Why did the prophet Isaiah say God created evil? Isn't this a horrible contradiction?
In Isaiah 45:7 we read, “I form the light and create darkness. I make peace and create evil. I the Lord do all these things.” So, why in the world would the prophet make such a statement like this? Why would God be responsible for creating evil when He is good and His mercy endures forever (Psalm 136)? One must conclude that if God created evil, then He must 1) be evil Himself. And 2), He cannot condemn man for the evil he does since God created it. And 3) Evil must be good. As always when reading any passage in scripture, context is the key. The word evil in Hebrew is the word Ra . It has multiple meanings such as hurt, ill, pain, harm, sorrow, mischief, affliction, misery, and calamity. It appears 663 times in the King James Bible (KJV). 431 times it is translated evil. The word evil also appears in the New American Standard Bible version (ASV). A more accurate rendering of the word evil in the above verse is calamity. God is the creator of calamity. The proph