If God is Good, Omnipotent, and Sovereign, Where Does Evil Come From? - by Phil Johnson

Found here. Our comments in bold.

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This is Bad Bible Teaching. There's no other way to explain it. The author assumes his premise, restates it, proves points not under discussion, and in the end simply offers repeated bare denials.

So. Where does evil come from? The author never tells us. We can't imagine a poorer explanation of the topic.  

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When bad things happen, has God lost control? (The author will not answer this question either, or even discuss it.)

Arminian (Unexplained term.)

reasoning: "If God is sovereign, doesn't that make him the author of evil? Why would an all-powerful, all-knowing, beneficent God permit evil in the first place? (Is it true that "Arminians" believe God isn't sovereign? What is the author's definition of "sovereign?" Is it true that Arminians use superficial atheist statements like why God permits evil? Who are these Arminians, anyway?)

The only honest way for an Arminian to avoid the difficulty those questions pose would be to answer the same way process theology (Unexplained term.)

and open theology (Unexplained term.)

deal with the dilemma: (What is the dilemma? God losing control? God is not sovereign? God is the author of evil? Why God permits evil? Please explain.)

"God doesn't actually know the future; he is taking calculated risks." (Is this our only option? Really? Is this what "Arminians" believe? Please explain.)

That opens up greater problems than ever. It nullifies divine omniscience; (In what way? Please explain.)

it erases the doctrine of divine immutability (the truth that God is unchanging; that Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever). (In what way? Please explain.)

It is a full-scale attack on classic theism. (In what way? Please explain.)

Calvinists (Unexplained term.)

are often targeted with the charge that they make God the author or the instrumental cause of evil, (Unexplained term.)

but the truth is no one has thought more carefully about this issue or written more clarifying material on it than the great Calvinist theologians across reformation history. (Hooray for them. But what does the Bible have to say about it? Please explain.)

Jonathan Edwards, (Oh. A theologian, not the Bible.)

for example, covers it in detail in his book The Freedom of the Will. He has a whole chapter titled "Concerning that objection against the doctrine which has been maintained, that it makes God the Author of Sin." (In modern editions, that title is shortened to the question: "Is God the Author of Sin?")

Edwards says this:

[Those] who object, that [the doctrine of divine sovereignty] makes God the Author of Sin, ought distinctly to explain what they mean by that phrase, "The Author of Sin." I know the phrase, as it is commonly used, signifies something very ill. If by the Author of Sin, be meant [that God is] the Sinner, the Agent, [the] Actor of Sin, or the Doer of a wicked thing; so it would be a reproach and blasphemy, to suppose God to be the Author of Sin. In [that] sense, I utterly deny God to be the Author of Sin . . . such an imputation on the Most High . . ..is infinitely to be abhorred . . ..But if, by the Author of Sin, is meant the permitter, or not a hinderer of Sin; and, at the same time, [He has a holy purpose in all that He does, and he uses even the evil that is done by evil agents for His own] wise, holy, and most excellent ends and purposes, that Sin, if it be permitted or not hindered, will most certainly and infallibly follow: [and as we know, God deplores evil, and will defeat it and glorify himself in doing so] This is not to be the Actor of Sin, but, on the contrary, of holiness. What God doth herein, is holy; and a glorious exercise of the infinite excellency of his nature. (Edwards does what the author does, he simply denies God is the author of sin without demonstrating it. Wow.)

God is never the instrumental cause of evil. (Repeats undefined term.

This is the matter to be demonstrated, but the author simply reasserts it.)

He does not does not advocate sin, sanction it, instigate it, condone it, approve it, or otherwise countenance it. (Well of course. That's basically Edward's technique, to simply assert and deny.)

But the appearance of evil in God's creation did not take Him by surprise or catch Him off guard. It was part of His plan from the beginning. (The appearance of evil is the matter to be explained. How did evil appear? And what does it mean that sin was part of God's plan? Please explain.)

He doesn't delight in it. It is abhorrent to Him. He remains utterly untainted by its existence. (Repeating Edwards again.)

And even in His absolute sovereignty, God is never the efficient cause (Unexplained term.)

or the agent of evil. (The author reasserts his claim over and over, but still hasn't explained it.)

James 1:13: "God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one." He "is light, and in him is no darkness at all" (1 John 1:5). God is absolutely holy, and high above sin and evil, totally untouched by it. (Well, yes. Of course. 

The Bible, finally.

But the author moves the goalposts. The issue is not that He is holy and above sin, it is where does evil come from?)

Nevertheless, don't ever imagine that evil is something foreign to God's plan. (This is the second time the author has stated that sin is part of God's plan, but still no explanation.)

The sudden appearance of evil at the dawn of the universe and in the early chapters of Genesis does not mean something went haywire in God's strategy. He planned for evil to enter His universe—indeed, He decreed that it would occur—so that He might use it to bring about an even greater good. (He decreed sin but didn't author it? Doesn't the author think this statement is worth some explanation? After all, it's sort of the key point of the topic. When is the author going to explain where sin came from if God didn't create it?)

Not only that, but He also remains fully sovereign over every act of evil that is ever committed. (In what way? Please explain.)

The Old Testament book of Job gives us a little window into the workings of the Spirit world. It reveals that even Satan himself cannot act apart from God's permission. (Yes, of course. But this is also not under discussion. And the author doesn't even bother to tell us where in Job this is found.)

And God never allows evil agents to act unless His purpose is to overrule their evil intentions for His own wise and holy purposes. (Yes, or course. But what about the answer to the question? And again, where in the Bible does this information appear?)

He will glorify Himself in the defeat of evil, and He will make even the fruits of evil all work together for good, in accord with His good pleasure. He's doing it even now, for those who have spiritual eyes to see. (Sigh.... The author never answered the question.)



PS: See also "Does Calvinism Make God the Author of Evil?" (A link to more tortured reasoning by the author.)