[Abanijo]

onething says:

or maybe it's because the god of the old testament is not the real god?

hi, anna... yes.

two things involved, first the confusing different meanings given "evil" whether as moral evil or calamity. moral evil is rebellion against god. but it doesn't seem rational that the one creator can be neurotic enough to rebel against itself.

second cause of confusion is the varying concept of the nature of god. traditionally, god is absolutely transcendent,and the cosmos was a "creation "ex nihilo." (creation out of nothing ) seems to me that the idea of such a creation is so much theological smoke and mirrors. in contrary views such as pantheism or panentheism we find the creation is done out of the very essence of the creator...rather than nothing....whatever "nothing" could possible be.

in the traditional exclusively transcendental concept there is an absolute separation between the cosmos and the creator. with the other two views all that is is and is of the one creator. i keep running into bits that suggest that whenever we think we are zeroing in on an understanding of the proper object of worship we still sense there is a shadowy concept lying behind even that...something absolutely immutable akin to brahman....our job of exploring the cosmos may be for the benefit of a sub-logi "source" just this side of such an absolute


here is what causes the fuss over it....

•i form the light, and create darkness: i make peace, and create evil: i the lord do all these things. (isaiah 45:7, kjv)
•shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the lord hath not done it? (amos 3:6, kjv)
•out of the mouth of the most high proceedeth not evil and good? (lamentations 3:38)

looks like a bad translation in the king james version above...the term "evil' obviously makes better sense when rendered as "calamity"

well, i tried! bbb