God, Free Will, and Evil

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Satan receives permission from God everytime he does anything.
Satan did not get God’s permission to rebel.
I think he was referring to Job. I would not use Job as a source for what heaven is like or God’s relationship with Satan is like. It wasn’t written to instruct on that matter.
Actually he was not referring to Job. He explicitly named Satan.
mikekle was obviously referring to the Book of Job, in which Satan repeatedly asks and obtains permission from God to trouble Job in many ways. And it is an apt demonstration of God’s permissive will vs. His active will: nothing would happen in this world if God did not allow it.
 
mikekle was obviously referring to the Book of Job, in which Satan repeatedly asks and obtains permission from God to trouble Job in many ways. And it is an apt demonstration of God’s permissive will vs. His active will: nothing would happen in this world if God did not allow it.
Where in the book of Job does Satan receive permission for his own rebellion?
 
The evil one asking permission from God to test the Church supposedly happened prior to or during the First World War. Fatima miracles then occured in 1917.

“The True Story of Fatima” is my source for this information and can be found at the below web address.

fatimacrusader.com/truestory/truestorytoc.asp
 
The evil one asking permission from God to test the Church supposedly happened prior to or during the First World War. Fatima miracles then occured in 1917.

“The True Story of Fatima” is my source for this information and can be found at the below web address.

fatimacrusader.com/truestory/truestorytoc.asp
I am not speaking of today.

In post #12 it was stated “…Its also interesting that many say God does not actually create evil, but he does allow it, everytime he ALLOWS satan to do one thing or another, a good analogy for us would be, lets say a husband kills his wife, he is definitely guilty of murder…another husband has some other person come up to him, asking permission to kill his wife, now, if the man agreed and allowed this person to kill her, he is JUST AS guilty as the killer, the only difference is who is doing the act, but knowingly allowing evil to commence is just as bad as pulling the trigger…”

My response was “Which sinner’s receive permission from God to sin?
Your analogy is horribly inept.”

The point being that no sinner, including Satan gets God’s agreement to sin. The analogy above does not even begin to come close describing how God’s permissive will operates.
 
Where in the book of Job does Satan receive permission for his own rebellion?
NOTHING happens ANYWHERE unless God allows it with His permissive will.

Perhaps the permission was not explicitly asked, but it was granted all the same.
 
NOTHING happens ANYWHERE unless God allows it with His permissive will.

Perhaps the permission was not explicitly asked, but it was granted all the same.
I agree. However the analogy provided used an explicit request and approval. So it is not applicable. A straw man in other words.
 
The evil one asking permission from God to test the Church supposedly happened prior to or during the First World War. Fatima miracles then occured in 1917.

“The True Story of Fatima” is my source for this information and can be found at the below web address.

fatimacrusader.com/truestory/truestorytoc.asp
Satan asked permission to test the Church and it was granted, long before WWI.

#30

specifically, look at Lk 22:31 within that link. Jesus said, Satan asked to sift THEM (the apostles) like wheat. Obviously it was permitted, or Jesus wouldn’t need to pray for Peter specifically.
 
Satan asked permission to test the Church and it was granted, long before WWI.

#30

specifically, look at Lk 22:31 within that link. Jesus said, Satan asked to sift THEM (the apostles) like wheat. Obviously it was permitted, or Jesus wouldn’t need to pray for Peter specifically.
That is the evil one’s role. And, I have word that there are a lot of demons these days. So get ready. Thanks for the Bible reference.
 
That is the evil one’s role.
Yep, Satan is doing exactly what God created him for.

Satan is the ‘alternative’ to God, he is the other choice, so that there may be a choice at all, of course, this allows free will, so one could say, without Satan, there would be no ‘other choice’ besides God…he is doing the job he was created for.
 
Yep, Satan is doing exactly what God created him for.
Really? How do you know?
Satan is the ‘alternative’ to God, he is the other choice, so that there may be a choice at all, of course, this allows free will, so one could say, without Satan, there would be no ‘other choice’ besides God…he is doing the job he was created for.
Satan is not the only source of evil. Humans contribute to it as well.
 
Yep, Satan is doing exactly what God created him for.

Satan is the ‘alternative’ to God, he is the other choice, so that there may be a choice at all, of course, this allows free will, so one could say, without Satan, there would be no ‘other choice’ besides God…he is doing the job he was created for.
Satan was created good, and made a choice. The same way as Adam. You would not say that man is “doing the job he was created for” when man does evil, would you?

Christianity is not a religion of dualism. If you want that, take up Zoroastrianism.
 
Satan was created good, and made a choice. The same way as Adam. You would not say that man is “doing the job he was created for” when man does evil, would you?

Christianity is not a religion of dualism. If you want that, take up Zoroastrianism.
Man does evil because he allows himself to be tempted by the enemy, satan is the one constantly whispering in your ear, its ok to steal, to kill, to cheat, etc.

Without a being like satan and the demons constantly influencing mankind, you have to wonder how much evil would be taking place?

Without an alternative to God, there would be no free will, no ‘other’ choice.
 
Satan asked permission to test the Church and it was granted, long before WWI.

#30

specifically, look at Lk 22:31 within that link. Jesus said, Satan asked to sift THEM (the apostles) like wheat. Obviously it was permitted, or Jesus wouldn’t need to pray for Peter specifically.
This is a great link and an excellent defense of the Papacy.
 
Man does evil because he allows himself to be tempted by the enemy, satan is the one constantly whispering in your ear, its ok to steal, to kill, to cheat, etc.

Without a being like satan and the demons constantly influencing mankind, you have to wonder how much evil would be taking place?

Without an alternative to God, there would be no free will, no ‘other’ choice.
Satan chose evil, but I wouldn’t say he is the source of evil. He tempts, but evil does not owe its existence to him. We always have a choice to either obey or disobey God. We would have this choice without Satan. Satan just makes it much harder because he’s always looking for ways to undermine God.
 
NOTHING happens ANYWHERE unless God allows it with His permissive will.

Perhaps the permission was not explicitly asked, but it was granted all the same.
When God created men and angels as persons with free will He recognized and accepted not only the proper, moral exercise of that freedom but also the wrongful, immoral exercise of that power of choice. The fact that God created them knowing what wrongful choices would be made could be taken as a sort of “permission,” I suppose, but I prefer to think of it as a measure of how great His love for his creatures, for His whole creation. truly is.
 
Man does evil because he allows himself to be tempted by the enemy, satan is the one constantly whispering in your ear, its ok to steal, to kill, to cheat, etc.

Without a being like satan and the demons constantly influencing mankind, you have to wonder how much evil would be taking place?
Actually there are two other sources of temptation apart from the devil, so I suspect there would still be a considerable amount of sin among humans without the diabolical whispering you mentioned.

“Temptation: In Christian usage, any incitement to sin arising from the world (the actions or inducements of others), the flesh (our own weaknesses and desires), and the devil (suggestions by the fallen angels).”
  • Rev. Peter M.J. Stravinskas, Catholic Dictionary (Our Sunday Visitor, Inc.: Huntington, Indiana, 2002), 723.
Without an alternative to God, there would be no free will, no ‘other’ choice.
The choice at hand is whether or not to obey God. Therefore, the devil is not needed in order for humans to have a choice other than God (if that is what you’re saying). Humans could have fallen from grace even if none of the angels did.
 
For those who are interested, I recommend Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen’s God’s World and Our Place in It (originally titled The Moral Universe: A Preface to Christian Living). In my opinion, this book contains one of the best explanations of Catholic teachings regarding what is commonly referred to as the “problem of evil.”
 
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