We talked a while back about God being the author of evil in the sense that God is the cause of all things. Yet evil is a privation and not really an essence, is it not? I ask because I heard someone on a radio program say, “Evil is not an ontological essence in and of itself. It is a deprivation, or lack of good.”

It is asserted that evil is a privation, so that it is not a “thing” in itself. Then, it is implied that this is inconsistent with the idea that God is the author of evil (in the sense that he is the author of all things).

We might say that evil does not have an ontological status like good, since God himself is Good, and there is no counterpart Evil. If this is what we mean, then it is true. We reject dualism, or the view that Good and Evil are two self-existing eternal powers that oppose each other.

However, we never said that evil is an object or essence that exists in itself without necessary association with an intelligent entity. Even “good” does not exist this way. Just as God is good, Satan is evil, demons are evil, and sinners are evil. Satan, demons, and sinners exist as objects themselves. Although God sustains and controls them, just as he sustains and controls all things, they are not merely a “privation” of God. If God disappears, we would not suddenly end up with Satan, but there would be nothing.

This exposes the dangerous implication of the idea that evil is the mere privation of good. That is, if evil is the mere privation of good, and God is good, it would mean that evil is ontologically more basic than God himself. Since evil is necessarily associated with an entity, it could even suggest that Satan is more basic than God. Therefore, those who use this principle as some kind of theodicy or to distance God from evil not only ends up with a version of dualism, but also ends up with Satan as the supreme entity instead of God. It ends in blasphemy.

God is ontologically the most basic entity, and he is good. He is always good and righteous, and therefore it must be “good” that there is evil (although evil itself is evil, and not good). The Bible explains that one reason for evil is for God to reveal his wrath, so that he may glorify himself by the punishment of the reprobates, and at the same time educate the elect concerning his power and justice.