A question on logic and two God issues...?

Question

Okay, for the following linked question, many gave an explanation for snowflakes that goes like this:

God created nature/laws of nature/science,
Nature creates snowflakes.
Therefore, God created snowflakes.
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=An5yC3Im4UNhJ0Lbm00rAnQezKIX?qid=20060821075058AAUP1Re&r=w&pa=FZptHWf.BGRX3OFMhDJUV6QUFuhYePBfmf8TJLDqXHF2qCHQOw--&cp=1&tp=2#all-answers

What I'm wondering about is free-will and who creates evil. My explanation:
God creates free-will.
Free-will creates evil deeds and suffering.
Therefore, God creates evil deeds and suffering.

How does this logic work in the former, but not the latter?

Another example:
God created Lucifer.
Lucifer became Satan.
Therefore, God created Satan.

Answer 1

Another thing too is if God Knows everything before its gonna happen then he knew Satan would become who he is...Thus God Created evil himself...but you have to look at it from this point of view...God would be nothing without the Devil...And the Devil would be nothing without God...They need each other. God needs A polar opposite in order to give people "free will" To me this just means that Either there is no God...or God isn't as good as people think he is. To me the message is messed up, logic tells us that
God Created Faulty Humans...then punishes them for his own mistakes...think about that really hard.

Answer 2

God seemed to create everything in pairs. So where there's 1, there's also -1. Everything has an equal opposite to keep everything in balance (from what I can see).
Basically, God created evil deeds but also created good deeds. God made the law of what's evil and what's good therefore he created both sets of deeds. God also created suffering but that's only relative to the happiness to that we can feel. If there was no joy there would be no pain. If something so great can make you so sad then life can't be all that bad.
Also, God did create "lucifer" or whatever you call him with the intention of him becoming Satan. God has a plan for everything and God has given Satan the power to try and influence the people whose moral is weak. Satan wouldn't be able to do anything if God hadn't intended for him to be able to create evil among humans.

Answer 3

You mistake direct creation with cause and effect.

Certainly, God created all things, but God doesn't act to cause every single event to occur.

That is a cause and effect realtionship, which each of us has the limited ability to create for ourselves.

For example, evil is the absence of good.

Did God create this absence, or did it occur because of someone's series of poor, but free choices?

Inanimate objects like snowflakes do not have free will and cannot change their behavior.

Living beings endowed with a personal intellect and free will are capable of making independent decisions and of spontaneously changing their behavior.

God's responsibility for the consequences of these free choices is governed by the extent of his laws.

Outside his laws, you're on your own. Within his laws, you're under God's protection.

So yes, God created Lucifer, but he didn't create the evil that eventually became Satan. That was purely Satan's idea ... not God's.

Answer 4

Your step from G-d --> free will --> evil is misleading, since G-d doesn't cause anyone to choose evil. However, it would be correct to say that He creates the option for evil, the possibility of evil.

Isaiah 45:7
"I form the light, and create darkness; I make peace, and create ***evil***; I am the L-RD, that doeth all these things."

Also, I'm jewish. We don't believe that satan is an evil, fallen angel. we think he's an angel just like anyone else. Ironically, the idea of a "devils advocate" really sums up well what we see as the role of satan. (lucifer?)

of course, this discussion is more complex, but I think most people here (myself included) like short answers.

cheerio

Answer 5

God ALLOWS. In this mind-set, God may have created Lucifer, but that's because he allowed Lucifer to have "free-will" also.
Lucifer had a choice, just as we humans do.
God doesn't create evil, because there is not one grain of evil in God. God is all good, mighty, loving and perfect. There could be no wrong or evil in him.
He allows us to chose between the life of suffering (with Satan) or the life of the LIVING (with God himself.)
Remember, that God wanted us to love him because we found him, so that we may try to be like Jesus and that's how we eventually are saved.
Also, God is all-knowing. He is in control of nature, though we have modified it, by slowly destroying it. As far as the snowflakes, he designed this world that we live in, therefore he made all things in the beginning and snowflakes are just a product of the science of this earth. Science isn't wrong, because God also made science. By making this world the way he made it, he gave us explanations of why things happen the way they do, with his design as the begninning. The only issue w/science, is that it is constantly trying to rule out God's existense.
There are no 2 Gods. Only one, per Christianity.

Answer 6

Your logic is faulty. In the laws of nature example, God created a system of operation...cold, combined with moisture will lead to snowflakes (simplified version, give me a break). Cold nor moisture are living beings in anyway. These are physical activities that happen.

God did create Lucifer. Lucifer, however, chose to turn against God and become evil and, in a sense, changed his name and being into Satan.

As for other example, God creates a being and imbues this being with free will. The choice of how free will is used is up to the being, not God.

Answer 7

This is one of the big Christian paradoxes that they can't really explain away. I'm sure many will tell you that evil wasn't made by God; that it is defined by the absence of God (like cold is the absence of heat). But misery, suffering, selfishness capriciousness, and just plain cruel impulses EXIST.

Satan and evil were definately created by God. They had to be because God's whole premise is "free will." But what's free will without a choice? And what's a choice without an alternative to choose from? If Satan hadn't sinned, then someone else would have. God made all ideas, which included the idea of thesis and antithesis. Good and Evil were designed, defined, and created by God.

That is, if you believe in all that crap.

Answer 8

Well, it mostly doesn't work because you logic is flawed. Free-will doesn't create evil, humans do. God/dess created humans, and gave them free will rather than dictating all their actions. So humans created evil. God/dess just has to let us go our own way because we have free will.

As for Satan. Lucifer and Satan are not the same being for starters. Lucifer was an Angel, Satan is a middle eastern demon. Shaitan is another spelling. We have just come to associate a lot of names with Lucifer. However, Lucifer listened to the voices at the edge of creation and was tempted by what they said. Lucifer CHOSE to defy God and was cast out. Sounds like Lucifer had free will.

Answer 9

God created free will but the intention was not for evil. God did not creat Satan. Satan wanted to be God.

Answer 10

By your own logic you conclude that God created evil. By that same logic then if you have a child who grows up and commits murder you are responsible because you are his mother (you created your child).

Free-will is a gift. It allows us to choose our path. Lucifer was given free-will and he chose the path to utter destruction. By the same logic it is reasonable to accept the law of opposition. You can not have good without evil. You can not have evil without good. Free-will creates the difference, free-will is created by God and is then given to all to choose their own destinies.

God does not make anyone do good or bad. He creates us all and gives us that choice to make.