Did He create evil???

On Thursday we discussed extensively if it was possible that God created evil. Immediately we would assume the answer is no. However after class Thursday the idea that He may have created evil doesn't seem as far fetched as I'd originally thought. While God never did just decide to throw evil into the world He did create man which sometimes seems just as bad. God did give us free will, we get to make our own decisions and unfortunately this does mean people will not always choose to do what's right.

However, does that mean that indirectly God created evil??? While God does have a plan for everything we do I still cannot imagine our God literally creating evil. Which brings me to the question of what is evil? Isn't evil just the absence of good? I think that God did not create evil but rather allows evil. If there was not an alternative to good then we would all worship Him without having a choice in the first place.

By giving us free will God wants us to choose Him, however, this also means many people will not choose Him. Otherwise we would only worship and obey because we wouldn't know what else to do. I feel that God gave us free will so that we could worship and follow Him because we chose to, not because we had to.