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

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OK- so what’s Eden a halfway place to Heaven- purgatory of sorts? Because even if Adam and Eve did not sin, their offspring would at some point- so the Fall.

Seltzerboy- thank you, gives me new insight into Judaism and Woody Allen movies 😉
 
In_Training said:
👍 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…?
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As to your last question.
Go to confession and ask God’s forgiveness. God does not separate Himself from you. You separate yourself from Him. He is the Father who waits for your return.
 
meltzerboy said:
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.
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👍
 
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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Well, that is the crux of the matter: who is Satan? More than that, who are the angels? What is the angelic nature? I have no answer to such question, one of my own. I pose but one thing: The existence of a person called the devil, or an angel called Lucifer, has a lot to do with the question: who is man, what is a human person? Those who reject a “personal” god, or a personal devil, are persons who reject the idea of a human person, which is to say, reject their own selves. They look in a mirror and see nothing.
 
meltzerboy said:
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.
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Yes, this is in harmony with Catholic theology. What is not is the earlier comment about Satan not being fallen and cast out, if this is indeed what Judaism holds. If He is not a fallen angel and takes his orders from God then God is ordering evil.
 
Holly3278 said:
Its a problem because God being all good cannot possibly be the author of evil. An infinitely good being such as God cannot be the author of evil.
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Goodness is an infinite perfection of God, like love, life, truth, justice and others. It is impossible for God to deceive or be deceived. God is truth. God is goodness. He can not do what is evil.

The problem of evil has never been solved. Theologians attempt to solve it by talking about free will, but the answer is not there.

There are things that are beyond the capability of the finite human intellect to comprehend. They are called mysteries.

Jesus said to His apostles, there is much I would like to tell you, but you can not bear it yet. There are things we can understand through divine revelation and things finite minds are incapable of grasping. Our understanding is limited by our nature.

The question raised by the original poster of this thread is one of them. When we do not know it is best to say we do not know rather than take a wild guess.
 
This makes a lot of sense to me- thanks!
po18guy’s

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.
 
Even though Satan is in Hell he still holds sway over this world. He even came and tempted Jesus while he was in the desert.

Satan is eternally seperated from the Grace of God. He uses his influence on this earth to ensure that He is not alone in his suffering.

Just as we are given the choice to Love or Reject God, Adam and Eve were also given this choice.
 
:ouch: A good answer from my wonderful grandmother - “Grandma, what did God do
before He created everything? I’m gonna ask Him when I get to Heaven”. “Well”, said my grandma to me, “you might not like the answer, you could be told its none of your business!” 😉 I think that stops me from trying to overstep my God given knowledge - if Our Lord wants me to know something, I pray He will allow me to hear Him. I believe what I learned is correct - the Archangel Michael cast into Hell Satan and all evil spirits - so that must be his lair.
 
grotto said:
:ouch: A good answer from my wonderful grandmother - “Grandma, what did God do
before He created everything? I’m gonna ask Him when I get to Heaven”. “Well”, said my grandma to me, “you might not like the answer, you could be told its none of your business!” 😉 I think that stops me from trying to overstep my God given knowledge - if Our Lord wants me to know something, I pray He will allow me to hear Him. I believe what I learned is correct - the Archangel Michael cast into Hell Satan and all evil spirits - so that must be his lair.
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Ah yes, the wisdom of grandmothers.
 
grotto said:
:ouch: A good answer from my wonderful grandmother - “Grandma, what did God do
before He created everything? I’m gonna ask Him when I get to Heaven”. “Well”, said my grandma to me, “you might not like the answer, you could be told its none of your business!” 😉 I think that stops me from trying to overstep my God given knowledge - if Our Lord wants me to know something, I pray He will allow me to hear Him. I believe what I learned is correct - the Archangel Michael cast into Hell Satan and all evil spirits - so that must be his lair.
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I think your Grandma is right about this one. Along those same lines, wasn’t the tree called the ‘tree of knowledge’ ? So they went against God’s command but was their sin also a quest for forbidden knowledge?
 
Some ideas:

Adam and Eve ‘let the Devil in’ when they thought about rebelling. That gave him a foothold.

God made man in His image and in His likeness. That includes Free Will. Free Will involves choice. Eve chose not to obey the one injunction that God gave: just one. I think God was quite fair, even kind.

We can do anything we have the means to, just like God. It’s not God’s fault that we chose evil. Evil is choosing to satisfy your desires over the expressed Will of God. The expressed Will of God is that we love Him above all and that we love other men, from which follows all the other Laws.

God only seems harsh when we look at things from our selfish, narrow perspective rather than His.
 
Hi, BonvivantHermit,

Let me begin by saying this is a mystery that we will never fully understand. So, let me offer a partial answer - and, it probably has a few holes in it… 😃

From all eternity God knew what He was going to do. The Devil is really part of God’s plan and God allowed the Devil to tempt Adam and Eve. God gave our first parents free will and they were allowed to make a choice - obey or disobey.

But, the issue of why the Devil was not down in the firey pit, chained to the wall is a good one - and here is where the guess work lies. Sin entered the world by man giving in to the Devil - and this was the test (with the outcome known) that would then allow God to send His Son to purchase our redemption. The Devil really had an impotant role to play in proving God’s justice and mercy - and I am quite convinced that such a realization must have really annoyed the Devil! 👍 This is so true, that the Church calls this a ‘happy fault to merit such a redeemer’ at the Easter Vigil Mass.

Here is a link on the Church’s teaching:scborromeo.org/ccc/p1s2c1p7.htm It was God’s Plan for us - because where sin has abounded, grace has abounded more!

Hope this helps.

God bless
bonvivantHermit said:
I have asked apologist- no answer. I would greatly appreciate any insight.
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Hi, Bonvivant

First and foremost the question you ask has no proveable answer - it is ultimately a mystery.

The entire Plan of Salvation involves many aspects - and man’s free will is an integral part. Satan reely chose to disobey yet this was part of God’s Plan - that Satan would be the instrument God chose in the test given to our First Parents. My understanding is that Satan’s realization of his loss of God and eternal damnation is ever-present with so that going from one area to another is not like going on a holiday.

Ultimately, this is beyond our understanding, but it would be incomplete to leave out that the sin of our First Parents brought on the loving response of God to send His Son as our Redeemer. Here is an interesting quote:
bonvivantHermit said:
I have asked apologist- no answer. I would greatly appreciate any insight.
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