evil force. But in the end every knee will bow and every mouth will confess that Christ is Lord.

I do know what I am saying and I will even ask Pastor Ted and I believe that he will agree with me. With the Knowledge that I place on the table. I'll even ask Billy Grahm.
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Followup To
Question -
Do you not understand that man wrote the Bible? So, what if people say it is God breathed, it was written by man. James and Paul had two completely different beliefs. Paul was more of saved by grace and James was more Faith without works to back it up is false. While both for God completely two different views. Did you know that there are over 1,000 names for God? Why is that? Because God allowed and wanted man to name him and that is what happened. Rather coming out as a God of War, God of Rain, God of wind, God of salvation, Savior, Prince of Peace, Master, Lord, etc... And you know I can go on with names. I had an interesting discussion with my pastor and he wants me to teach the Bible study this week with the same topic I'm putting to you. You know what he and I both did. We went to Biblegateway.com and typed in Evil to see all verses in whatever translation had evil in it. The Pastor saw this one. "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." Gen. 3:5. Then his question was this, "if God has nothing to do with Evil and knows nothing about it and did not create it then how can he create a tree of knowledge of Good and EVIL? Not only that the verse went further and said that man would Know what God knows." In fact in a bible study I had a while back we came to this conclusion that God took the tree of Life away or we would be Like God. Not only with Knowledge but also with eternal Life. "And the LORD God said, "The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever." Gen. 3:22

Now to put it to you this way that pretty much kills the whole God can't be tempted or God can't sin. The fact of the matter is that he can but He chooses not to. He chooses to be the better. Now yes he created Evil just like Is 45:7 says, "7I form the light and create darkness, I make peace [national well-being] and I create [physical] EVIL (calamity); I am the Lord, Who does all these things." Now understand that also in that scripture it said physical Evil, which is a thing and exists by it's self, and I am not reading into any of this. I just took a thought and I found the evidence. See how is it that you are the knowing expert on the Bible when you aren't God? Can't it be that you make mistakes just like anyone else? You are human just as human as the humans that wrote the Bible. Now also wasn't it humans who determined what bible scriptures were actual scriptures and what weren't? I wonder in all those 12 or more books that man decided not to allow into the Bible actually told more of a secret then you even know? There is more to God then what is in the Bible but the Bible clearly states that, "Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made." John 1:3. So All things were made and no one thing was made without him making it. He made the ability to sin thus knowing what Evil is in order to create an Ability to do Evil. So if that is the Case God did Create Evil and you can't prove that Wrong and you know it. You can use what man has learned about poetry to try and say it is a metaphor but it isn't it is sheer fact. I wonder how much of this Bible is sheer fact and people chose to see metaphors. IT is sick. Isn't saying that a fact is a metaphor actually misinterpreting the Bible. There are more scriptures that vouch for God creating everything even Evil then there are to come against that. I even run into people that understand that The Bible even contradicts itself. Even Lucifer and Christ while both using scripture both contradicted each other. See when one person sees one fact and believes that it is fact and another person sees a metaphor and believes that it's a metaphor you thus have created to denominational churches right there. See that is what divided the church. While both churches are of the Bible the two see things differently. I have written poetry and I know what to look for. And what I have seen is fact not metaphor.

I had yet another person come up to me and asked "why is evil so Appealing? I answered, "Because God made both evil and good and made them both perfect. This way you will truly love God if you chose to do good."
And it perfectly answered her question where she asked, "What is the Love that God need's us to have and how can I have that love?"
Now I don't know about you but by finding and saying the truth God used truth to open the door. Later on she asked how come out of all the Christians she went to that I was the only one to say God created evil. So I told her John 1:3 which, you know as well as I do, God created everything and if evil exists, God created it. She said that she understood my answer to her question more than anyone else. The next person she talked to got saved. So that is God using truth to set people free.

Do you know that a word is a thing? Let's not keep using all this science and start using common sense in what we read. The Bible says nothing was ever made that God didn't have a hand in. In fact Rom. 9:21, "Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same mass (lump) one vessel for beauty and distinction and honorable use, and another for menial or ignoble and dishonorable use?" answers that point to a tee. As you read God being the creator will make what ever he chooses and how is up to us to put god in a box and say you can only do this. Even Christ said Satan has no powers; not even a power over man. So why say, “Evil forces are of Satan� when Satan can't do squat? Evil is of God but he made a force to do Evil so God wouldn't have to do both. Because like I said over and over Lucifer was tempted way before man so evil was created before man ever existed. And guess what I am still seeing my point that God created Evil.


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Followup To
Question -
Evidently I'm not reading what you are trying to say or you aren't getting the question. you said, "Then, notice verse 11. Eph 6:11  "Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil." So, the powers come from Satan and his minions and do not exist separately and apart from those beings." So let's say you are right that those powers belong and exist with satan which is Lucifer. Then What tempted Lucifer? There had to be an Evil force that lured Lucifer to that choice he made. Understand that a fish is repulsed unless the bait is appealing when you go fishing. Same thing with any Animal actually. Same goes for Humans if Evil wasn't so Appealing Human's wouldn't do it. So what force made Sin so Appealing to Lucifer? A lot of people think that the answer is in the Scriptures but understand in Revelations there was no room for the book's that could have been written. What is there that isn't shown or told to us in the Bible. What force is there that tempted Lucifer. You said, "evil can not exist by itself." you are Right Evil is the Absence of Good." But let me ask you this "What is the force that fights against good and causes evil to reak havock? Evil right? Then if Evil is that force then Evil had to be what tempted Lucifer to make his choice. Now with that being said what created that Evil?" that's what I'm trying to get to the Bottom of. See people don't want to come to the point where God Created Evil. They believe in a good God that represents Everything Good. They just can't believe or accept that God created that evil. A Pastor asked me the underlining question you need to ask your self is does your God the God you worship do evil or create Evil? My answer was this. At this point with the verse I have yes. Because I believe in the Bible. What verse is it that shoed me that? "I form the light and create darkness, I make peace [national well-being] and I create [physical] evil (calamity); I am the Lord, Who does all these things." --Is. 45:7 AMP. In the footnotes of the AMP Bible it reads, "Moral evil proceeds from the will of men, but physical evil proceeds from the will of God." So evil does come from God. But moral Evil in other words sin comes from man. But Physical Evil which exists by itself does exist and is Created By God. Now I know you as a Bible scholar except that to be true. Knowing that God Created this Evil who ultimately Created Evil "God." Now God creating this Physical Evil what is it that tempted Lucifer and what is it that tempted Eve? Physical Evil which is from God. See you said, "evil can not exist by itself." if you are right then is the Bible wrong?


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Followup To
Question -
Hey thanks for answering that question although it didn't answer it correctly. See you said that evil can not exist by itself. But if that is so then why the following scripture, "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." Eph. 6:12 NIV As you can read our fight is against the spiritual forces of evil. So ergo Evil does exist as an entity. Now that being understood where did Evil Come from.

My mom replied after I told her my answer and she said God had to create evil and the ability to do evil otherwise how can there be the choice to do right or wrong. Now I am adherent to believe that. Because without free will we won't chose to sin. But because of free will we can chose. Now a statement I said in my answer was that evil is a force that tempts you are draws you to sin. And sin is the outcome of chosing to do evil. As the sciptures say evil has spiritual forces.

With that being said can you answer where evil came from? Esp. if Lucifer was also tempted to sin because of an Evil force?

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Followup To
Question -
Ok the automatic answers I've had so far are as follows,

"When Adam chose to sin that's when Evil started so Adam created Evil." I think we both agree that is wrong.

"Satan created evil and he tempts us constantly."
Well more though into and is more correct but here is where my question is. And to warn you I have stumped many pastors with this one.

Ok so let's say Satan Created Evil even scriptures say Lucifer is the Prince of Darkness and those were out of Christ's very mouth. And you also understand that Satan or Lucifer fell before man was ever created. So if that is so and God created everything then what evil tempted Lucifer? See many try and say that evil is the outcome of a choice but not actually. Evil is what prompts us or tempts us. Sin is the outcome of the decision but Evil is what drew us to make the decision. Now if you are still following this then here is the next point to help answer this question. If Jesus is the prince of Light and Lucifer the Prince of Darkness then who is the king of each. Well automatically God would be chosen as King of Light. But people hesitate to admit or say God is also the king of darkness. If God isn't the king or author of darkness then where did it come from? Is there actually more than one God? Yeah I know the Bible says God or Yahweh is the only God but also understand that in the NIV in fact located in Luke 14:25-27 " Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters�yes, even his own life�he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple."

And in another translation NLT same verse, "Great crowds were following Jesus. He turned around and said to them, "If you want to be my follower you must love me more than[a] your own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters--yes, more than your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple. And you cannot be my disciple if you do not carry your own cross and follow me."

So in one translation is says hate. And in another it says love them less. If that can happen just there in the translation between Greek or Hebrew and English how much more of this Bible is a Lie? I follow God don't get me wrong but how can I follow a word that is so fallible? If it wasn't for my ADHD and my lack to remember everything I would take up Greek and Hebrew just so I can read the truth.

Answer -
Hello John. Glad you asked.
First, before I begin answering your questions, I am not a pastor but I am a serious scholar of religion and the Bible in particular. That, however, is not to say that I am a Christian and I am certainly not Jewish or Islamic. And, while it is actually quite easy to know the truth about what the Bible says, what the Bible says is sometimes true and sometimes it isn't but most people (including vertually all recognized scholars) do not know how to legitimately recognize the difference and they do not realize that the writers of the Bible inadvertently admitted their untruths. Now for the answers to your questions. They're actually quite easy.
Agreed: Adam did not "create" evil. Eve was the first human to sin but then evil is not something that can be "created." Evil, or sin, is an action done in conjunction with a rebellious attitude that is contrary to the obvious will of God as it is revealed to everyone in "creation." See Romans 1. Obviously, from Genesis we learn that, according to the writer of that book, the Israelites believed that the Devil, being first to sin, presented Eve with an idea that she acted on with a motive that indicated that she did not trust God for telling her not to eat. Then, not realizing that the death that God had in mind was the loss of immortality and not immediate death mortality began the instant she ate but since Adam was responsible for her, the sin is charged to Him. Later, Paul will say that when Jesus returns, Christians that are alive will be changed in an instant to immortals with bodies that are like the body of the resurrected Jesus which was not a ghost or mere spirit.
Your Question: What evil tempted Lucifer? Answer: There is nothing to say that anyone has to be tempted by someone else. Evil does not exist by itself. Evil is an idea that takes place in the mind of a being intent on disobeying God and that is followed by an action performed by that being. Any of us can come up with our own ideas and do right or wrong or we can be given an idea by someone else. This is why God, according to Paul, says that the punishment given to false teachers will be more severe. Evil does not tempt us because evil does not actually exist as an entity. We only speak that way as a matter of convenience, it's figurative. Evil is an event, not an entity. Satan gives us some of our sinful ideas and some of them we come up with on our own. Either way, God can justly condemn us for sin because we do not have to choose to do wrong and we will not inevitably do wrong. Any time we do something that we simply could not have avoided cannot be sin called sin and God cannot justly condemn us for it. If he condemns anyone for doing something that they could not help doing, he is a tyrant and undeserving of worship.
Now, since God created Satan and God could not have created evil, Satan had to become evil by his own choice making it possible for God to justly condemn him too.
Here is something that most people do not realize. Right and wrong is determined by our motives, not our actions. For example, killing someone can be a right thing to do if the motive is right. However, murder is never a right thing to do. The difference is the motive. Telling a lie can be a right thing to do, as in the case of Rahab, because James said that she did what God would have done had he been in her place. She had a right motive. See James 2. However, telling a lie for purely selfish reasons is always wrong. And, everyone who says that Jesus was not who he claimed to be is a liar and an anti-Christ that will be condemned along with murderers, kidnappers, homosexuals, etc., none of which can be done with a right reason because the truth can be known as well as obeyed. This is according to the Bible. No mistake about it.
Now, read 1Kings 22, notice that it is God that accepts the idea of one of his angels to have Ahab's advisors lie to him so that the prophecy of Ahab's death will come true. However, God is not unjust in doing this because Ahab's advisors want to lie to Ahab because he will kill them if they tell him something that does not like. Ahab wants to believe lies, so God sends him one to believe that will get him killed. Later, Paul declairs that God will send a lie for people to believe if lies are what the want. However, if the truth is what they want, he sends that too. It's our choice and, contrary to the determinists, we are perfectly capable of knowing and doing what is required of us in order to have eternal life which is not exactly that same as immortality although you can't have one without the other. God gives us whatever it is that we really want. And, if we want things that are contrary to what will cause us to live as God originally intended for us to live, loving us as he does, he has no choice but to carry out the natural results of our disobedience. You see, even Satan does not seem to realize that in doing what he does, he is fulfilling God's will. Satan cannot win for losing.
One more thing, and this is very important. The term faith, as most people use it with regard to religion (and I perceive that you are among them), is exactly opposite in meaning to the way the writers of the Bible used it which means that virtually everyone is misinterpreting the Bible concering the very most important matters.
Recently, the news carried an article on research dealing with prayer and wheather it works or not. You are probably aware of it. Anyway, religious leaders commenting on it said that "faith" couldn't be measured and that the research showing that people being prayed for did no better than those that were not prayed for proved nothing. This is because the faith most people have is a synonym for credulity or prejudice which does not consider evidence or proof. Conversely, God as revealed by the writers of the Bible, offers absolute proof in the form of miracles. Jesus said that if he had not performed miracles, humans would not be guilty of sin because God could not justly condemn them. When the Isralites, using good sense, asked how a true prophet of God could be recognized so that they would be able to know the truth on which they could legitimately base their faith, Moses said that a true prophet would never be mistaken regarding a prediction of the future. It implied that when a true prophet presented miraculous credentials, the people could and would be held accountable for obeying that prophet just as if he were God since he could only do real miracles by power from God. Nicodemus recognized this in John 3 and Jesus concurred. You see, faith as the writers of the Bible used that term, was a belief based on proof that could not be denied by any honest person. Miracles could be, and were, denied by many that dishonestly refused to believe the obvious and they were condemned by Jesus. However, miracles are not necessary to know the truth about moral behavior. All you have to do is ask yourself if you would be happy to learn that someone was out to murder you, or rape your wife or children, or steal your posessions, or lie to your boss about you, etc. You know in your heart that you would not like for those things to happen. This is how you know that they are wrong, contrary to what is obviously right, contrary to the will of God and that you should not do such things either. When a certain man asked Jesus what the most important commandment was, which was the one commandment that would serve as a guide to correctly understand all the others, Jesus said that respect for God had to be first and that the resultant behavior would be the same concern, or love, for others that you would want them to have for you. This is beyond all doubt, the greatest and most absolute truth for the welfare of humans that ever could be. This, obviously, would work for doing away with war and all forms of human caused suffering. It would also help if people would cease judging others in ways that they would not want others judging them. Scripture tells us that God judges people the same way that they judge each other. The reason is that how we judge people must be the way we want to be judged or else we would not do it and, as I said before, God will give us whatever we really want as our actions reveal our true desires.
One more thing if you please. That God exists cannot be denied by any rational person. The term God correctly refers to the first cause for the existence of the universe. Humans did not cause it but something did and that something is called God. Therefore, the question, "Does God exist?," is not the question that people should be asking. They should be asking, "Of all the gods that people worship, which one is the reason for the existence of the universe if any of them are?" Is it the Jewish God, the Catholic God, the Baptist God, the Methodist God, the Islamic God, the Adventist God, the Mormon God, the JW God, the ... ? Contrary to pluralists, none of these Gods are the same. It is obviously not true that everyone worships the same God. Their teachings reveal serious differences. If the truth cannot be known, as many are saying, then God cannot be just in his dealings with humans. On the other hand, if the truth can be known and obeyed (and it can), then God can be, and is, just in punishing those that refuse to obey. It happens every day all day long to every person on earth. It also happens that people suffer as a result of crimes committed against them by people that refuse to obey God. So, suffering and "evil" is the result of actions we do as well as actions done to us by people that do not respect God and who have blinded themselves to the truth because their true desire is to deceitfully think of themselves as being wiser than God like Adam and Eve did. This is the real source of evil, the idea that God doesn't know what "he" (an anthropomorphic reference to the first cause) is doing or that he has evil ulterior motives (not possible) for makeing things the way he did and that we can imporve on them making us into our own Gods with the true God as our puppet with our words in his mouth, so to speak. This is the source of all the different Gods worshipped by all those different religions and churches and they are all false.
Well, I have said more than I intended and it has probably confused you quite a bit. Maybe it will turn out for the best anyway if you are open minded enough to learn from me.
Sincerely,
Mr. McClellan
Answer -
Hi John,
You said, "thanks for answering that question although it didn't answer it correctly. See you said that evil can not exist by itself. But if that is so then why the following scripture, "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." Eph. 6:12 NIV As you can read our fight is against the spiritual forces of evil. So ergo Evil does exist as an entity. Now that being understood where did Evil Come from.

You've misinterpreted Eph. 6:12. "the spiritual forces of evil" statement is a figurative way of speaking about Satan and his demons. The term "flesh and blood" is a reference to people who have given themselves over to Satan's service. Begin reading at verse 1 so that you keep things in context. Notice the caution to Christians to do good in being a servant of Christ. Fathers and slaves are cautioned here. Then, notice verse 11. Eph 6:11  "Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil." So, the powers come from Satan and his minions and do not exist separately and apart from those beings. Can you not recognize the figurative language being used here?
So, I did answer the question correctly after all. You have met a real expert here. You just have to be able to read things in context and be able to recognize the various kinds of figurative language used by the writers of the Bible.
Sincerely,
Mr McClellan

Answer -
Hi John,
What you are doing is making a false assumption and mistaking it for a fact. This is the most comon way that people interpret, or rather misinterpret, the Bible. They have a prejudice that they try to find support for in the Bible by taking statements out of context or applying definitons to words that are not the same as was used by the writers of the Bible. The term "Evil" is often used as a synonym for Satan who is "the evil one." Evil is an idea, not a corporal entity, and it cannot exist apart from the mind of some being to foster it. Let James comment on what Paul said in Ephesians. Jam 1:12  "Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.
Jam 1:13  Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am being tempted by God," for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.
Jam 1:14  But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire." In other words, to do evil is to disobey God and it begins when a person, or an angel, gives in to a lust, his own desire, for something that is contrary to the will of God. So, evil comes from the mind, or heart, of those who practice it. It does not come from outside of them, it comes from inside of them; from their own mind. This is clearly backed up by so many other places in scripture that it would hard to list them all. I think that one of the things that you seem not to understand, as so many other people, is that right and wrong (good and evil) is determined by the motive with which an action is done and not by the action alone. The decision to do good or evil comes from an impure, or insincere, heart or mind. As James says, we are tempted when we are lured and enticed by our own desire. Temptation, according to James, comes from within us, not from a source outside of our own mind. A careful reading of Paul's statements in Ephesians and elsewhere clearly indicates that Paul and James completely agree on this.
You have simply picked up a prejudice from some source that you have accepted as the truth and you are looking for scriptures to support that prejudice so that it becomes quite easy for you to misinterpret them to fit what you've already decided that they should mean. This is exactly what most people do and that accounts for so many differing interpretations, or rather misinterpretations, of the Bible that has given rise to Catholocism, denominationalism, sectarianism, agnosticism, and atheism. All of these people have fooled themselves into thinking that they are right, something that is quite impossible. And yet, there are those fools that are proclaiming that everyone is right no matter how much they may disagree with others. Such people are too mentally incompetent for words to adequitely describe.
Oh well, I've proven you wrong even if you can't recognize it. Jesus had the same problem with many of the Jewish leaders. According to the accounts, he presented clear and absolute proof of his claims but it didn't mean that everyone would believe the proofs; many of the most educated Jews accused him of being a lier or being posessed by a demon. They were so determined to hold on to their prejudices that they simply and dishonestly denied the obvious. It was these people that Jesus condemned as blasphemers because they refused to admit the obvious truth that they had witnessed with their own eyes.
I want to encourage you to try to set aside everything that you now believe and start with a fresh mind to read, very carefully and objectively, the Biblical scriptures. If you really want to know with certainty what they say, you will try this. Otherwise, it won't matter who you talk to or how many times you read the Bible, you will always come up with false ideas that you have conceived in your own mind having been drawn away by the lusts of your own heart to believe lies. You have to decide with absolute certainty that you really want to know the truth, the real truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth no matter how hard you have to work or what you have to give up to discover it. Jesus said this to his first disciples but few ever do it.
Sincerely,
Mr McClellan

Answer -
Hi John,
It is clear that you are just wanting to argue about things that you have too little knowledge of.
James, Jesus, and Paul all had exactly the same view of things. There is no discrepancy between anything they said that anyone has ever been able to prove. Even the German monk, Martin Luther, who first thought that James and Paul did not agree eventually decided that they did. Read his comments on the book of Romans.
I have spent more than forty years carefully and thoroughly investigating religion and the Bible from every angle. I am perfectly aware of the fact that it was written by men and that they claimed to have written the truth exactly as it was revealed to them by God and they claimed that what they wrote was confirmed to be absolutely true by the authentic miracles that they performed and that only God could have empowered them to do. If what they said was true, there would be no differences among them as to what the truth was but only different ways of expressing what they believed the truth to be. However, it is also possible that even if what they said was not all true, they could still have been in complete agreement. I know, from years of hard work and research, that there is no disagreement among the writers of the New Testament that can be established and many people have tried to find such disagreements. No one has ever succeeded because, in every case, when someone thought that they had found some discrepancy it was then discovered that they had made serious mistakes in their interpretive method just as you are doing.
Now, I know that some of the most important things that the writers of the Bible said are not true but this topic that you have brought up is not one of them. Evil is an idea that has no corpreal existence. It takes place in the mind and is invented by those that practice it and you cannot legitimately use the Bible to prove differently. What you are trying to prove is simply not supported by any of the writers of the Bible. If you are determined to prove that the Bible does not actually contain the revealed will of God, you need to go about it differently. You will never be able to prove that any of the writers of the Bible ever contradicted any of the others. That is simply not possible.
What can be done, however, is by accurately understanding what they actually said concerning the return of Jesus and comparing it with what we can know with absolute certainty. Even then, however, people that are determined to misuse the biblical concepts of faith, justice, sin, grace, repentance, and forgiveness as virtually everyone does will not accept the truth anyway. According to the gospel writers, Jesus had this same problem with many people including even the most educated and religious people in the region in his time. It's human nature and it will never change.
You are right about the Bible not being what its writes claim it to be but you are wrong about evil. It does not exist seperate and apart from a mind to invent it. You were grasping at straws in your attempt to prove that it exists as a seperate entity. That's why you had to take Pauls statement in Ephesians out of context. Virtually all false doctrine begins that way; taking things out of context to prove a false pretext.
Read the Bible without your biases. Let the writers tell you what they meant instead of trying to make them mean what you want them to mean. This way, you will begin recognize the actual truth about what they said. Most people never learn how to do this because most people (and even Jesus said this) do not really want to know the truth bad enough to let go of their prejudices. This is absolutely true and it goes on everywhere all the time. Very few people will ever learn the truth about what the Bible says, not because the truth cannot be known but, because they do not really want to know it to begin with. I think that you have chosen to be in the group that does not really want to know so you just make up your own ideas of what you think it ought to say and then look for passages you think supports you. That is the wrong way to do it and you will be wrong every time.
Sincerely,
Mr McClellan  

Answer
Hi John,
I don't know why I got this so long after your other reply's but here is my reply.
You said, "Here is something my Dad who has shown me in context scripture that says God did in fact create evil forces."
God did not create evil forces and there is no passage in the Bible that says that. God created everything good. However, some of those beings that were created good were also given free will. Without free will, they would have been nothing more than bio-robots not capable of love or any other behavior compatible with having free will. Some of these beings made the choice to disobey God and God knew that they would before he created them but he still gave them them the ability to choose. This is the only way that God can justly hold anyone accountable for their actions. It was this way with Adam and Eve. They were created sinless but there came a time when they chose to disobey God (sin=evil) and that is when human sin (evil) began. It is the same for you and everyone else on earth. You were born having done no sin, at some point in your life you became aware of right and wrong and when you decided to go against what was right it was your choice to do so. No one made you do it, you could have chose to do differently. The same was true with Satan, he was created having done no sin then at some point, he decided to rebel against God. That is when evil (sin) began.
Now, I know that Mr. Graham is a popular preacher but he is dead wrong on many very important and fundamental things. However, even he would have to say that God is not responsible for evil. People have tried to use this argument to prove that God does not exist because an all loving God could not have created evil. However, this argument has a huge fault. Let's say that God does not exist because evil does exist. How could God have created evil if he does not exist? And, how could an all loving perfectly just God have created evil? The answer is that he could not have and there is no passage in the Bible that says that he did. Anyone that says that there is, is simply misinterpreting something and ignorant of the truth not knowing how to correctly interpret the scriptures.
Sincerely,
Mr. McClellan