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All (27) Mike Winger (27)
Mike Winger idea 2019-07-03

Introduction: Isaiah 45:7 quoted as evidence God created moral evil

Opening setup of the livestream topic

Isaiah 45:7 Isaiah 45:7 Did God Create Evil moral evil
Mike Winger idea 2019-07-03

Study plan: Hebrew word analysis, context, origin of evil, and other questions

Mike outlines the teaching structure for the session

Isaiah 45:7 Isaiah 45:7 biblical interpretation methodology Hebrew exegesis
Mike Winger idea 2019-07-03

Hebrew word ra — range of meaning includes calamity, distress, harm, not only moral evil

Mike examines the Hebrew word translated "evil" in Isaiah 45:7 using multiple lexicons

Isaiah 45:7 semantic range Isaiah 45:7 ra
Mike Winger idea 2019-07-03

Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament: ra in Isaiah 45:7 denotes calamity, not moral evil

Additional lexical support from TWOT

Isaiah 45:7 Jeremiah 39:12 Amos 6:3 Isaiah 45:7 ra calamity vs moral evil
Mike Winger idea 2019-07-03

Contextual argument: peace (shalom) vs. calamity is the correct contrast, not peace vs. moral evil

Mike moves from lexical analysis to contextual/structural analysis of the verse

Isaiah 45:7 contextual interpretation Isaiah 45:7 ra
Mike Winger idea 2019-07-03

Historical context: Isaiah 45 is addressed to Cyrus, a pagan king — God asserting universal sovereignty

Mike examines the literary and historical setting of Isaiah 45

Isaiah 45 divine sovereignty Isaiah 45 Cyrus the Great
Mike Winger idea 2019-07-03

Isaiah 41:23 and Lamentations 3:38-39 corroborate that God bringing evil/bad = calamity, not moral evil

Supporting passages examined to reinforce the interpretation of Isaiah 45:7

Isaiah 41:23 Lamentations 3:38-39 divine judgment ra calamity vs moral evil
Mike Winger idea 2019-07-03

Job 2:10 confirms ra as calamity: Job receiving evil = loss of children, livestock, health

Job passage used as a concrete example of ra meaning bad circumstances, not moral evil

Job 2:10 moral evil ra calamity vs moral evil
Mike Winger idea 2019-07-03

Modern translations render ra in Isaiah 45:7 as calamity/disaster, not evil — English has shifted

Mike explains why the KJV uses "evil" and why modern translations differ

Isaiah 45:7 ESV NASB NIV
Mike Winger idea 2019-07-03

Evil is not a created substance — analogy of donut hole and shadow

Mike transitions to the broader philosophical question: where did evil come from?

Greg Koukl moral evil evil as privation
Mike Winger idea 2019-07-03

Good derives from God's nature; evil is the contrast to God's goodness, requiring permission not creation

Positive account of where good and evil come from

free will evil as privation origin of evil
Mike Winger idea 2019-07-03

Moral evil as the result of free will; natural evil as a separate category

Mike distinguishes two major categories of evil

Satan free will moral evil
Mike Winger idea 2019-07-03

Three biblical causes of natural evil: divine judgment, spiritual warfare, and the greater good

Mike surveys biblical reasons for calamitous suffering

Job John 9:1-3 spiritual warfare Job problem of evil
Mike Winger idea 2019-07-03

Christian response to suffering: trust God's sovereign goodness despite not knowing the outcome

Pastoral application regarding suffering and theodicy

theodicy suffering faith
Mike Winger idea 2019-07-03

Euthyphro dilemma introduced: is something good because God wills it, or does God will it because it's good?

Mike introduces a classical philosophical challenge to theistic ethics

Euthyphro dilemma Socrates Euthyphro
Mike Winger idea 2019-07-03

Resolution: Euthyphro dilemma is a false dilemma — third option is that God IS the good

Mike provides the Christian response to the Euthyphro dilemma

nature of God divine goodness Euthyphro dilemma
Mike Winger idea 2019-07-03

Euthyphro dilemma fails for the Christian God but was valid against finite pagan gods

Historical-philosophical context explaining why the dilemma persisted

Plato polytheism nature of God
Mike Winger idea 2019-07-03

Summary conclusion: God is source of goodness; evil is real by contrast but need not be created; God allows and will solve evil

Mike wraps up the theological teaching before Q&A

theodicy free will evil as privation
Mike Winger idea 2019-07-03

Q&A: Sin unto death in 1 John 5 — physical death (unrepentant sin) or spiritual death (apostasy)

Audience question about 1 John 5:16-17

1 John 5:16-17 repentance apostasy 1 John 5:16-17
Mike Winger idea 2019-07-03

Q&A: If God gave us a wicked heart, can we blame him? — Shaking fist at God is foolish

Audience question on whether God bears responsibility for human sinfulness

salvation sin free will
Mike Winger idea 2019-07-03

Q&A: Were Adam and Eve created perfect? Free will is not an imperfection; sin through free will is

Audience question about the nature of Adam and Eve's creation

Genesis Genesis free will human nature
Mike Winger idea 2019-07-03

Q&A: Proverbs 16:33 and divine sovereignty — layered sovereignty model, not hard determinism

Audience question about whether God meticulously controls all things

Proverbs Job Proverbs 16:33 Proverbs free will Job
Mike Winger idea 2019-07-03

Q&A: How to responsibly use Hebrew and Greek resources without knowing the languages

Practical advice for laypeople on lexical Bible study

hermeneutics Strong's Concordance Blue Letter Bible
Mike Winger idea 2019-07-03

Q&A: If God had not created anything, would evil exist? — No, because evil requires free creatures

Audience question about counterfactual non-creation

creation free will evil as privation
Mike Winger idea 2019-07-03

Q&A: How to determine what is literal vs. metaphorical in the Bible — genre and context

Audience question about biblical hermeneutics

Psalms Proverbs biblical hermeneutics Psalms Proverbs
Mike Winger idea 2020-03-11

"Ends of the earth" doesn't mean the earth has edges. Biblical usage shows it means distant nations/peoples. Deuteronomy 28:49 prophesies nations from "the end of the earth" attacking Israel — fulfilled by Babylon/Assyria. Nehemiah 1:8 identifies "uttermost parts" as Susa, Iran — only 1,035 miles from Jerusalem.

Ends of the earth — not physical edges

Deuteronomy 28:49 Nehemiah 1:8 flat earth ends of the earth Deuteronomy 28:49
Mike Winger idea 2024-09-14

Is YHWH Biased?: How do we know YHWH isn't just BIASED with His Word (as one would be in any form of competition), when God says "There is no other, beside Me there is no God" in Isaiah 45:5 or "I know not any" in Isaiah 44:8?

Q&A question: Is YHWH Biased?

Isaiah Isaiah 45 Isaiah Isaiah 45