GOD THE CREATOR
VERSUS
THE MYSTERY OF EVIL
"I AM the First and I AM the Last; besides Me there is no God".  Isaiah 44:6



CATHOLICVIEW has received numerous questions from viewers asking “Who created God?” and “If God created everything did He also create evil and why?”  Here is a collective answer to those who wrote in for clarification.

                                         SOME LETTERS RECEIVED
CatholicView Staff:

I have recently come across a lot of death and illness to my friends and family. It is difficult to deal with it when I myself am insecure about my future.   I don’t pray as often as I used to when I was a child, but doubt about God, heaven, hell, etc. has increased over the years.   I have come to a question that has been etched in my mind for a long time. Our Father, my Father, The Father, we have all come from one of the forms stemming to The Father, God.  Yet I do not know where He comes from.  It takes something to create something else.  That is the order of existence, No?  Who or what created God?  I know that it's like asking what is the universe.   I don’t know if I will ever get an answer, but you can see where the doubt is creeping in.  What I fear is what I don’t know, and all I have is Jesus and some blind faith.  Has my mind influenced my heart or vice versa? – Al

CatholicView Staff:

 My sister has a 1 year old with severe medical problems and almost died recently.  I remain religious and faithful to God, however my family has not which concerns me greatly.   They ask me, if there is a God, why would He do this to an innocent child?  I usually have answers for my family but in this case I do not, except I tell them not to question God's plans.  Please help me to answer their concerns and regain faith in God.  Thank you. – Jennifer



CatholicView Staff:

Is there true evil in the world?  Can it be so bad that you can do nothing more than think about it?   Just because you can't forget or shake the feeling? I do worry about the problems in the world but I always figured that God has a plan. I never believed truly in evil! I went to a place that just felt so bad I can't quit thinking about it!  Am I crazy?  Or can this be real?  Thank you for any answer that you can give me.  – Christine



CatholicView Staff:

Why did God create Evil?  If He is the creator of everything He must have created evil.   If He is good and loves us why would He do this?  I have tried to find answers on this but still can't find a reason that makes real sense.   I am a committed Catholic but I just recently thought of this and would very much like some guidance.  Thanks. – Jennifer




 A CATHOLICVIEW ANSWER

GOD created everything, but evil was created not by God, but manufactured by others.  As for who created God, God is not created.   He is the beginning and the end.   He is life and energy itself.  There was no beginning for God. He is in time and out of time and not limited by anything. It is hard to even to begin to understand since we, as created beings, only know beginning and end, and set all our human experiences within the structure of linear time.  But no one created God.   God always was, is and will be forever.  He is the ultimate intelligence.   Everything is an extension of Himself. [see Revelation, Chapter 1, Verse 8, and Verses 17-18] 

EVIL can be traced to Satan who was one of the most beloved and talented angels in God's kingdom. [see Isaiah, Chapter 14, Verses 12-15] This beautiful and mighty angel became so prideful and self important he wanted to emulate God by ruling his own kingdom.  He caused a rebellion in Heaven, taking part of God's angels to his side.  He was jealous of God and wanted to establish honor, glory, worship and reverence for himself.  And because he hated God and all that He created, he decided to bring evil to God's perfect creation.   Satan's kingdom became a place of hell; a place of absolute darkness.  With Satan came the advent of sin and evil; a place devoid of God's grace and the light of God's love for all creation.   The devil has spent his whole career making sure that the light of God is completely shut out in his kingdom of darkness. [see Job, Chapter 2, Verses 1-2]

SAINT John, Chapter 1, Verse 1 reads, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.  In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.  And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it".  God is light!  Darkness (evil) then is the absence of the presence of God.

There is a fictitious story farther down this page used to illustrate a point about God and the presence of evil.  As our Lord Jesus Christ used parables to make a point we, in our human and minor way, are trying to do the same here.  This story is not to be used as a realistic story of the characters but as a way to present the kind of truth that CANNOT BE explained in human terms.  Using a recognizable person simply makes a universal statement that causes us to think.  This person WAS NOT and NEVER WILL be the central truth of God’s existence.  He is "USED" to explain the improbability of defining an infinite God in understandable and finite human terms. 

Speaking of truths, take a look at  Hebrews11: 1 where it says “Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen”.  This brings home the reality of our faith in God the Father, and God the Son without our ever having seen Him or having "in hand" proof of His existence.  We just know by the power of the Holy Spirit Who clarifies and acknowledges that truth for us.  Can we explain it?  No, we cannot.   Then how can we receive faith or know for certain that God exists?  By the same power of the Holy Spirit that calls us and is so strong and persistent we cannot turn away or find peace until we answer God’s call.  This is what Christ speaks of when it says in John 20:29 “And Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe."     Then again in 1Peter 1:8 it tells us “Without having seen him you love him; though you do not now see him you believe in him and rejoice with unutterable and exalted joy.”

Can we prove God’s existence by our limited knowledge?  No, we cannot.  If we open up our physical hearts can we find love within, or grief and suffering?  Should our brains be examined by a surgeon, will the things we believe such as our faith in God be found there?  No, this cannot be seen or verified.  And yet we know the things we know are truths and once recognized can never be denied.   Using what God chose to give us, we believe through faith that is backed up by the power of the Holy Spirit.     

Within each of us there is the soul where the Holy Spirit resides, waiting for our Free Will to activate it.  It reminds us, if we listen to it, of our Heavenly Father Who waits for us to acknowledge Him.   We can choose to follow the truths God presses within the heart or we can be like the professor in the following “story” who took the stance about the nonexistence of God. 



"Does evil exist?"  The university professor challenged his students with this question.   "Did God create everything that exists?" 

A student bravely replied, "Yes, He did!" 

"God created everything?" the professor asked.  "Yes, sir," the student replied.

The professor answered, "If God created everything, then He also created evil, and since evil exists and according to the principle that our works define who we are, then God is evil.  The student became quiet before such an answer. 

The professor was quite pleased with himself and boasted to the students that he had proven once more that the Christian faith (and by extension all belief in God as Supreme Being) was a myth.

Another student raised his hand and said, "Can I ask you a question, professor?"  "Of course," replied the professor.
The student stood up and asked, "Professor, does cold exist?"  "What kind of question is this?  Of course, it exists.  Have you ever been cold?" remarked the professor.

The young man replied, "In fact, sir, cold does not exist.  According to the law of physics, what we consider cold is really the absence of heat.   Everybody or object is susceptible to study when it has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body or matter transmit energy.  Absolute Zero (-460 degrees F.) is the total absence of heat; all matter becomes inert and incapable of reaction at that temperature.  Cold does not exist.  We have created this word to describe how we feel if we have no heat."

The  same student continued, "Professor, does darkness exist?" 

The professor responded, "Of course, it does!"

The student replied, "Once again, you are wrong, sir.  Darkness does not exist either.   Darkness is in reality the absence of light.  Light we can study --- but not darkness.  In fact, we can use Newton's prism to break white light into many colors and study the various wavelengths of each color.  You cannot measure darkness.   A simple ray of light can break into a world of darkness and illuminate it.   How can you know how dark a certain space is?  You measure the amount of light present.  Isn't this correct?  Darkness is a term by man to describe what happens when there is no light present."

Finally the young man asked the professor, "Sir, does evil exist?"  Now uncertain, the professor responded, "Of course as I have already said.  We see it every day.   It is in the daily examples of man's inhumanity to man.  It is in the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world.  These manifestations are nothing else but evil."

To this, the student replied, "Evil does not exist, sir.  Or at least, it does not exist unto itself.  Evil is simply the absence of God.  It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God.   God did not create evil.  Evil is not like faith, or love that exists just as does light and heat.  Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God's love in his heart.  It is like the cold that comes when there is no heat, or the darkness that comes when there is no light."

The professor sat down.  For this he had no answer.

Jesus said to them, "Most assurededly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM." John8:58


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