Oddbean

I’ll state what I replied to the others with and feel free to respond how you see fit, I know this is a challenging topic to struggle with. Does God do those things? Or does man act independently using their evil inclinations apart from God? God created us with free will, a result of that is that man can choose to disobey God and His law (and that is our default state - hostile to God). Nonetheless, “God uses all things to work to the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose” Romans 8:28

He lays out what He controls in His word (the Bible) pretty clearly. I think Him “taking responsibility for His creation” is exactly what most people have a problem with. They don’t like the way He chooses to do it. But it’s up to the Creator on how He deals with His creation, in the same way that it’s up to a director of a play to deal with the plot/story how they want. He isn’t accountable to anyone, He is the beginning & the end. Ultimately, the fact that there is still evil in the world just shows how merciful God is to begin with. If He were to root out all evil, we would’ve all been gone long ago, as we’re all evil and have the capability to commit the same atrocities if you let yourself spin that far down. Regardless of “the level” of evil you are, we all sin, so we’re all guilty.