The old testament documents God using genocide in an effort to eradicate evil from the earth.
Noah's flood is a war of genocide against evil and corruption. The smiting of Sodom and Gamorrah is the same.
Yet despite these massacres of evil and unjust. The amount of evil in the world doesn't decline. We continue to see the same evil and corruption in every era of human history.
Can we fight evil and corruption, if global floods drowning all evil and corrupt demographics on earth, are not enough to eliminate it?
On the opposite end of the spectrum, we might ask if goodness and beauty in the world can be opposed in a similar manner. Can brutal dictators change hearts and minds? Can they transform good people into bad people with violence and oppression? If a global flood cannot eliminate evil from the world, perhaps it also could not eliminate good?
Can it be said that there might always be good and bad people in the world. Inevitably there will be good and bad born in the future. No matter what those alive now experience. Those born in the future will be free to decide to pursue good paths or the opposite.
While culture, ideology and environment can bridge the generation gap to a degree. The disconnect spanning generations is overwhelmingly significant, even in slower paced, ancient times. There are many iconic biblical prophets whose descendants turned their backs on God. Whatever goodness that exists in us can be completely lost within a single generation. (How does it happen?) Those who are evil might also have sons and daughters who buck the opposite trend by turning to God.
As a christian I have thought about these circumstances and trends for a long time. Trying to arrange the puzzle pieces the bible offers us into a picture that makes sense. Ephesians 6:12 unfortunately doesn't provide more than a rough and generalized outline.
If a day comes when good someday overcomes evil. What shape and form will it take? As followers of Christ, is there anything christians can do to support and accelerate these trends? What things do christians do unconsciously which obstruct and oppose God's will from being done?
Noah's flood is a war of genocide against evil and corruption. The smiting of Sodom and Gamorrah is the same.
Yet despite these massacres of evil and unjust. The amount of evil in the world doesn't decline. We continue to see the same evil and corruption in every era of human history.
Can we fight evil and corruption, if global floods drowning all evil and corrupt demographics on earth, are not enough to eliminate it?
On the opposite end of the spectrum, we might ask if goodness and beauty in the world can be opposed in a similar manner. Can brutal dictators change hearts and minds? Can they transform good people into bad people with violence and oppression? If a global flood cannot eliminate evil from the world, perhaps it also could not eliminate good?
Can it be said that there might always be good and bad people in the world. Inevitably there will be good and bad born in the future. No matter what those alive now experience. Those born in the future will be free to decide to pursue good paths or the opposite.
While culture, ideology and environment can bridge the generation gap to a degree. The disconnect spanning generations is overwhelmingly significant, even in slower paced, ancient times. There are many iconic biblical prophets whose descendants turned their backs on God. Whatever goodness that exists in us can be completely lost within a single generation. (How does it happen?) Those who are evil might also have sons and daughters who buck the opposite trend by turning to God.
As a christian I have thought about these circumstances and trends for a long time. Trying to arrange the puzzle pieces the bible offers us into a picture that makes sense. Ephesians 6:12 unfortunately doesn't provide more than a rough and generalized outline.
If a day comes when good someday overcomes evil. What shape and form will it take? As followers of Christ, is there anything christians can do to support and accelerate these trends? What things do christians do unconsciously which obstruct and oppose God's will from being done?
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