Does God Create the Wicked as Wicked?

[Heavenly Pilgrim]

Pr 16:4 ¶ The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.

HP: As crazy as it might appear to reasonable individuals, it appears that some may feel that this verse supports the idea that God is the author of all evil, or that God creates those that are wicked as they are. Also Deuteronomy 7 and Ephesians 1 have been mentioned as passages to support such an idea as well. Any thoughts?

 

[Eric B]

"Make" in this passage (strong #6466) can mean "commit" or "ordain". This suggests that it is not necessarily each individual evildoer that is "made" to be condemned, but just the category of evildoers in itself. The proof of this is that all of us were evildoers, and thus "ordained" for destruction, but the point was to warn us to get out of that group! So this, like other similar passages, is not talking about individuals being inescapably foreordained to destruction, because then that would be all of us.

 

[DQuixote]

Thank you, Eric. :thumbs:

 

[Heavenly Pilgrim]

Eric: The proof of this is that all of us were evildoers, and thus "ordained" for destruction, but the point was to warn us to get out of that group!

HP: Now according to many on this list, we are dead as unbelievers, unable to repent, have faith, or anything else. We are told that either you are one of the elect or you are not, and nothing you can do in any way can affect whether or not you become born again. It would seem to me that one might as well chase windmills or warn rocks as to warn such a helpless victim of their circumstances. Man simply doesn’t have anything to do with his salvation, remember?