Christians, why are bad things like deceit always the work of Satan, not God?

Question

Don't all things flow from your all-powerful God? Did he not create Satan, and does Satan's power even to do ANYTHING not flow with God's blessing?

If so, then how are all bad things and tests of faith Satan's fault and not God's? Isn't Satan merely doing what God allows him to do, and can it not be said that since God created Satan and allowed him to have the power he has, that Satan is doing what God desires that Satan do?

Or is it that Satan is actually just as powerful as God, and God has no control over Satan?

Which is it? Is Satan really just another of God's henchmen, doing the dirty work God desires to be done so that God doesn't have to get his hands dirty, or is Satan just as powerful or moreso than God, such that God can't stop him from doing what he does?

Answer 1

The problem here is that you are trying to reason with people who insist on believing the unreasonable.

Answer 2

God did not create satan, He created Angels and they had free will as do we. Satan, chose to disobey God and wanted to be like Him, therefore he and his followers were cast out of heaven. God allows things to happen for many reasons, that they always come from Satan? I don't think so. If I take a wrong step and fall and break my leg, that is something bad but not from the devil. If I want to harm someone just for the fun of it, that would be of the devil. If God allows bad things to happen to one of His children, then He knows where the blessings lie and will reveal such to the person.

Answer 3

Without getting into the whole history or Satan, I can tell you that theologically, "bad" things are caused by humans:

James 1:13-15
When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

In other words, we are evil people and we cause the evil, but God uses that for good:
"Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him."

There are so many more verses I could have used but I think the point is made. Satan is not more powerful than God. But God let's us have free will and we will choose evil sometimes and side with Satan. God will use that for good and will eventually come back to put an end to evil for eternity. Until then, God rewards us for our perseverance.

Answer 4

This is a common question of a rebellious unhappy child. The simple answer is that God is good, nothing bad comes from him. He gives freedom of choice for a limited time. He allows Satan to deceive and people to believe the deception. But he also give them warning and guidance. Because God is good, he give you free will to decide whether you want to be good with him or bad with Satan. It will all change soon. This wont go on forever.

Answer 5

You don't understand Christian theology.

Not all bad things are a result of Satans influence - few are. It's self-determination and freewill.

Just as a person can do good things without God being the driving force, so can a person do bad things without Satan.

I think the over "personification" of God leads to a misunderstanding of how spirituality works. Though Christ, of course, was a man - God is not. So images of white bearded men in white clothes is oversimplistic.

Answer 6

All thing stem from God, but originally in the Abrahamic religions their was no Satan, modern times he is said to be a fallen angel. However ultimately it is the work of neither, God gave man freewill therefore such things as deceit and other 'unnatural evils' are the work of man, thus we should not pawn off our own downfalls on a higher Deity, because we only have ourselves to blame for them.

Answer 7

The serpent, the accusing angel and other manifestations of Satan cannot be as powerful or more powerful as God. He, like everything else, is a product of God's creation and the created cannot be greater than the creator. How can being A give being B more power than being A already have? And, if God is the greatest being imaginable/possible, how can he have an equal (You cannot be the greatest or number 1, if there is a tie)? Because God is greater and the creator of Satan, Satan can never be more powerful and God can do with him what He wants as He can do with us.

Two points to answer in your question. How, and Why? How is it that Satan exists if God created all things to be good? Why does God allow Satan to continue to exist when He can destroy him at will?

How Satan can exist:
When God started creating, He made an important decision when He created people. We were given the wonderful gift of choice. Instead of creating us as robots who followed His 10 commandments without error, He created us with free will. Afterall, as a parent, you'd rather your children acknowledge, worship and do as you say by their own decision, not because you said so. It is not clear from the Bible if God created the angels with freedom of will. Satan, is often thought to be a fallen angel. God did not say on any day of creation 'Let there be Satan and evil, and then there were Satan and evil'. So, if angels were created, God can create life with free will and there's no account of the creation of angels in the Bible, we cannot rule out the possibility that angels were also created with free will like people. Since angels have free will, it is possible for them to go against the will of God use deceit, cause pain and suffering, etc. Manifestations of Satan can actually be different fallen angels feeling mischevious.

Why Satan continues to exist:
It's important to remember that Satan exists, not because he's a roach that God can't stomp, but because God chose not to stomp him. Anything Satan does, he does with God's permission. Satan continues to exist because he is not a fluke of creation, he was intentionally created and wired to make his choices to become who he is. In one of the psalms, there's a line that says something like 'God, you saw me before I was created, and all the days of my life was written before I lived even one.' The concept of time is different for God than for us. While we're in linear timestream living out our lives, God is in the future, the present, the past, and even before time existed. There are no flukes with creation, design or our lives. Our joys and sufferings aren't overlooked or accidental by any means. They're all intricately designed and intentional. The defection of an angel who became Satan is intentional too.

Our suffering, seems unfair because we don't see the bigger picture. Sometimes for people to wake up, it takes a shock of some sort. God has already anticipated and planned all of that already. Only thing God can't plan, is our choices, but this is far from saying He doesn't know about them.

Back to my example of parents wanting their kids to acknowledge, appreciate and maybe even praise them. God is the Father of all fathers (yes, this is also a pun). What does a parent think of his kids if they not only ignore him but also believes he doesn't exist? He would feel hurt. The pain and suffering He allows to happen works two-fold. What does the child do when he trips and falls? He runs crying to his parents. Perhaps in this way, some children will return to him. But then, why does the faithful Christians also suffer? Well, for one, you have to be fair and not play favors. Christians are a body of people who may not necessarily have the same levels of faith. The pain and suffering works as a furnace to refine the nuggets of faith. Afterall, anybody can say he has faith, but where is your faith when it's put to the test? That's where it really counts. A good example of this, is in the story of Job in the old testament. Jobs story illustrates not only why God allows suffering to even the most faithful of believers, but also how Satan is... in short, just a tool at God's disposal.

Answer 8

One simple scripture... really short:

1 John 5:19 - The whole world is lying in the power of the wicked one.

But that power is relative to God's and only temporary. In Revelation 12 we read of a war in heaven where the archangel Michael toss Satan and his demons out of heaven. That was just for starters. They will eventually be done away with permanently and I for one can't wait.

Answer 9

because the bible says the devil is a liar and the father of lies and lying is his native language.He created satan as an angel who later saw how much power God had given him and thought hey why cant i be God too right? wrong he got demoted and hes been pretty mad ever since and jealous of Gods children coz we have an option of going to heaven and he doesnt its over for him so his duty now with the demons who rebelled with him against God is to create as much havoz as possible and see as many a possible go to hell i mean nobody wants to b lonely God is more powerful than satan .

Answer 10

Tests of faith are not from God. He will not cause unjustified harm to his children anymore than a good parent would cause unjustified hurt to their child. Most tests of faith result from actions taken by other human beings (led or not led by Satan). God allows us to go through these trials because he knows that our surviving them will make our faith that much stronger because we will need to lean on him to survive it. God gave Satan the run of the earth to prove to Satan that those that truly follow him (God) will not be easily turned away. Satan hates us and wants God to hate us as well.

Answer 11

I agree with Satan Lord

While he did paraphrase, I think deceit is achoice man makes of his own free will. Satan is blamed because he is the arch angel that is believed to be the creator of all sin. That's kind like saying is's the gasoline's fault you drive over the speed limit.