Would evil exist without Satan?

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If there were no Satan when the first humans were created would they still have the possibility of sin? Or was Satan required to tempt them into original sin?
 
I don’t think so.

Scripture says death entered the world through the envy of the devil.

Death entered the world through sin which was instigated by the devil.

The fall of the demons happened prior to or early in the creation of the universe - I think it effected the whole cosmos.
 
KevinK said:
If there were no Satan when the first humans were created would they still have the possibility of sin? Or was Satan required to tempt them into original sin?
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Free will allows angels and mankind express malice towards God, and that is evil. God allows free will, and because of it, we have potential for both evil and love. Satan was not the cause of the fall of Adan and Eve, but their own willful actions.
 
But if Satan didn’t tempt them would they have been capable of sin on their own? If so, what is the point creating Satan and having that extra thumb on the scale of human free will all this timie?
 
They would still have had free will, so yes. Would they have? I would speculate yes, although it would might have taken longer… Although you could maybe debate that. Actual sin is the result of giving in to temptation. Would temptation have existed without the devil? The Church teaches that the three sources of temptation are 1. The world, 2. The Flesh, and 3. The Devil. However, the “flesh” is only tempts us because of our fallen nature; I’d argue the world only tempts us because the fallen nature of ourselves and the people around us. Therefore, both these sources of temptation point back to the Devil. But this begs the question… What was the Devil’s source of temptation, which he succumbed to? Of course, we are not of exactly the same nature as pure spirits, although there are some similarities…
 
KevinK said:
But if Satan didn’t tempt them would they have been capable of sin on their own? If so, what is the point creating Satan and having that extra thumb on the scale of human free will all this timie?
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Adam and Eve had a state of sanctifying grace. Satan fell without mention of any temptation from another.
 
Free will necessarily involves the ability to choose wrongly. Thus humanity still could have fallen on its own. It would have been less likely, but not impossible, since if an external tempter were necessary for sin, then Satan himself could not have fallen.
 
KevinK said:
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Vico:
Adam and Eve had a state of sanctifying grace.
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Can you expand on this? I don’t see what this has to do with the topic?
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KevinK said:
…what is the point [of] creating Satan and having that extra thumb on the scale of human free will all this timie?
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Having a state of sanctifying grace is bulwark against sin, that is, it is possible not to fall from this state. Temptation (Satan) is the test, however. One achieves the crown of glory in heaven, like an athlete that is victorious in his challenge receives an award.
 
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Thanks. I know what sanctifying grace is but what has it to do with the question of whether evil would exist without Satan?
 
Hi No,sin came into the world through satan,and Jesus came into the world to save it and destroy the works of satan.

wisdom 1;12-16 Do not invite death by the error of your life,or bring on destruction by the works of your hands;13 because God did not make death,and he does not delight in the death of the living.
14 For he created all things so that they might exist;the generative forces of the world are wholesome,and there is no destructive poison in them,and the dominion of Hades is not on earth.
15 For righteousness is immortal.Life as the Ungodly See It16 But the ungodly by their words and deeds summoned death;considering him a friend, they pined awayand made a covenant with him,
because they are fit to belong to his company.
for God created us for incorruption,
and made us in the image of his own eternity,

Wisdom 2:24 but through the devil’s envy death entered the world,
and those who belong to his company experience it.

1 John 3:8 8 Everyone who commits sin is a child of the devil; for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The Son of God was revealed for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.
 
KevinK said:
Thanks. I know what sanctifying grace is but what has it to do with the question of whether evil would exist without Satan?
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Before you asked: “But if Satan didn’t tempt them would they have been capable of sin on their own?”

Satan fell without mention of any temptation from another and that fall was an evil act. However, temptation of man begins in the form of a question “Why?” It is reasonable that temptation was from Satan, because he is the father of lies, however the evil acts of Adam and Eve are not from temptation but from free will. You can say that moral evil does not really exist but is an action of opposition.
 
Vico said:
Satan fell without mention of any temptation from another and that fall was an evil act. However, temptation of man begins in the form of a question “Why?” It is reasonable that temptation was from Satan, because he is the father of lies, however the evil acts of Adam and Eve are not from temptation but from free will. You can say that moral evil does not really exist but is an action of opposition.
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This makes no sense no matter how many times I read it.
 
KevinK said:
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This makes no sense no matter how many times I read it.
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Mark each sentence that you do not understand please:
  1. Satan fell without mention of any temptation from another and that fall was an evil act.
  2. However, temptation of man begins in the form of a question “Why?”
  3. It is reasonable that temptation was from Satan, because he is the father of lies, however the evil acts of Adam and Eve are not from temptation but from free will.
  4. You can say that moral evil does not really exist but is an action of opposition.
 
#2 and #4. Regarding #3 are you answering “yes” evil would exist without Satan?
 
KevinK said:
#2 and #4. Regarding #3 are you answering “yes” evil would exist without Satan?
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For sentence 4, I am saying that moral evil is an individual act. The first acts of moral evil were of the fallen angels of which Satan is the chief. Ezekiel 28, and Isaiah 14, Revelation 12 have description of Satan and fallen angels but not definitive on the timing of the first act. To intentionally temp is an evil act, so certainly that is occurring prior the Eve choosing.

For sentence 2, Genesis 3:1 includes the form of temptation as a question: “And he said to the woman: Why hath God commanded you” .
 
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