My son, who is not a Christian, raised some points that I can't answer. They have been disturbing me too.

1. If God being omnipotent created Lucifer knowing he would turn into Satan and be forever evil and tormented along with all the angels and people he brings with him, then God is more evil than Satan.

2. If God did not know the result of the above, then he is not omnipotent and can't be trusted.

I have also been looking into Christian Universalism. What are your thoughts on that?

Thank-You,

Christine

1. If God being omnipotent created Lucifer knowing he would turn into Satan and be forever evil and tormented along with all the angels and people he brings with him, then God is more evil than Satan.

No, because what God gave Lucifer was free will. The choice to do evil was Lucifer's alone. When God created the angels, including Lucifer, He gave them all the choice to follow God or not. Yes, God knew that Lucifer and others would eventually turn against God. So what should God have done?

One choice would be to not give the angels free will, to force all of them to follow God whether they want to or not. The problem there is that if you aren't going to give them free will, then why bother creating them at all? I doubt any of us would enjoy being mindless robots, unable to make any decisions for ourselves. In that event, we may as well not exist at all.

Another choice would be only to create those angels who would end up choosing to follow Him, and not creating Lucifer or the rest. The problem there is that giving beings free will, but only letting them exist if they choose to do what God wants, isn't giving them free will at all.

Good and evil are contrasts. When we see the evil in the world and choose to be apart from it, this has meaning. But if there was no evil, then there would be no meaning in our being good.

2. If God did not know the result of the above, then he is not omnipotent and can't be trusted.

God definitely knew the results, but keep in mind that knowing is not the same as controlling. God knew that Lucifer would fall, that people would sin, that people like Hitler and bin Laden would exist - but these are people who have made their own choices. God is not controlling them, merely allowing them to make their own mistakes, and letting us learn from, and respond to, their mistakes as well. When 9/11 happened, we saw a handful of evil people doing horrible things, and we also saw hundreds of firefighters risking, even giving, their lives in an attempt to save others, we saw our entire country come together in a way we've never seen before, we saw people in other countries offering their support, we saw people all over the country giving thier blood, their time, their money, to support those who were hurt in the tragedy. The worst in mankind brings out the best in mankind. Evil brings about good. It's our ability to see the contrast between good and evil that causes this.

I have also been looking into Christian Universalism. What are your thoughts on that?

I'm not sure yet, but I definitely like the idea. I definitely do not believe in the classic concept of hell, that people who are unforgiven for their sins suffer unbearable physical torture for all eternity. I reject that outright, since it makes no sense for people to suffer infinite punishment for finite sins (I also don't believe in the classic concept of infinity, that it is an eternal amount of time - I believe that eternity is more like a lack of structure to time). The idea that everything eventually comes back to God certainly holds appeal for me, but I'm not sure one way or another if it's the way things are going to be. But I do believe that God's the one in control of the eventual outcome, and I trust His judgment more than my own, so what I happen to believe is, in a way, irrelevant. I do believe that everything which happens eventually works out for the best overall, but whether this means an unhappy ending for certain individuals, I don't know. Like many people, I'm kind of offended by the idea that Hitler's outcome and mine are the same, that even though he killed millions of innocent people while I have chosen to do my best to serve God's will, he ultimately gets the same thing I get. But, again, God's the one in control of the outcome, and I trust His judgment more than my own.

Thanks for writing, and hope I've helped.

David