I'm not a christian, but I grew up in a Baptist household, so I have at least a passing understanding of the Bible. Lemme know if I got any wrong.
If I'm understanding the bible correctly;
God Created heaven and Earth, Including Mankind and Angels
God is all-knowing and all-powerful
Relevant to this discussion, God created Lucifer and all the angels who sided with him.
God made Man in His image, and ordered the angels to serve them.
Lucifer, prideful of his own beauty, and envious of God's (at least perceived) favoritism of Man, and of God's position, started a rebellion in heaven and was/will be cast down into the lake of fire(aka Hell).
lucifer later tempted/took the form of the Serpent in the Garden of Eden and tempted Eve to eat of the Tree of Knowledge.
my conclusion: God, with full knowledge of what lucifer would do/become created him and set him on the path that led to his downfall, and to the Sin of Mankind.
Or to put it more simply; God created Sin through his foreknowledge of what Lucifer would become.
I'm not trying to start a shitstorm here, but this is the logical conclusion that I find myself at.
Any Christian pedes wanna poke holes in this for me?
Hey there! So, Saint Augustine, one of the Church fathers, had some interesting thoughts about this topic.
So, Augustine believed that God created everything good, including angels like Satan. But here's the thing: God gave angels and humans free will, which means the ability to make their own choices. He wanted them to love Him freely, without being forced or programmed to do so.
Now, unfortunately, some angels, including Satan, abused their free will. They got all prideful and decided they didn't want to obey God anymore. They wanted to be the boss themselves, you know? And that's how the whole rebellion thing started.
Augustine thought that God, being super smart and all, already knew that some angels, including Satan, would turn bad. But He still created them because He had a bigger plan in mind. He knew that even through all the chaos and evil, something good could come out of it.
See, Augustine believed that God can bring good even out of bad situations. Like, He can use the consequences of evil choices to teach us important lessons, to help us grow, and to show His mercy and love. It's kind of like how sometimes we learn the most valuable lessons when we face challenges or make mistakes.
So, in a way, Augustine saw Satan's fall and the evil it brought into the world as part of God's greater plan. It allowed God to show His love and redemption through Jesus Christ, who came to save us from sin and bring us back to Him.
It's a complex idea, but Augustine basically believed that God allowed Satan's rebellion and the fall of mankind to happen because, ultimately, He could bring something greater and more beautiful out of it.
Hope that helps!
Excellent info.