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The [[Unification faith]] identifies Satan as the archangel [[Lucifer]]. Is this a common Christian belief? --[[User:Ed Poor|Ed Poor]] ^{[[User talk:Ed Poor|Talk]]} 10:47, 13 January 2010 (EST)

The [[Unification faith]] identifies Satan as the archangel [[Lucifer]]. Is this a common Christian belief? --[[User:Ed Poor|Ed Poor]] ^{[[User talk:Ed Poor|Talk]]} 10:47, 13 January 2010 (EST)

== Satan's origin ==

== The origin of Satan's evil ==

Given that the universe did not originally contain any evil, and Satan was created by God, who, being all-knowing and all-powerful had the ability to create Satan in such a way that he would incapable of becoming evil, how did Satan become evil? Satan could not have had free will, given that he is part of a universe which is basically a machine proceeding from a beginning state to a predestined end state; however complicated the machine may be, its destiny is still known beforehand to an omniscient Being, and indeed is controlled beforehand by an omniscient and omnipotent Creator.

Given that the universe did not originally contain any evil, and Satan was created by God, who, being all-knowing and all-powerful had the ability to create Satan in such a way that he would incapable of becoming evil, how did Satan become evil? Satan could not have had free will, given that he is part of a universe which is basically a machine proceeding from a beginning state to a predestined end state; however complicated the machine may be, its destiny is still known beforehand to an omniscient Being, and indeed is controlled beforehand by an omniscient and omnipotent Creator.

So, since everything that occurs, including Satan's fall, must be God's will, how then do we define evil? Satan's "evil" must be the same kind of "evil" that exists in, say, a computer game in which the creator has purposefully scripted evil doings and evil characters into the plot, and programmed them to occur under specific circumstances. As the program executes, the evil will inevitably transpire in accordance with the program; it cannot happen any other way. And there is no outside force that can act on the universe, other than God's, so there is no way God's will can be thwarted. And so we cannot define "evil" as being that which is against God's will. Unless of course, we presume the existence of a universe in which two contradictory things can be simultaneously true — i.e, that God's will can fulfilled at the same time as it isn't fulfilled. Contradictions are not impossible when one assumes the existence of a truly omnipotent being; in such a case, they become [[paradox]]es. [[User:Tisane|Tisane]] 20:22, 25 July 2010 (EDT)

So, since everything that occurs, including Satan's fall, must be God's will, how then do we define evil? Satan's "evil" must be the same kind of "evil" that exists in, say, a computer game in which the creator has purposefully scripted evil doings and evil characters into the plot, and programmed them to occur under specific circumstances. As the program executes, the evil will inevitably transpire in accordance with the program; it cannot happen any other way. And there is no outside force that can act on the universe, other than God's, so there is no way God's will can be thwarted. And so we cannot define "evil" as being that which is against God's will. Unless of course, we presume the existence of a universe in which two contradictory things can be simultaneously true — i.e, that God's will can fulfilled at the same time as it isn't fulfilled. Contradictions are not impossible when one assumes the existence of a truly omnipotent being; in such a case, they become [[paradox]]es. [[User:Tisane|Tisane]] 20:22, 25 July 2010 (EDT)