The Bible doesn't use the word "hate" as narrowly as we use it. For example, Jesus says in Luke 14:26, “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple." It is universally understood by all Christians, regardless of whether they are Calvinist or Arminian, that Jesus is not teaching we should hate our families in the way that we typically use the word "hate." The more natural interpretation of this verse is that to be hated is to be less preferred. Thus, by saying we should hate our families, Jesus is simply saying that we should prefer Him and His kingdom over our loved ones and their interests.
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If God did not hate the evildoers who are boastful men, they would stand before His eyes. As per that scripture, they (not only their deeds) shall not stand before His eyes.
The same is true with love. God uses them both conditionally and unconditionally. The problem is we like to talk about Gods love in some way that is never unjust in our minds but we like to sugarcoat His hate because it offends us.
So in the text in question God simply prefers evil doers less but prefers then none the less?
I'm not of the opinion that "less preferred" is the only alternative understanding of the word "hate." In Psalm 5:5 the word hate might be best understood as something closer to being disfavored. For example, Gen. 29:31, "And when the Lord saw that Leah was hated, He opened her womb." The word "disfavored" might be a better understanding of the word "hate" in that verse as well. In fact, it's the same Hebrew word in both verses (שָׂנֵא). I find it puzzling that, unlike human hate, God must necessarily wish eternal damnation on anyone that the Bible says He hates. At least that's what Calvinists think.
So what do you make of Proverbs 16:4?
I think that God's role in the fate of the wicked is best understood as something of a passive role in light of other verses such as Ezekiel 33:11. Since God made all things, including a world in which there are natural consequences that follow from both good and evil actions, in that sense He has "made all for Himself, even the wicked for the day of evil." To read Proverbs 16:4 and to conclude that God not only created man, but caused him to become wicked is to mine that verse for far more than it's worth.
I don't think God caused anyone to be evil. That is a result of the original rebellion of the angels then man. That was not God as the culprit.
Sounds like a good discussion; but because of the OP (the new guy), I feel I should wait for him...Good time to start an argument....
Yes. God hated Esau.
It is IMPOSSIBLE to go any further into an answer without debating why God hated Esau.
So I'll start.
1. God hatred of Esau, as expressed in the Scriptures, is a symbolic representation of those who willing reject the revelation of Jesus Christ.
It has only semblance to do with what either Calvinism or Arminianism teach. Both are inadequate to properly answer the question.
God did create man knowing He would become evil. God is of course the first cause of all that exists. Evil serves a divine purpose. It was not a divine creative opps.
Why is this necessarily true? Do you believe that since the Bible says "God is love", it must also be true that God is hate?
Really? When it says in Gen. 29:31 "And when the Lord saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb", you take it to mean that Jacob "hated" Leah in the same way that you think God hates the wicked? The exact same way? Or is that verse another outlier?
