tateziwin said:
Hi all,
Just learning here.
If there was no evil at the time of Creation and that Adam & Eve caused sin to exist, then where did the serpent get it's evil intentions from?
'scuse my ignorance...that's why I'm asking you learned people!
This is actually a very profound question of
whodunit. I, myself, have authored a few threads on this issue, though my topic was the sinfulness of Adam and Eve. However, it is basically the same context. How does a creature that is created in perfect harmony with God choose to rebel. So, we must ask ourselves, shall we incorrectly lay the blame for satan's rebellion on another, just as so many Christians incorrectly lay the blame for Adam and Eve's rebellion on the enticement of satan? The important, though difficult, thing to address to understand this issue is whether or not it was satan's nature to rebel from the start. Did God knowingly create satan with his fall in mind or did that happen apart from His divine knowledge and providence? I think it's extremely unscholarly and unscriptural to state that satan was created in full fellowship with God and then all of a sudden, for no real apparent reason, decided to try to usurp the power of God. I don't disagree that satan was in full fellowship with God when he was created nor do I disagree that, at some point, that fellowship changed. What changed it? Most Christians would say that satan, being a creature with a
free will just up and decided to try to take over. Again, I find this based more on our preconceived notions about the freedom of the will than on the reality of the efficacy of God's restraining grace. Not to mention, it makes no sense. Think of our own proclivity to sin. What is the driving force behind our desire to feed the sinfulness of our flesh? Clearly it is our sinful nature. We sin because we
are sinners. We, as the progeny of the sin of Adam, are fallen and corrupted in our flesh. Every intent of the thoughts of our unregenerate heart (mind, will, thoughts, emotions, etc) is
only evil continually (Gen 6:5). The Bible is clear about the reason we sin. By why did those who were not created with a sinful nature, satan and his fellow fallen angels and Adam and Eve, choose to sin? Clearly such an intimate relationship with God would have compelled them to choose to obey, right? What motivated them to sin? It can't be, as it is with we fallen creatures, the prior presence of a sinful nature. So, the question we need to address, IMO, is who had the power to change the nature of satan that he would desire to sin? The answer to that question is the same answer to the question of why Adam and Eve, who were clearly in full fellowship with God, chose to forfeit all that they had, including that magnificent fellowship, and, instead, obey the father of lies.
So tateziwin, who do you think had the ability to change satan's nature to desire to rebel?
God bless
lol
