Does God Create Moral Evil (Isa. 45:6-7)?
“Calvinism is a belief in meticulous divine determinism over every thought, choice and event throughout human history–and according to John Piper this includes every one of your personal, besetting sins. Just think about the insidious implications of such a view. If a rapist or pedophile were to declare in a courtroom, ‘God caused me to do it!’ we would denounce him as a liar or a lunatic. However, when a Calvinist declares more or less the same thing behind their pulpit (substituting ’caused’ for ‘decreed’ or ‘determined’), he is extolled as being biblical!”[1]
Calvinism teaches that God decreed everything that comes to pass—including moral evil! When asked if God decreed child rape, Calvinist James White unabashedly responded, “Yes, because if not then it’s meaningless and purposeless.”[2] (See response to this argument below.)
The verse often cited to “prove” the Calvinist view is Isaiah 45:6-7, where God says:
“There is none beside me. I am the Lord, and there is none else; I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create evil; I the Lord do all these things” (Isa. 45:6-7, KJV).
There you have it, Calvinists say. God is the author of evil.
Response: First, while the Hebrew word “ra”—which is translated “evil” in the King James Version of this passage—can in some cases refer to moral evil, it often refers to disaster or calamity (such as judgments from God of evil people/nations). This second sense fits the context of the passage much better. After all, the opposite of light is darkness, and the opposite of peace is calamity (not moral evil). This is why most modern Bible translations reflect this meaning. For example, the New King James Version reads:
“I am the Lord, and there is no other; I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create calamity; I, the Lord, do all these things” (Isa. 45:6-7; see also NASB, NRSV, NIV, LSB, etc.).
Second, the Bible explicitly teaches that God does not decree moral evil/sin. For instance, when people in Jeremiah’s day were sacrificing their children to the pagan god Baal, God said:
“Because the people have forsaken me and have profaned this place by making offerings to other gods…because they have burn(ed) their sons in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, which I did not command or decree, nor did it come into my mind, therefore I will judge them” (Jer. 19:4-5, ESV).
As this passage says, God did not decree or desire this in any way. It is Satan who wants moral evil, not God!
Keep in mind, God does allow moral evil to happen—and even uses it for good (see Rom. 8:28)—but he in no way decreed or desired it. Note: this is the response to White’s argument about child rape (above).
Third, the Bible says wickedness/sin does not come from God. In other words, God did not decree it:
“For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world” (1 John 2:16).
“Therefore listen to me, you men of understanding: Far be it from God to do wickedness, and from the Almighty to commit iniquity…Surely God will never do wickedly, nor will the Almighty pervert justice” (Job 34:10-12).
As these passages say, wickedness/sin is not of the Father. In fact, the Bible says evil originates from people:
“For out of the heart [not God] proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies” (Matt. 15:19).
“Therefore, just as through one man [Adam] sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned” (Rom. 5:12).
Sin comes from man—not God. If God decreed sin, it would have come from him. But the Bible teaches it comes from man.
Fourth, God hates sin, so why would he decree it? Is he double minded?
“Pride and arrogance and the evil way and the perverse mouth I hate [says God]” (Prov. 8:13).
“For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness, nor shall evil dwell with You” (Ps. 5:4).
God hates sin, so why would he decree it? God doesn’t even tempt people with sin (James 1:13-15), let alone decree it. It’s Satan who wants sin—not God!
By Alex Polyak, founder of Answering Calvinism, 9/21/25.
[1] A Theology in Tension, “Calvinist Quotes on God Determining All Evil,” 3/21/13, viewed online 9/14/25.
[2] Ibid.