Christians - Why Did God Create Satan?

[DoubleBarrel]

I posted this on a Christian forum, failed to get a solid answer, then the thread was deleted. So I thought I'd ask the Christians here, assuming there are some.

In short, my question is:

Why did God create Satan, knowing full well that Satan would ruin everything for everyone?

I am assuming God is all-powerful, all-knowing and all-loving here. So if you don't agree that he has these attributes, please let me know in your response.

Here's my reasoning...

If God is all-knowing, wouldn't he have known that Satan would rebel and then tempt Eve, ultimately causing the fall?

And if God truly is all-loving, why didn't he simply not create Satan in the first place; thus preventing humanity's fall into sin and making it unnecessary for anyone to suffer in life or go to hell in death?

I'm wondering if someone here has a logical and rational answer to this question. Because, so far, there doesn't appear to be one, giving more evidence supporting the idea that Christianity is a hoax.

 

[Darth]

Angels have free will just like human beings.

Even if God knew man would choose to sin, just as angels chose to sin, He had to let them do it because free will is so important- forced love is no love at all.

This is essentially the question of human suffering- Why is there human suffering even though God is all-good and is powerful enough to put an end to all of it? The answer, again, is free choice. Choice to choose good. Choice to choose evil.

One of the mysteries of faith.

 

[DoubleBarrel]

Darth

So are you saying evil is required for love to exist?

PairPlusRoyalFlush

I am aware not all Christians believe that the serpent in the Garden of Eden was Satan. Maybe I should have specified. This question is aimed at those who believe the serpent and Satan are the same entity.

 

[Darth]

Darth

So are you saying evil is required for love to exist?

Not at all. Simply that God created free will and then evil was borne out of that.

Evil is not a "thing". Evil is a privation of something that should be present but isn't.

Evil presupposes a concept of good, but good does not presuppose a concept of evil.

 

[LiveFreeX]

God did that so he'd have somewhere to send cool people... who the hell wants to go and hangout in heaven with a bunch of politically correct nerdy losers? Can you imagine how feminist heaven must be? Fvck... that would be horrible.

It's better to rule in hell than serve in heaven.

Seriously though, the notion of heaven/hell as human constructs is completely retarded. I don't think we can even begin to understand the process that happens after death. Heaven/Hell/Serpent/Demon whatever are simple terms probably used so that dumb monkeys like us could grasp a small piece of the puzzle.

If Christianity is real then I am also apt to believe in UFOs and ALIENS coming down to tell a bunch of idiots how to live peacefully. How would you explain Quantum Computing to a dog or a monkey?

 

[DoubleBarrel]

Darth

Just so we're on the same wavelength:

Was humanity without sin or evil before Adam and Eve ate the fruit? Meaning, there was no pain and suffering prior to?

LiveFreeX

Even though I probably agree with you. I'm asking only believers what they think.

 

[Darth]

Eating from the tree of knowledge (the only thing they were specifically asked not to do), constituted the first sin. That is why all of their descendants inherit original sin and that's where the sacrament of baptism comes from. Prior to the first sin, Eden was a paradise. And that's what God intends earth to be- a paradise. Every single person was created to be with God, even the worst murderers and sex offenders. It's humans who reject God, don't believe in Him, or simply have an absence of God in their lives

 

[DoubleBarrel]

And humans reject God because of the original sin and if they do they go to hell for eternity, correct?

 

[taiyuu_otoko]

In short, my question is:

Why did God create Satan, knowing full well that Satan would ruin everything for everyone?

I am assuming God is all-powerful, all-knowing and all-loving here. So if you don't agree that he has these attributes, please let me know in your response.

Because God wants to be chosen.

He doesn't simply want to create a world of admirers that have no choice BUT to love Him.

He wants free thinking humans that will CHOOSE to love Him.

And in order to fully CHOOSE HIM, the choice has got to be difficult.

And there has to be plenty of people who actually WILL choose the alternative.

Which means the alternative (Satan) has to be somewhat compelling.

God wants to populate Heaven with free thinking people that struggled with the choice, and used great courage to choose HIM.

He doesn't want to fill Heaven with lazy saps who just showed up because that was the only party in town.

He wants people to WANT to be with HIM. People that RISK to be with HIM.

People that SUFFER to be with Him.

People that truly LOVE Him.

 

[Darth]

No, humans are simply more prone to sin because of their fallen nature. It couldn't be because of original sin because look at the first man, Adam- he still sinned and he had no original sin. People reject God because they make the wrong choice. If you move closer to God over the course of your life, you are moving in the correct direction. If you move further away from God over the course of your life, you are moving in the wrong direction.

 

[DoubleBarrel]

taiyuu_otoko

But doesn't that imply he's not all-loving then? And selfish too? If his primary goal is to simply win a popularity contest instead of doing what's necessary to save all of humanity.

Darth

So you're saying it doesn't take evil to reject God?

 

[Darth]

taiyuu_otoko

But doesn't that imply he's not all-loving then?

Darth

So you're saying it doesn't take evil to reject God?

If evil is defined as the lack of good, and you have with full knowledge and full free will rejected the ultimate, infinite good (also known as God), isn't this an infinitely evil act?

Granted, many people do not know what they are doing when they reject God. Think of Satanists and the like for a clear comparison.

 

[DoubleBarrel]

So is that a yes? It does take the existence of evil to reject God?

 

[Darth]

Yes, knowingly rejecting God (not just a warped preconception of who God is) is evil because God is infinitely good and you have just rejected infinite good.

Gotta go now! Been nice chatting.

 

[DoubleBarrel]

This 6 year sleeper-troll is something else.

Maybe some people enjoy discussing/debating religion. If you don't, why bother viewing the thread?

 

[Fatal Jay]

Some real good answers in this thread especially the first two answers

 

[DoubleBarrel]

I disagree.

There can still be free will without evil. For example, I can choose to walk somewhere or sit down instead, so I'm using my free will, and neither of these actions is evil in themselves.

So saying God allowed evil into the world so that people could have free will is a fallacy.

 

[dasein]

Why did God create Satan?

Keith Richards was unavailable.

 

[TheStig]

Angels have free will just like human beings.

Even if God knew man would choose to sin, just as angels chose to sin, He had to let them do it because free will is so important- forced love is no love at all.

This is essentially the question of human suffering- Why is there human suffering even though God is all-good and is powerful enough to put an end to all of it? The answer, again, is free choice. Choice to choose good. Choice to choose evil.

One of the mysteries of faith.

This.

I disagree.

There can still be free will without evil.

You're right, there can be

For example, I can choose to walk somewhere or sit down instead, so I'm using my free will, and neither of these actions is evil in themselves.

Right again

So saying God allowed evil into the world so that people could have free will is a fallacy.

Nobody is saying this. That is a completely backwards way of thinking about it. Evil is an outcome of free will, not the other way around. If people have the free will to make whatever choices they want, good or bad, then good things and bad things will happen. Here, you are essentially saying that in order for free will to exist, evil must exist.

Replies in bold.





Also, God did not create Satan. He was an angel (Lucifer), wanted to become God, and was cast into hell. Hence, Satan.

 

[Bible_Belt]

Yeah, that's the answer. God created Lucifer the Angel, not Satan.