Evil?

So according to Einstein, back when he was a lusty youth, evil is the absense of God the same as darkness is the absense of light. Evil is not a thing anymore than darkness is a thing. It is the absense of a thing.

Okay Einstein, if you are correct in your suposition that evil is the absense of God, then it follows that there are locatioins in the universe where God is absent. And if there are places where God is absent then there are limits to God. And if there are limits of any kind to God then he is not omnipotent.

Lets look at the term Omnipotens Deus. All Powerful God. Okay that litterally means there are no limits to his power. He is capable of anything. There is nothing God cannot do. If this is so then evil is something God can do since to limit him to only good is to limit his power. Can you, as Einstein, solve this problem? You haven't thought far enough down the equation. If God is simply all pwoerful, with no limits placed upon him, then adoration of him becomes less wholesome. Since to adore something that is as ready to do you evil as good is a pretty sad state of affairs for you.

For now let us assume God is all powerful. So all aspects of the universe, including all the evil in it, are property of God and subject to, or more properly manifestations of, his divine will. Where does that leave a being like a devil? Well it leaves them nowhere. There is no point to having a devil since all the evil in the universe, like all the good, is a manifestation of the will of God. Why would God need another being to help him out with evil? Indeed why would God need anyhelp from anything for any reason? Why help build his kingdom on earth? Can't the omnipotent God do that for himself?

If God is wanting a creation unspoiled and perfect then why not, like nike says, just do it? Why all the cerimonial mumbo jumbo? Why priests and churches and doctrines of the faith? Why have all this messy confusion about what God wants? It seems to me that if God wished creation that is different than the one we call home then he would have made it different. He would not be waiting for us to figure it out, or have us wait for him to let us make a mess of things then come in and break up the fight.

I believe that we live in the perfect universe. A universe where nothing is either created nor destroyed. A universe that is neither good or evil, where there is no place for evil or good to exist. A place where all action causes equal and opposing reaction. A universe where certain actions are deemed evil and certain actions are deemed good by certain speices at certain times because the actions lead to the propegation of the spieces. Trust, justice, equal treatment, kindness, charity, etc. are all benificial to a cohesive society. Genicide, murder, theft, lying, etc are all damaging to a cohesive society.

Clearly there are laws that we have uncovered that govern all the actions in the universe. It is only a mater of time before all of them are laid out for us to understand. So getting back to the nature of God. By removing the aspect of good and evil there is also removed a stumbling block for the acceptance of an omnipotent God. God is all powerful. And the universe is perfect. There is no need for intervention in such a perfect universe even by a perfect God. We too are perfect. Our perfection will continue to evolve, in a million years our perfection will be different than it is now. But it will be no less perfect or more perfect than it is right now.

I know lots of people will talk about all the evil that seems pointless and done for only evil's sake. However that is meledramatic. All evil is done for reasons beyond simply acting evil. Even if it is done by those who think they are doing it to act evil, since they too are simply part of creation and reacting to actions upon them etc. This is also true for good.

How about God adjusting his creation? If it is perfect then God would not need to adjust it. Remember that we are part of the creation so if he has to come down and adjust things after seeing a problem arising then he has not created a perfect thing. Can a perfect being create an imperfect thing? Yes. To say no would place a limit on his power. There is nothing he cannot do. So he can create an imperfect universe. But this leads to probelms as mentioned above.

Does calling on God make a difference in a perfect universe? The answer, puzzeling though it is to me, is yes. The perfect creation can call on the perfect being to act upon the perfect creation to make a change. This is not creating a more perfect creation, it is not fixing something. There is nothing to fix in the perfect creation. There is only a change desired and done by God if he so chooses and he can choose to act or not as he wishes.

The perspective on perfection is Gods alone. We in it can either accept the perfection or deny it and even if we do this it is only because we have come into actions and interactions that cause us to deny it, or accept it. All our actions within the perfect creation are perfectly atuned to the it at all times. Even when we percieve ourselves to fail. This should lead us all to complete humility since there is no triumph that is ours nor any tragedy. We have complete freedom within the perameters of, by Gods definition, the perfect creation.

Augustine says, Not because they are, does God know all creatures spiritual and temporal, but because he knows them, therefore they are.