If there is the devil, why did God create him?

[Hacker]

Satan was just thinking about what was "right" for himself.

Yes "right" for himself, doesn't sound like punishment to me.

 

[Katzpur]

Why didn't God punish HIM for disobeying and rebelling against God by choosing evil, like God supposively(I know you don't believe this)would punish us humans in hell.

Oh, God punished him alright! He was cast out of His presence forever. He and his followers would never, ever have the opportunity to return to God. This is because he made his decision with a perfect knowledge of what he was doing and who his behavior was affecting -- all of mankind's. Remember, we did say that there are a very, very few who will end up being denied the opportunity to return to Heaven? Well, Satan is one of those souls.

 

[Katzpur]

Yes "right" for himself, doesn't sound like punishment to me.

Just out of curiosity, what would sound like punishment to you (for Satan, I mean)?

 

[Comet]

If there is the devil, why did God create him? I am not sure which religions believe in a personal devil but know that Islam and Christianity do. Also the bible says that God creates evil, why would he allow for such wickedness to present in this world if he loves mankind? Why not destroy this devil? Is he not powerful enough to rid the world of this devil on his own?

I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things. (Isaiah 45:7, KJV)

Simple Dualism principle....

I guess I would say, If you want to be the "good guy" you must have a "bad guy" to compare yourself to. Or one must separate the parts of oneself they do not like- so to speak....

 

[Hacker]

Oh, . Remember, we did say that there are a very, very few who will end up being denied the opportunity to return to Heaven? Well, Satan is one of those souls.

I really don't think he cares about having that opportunity since he chose evil in the first place, he had the chance and obviously wouldn't give a hoot!

 

[Hacker]

Just out of curiosity, what would sound like punishment to you (for Satan, I mean)?

To CAST HIM OUT OF HIS GLORY TO ELICIT EVIL OR TEMPT EVIL FOREVER!!! To simply cease to exist.:seesaw:

 

[Real Sorceror]

When people murder, lie, steal they commit an act of evil. So if this satan was the first to commit an evil act, where did this temptation come from? himself? That would imply that God made man and the devil with the propensity to commit evil, wouldn't this mean that he created evil then since he created man and the devil with the tendency to commit evil?

As I said, God made all beings with free-will. Evil is a side affect of free-will. God values choice and freedom, and even though He does not like sin, He can't exactly control our minds to stop us from doing evil things. God did not create evil.The possibility of evil was always there, but nobody chose to act on it until Satan came along. Nobody tempted Satan. He simply came up with the idea himself. I don't know his exact rational, but for whatever reason disobeying God seemed like a good idea at the time.

 

[Real Sorceror]

To CAST HIM OUT OF HIS GLORY TO ELICIT EVIL OR TEMPT EVIL FOREVER!!! To simply cease to exist.:seesaw:

Ah, but heres the rub. What is God, first and foremost: A Creator or a Destroyer?

 

[Hacker]

What?

Okay, now I know what you mean since you told me, but not only is Satan a confusing concept of God's plan, there are many other's but when I ask such questions, my usual answer is that we will never understand God's plan, like poor, abused, disasters, etc. But that's going off topic.:run:

 

[Hacker]

Ah, but heres the rub. What is God, first and foremost: A Creator or a Destroyer?

He can do both...he can do anything. Because essentially if he could create then he could destroy right?

 

[Katzpur]

To CAST HIM OUT OF HIS GLORY TO ELICIT EVIL OR TEMPT EVIL FOREVER!!! To simply cease to exist.:seesaw:

Okay, you lost me. Are you saying that the worse punishment God could possibly have inflicted upon Satan would have been for Him to cause Satan to cease to exist? How is that punishment? Doesn't there need to be awareness in order for punishment to be effective?

 

[Hacker]

Okay, you lost me. Are you saying that the worse punishment God could possibly have inflicted upon Satan would have been for Him to cause Satan to cease to exist? How is that punishment? Doesn't there need to be awareness in order for punishment to be effective?

Excellent question, but in this case, he needs to be taken away the opportunity to do what pleases him, which is to do evil...then I think it would show him a thing or two.:banghead3 I don't know how God would do that, but I personally think that casting him out of existance would be a good idea, OR, take away what ever power he has to destruct, obviously it's some kind of power right? What kind of power is it, supernatural, what?

 

[Real Sorceror]

He can do both...he can do anything. Because essentially if he could create then he could destroy right?

He could. But I believe God has a concsience. He has morals.
Its not a matter of could He do it. Its a matter of is it right or wrong to utterly destroy His creation.

 

[Katzpur]

Excellent question, but in this case, he needs to be taken away the opportunity to do what pleases him, which is to do evil...then I think it would show him a thing or two.:banghead3 I don't know how God would do that, but I personally think that casting him out of existance would be a good idea, OR, take away what ever power he has to destruct, obviously it's some kind of power right? What kind of power is it, supernatural, what?

According to my belief, and to the best of my understanding, there will come a time when God will bring Satan's power to a screeching halt. His influence over human beings will be cut off completely and he will spend eternity in profound misery. While I will agree with you that, for now at least, Satan has no desire whatsoever to be with God, I see him as eventually recognizing that he has cast his eternal destiny in concrete and that it's not going to be a pleasant one.

 

[Hacker]

According to my belief, and to the best of my understanding, there will come a time when God will bring Satan's power to a screeching halt. His influence over human beings will be cut off completely and he will spend eternity in profound misery. While I will agree with you that, for now at least, Satan has no desire whatsoever to be with God, I see him as eventually recognizing that he has cast his eternal destiny in concrete and that it's not going to be a pleasant one.

Hopefully soon!

 

[joecrawford815]

God did NOT create Satan, he created Lucifer, his angel of worship. in heaven Lucifer was in essence God's right hand man. the POWER got to his head and he decided to become more powerful than God. HE (Lucifer) took 1/3 of the heavenly host (angels) with him when he left heaven. Lucifer made himself into the devil, or satan if you like.

God allowed Satan domain on earth, but he is coming again to take it back, read revelation, it tells of the hell satan will endure.

 

[Hacker]

He could. But I believe God has a concsience. He has morals.
Its not a matter of could He do it. Its a matter of is it right or wrong to utterly destroy His creation.

Why would he want to destroy humans if he supposively loves us in hellfire for eternity? If you don't believe this then why even believe in Satan?

 

[Hacker]

God did NOT create Satan, he created Lucifer, his angel of worship. in heaven Lucifer was in essence God's right hand man. the POWER got to his head and he decided to become more powerful than God. HE (Lucifer) took 1/3 of the heavenly host (angels) with him when he left heaven. Lucifer made himself into the devil, or satan if you like.

God allowed Satan domain on earth, but he is coming again to take it back, read revelation, it tells of the hell satan will endure.

Why is it taking so long, LOL.

 

[Real Sorceror]

According to my belief, and to the best of my understanding, there will come a time when God will bring Satan's power to a screeching halt. His influence over human beings will be cut off completely and he will spend eternity in profound misery. While I will agree with you that, for now at least, Satan has no desire whatsoever to be with God, I see him as eventually recognizing that he has cast his eternal destiny in concrete and that it's not going to be a pleasant one.

You don't think he'll ever reconsider and seek forgiveness? Eternity is a long time. Lots of things could happen between now and the end of forever.

 

[lilithu]

I think that when we make choices contrary to God's will, we are choosing to be evil (at least in those particular actions). The difference, I think, is that Lucifer was in God's presence at the time. It would take someone pretty determined to thwart God's plan to knowingly do just that.

Actually, I knew we would go down this path and still I initiated it. <sigh> You're simply defining evil as anything contrary to God's will. I don't accept that definition. It's a tautology. But I see no way around this impass so let's just drop it.

For the reason I tried to explain (but apparently didn't do too good of a job at). I don't think we would have any concept of what good even was if we did not have something with which to compare it. For instance, if you had never been sick a day in your life, how aware and appreciative of your good health do you really think you'd be? If you had never been unhappy a day in your life, would you really recognize the things that bring you joy.

I unerstand that if we never experienced suffering then we would not know the joy of being free from suffering. That does not explain why suffering exists. What you're suggesting is that God allows suffering to exist so that we will know the joy of being free from suffering. Why? Why is it such a big deal that we would know this?

No kidding? Well guess what? In a way, we do. We definitely don't view them the way most Christians do.

One of the rings that I wear is of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, complete with snake and apple. And that is basically why I wear it, because I see the fall as a good thing. Well, both a good and bad thing.