In some cultures (Including the Gnostic Christians of antiquity) the 'devil' figure is highly praised. This is because through suffering one can be enlightened. In Eden, man acquired consciousness through his expulsion, and man gained "salvation" by way of his own sin and the death of his (man's) saviour. While one could argue that the original state of goodness would be better, it would lack man's (and consequently, God's--but that's another story) consciousness (awareness).

There is no good in evil. Evil is the lack of good. Anything that does not contain good is evil. Evil is not something itself, like good is, it is a lack of the good.

Evil is the arbitrary non-acceptable behavior or thought applied to mankind by which God will judge man-this applies to any theology. The good of evil is it is part of the rule book, i.e. Bible, Koran etc., giving man no excuse for the choice of one behavior over another.

Without evil there would be no God!!! You can not have good art without bad art, you can not heve good behavior without bad behavior. etc etc.

The 'good' (positive consequences, ramifications, etc.) of evil is not--as another answer asserted and as many would assert--that is allows the existence of the broad concept of "good" (beneficent, benovolent, etc.). They may polar opposites, but surely the one is not predicated upon the existence of the other, no more than night must exist in order for day to exist. However, people who assert that as a theodacy (basically an apology for evil given the existence of a benevolent God) are somewhat on the right track, I think. The benefit of evil is that it allows us to appreciate, to understand and to ultimately choose, good. It's like the prince who doesn't appreciate the luxury of his life until he's lived as a pauper. Without the context of evil, human understanding of good becomes impossible. Basically, in a world without evil, a world where all was good...well, all that good would be meaningless as far as us humans are concerned. What does it matter if someone commits a heroic act if no one has ever known a cowardly act? We need that context to appreciate. Without evil, good exists, but we can't appreciate it for what it is.

It shows mankind the need of the Savior Jesus Christ! "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. " (John 3:16)

There is a pupose to evil.The purpose is to show mankind the need of a saviour.God wants us to love Him from our own free will. I would be sad if my daughter told me she loved me because she was programmed to tell me that.Without the knowledge of evil there would be no real love.

Without evil we would have nothing to mesaure good by. Evil and good are man made labels, and their quality are subject to social standing. i.e. Is homosexuality evil? A devote christian may say yes. I would say no. Both answers are due to the society in which we were raised and live in, so neither answer is right nor wrong, it depends on your what society you are apart of. Therefore the concepts of good and evil are man made.

Ah, the \"Problem of Evil.\" Evil has been thought to be a necessary possibility in order that persons in the image of God should have the power to make free choices. My grandfather was quite a character, and he played organ professionally for years at various churches over his lifespan. A preacher at one of those churches thought he had come up with the answer to the Problem of Evil: Evil was necessary to work a greater good. Now that is not an unreasonable answer, IMO. However, my grandfather took offence at the idea that evil should work good. So, he protested the sermon by just pressing his hands down on the organ keys over and over at the postlude time!

Some world leaders including the current US President manage to make doing evil appear as something good. That's why evil is needed. It's used as a tool in the quest for power. It satisfies greed and without it the powers that be would be powerless. In recent years the US administration has condoned the murder of thousands in Iraq and tells the world it's doing a good thing. It tells the world this war is good. Those murders are evil but they are justified and presented as something good.

"Good" and "Evil" are judgements placed by each individual person, so what may be good in evil for one person may not be good in evil for the other. So how can there be an absolute answer to "Is there good in evil" if the terms "good" and "evil" are determined by each person?

You must have a negative to have a positive Without evil there is no good as such. If everything was good it would be nothing you need an opposite for the comparison. like happiness and sadness ...

By crossing out all evil, you would only create a new standard for it. But I wouldn't object to this new standard...

"If there wasnt no evil, there wouldnt be no good".

WEALTH!

It creates a balance - Yin and Yang. You can't have one without the other. Where there is light there is darkness. We can appreciate love because of hate. Can we imagine a life of liking everything because there is no dislike or always being happy because there is no sadness? What if we all remained young because we did not grow old.

when you just think about your own good and ignore other's feelings, not bothered whether or not you can step on someone's foot.. that when good is evil..

The evolutionary mechanism of natural selection makes an implicit distinction between "good" or "fit" situations (those which survive in the long term), and "bad" or "unfit" ones (those which are eliminated sooner or later). Therefore, we might equate good or higher values with anything that contributes to survival and the continuation of the process of evolution, and evil with anything that destroys, kills or thwarts the development of fit systems.

The good of evil is that evil IS NOT good!