SeekingTruth1
New member
- Dec 1, 2009
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This question is open to anyone who wishes to engage in this discussion but there are a few things that are assumed to be true and all answers that ignore these assumptions will be ignored.
Assumption 1: The Bible is strictly true
Assumption 2: The (overall) Christian view of God is correct and He is real
This is not a question of faith, this is a discussion. If you don't believe in God or don't believe the Bible then that's fine but pretend for this question.
Thanks.
So I have been thinking:
God knows everything,
therefore He knows the future,
therefore He would have to know that Satan would be Satan
therefore God introduced evil to the world which seems contrary to what Christianity views God's attributes as.
This means that there are 3 possible outcomes that I can think of.
1. We are wrong about God's attributes.
2. God does not (or chooses not to) know everything.
3. Satan was specifically created the way he was for a specific reason.
Since 1 + 2 breach our basic assumptions of this question then he (Satan) must have specifically created the way he is (evil) by God.
The question then becomes "Why?". Why would God create evil in the world? The answer that comes to my mind is that without the creation of such an entity free will could not have been truly achieved.
My question is thus 3 fold:
1: Are there other reasons (that do not breach the basic assumptions of this question) that Satan would have been created.
2: Under what other circumstances (if any) could free will have been achieved without the creation of Satan?
3: Does free will (including soft determinism) exist (why?)
Thank you for your thoughts and feel free to use scripture and to explain how you came to your conclusions (personal testimonies are probably not going to be very effective and I would encourage you you use more explicit (direct) methods to answer this question).
Thank You
Assumption 1: The Bible is strictly true
Assumption 2: The (overall) Christian view of God is correct and He is real
This is not a question of faith, this is a discussion. If you don't believe in God or don't believe the Bible then that's fine but pretend for this question.
Thanks.
So I have been thinking:
God knows everything,
therefore He knows the future,
therefore He would have to know that Satan would be Satan
therefore God introduced evil to the world which seems contrary to what Christianity views God's attributes as.
This means that there are 3 possible outcomes that I can think of.
1. We are wrong about God's attributes.
2. God does not (or chooses not to) know everything.
3. Satan was specifically created the way he was for a specific reason.
Since 1 + 2 breach our basic assumptions of this question then he (Satan) must have specifically created the way he is (evil) by God.
The question then becomes "Why?". Why would God create evil in the world? The answer that comes to my mind is that without the creation of such an entity free will could not have been truly achieved.
My question is thus 3 fold:
1: Are there other reasons (that do not breach the basic assumptions of this question) that Satan would have been created.
2: Under what other circumstances (if any) could free will have been achieved without the creation of Satan?
3: Does free will (including soft determinism) exist (why?)
Thank you for your thoughts and feel free to use scripture and to explain how you came to your conclusions (personal testimonies are probably not going to be very effective and I would encourage you you use more explicit (direct) methods to answer this question).
Thank You