Did God create both good and evil?

[MattS]

The Bible mentions that God created both good and evil:

Isaiah 45:7 - "I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things."

What is meant by this?

[Vort]

"Evil" in this context can also mean "distress", "hurt", "injury". God is Almighty, both to blessing and to cursing.

[tubaloth]

When you create a law, a line is drawn. You obey that law then this is good, you don't this is bad.

The farther away from God you go the closer you move away from light and truth. No light = more darkness and evil.

[Sharky]

Can you create one without creating the other?

I don't necessarily need to know salt to understand what sweet is, perhaps I need both to truely appreciate the one; however, without both there is no agency.

So one without the other would, in some ways, force us to the one by removing the choice, by eliminating our agency to choose.

[JudoMinja]

God created opposition. Aka- resistance, friction, conflict. Everything has an opposite-

Up vs. down

Forward vs. backward

Push vs. pull

Clean vs. dirty

Light vs. dark

Good vs. evil

All these things would not exist without their opposites, because it is the opposites that give them meaning. They are relative- "considered in relation or in proportion to something else". Without an opposite, without something to relate it to, all these things just wouldn't be. Everything would be the same. There would be no need to even clarify "light" or "dark" because it would all be the same.

So- when God created, he created diversity, difference, opposites. And the greater we move across the spectrum in one direction, so there must also be an equal growth in the opposite direction, keeping all things in balance. Why is this important? Why do we need such diversity? Because you can't have one without the other. You cannot have sweet, if there is no bitter. You cannot have joy, if there is no sorrow. You cannot have healing, if there is no pain.

[missionary0204]

There was some discussion on this subject a few feeks ago.

http://www.lds.net/forums/lds-gospel-discussion/48498-did-god-create-evil.html