Pride and Enmity

[zil]

2 hours ago, The Folk Prophet said:

If God did not approve of it there would be no evil here.

IMO, this is only true if God invented "evil" as opposed to it simply being a possibility wherever agency is present.  IMO, evil is the choice some intelligent beings make (not a thing which can exist independently, but an adjective which describes acts / feelings / etc.).  God doesn't need to approve of it for it to exist (in the hearts / minds of intelligent beings) because he cannot stop its existence while still bringing about his work and glory.

IMO, to remove "evil" from the universe(s?), one would have to fundamentally alter reality.

[The Folk Prophet]

5 hours ago, zil said:

IMO, this is only true if God invented "evil" as opposed to it simply being a possibility wherever agency is present.  IMO, evil is the choice some intelligent beings make (not a thing which can exist independently, but an adjective which describes acts / feelings / etc.).  God doesn't need to approve of it for it to exist (in the hearts / minds of intelligent beings) because he cannot stop its existence while still bringing about his work and glory.

IMO, to remove "evil" from the universe(s?), one would have to fundamentally alter reality.

Semantics.

[zil]

17 minutes ago, The Folk Prophet said:

Semantics.

How is it semantics?  You said: "If God did not approve of it there would be no evil here."  This means that you think God can / could eliminate evil.  I'm saying God cannot eliminate evil.  Those sound like more than semantic differences.

If God can eliminate evil and doesn't, that implies he approves of it in some way.

If God cannot eliminate evil, it's existence doesn't imply God's approval.

[The Folk Prophet]

20 minutes ago, zil said:

How is it semantics?  You said: "If God did not approve of it there would be no evil here."  This means that you think God can / could eliminate evil.  I'm saying God cannot eliminate evil.  Those sound like more than semantic differences.

If God can eliminate evil and doesn't, that implies he approves of it in some way.

If God cannot eliminate evil, it's existence doesn't imply God's approval.

I'm not sure how you don't see it as semantics. I explained the view in the post prior to yours I thought pretty clearly. You're talking in extremes, of course...as in God eliminating all evil. I'm not sure where you draw the idea that God could not do such a thing. But that is neither here nor there to the point. The point is that God understands, accepts, and approves of evil as a necessary component of our growth in life. I don't see God's ability to eliminate evil or not as relevant. In point of fact I disapprove of many things that I cannot do anything about and that has no bearing on my approval thereof.

It's semantics because it depends, clearly, on what is meant by "approve".