In one of our previous blogs, I affirmed this: "We can say that 'God is the author of evil or sin.' He ordained evil to take place; unless He does so, it won't occur." It must be said at the outset that in affirming God's authorship of sin, we are not saying that God commits sin! It is simply stating the fact that sin and evil will not be in this world apart from God's will.

God Is Not The Author Of Sin

The Scripture is clear: God cannot sin. He is light, and there is no darkness in Him! See the following passages.

James 1:13 asserts that God "cannot be tempted with evil, and He Himself tempts no one". This premise is foundational: if God is not tempted, then He has no evil disposition whereby He can tempt others.

Hebrews 6:18 and Titus 1:2 demonstrate that God can't lie.

Numbers 23:19 reinforces this truth, stating that God is not a man that He should lie or repent.

2 Timothy 2:13 shows the truth regarding God's inability to deny Himself.

1 John 1:5 affirms God's nature as light, declaring that "in him is no darkness at all".

Habakkuk 1:13 teaches that God's eyes are too pure to look upon evil and that He cannot tolerate wrongdoing.

Psalm 5:4 establishes that God does not delight in wickedness, implying that evil may not dwell with Him.

Deuteronomy 32:4 proclaims that God's work is perfect and all His ways are just, providing evidence that God is without iniquity.

A robust doctrine of God, which classical theism teaches, will lead a student of the Bible to deny God as the author, doer, actor, and maleficent agent of sin and evil.

Now, our confession, as a faithful summary of the Scriptures, clearly states that God is not the author of sin.

God hath decreed in himself, from all eternity, by the most wise and holy counsel of His own will, freely and unchangeably, all things, whatsoever comes to pass; yet so as thereby is God neither the author of sin nor hath fellowship with any therein; nor is violence offered to the will of the creature, nor yet is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established; in which appears His wisdom in disposing all things, and power and faithfulness in accomplishing His decree. — LBCF 3.1

Our confession's denial of God being the author of sin is clarified by the next statement nor hath fellowship with any therein. God is not the author of sin in that he does not join the sinful act that takes place making him a sinner and doer of the evil and horrible acts.

Dr. Jim Renihan also noted this in his exposition of the second London Baptist Confession of Faith, and emphatically deny that God is not the author of sin.1

In 1645, the Westminster Assembly, with unanimous consent, published a pamphlet with the long but expressive title A Short Declaration of the Assembly of Divines, By way of Detestation of this Abominable and Blasphemous Opinion, That God is, and hath a hand in, and is the Author of the Sinfulnesses of his People. It was a response to a book by the deceased author John Archer in which Archer apparently "in expresse Termes, and in a very foul manner propounded, maintained, and purposely at large prosecuted" the notion that God is not only the author of sin, but also of the depravity of humanity. The divines call this notion "most vile and blasphemous," remarking that any such idea has by "the general consent of Christians, Teachers and writers, both Ancient, and Modern, and these as well Papists as Protestants" been rejected and "even detested and abhorred." They assert that the confessions of the Reformed churches "make Satan, and man himself the only causes or Authors of sin." The Assembly, supported by Parliament, ordered Archer's book to be burned by the "Common Hangman," at which time their pamphlet was to be read aloud.

John Calvin also maintained this truth when he wrote his fifth argument against Pighius,

God is not made the author of evil deeds when he is said to lead the ungodly where he wills and to accomplish and execute his work through them, but rather we shall acknowledge that he is a wonderfully expert craftsman who can use even bad tools well. We shall be compelled to admire his justice, which not only finds a way through iniquity but also employs that very iniquity to a good end.2

God Is The Author Of Sin

In light of our confession and John Calvin's statement, can we still affirm (carefully and fearfully) that God is the author of sin? How is God possibly be the author of sin and not commit sin? I think we are helped by one of the greatest theologians of all time, Jonathan Edwards. Hear him,

If by the Author of Sin, be meant the Sinner, the Agent, or 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 this sense, I utterly deny God to be the Author of Sin; rejecting such an imputation on the Most High, as what is infinitely to be abhorred; and deny any such thing to be the consequence of what I have laid down. But if, by the Author of Sin, is meant the permitter, or not a hinderer of Sin; and, at the same lime, a disposer of the state of events, in such a manner, for wise, holy, and most excellent ends and purposes, that Sin, if it be permitted or not hindered, will most certainly and infallibly follow: I say, if this be all that is meant, by being the Author of Sin, I do not deny that God is the Author of Sin, (though I dislike and reject the phrase, as that which by use and custom is apt to carry another sense,) it is no reproach for the Most High to be thus the Author of Sin. 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.3

David Alexander restates Edwards,

"God is not the author of sin in the sense that God himself is—with respect to any specific sin—'the Sinner, the Agent, or Actor of Sin, or the Doer of a wicked thing.' So if by 'author of sin' we mean that God is the doer of evil, the agent who actually performs the sinful act and with wicked intentions, then no, God is not the author of sin. Edwards says 'it would be a reproach and blasphemy, to suppose God to be the Author of Sin' in that sense. It 'is infinitely to be abhorred.' But according to Edwards, God is the author of sin in the sense that he ordained the existence of sin. He is 'the Disposer and Orderer of Sin.' He is 'a disposer of the state of events, in such a manner, for wise, holy, and most excellent ends and purposes, that Sin . . . will most certainly and infallibly follow.' So if by 'author of sin' we mean 'one who ordains that moral evil shall in fact occur,' then yes (says Edwards), that appears to be the repeated teaching of Scripture. But since God is not the author of sin in the first sense, he has no moral culpability or blame in the matter."4

Therefore, it is one thing to say that God is the author of sin to mean that He is the actor/doer of sin. This is objectionable and WE DENY THIS!

It is another to say that God is the transcendent and holy author of sin as He is the willing and active permitter of sin. This is unobjectionable and WE AFFIRM THIS (though it must be articulated clearly as Edwards stated above)! The Proximate (secondary) and Remote (primary) cause also explain that the proximate cause is the doer of sin. God causes sin to occur but is not the actual actor of sin.

In this blog post, I realized that people may easily misunderstand me when I say that God is the author of sin as a willing and active permitter of sin, without which sin and evil cannot take place. So, anyone who maintains this (I myself) should be careful in saying this or not to say this immediately when asked about the topic. First, deny that God is the author of sin, and clarify if further asked about it.

James Anderson further comments, "The core notion… is that sin is always a creaturely action and never a divine action. Creatures commit evil acts, but God never commits evil acts, even though he foreordains the evil acts of creatures—which is not the same thing at all." (Calvinism and the Problem of Evil)

It is not the Transcendent God who sins but the creaturely agents who intend evil and act upon it. God authors the plot, and the actors act willingly to commit the crime. The primary agent and the secondary agent. The difference is the internal desires. They meant evil for evil. God meant evil for good. God does not have evil intentions. Evil doesn't occur independently. No evil scheme outside of God's powerful hand. The perpetrator cannot say that he is forced. The only sin that exists is that which exists in the heart of the perpetrator. The individual is culpable. God is the author in the one grand story of Redemption through His Son for His greater glory.5

To God be the glory!

Footnotes

  1. James Renihan, To the Judicious and Impartial Reader: A Contextual-Historical Exposition of the Second London Baptist Confession of Faith (Founders Press, 2022). The full text of the Westminster pamphlet cited by Renihan can be found here. ↩

  2. John Calvin, The Bondage and Liberation of the Will: A Defence of the Orthodox Doctrine of Human Choice Against Pighius, ed. A. N. S. Lane & G. I. Davies (Baker Books, 1996). ↩

  3. Jonathan Edwards, The Works of Jonathan Edwards, Volume One (Christian Classics Ethereal Library), 725–6. ↩

  4. David E. Alexander and Daniel M. Johnson, Calvinism and the Problem of Evil (Pickwick Publications, Kindle Edition), Kindle loc. 1316–1324. ↩

  5. Steve Christensen, What About Evil? A Defense of God's Sovereign Glory (P&R Publishing, 2020). ↩