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Originally Posted by Feanor of the Peredhil
How can one recognize good if there is nothing to off-set it?
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Well, it wouldn't be recognisable as 'good' in that sense, as it wouldn't have any moral definitions, but that wouldn't make it boring. Variety would still exist - colours, shapes, textures, tastes, even sadness & happiness (not all tears are an evil). In other words, evil is not a
necessity. The elves look forward (if we can use such a phrase about such a 'backward-looking' people) to Arda Unmarred - Arda as it should have been sans Melkor's rebellion (OK, not exactly as Eru intended, as Melkor was to have been part of the original vision).
The point being that all that constitutes 'good' qua 'good' could exist without its 'opposite' - except evil is not technically 'opposite' to Good in the sense of being an equal force co-existing alongside it.
Of course, this would mean that 'Good' has its origin in Eru, & is what Eru says it is. The question then arises as to whether what Eru says is Good is Good simply because Eru says it is, or whether Eru Himself is bound by an objective standard of Good/evil. If Eru was said to have ordered the Noldor to kill the Teleri would that make it a Good act? The Bible says God told the Israelites to kill the Canaanites' children, so was that a 'Good' act? Either it was a Good act because whatever God commands is Good because of the fact that God said it was, or it was Evil because it broke some objective standard which binds even God Himself. Or maybe killing Canaanite children is an objectively good thing - at least in certain circumstances.....
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Originally Posted by Boromir 88
So, if Eru is the absolute good and he is the creator of everything, can he create something absolutely evil? Can he create an equal and opposite force?
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I suppose this brings up the old question: Can God create a rock that is too heavy for Him to move? If he can't then he isn't omnipotent, if He can, then he isn't omnipotent, either....