Why did God create Satan

[Sean.McKenzie]

why did God create satan knowing he would go to hell? if God wanted the best thingfor satan, it would have been better that he had not been created?just like it wouild have been better that judas had not been born after betraying God

Mark 14: 21

 

[M.I.Knight]

I do not know, but I can recommend a website. Just go to Google and type in William Lane Craig. Go to his virtual office an browse around to see his answers to the problem of Evil. I think William Lane Craig might have answered that question about God creating Satan.

I hope you find an answer,
God Blesss You and bye

 

[romano]

Sean.McKenzie:

why did God create satan knowing he would go to hell? if God wanted the best thingfor satan, it would have been better that he had not been created?just like it wouild have been better that judas had not been born after betraying God

Good question. Without free will we would just be robots. This would not be the best for Satan or anyone else. Having been given free will by God we can choose to be either good angels (or saints) or devils. Satan chose the latter, though I don’t know when. Perhaps he enjoyed angelic existence a long time before finally turning bad.

 

[M.I.Knight]

Is it better to not have been created or, to be existing in Hell and suiffering torment for eternity. So, basically, is it better to be created, given these terms, or to not be created?

 

[edwinG]

romano:

Good question. Without free will we would just be robots. This would not be the best for Satan or anyone else. Having been given free will by God we can choose to be either good angels (or saints) or devils. Satan chose the latter, though I don’t know when. Perhaps he enjoyed angelic existence a long time before finally turning bad.

Hi romano, I hope you dont mind my piggybacking on your post.

Satan was not createad to sin and destined to the Lake of Fire
because our futures are not locked in as we sometimes think they are.Nothing is inevitable. Satan was created in Love just as you and I are. God has made elabourate plans for our salvation and done all the work. Belief and obedience, not working our hearts out, is all that is required. IT couldnt be easier if we subjected our will instead of fighting against His as He tries to save us. That God knows does not take away from our free will. Compare yourself and a friend who you know well. Now if he/she were confronted with a choice between say eating a mango or an apple she has free will but I bet you know which one she will choose eventhough you did not put the choice in front of her/him 1 Samuel 23:10 is a good example of this. It involves David and Saul.
Its a good question Sean. I have thought about it as well. Yes we all have free will, and that obviously includes the angels, who at the moment are above us. Satan obviously exercised his in opposition, but as usual what one would try to do as an evil,(own will) God in His wisdom turns it to good. Note that in the Garden there was a tree of life and a tree of knowledge. Now Adam through the influence of Eve wanted knowledge. He already had eternal life. Before he gained knowledge he did not know he was naked. On gaining knowledge he became aware of His nakedness. Are we aware of our nakedness? We surely are. So the end result will be, the seed of God will have both, eternal life and knowledge.The first ( eternal life) will be last as knowledge will be first in Christians and then eternal life. Adam’s desire will be answered, as God always answers in abundance.
There is a blurred line between free will and intervention, but I doubt intervention happens unless God is answering a prayer. Our confusion comes because we dont know who is praying for us and when.So we feel intervention has happened without cause. Surely many people here pray for people who dont realise they are the receipients of prayer.One does not have to be a Christian to ask God, but I think one has to be a Christian to be blessed by God.
walk in love
edwinG

 

[Fox]

See angels are created good as are humans, we both have free will. The thing that is different is that if an angel turns its face from God its permanent with no salvation, not like us humans. There isn’t any multiple chances for angels. Satan, along with a lot of angels, chose to defy God and got their punishment.

 

[st_felicity]

M.I. Knight:

Is it better to not have been created or, to be existing in Hell and suiffering torment for eternity. So, basically, is it better to be created, given these terms, or to not be created?

This IS the crux of the question. I heard Fr. Trigilio on Web of Faith (I think) address this question once. I believe his answer was along the lines that it is better to have been created that to have never existed.

I’ve thought about it and I figure it is better because creation is an act of love–it is a gift–and either we can cherish that gift, or we can destroy it. But ultimately, it is a gift and there are no “strings” attached. God loves all His creations, and if He decided not to create us based on the choice we would make–it would not truly be a gift. When you give something away–you give up the control of that thing. God gave us the gift of existence and that in itself is good and an act of love–therefore better than no gift at all–regardless of what WE choose to do with it.

 

[Philthy]

Hi all-

Before everyone continues merrily on the road of “free will” would you please go back to the original post? The question to be answered, and for which free will is irrelevent, is Why did God create Satan when God knew beforehand that Satan would be going to hell?
As EdwinG said, I too have pondered this. Whenever I am confronted with actions of God that seem confusing I usually try to stick to some basics and then reassess the situation within the realm of those basic considerations. So here goes: Why did God create Satan knowing he would go to hell? One solid answer is that God is glorified by this event - somehow. I won’t pretend to have THE answer as to why He is glorified, but perhaps having a knowledge of who Satan is allows us to more fully understand how great God is. This is along the Dualism approach. For example, who enjoys those first gorgeous days of spring more - the person who has knowledge/experience of winter or someone on a tropical island? I vote for the former.
A second approach to the question of why an apparantly inherent evil is allowed to exist is that more good than evil may come from it. I believe our original poster might give this specific issue some more thought. If we attempt to look at the situation solely as God and Satan and ignore the rest of creation, then we’re ignoring a lot. Again, knowledge of Satan’s demise may propell many others towards God. Again, I don’t pretend to be satisfied fully with such considerations, but I post these because they are useful avenues for directing thought on puzzling issues that we probably were never meant to fully comprehend.

Phil

 

[AlanFromWichita]

Maybe God created Satan because it’s no challenge to play chess without an adversary.

Alan

 

[M.I.Knight]

I think the answer is that God loved Satan so much that he created him knowing fully well that he would burn in hell. I find it difficult to explain how this is love. Although I believe this is still love!

 

[Steve_Andersen]

Philthy:

Hi all-

Before everyone continues merrily on the road of “free will” would you please go back to the original post? The question to be answered, and for which free will is irrelevent, is Why did God create Satan when God knew beforehand that Satan would be going to hell? …

But that’s just it, free will isn’t irrelevant

God didn’t create Satan
He created the Morning Star the greatest of the angels who in turn decided to become Satan

 

[Philthy]

Hi Steve!
Steve Andersen:

But that’s just it, free will isn’t irrelevant

How is it relevant what Satan did LATER, when God knew BEFOREHAND what Satan would do? How did it affect God’s decision in creating Satan? God created “Morning Star” knowing full well that he would become Satan(even though Satan didn’t know it or will it yet) - Why? That is the question we are trying to answer. Are you proposing that Satan’s free will manifest itself in God’s knowledge prior to Satans creation (and therefore had an impact, per se, on God’s decision)? I don’t think so, and I don’t think you’re proposing that either.

God didn’t create Satan
He created the Morning Star the greatest of the angels who in turn decided to become Satan

Yes, but he did He not know, when he created Morning Star, that Morning Star would become Satan? That is, prior to Morning Star choosing to become Satan? Part of God’s attribute of omniscience is that his knowledge transcends time and is therefore not limited by it: he doesn’t have to wait until time passes to aquire knowledge like we do. He now knows, has always known and will continue to know everything that was, is and will ever be, for all eternity.

Phil

 

[AlanFromWichita]

Philthy:

Are you proposing that Satan’s free will manifest itself in God’s knowledge prior to Satans creation (and therefore had an impact, per se, on God’s decision)?

That is an interesting idea.

Christ is at the right hand of God. Nobody ever talks about who is at His left hand.

Alan

 

[jimmy]

Sean.McKenzie:

why did God create satan knowing he would go to hell? if God wanted the best thingfor satan, it would have been better that he had not been created?just like it wouild have been better that judas had not been born after betraying God

God creates us with love and with free will. He gives us free will to choose what ever we desire. To not create someone due to there future decisions would be to deny them there free will.

 

[jimmy]

Philthy, it has everything to do with free will. If God would have decided to not create him because he would not choose to follow God then that would be denying the gift he had given all created beings.

Have you ever seen the movie “Minority Report”? It is about a future society where the government can predict ahead of time that someone is going to commit a crime, so they go and they arrest the person beforehand.

The idea of the movie is that they are arresting the people for doing nothing. Tom Cruise is the star of the movie and he is one of the big guys in the government who is arresting the people. He sees that he is going to commit a murder in the future, but he has no idea why so he goes on the run and they chase him.

 

[Darrel]

This reminds me of the Judas question that comes up from time to time. The Devil made his choice, Adam and Eve made there choices. Judas made his choice, now we make ours.

-D

 

[Mordocai]

Here’s my take:
The Garden Of Eden was created by God to give glory to His name and His creations. They rejected that glory because they wanted what they thought was better, knowledge of good and evil. The tree of knowledge was God’s way of demonstrating that every creature has dependence on the creator. Think about that.
Prior to this, God created the most glorious of all Angels, Lucifer. God dignified His creation so much that He allowed him to choose or not choose love. Just because God knew his choice doesn’t mean God should prevent the choice, otherwise that denegrates the dignity of His creation, which in turn denegrates God. Meditate on that.
In the meantime, consider the fact that God, in order to reverse the effects of sin, sent His Son to redeem for every act of free will against love. God offers ways out to those created in His image. But I pose this question!
Was Lucifer created in God’s image? Either way, if Satan went before the throne and begged forgiveness, could he be redeemed?
Excellent topic.

 

[oriel36]

jimmy:

God creates us with love and with free will. He gives us free will to choose what ever we desire. To not create someone due to there future decisions would be to deny them there free will.

The Jews got themselves into a terrible state every time Jesus talked of the Divine Will as opposed to his own will.

bible.gospelcom.net/passage/?search=John%207-8&version=31;&version=31;

Christian conversion has always insisted on a newly opened connection between the Divine Will and the individual will like a drop of water in the ocean Divine but ’ free will’ left as an unqualified attribute is actually Original sin.

What fell and died in Adam rose and lived in Jesus where the loving flow of the Divine Will meets the astonished individual will. With familiarity it does not destroy the individual will but makes our daily existence as Catholics and Christians more relevent than ever.

Often it is insecurity which posits ‘free will’ as a gift from God but most certainly this is wrong without the connection between the Infinite and the definite or temporal existence encompassed by the Eternal.

 

[st_felicity]

oriel36:

Christian conversion has always insisted on a newly opened connection between the Divine Will and the individual will like a drop of water in the ocean Divine but ’ free will’ left as an unqualified attribute is actually Original sin.

I’m sorry–I’m having difficulty today…are you saying free will–without God’s grace–will always lead to sin, but with God’s grace, we are able to choose Him?

Often it is insecurity which posits ‘free will’ as a gift from God but most certainly this is wrong without the connection between the Infinite and the definite or temporal existence encompassed by the Eternal.

If I am correct about the above–and that is what you mean–doesn’t the “gift” itself contain the elements (infinite and eternal) you are saying are missing from the explanation that considers free will a gift? If the gift is from God–isn’t it infinite and eternal and also graced*** because*** it is of God?

 

[puzzleannie]

Philthy:

Hi all-

Before everyone continues merrily on the road of “free will” would you please go back to the original post? The question to be answered, and for which free will is irrelevent, is Why did God create Satan when God knew beforehand that Satan would be going to hell?
Phil

why did God create Adam and Eve knowing they would sin? or ourselves? or Judas, Hitler, Dahmer etc.? God’s knowledge has no past and future, God is outside time and His omnipresence and omniscience is eternally in the present. Free will is entirely relevant, and you have already received the answer. The angels, like the humans, were created out of pure love, given the chance to abide in that love eternally and some have chosen and will continue to choose rejection of that love. Since God respects this free will choice, that necessitates eternal separation from His presence. Creating beings with only one choice would be a denial of freewill