God created Lucifer, a high-ranking, beautiful angel who became unsatisfied worshiping God. He became filled with pride and God cast him out of Heaven and onto the Earth (to greet us innocent little humans…gee, thanks). See Ezekiel 28:12-18 (King Tyre is symbolic for Satan). Interesting note: Lucifer sinned because of pride in Heaven, and there was a subsequent war in Heaven between good and evil angels (Revelation 12:7-9). The afterlife might not be a blissful cakewalk after all.
So, Lucifer “sinned from the beginning” (1 John 3:8). Yes, there is the obvious, “why would God create Satan, evil, sin, etc. if he is a good, all-knowing, just God.” And yes, he created these horrific things due to his uncanny ability at predestination and foreknowledge (Psalm 139:1-6 and Romans 8:29-30 among other references in the Bible), as well as being the beginning and ultimate creative source of the universe.
But my question is as follows: Where did Satan get this extraordinary power? Did God give it to him? The one he knew would be evil? Satan is competing with God to this very day on the same playing field – the power the change hearts and minds, control human behaviors, manipulate and control events, and even steal souls. The way Christians speak about Satan, he seems to even be omnipresent! He is everywhere on Earth and in human hearts. Christians also talk about some action or event being “God” and another being “Satan”, as if they are two sides of a well-matched battle.
Satan also seems to be so smart, crafty, and powerful that even God cannot defeat him. It would seem likely that the creator of the universe would want to get rid of him. Why wait so long? How much carnage must there be before God steps in?
Lastly, how do we know that Satan is all-evil? And God is all-good? We never get Satan’s side of the story, his reasons for rebelling against God in the beginning, or his reasons for inflicting suffering on Earth. What if he has reasonable justifications? God has an entire Bible to tell his side of the story, but we don’t really have a sense of what made Lucifer tick. What if God was acting unfairly toward Lucifer and his angel friends? What if God tempted him by giving him astonishingly good looks, power, influence, etc. then toyed with him by not allowing him to use his gifts? I’m just hypothesizing here on the squabbling between the almighty and his nemesis, but hopefully you see my main point here.
In the end, this is all just a fairy tale. However, I hope this was a refreshing angle for you to think about.
Cheers.
Arguments Against Religion 