Does God Ordain Evil?

Does God ordain or decree evil?  Most modern American Christians would immediately say no.  But is the view of much of modern evangelicalism actually correct?  We will focus on the crucifixion of Christ to find the answer.  

(Acts 2:23) "this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men." (ESV)

(Acts 4:27-28) "for truly in this city there were gathered together against you holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place." (ESV) 

There has been no greater evil than the crucifixion of Christ.  Yet it was foreknown and foreordained by God, he predestined it to take place.  It was God's sovereign will that the crucifixion of Jesus take place.  Yet at the same time humans were responsible for crucifying Christ.  He was crucified by the hands of lawless men.  Herod, Pilate, Gentiles, and the peoples of Israel were all held responsible.  The miscarriage of justice, the mockery, the beatings, and the crucifixion were all evils that humans were responsible for even though God ordained them to take place.  

It is important to distinguish between the two wills of God.  First there is his sovereign will which cannot be violated or thwarted.  Whatever he decrees will happen.  Second there is his moral will which can be violated.  God's moral will is violated whenever anyone sins or does evil.  

With the crucifixion of Christ we see God's moral will being violated while we see his sovereign will being carried out.  We see Judas Iscariot, Herod, Pilate, Gentiles, and peoples of Israel committing great evil by their own free choice and being held responsible for it.  While at the same time it was all part of God's predetermined plan. 

So God ordains or decrees that evil take place and yet he is not responsible for it. God is not the author of evil, men are responsible for their own evil acts.  We see that the Bible presents the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of humans as being fully compatible.  

So how can God ordain evil and not be responsible for it?  How can God be totally sovereign over everything and humans still make free choices and be held responsible for them?  We cannot fully understand, it belongs to the mysteries of God.  The finite cannot fully grasp the infinite.  God uses human agents to accomplish his plan and purpose.  There is an ultimate purpose for the existence of evil and it brings glory to God. 

(Deuteronomy 29:29) "The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law." (ESV)