In short, no. Evil is not a created thing. To help explain this concept more, it’ll help if we first try to better understand who and what exactly God is. And what people mean when you hear them say “God is good.” Goodness, justice, and love. Let’s start there. These are not created things such as a rock or a sport. Rather, these are words that we use to describe the character of an eternally existing and unchanging being. Since God is eternally existing, so are the things that are used to describe His very nature. The word “Evil” is simply the antonym we use to describe something that is not reflective of God’s loving nature. Making it an eternal concept, not a created thing. (To see more on what is meant by “God is good” Please see the blog called Euthyphro dilemma.)
God did not invent goodness and justice, rather, He is the goodness and the justice. To say that God invented goodness and justice would be saying that there was a period of time when God was not good and just because those things hadn’t been invented yet. But our God has existed eternally and is unchanging, therefore love, justice, and goodness have also existed eternally with Him.
Let’s try to use an analogy. Imagine a square. Now let’s say that this square has existed forever. Would it make sense to say that the square invented 90° corners? Of course not. We would just say that logically speaking, if the square is eternal, then by necessity, 90° corners would also have to exist eternally as well. Because the 90° corners are a defining factor of the square.
Now that we have a little bit of a better understanding of evil (in terms of its non-created element), let’s dive more into what I believe the spirit of the question truly is. In my opinion, this is more so a question of our free will. So a better question to ask would be… Why is it that God allows us to choose to do that which He does not will for us? Even if He did not invent evil, why does a supposedly just and all loving God allow for evil to happen?
“Woe to Assyria, the rod of my anger And the staff in whose hands is My indignation, I send it against a godless nation And commission it against the people of My fury. To capture spoils and seize plunder, And to trample them down like mud in the streets. Yet it does not intend, Nor does it plan to do so in its heart, But rather it is its purpose to destroy and to eliminate many nations.” (Isaiah 10:5-7) So why is it that God would punish the Assyrians for something He caused them to do? He literally calls them “the rod of His anger.”
God knows that the Assyrians would freely choose to invade. He uses the unrighteousness of the Assyrians to do what they would freely choose to do anyway. Then He can be just to punish them because this unrighteous act was done as an act of their own free will. God just knew that they would choose to do so.
But now this gets into the more Calvinist vs. Molinist debate and where we land on Ephesians 1 specifically 1:11. “In Him we also have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things in accordance with the plan of His will.” When we read this, we can’t forget that we still have a free choice. The question is how wide is the scope? Is our will totally and fully free or is it free within the limits God sets for us?
Before we all hop on the Calvinist boat, remember, proper hermeneutics does not read 1 verse or 1 passage in isolation. We have to be able to let scripture interpret scripture and see how it fits in the overall scope. This brings us back to the original question… If God has predetermined every little action, then we go on to do evil, or if we see evil just occurring in nature, wouldn’t that then make God the author of evil?
Here is the distinction we have to make clear whenever someone brings this question up…God did not bring evil into the world, rather, He brought in the circumstances and the free creatures to operate in those circumstances while knowing the outcome of their choices. Whatever they choose to do does not necessarily always align with what He wills for us.
So the Molenist will say- God shapes the circumstances, out of the circumstances evil then derives from human choice.
So the Calvanist will say- God shapes human desires, out of which evil derives from human choice.
Personally… I don’t think a biblically sound argument can be made that says God shaped someone to desire to do evil. Rather I would say He lets us choose evil even when it is against what He wants for us. Since we choose to do evil, God has the ability to adjust the circumstances. “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to keep many people alive” (Genesis 50:20.) What the brothers meant for evil, God meant for good. God never moved the brothers to despise Joseph. God didn’t make them throw Joseph into the pit, God did not make them lie to their father… But God knew how they would behave in the situation and was able to transform the circumstances without taking away anyones free will. In this Scenario, He manipulated the circumstances to save Israel from famine and all the other troubles they were facing. So because of an evil act that the brothers freely chose to do, God was able to manipulate the circumstances and let that lead to the saving of His people.