Why was Satan allowed in Eden and not damned directly to Hell?

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bonvivantHermit

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I have asked apologist- no answer. I would greatly appreciate any insight.
 
Well, wherever there is free will, there the devil will be. But that is PART of free will.
 
Thanks, but the existence of free will does not explain why the devil was not sent to Hell directly.
 
this is just my opinion, I am no theologian so keep that in mind when considering what I say. But I would guess that satan, physically, was residing in hell at that time but that because we have free will, he can still tempt us. Scriptures doesn’t specifically mention a physical serpent being there. The serpent that talked eve into eating the apple could very well have been in her mind (just as we all face temptations and hear that little voice). Just a guess though. Satan is no match for God, but infinitely more powerful than any human. Just because he physically resides in hell, we can still see his influence and machinations being wrought in the world even today
 
Big_Feet said:
Well, wherever there is free will, there the devil will be. But that is PART of free will.
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we will still have free will in heaven but there will be no temptations.

this could have been a test for the humans, God does loves to test us. But he would allow satan into the garden to tempt them, and hopefully they wouldn’t give in but they did.

this is a difficult question to answer because well God doesn’t tell us anything about it. So there is probably no real good answer to be able to give it is all just guess work.
 
bonvivantHermit said:
Thanks, but the existence of free will does not explain why the devil was not sent to Hell directly.
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Satan is “in” Hell now. However, we know very well that that doesn’t prevent him or demons from tempting humans here on earth, nor does it prevent him or demons from occasionally going even further with possession, obsession, etc.

Satan’s being in Hell does not somehow negate the possibility of him having been in Eden, a possibility which we know was actually realized as fact.
 
catholictiger said:
we will still have free will in heaven but there will be no temptations.

this could have been a test for the humans, God does loves to test us. But he would allow satan into the garden to tempt them, and hopefully they wouldn’t give in but they did.

this is a difficult question to answer because well God doesn’t tell us anything about it. So there is probably no real good answer to be able to give it is all just guess work.
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God loves to test us, not because He gets some kick out of it though. He does it for our good.

God knew Adam and Eve would sin. He knows everything. He didn’t want them to spiritually die, just like He didn’t want death and evil to enter the world, but He knew it would. And even though He did everything He could to help Adam and Eve not fall, They did. God permitted it. I dont know what the Church teaches in this case, or even if the Church says anything specific at all, but what I do know is, even if we can’t understand in this life, we have to trust Him. and maybe He might even reveal this to us in the life to come.
 
bonvivantHermit said:
I have asked apologist- no answer. I would greatly appreciate any insight.
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Our first parents were sinless. God gave them a commandment and they freely chose to disobey by listening to the tempter. They had quite a fall from sanctifying grace. God in His infinite mercy gave us a Redeemer.

God is perfect wisdom and we do not have to be curious about why He did things the way He did. He created everything out of nothing and desires us to be happy with Him forever.
 
He is known as the prince of this world. See John 12, 14 and 16 for references to him. The earth was and is his domain since the fall. Since earth and life are existing now in a broken state, the evil one retains his influence. But, death has been defeated and the evil one knows that he has already lost.
 
Satan is allowed to roam the earth to tempt men. That is what is shown by the Book of Job (Job 1:6-12). At the end of time, according to the Book of Revelation, satan will be thrown into the lake of fire and sulpher forever (Rev 20:10). Since you simply asked why the Satan was allowed in Eden, I did not speak of the larger question of why God allows us to be tempted. However, temptation has been part of God’s plan since the beginning of creation–even Satan had been tempted and fell.
 
bonvivantHermit said:
Thanks, but the existence of free will does not explain why the devil was not sent to Hell directly.
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Hell is not a physical place, but the eternal separation from God. So, while geographically on earth, Satan was, is, and shall always be separated from God.
 
Neofight said:
Hell is not a physical place, but the eternal separation from God. So, while geographically on earth, Satan was, is, and shall always be separated from God.
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👍 This is what I’ve always thought, even when I was a kid in Catholic school where on warm days the teachers would warn us that “hell” was closer today because the temperature outside was above 80.

I don’t know the whole background of theology on this one, but wasn’t Satan an angel who was pretty high up in the hierarchy, and he and God trusted each other?

If you’re separated from God, but not exactly proud of it, how do you know it won’t become eternal…?
 
bonvivantHermit said:
I have asked apologist- no answer. I would greatly appreciate any insight.
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For Judaism, the answer is quite simple, which is rare for Judaism. Satan is not a fallen angel, but rather an angel who takes his orders from G-d in his role as the accuser and tempter of humans’ free will. Therefore, Satan does not reside in hell since he is not intrinsically evil. I realize this is not at all the Catholic (or the general Christian, or Muslim) perspective.
 
Paul_Infirdigno said:
God loves to test us, not because He gets some kick out of it though. He does it for our good.

God knew Adam and Eve would sin. He knows everything. He didn’t want them to spiritually die, just like He didn’t want death and evil to enter the world, but He knew it would. And even though He did everything He could to help Adam and Eve not fall, They did. God permitted it. I dont know what the Church teaches in this case, or even if the Church says anything specific at all, but what I do know is, even if we can’t understand in this life, we have to trust Him. and maybe He might even reveal this to us in the life to come.
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The problem with your speculation/theory is that if God did everything He could and Adam and Eve still fell, then God is not omnipotent. He was unable to stop the fall. Your theory does not work.
 
meltzerboy said:
For Judaism, the answer is quite simple, which is rare for Judaism. Satan is not a fallen angel, but rather an angel who takes his orders from G-d in his role as the accuser and tempter of humans’ free will. Therefore, Satan does not reside in hell since he is not intrinsically evil. I realize this is not at all the Catholic (or the general Christian, or Muslim) perspective.
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The problem with this theory is that it makes God the author of evil.
 
grandfather said:
The problem with this theory is that it makes God the author of evil.
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According to Judaism, G-d is the author of free will, which if abused by Man, leads to evil. As the servant of G-d, Satan serves as the catalyst for this abuse by tempting Man’s free will, but it is ultimately Man himself who creates evil by abusing his free will, the gift G-d provided for him.
 
My very profound reply was just eaten by the evil Internet…thank you all.

Maybe I will write my reply again…
 
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