I wrote a 10 page paper on evil for seminary. I didn’t need 10 pages. The professor required 10 pages. Today is going to be much less.
A.W. Tozer says when God gives us free will, things can go very good when we look for God’s ways and choose them. Likewise, things can go very, very badly when we stray from God. To summarize my long paper – evil is nothing more than when we distance ourselves from God. When some pastors talk about heaven and hell – they say heaven is being with God forever and hell is the torment of being away from God forever.
This helps me to comprehend evil. Since God created everything and everything He created was good, God did not create evil. God created free will in us which allows evil to exist. Our choice to be separated from God is bad and evil results from our bad choice to be apart from God. So I can see how God didn’t create evil. God created us with free will and the ability to choose Him or not choose Him. To choose Him is to choose the good. The person/people who planted the bombs in Boston yesterday are obviously distant from God and have not chosen God. And that has led to this evil act.