Community Chat

[Irshgrl31201]

On 3/28/2015 SuiGeneris said:

Because of the duality of the world, there are many concepts we would not recognize without their polar opposites [Eastern thought calls it Yin/Yang.].

How would we know light without dark, dry without wet, or unconsciousness without consciousness?

There wouldn't be valleys without mountains, leaders without followers, or feminine without masculine.

Just as we wouldn't know what evil is if we had never experienced good.

So, No; I don't think there can be good without evil. We would be unable to recognize one without the other.

^^^^ This

[Deb1010again]

Yes, I believe it.

[Mothertrucker]

On 3/28/2015 Sister Golden Hair said:

On 3/28/2015 Pashmina said:

On 3/27/2015 Sister Golden Hair said:

We wouldn't even be discussing this if it wasn't God's plan.

I don't believe that for a second! It is not God's will that people suffer and die or do terrible things to one another. We were created with free will, that is what got us where we are today, not God's will.

I did not say it was God's will.

God knew what was going to happen to Adam and Eve.

So we have God to thank for evil...

Because he wanted us to be "obedient", slaves are obedient......

What does that say about a loving God...?

[Tinkrbl44]

Reminds me of a comment one of my teachers made many years ago .... There's NO SUCH THING as cold .... it's just an absence of heat.

[Lila Belle]

On 3/28/2015 Mothertrucker said:

On 3/28/2015 Sister Golden Hair said:

On 3/28/2015 Pashmina said:

On 3/27/2015 Sister Golden Hair said:

We wouldn't even be discussing this if it wasn't God's plan.

I don't believe that for a second! It is not God's will that people suffer and die or do terrible things to one another. We were created with free will, that is what got us where we are today, not God's will.

I did not say it was God's will.

God knew what was going to happen to Adam and Eve.

So we have God to thank for evil...

Because he wanted us to be "obedient", slaves are obedient......

What does that say about a loving God...?

God ordered his people to destroy cities and kill to the last man, woman, child, animal many times over. He also willed them to wander, be conquered and made slaves.

Why isn't that considered evil?

[SnowPink]

On 3/28/2015 Mothertrucker said:

So we have God to thank for evil...

Because he wanted us to be "obedient", slaves are obedient......

What does that say about a loving God...?

When a parent encourages their child to be obedient, they are showing love. Or do you think parents want their children to be obedient because they want them to be slaves?

[Lila Belle]

[Puzzle Piece]

On 3/28/2015 morning glory said:

Goodness stands alone. It does not need the contrast of evil to exist.

I agree and would add - WE have evil because we need to learn what evil is and that is why it exists. It contrasts the good. Good does not need evil.

[Pashmina_1]

On 3/29/2015 SnowPink said:

On 3/28/2015 Mothertrucker said:

So we have God to thank for evil...

Because he wanted us to be "obedient", slaves are obedient......

What does that say about a loving God...?

When a parent encourages their child to be obedient, they are showing love. Or do you think parents want their children to be obedient because they want them to be slaves?

You make a great point. Parents want their children to be obedient because they love them and more times than not, know what's best for them. Same with God. He created us so He knows our make up better than anyone, so why shouldn't he give us laws to live by? After all they are for our own benefit because he loves us.

[SuiGeneris]

Perhaps it would aid one in understanding this quote if one knew that it was from St. Augustine, one of the great philosophers and theologians.

Wikipedia:

St. Augustine was an early Christian theologian and philosopher whose writings influenced the development of Western Christianity and Western philosophy. He is viewed as one of the most important Church Fathers in the Western Christianity; among his most important works are City of God and Confessions.

Believing that the grace of Christ was indispensable to human freedom, he helped formulate the doctrine of original sin. Many Protestants, especially Calvinists, consider him to be one of the theological fathers of the Protestant Reformation due to his teachings on salvation and divine grace.

I think this quote originated with thoughts of his early life, when he was a devotee of Manichaeism, which is a dualistic religion, teaching "the struggle between a good, spiritual world of light, and an evil, material world of darkness." [Wikipedia]

My late husband used to describe this hedonistic part of Augustine's early life as one filled with s*e*x and debauchery. This was because he was taught [by the Manichees] that one's soul could always remain pure through good, Godly thoughts of the mind; however, one's body was separate from one's mind and could do all manner of things impure -- s*e*x, drinking, and living a totally depraved lifestyle.

Once he was converted to Christianity, he realized the depth of his sin and recanted all the pagan teachings he had subscribed to. This is where I think the "quote of the day" comes from. His realization that good and evil go hand in hand. He had experienced both great evil and great goodness and realized that you can't have one without the other.