Is God The Creator of Evil?

Is God The Creator of Evil?

According to some skeptics of the Bible, God created the concept of evil. To prove this claim, there are many verses used. 

In Amos 3:6, it says: "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). Now there are many issues with this claim; firstly, this verse is not speaking of evil but calamity. The Hebrew word used here is “ra” or “רע” which has many meanings such as calamity or evil. The context tells us in verse 2 that God will bring justice for their sin, this being calamity and not evil. Most translations note this fact, translating it as “calamity”, “disaster”, or “trouble”. See the AMP, CSB, ESV, NASB, NKJV, and NLV. 

  This verse also gives us no reason to believe God created the concept of evil. The verse tells us that God will bring justice to these cities, not that he made evil in the beginning.

In Isaiah 45:7 we read: “I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things,” (Isaiah 45:7 KJV). Just as the verse in Amos, this is merely a poor translation by the KJV. The context(Isaiah 45:3-7) tells us God will bring justice to Israel.

We see the contrast of “peace” and “evil” in the land of Israel which points to the fact of God affecting the land with peace or calamity.