There are contradictory scripture that say that God *Is* the source of evil,
I already know the scripture that says God creates evil, but it does not say that God created evil people, which was your claim.
Isaiah 45:7 King James Version
I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things.
Can you cite the scripture that says that God is the source of evil people?
I consider the KJV a poor Bible translation. There are other translations that are more accurate. God does not create evil, evil is committed by humans. However I have no doubt that God creates good times and hard times, and we are totally at His mercy.
NIRV I cause light to shine. I also create darkness. I bring good times. I also create hard times. I do all these things. I am the Lord.
AMP The One forming light and creating darkness, Causing peace and creating disaster; I am the Lord who does all these things.
ERV I made the light and the darkness. I bring peace, and I cause trouble. I, the Lord, do all these things.
EHV I am the one who forms light and creates darkness, the one who makes peace and creates disaster. I am the Lord, the one who does all these things.
ESV I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the Lord, who does all these things.
TLB I form the light and make the dark. I send good times and bad. I, Jehovah, am he who does these things.
NASB The One forming light and creating darkness, Causing well-being and creating disaster; I am the Lord who does all these things.
NCB I form the light and create the darkness; prosperity and disaster depend upon my will; I, the Lord, do all these things.
NCV I made the light and the darkness. I bring peace, and I cause troubles. I, the Lord, do all these things.
NIRV I cause light to shine. I also create darkness. I bring good times. I also create hard times. I do all these things. I am the Lord.
NIV I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the Lord, do all these things.
Isaiah 45:7 - Bible Gateway
neither is evidence of anything about reality to the critical thinker except that some people wrote these ideas down and maybe believed them when they did.
Then don't refer to Bible scripture to try to support your arguments.
Sure it would, if there were a god and both traditions were channeling it. Their divergence is what we expect from religions not receiving any messages from gods.
The divergence is exactly what we would expect to see in messages from God that were revealed in different ages to different peoples.
“These principles and laws, these firmly-established and mighty systems, have proceeded from one Source, and are the rays of one Light.
That they differ one from another is to be attributed to the varying requirements of the ages in which they were promulgated.”
If that began happening tomorrow, the religions would converge to a single, common, true religion.
Religion is constantly evolving according to the needs of humans at the time of revelation. If religion was static it would be no more useful than science that was static and never changed to meet the needs of humanity.
“The All-Knowing Physician hath His finger on the pulse of mankind. He perceiveth the disease, and prescribeth, in His unerring wisdom, the remedy.
Every age hath its own problem, and every soul its particular aspiration. The remedy the world needeth in its present-day afflictions can never be the same as that which a subsequent age may require. Be anxiously concerned with the needs of the age ye live in, and center your deliberations on its exigencies and requirements.”
Why would a god need to change its message?
Humans and the world they live in changes over time, so humanity needs a new message that suits the needs of the times they are living in.
Not all, but some claims are not just different, but mutually exclusive. Christians claim that Jesus was a demigod. Islam says he was not, just a prophet, like Muhammad, not the offspring of a god and a human. Christianity says he was the messiah promised in Old Testament scripture. The Muslims (and Jews) say he was not. These are two contradictions in four claims. Both religions can't be correct, so calling them both true religions isn't meaningful to me unless you mean that truly, they are both religions.
The claims or religious leaders and adherents do not represent those religions as they were originally revealed by a messenger.
All the older religions have been corrupted by man over the course of time. That accounts for the 'apparent' contradictions.
“This is the Day when the loved ones of God should keep their eyes directed towards His Manifestation, and fasten them upon whatsoever that Manifestation may be pleased to reveal.
Certain traditions of bygone ages rest on no foundations whatever, while the notions entertained by past generations, and which they have recorded in their books, have, for the most part, been influenced by the desires of a corrupt inclination.” Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 171
So are what you call prophets and messengers. My point is that they all have the same qualifications, and there is no reason to believe one over the other when they claim to speak for gods.
No, they certainly do not all have the same qualifications. It doesn't take a lot of research to realize that.
Nothing. I'm content. There is nothing more I want from life but more of the same for as long as health and circumstances permit.
You might believe you have control of your health and circumstances, but your health and circumstances could turn on a dime.
Of course that is true for everyone., although some people are able to go on being content longer than others.
I never had the illusion of control so I was not knocked off my horse when tragedy struck.
Humans have very little control over what happens in their lives. God holds or fate in His Hands. Maybe part of the way your life went was good planning on your part, but nothing goes on the same way forever in this life. No matter how healthy people are, everyone gets old. Eventually spouses die and leave their loved one behind.