If God was perfect why did he let Satan be created and let him live till today?

Answer 1

When I was about the age of twelve, my father posed a difficult question that I was unable to answer until this past year or so. He asked that "if God can do anything, can he build a rock even he can't lift?" and this question only brought me obvious answers like why would He? or He wouldn't have to anyway.If man creates a rock he cannot lift what would he do? He would create a machine to lift that rock, right? So what would God create to lift a rock that He created that even He cannot lift? The Devil is that rock and God created man in His image as the mechanism capable of either overcoming the rock and devouring it or pehaps a more saintly approach would be to lift that rock towards God so He could devour it or rather to return Lucifer to His formor glory as a heavenly being thus banishing evil at its source for all mankind that enters the world of the living falls just as Satan fell from heaven but we soon lift ourselves back to glory through redemption followed by a cleansing death and we return to purity.

Another opinionIn my church's Sunday school the children often sing the song:

"My God is so big, so strong and so mighty - there's nothing that he cannot do"

and of course we are told in scripture than God is omnipotent - there is indeed nothing that he could not do. For a God who could create a universe, and yet a God who could answer my personal prayers must be a God who is, indeed, omnipotent. Lifting a rock, however big, after being responsible for the creation of the sun, earth, stars and the rest of the universe, would be like a weightlifter raising a grain of sand.

So why would a God like this - all loving and omnipotent - still allow the devil to have a hold on the earth causing grief and suffering? Note, that I state that the devil causes grief and suffering - not God. It still makes me cringe when a flood or fire or hurricane that kills thousands is termed an 'Act of God'. The problem is that the whole earth is tinged with sin. Ever since humanity turned its back on God (as symbolised by Adam and Eve in Genesis) there has been sin and suffering in the world. This means that the whole world is tarnished with evil thanks to the spiritual warfare between God and the devil, between good and evil. Just read the story in the Book of Job to get an idea of how the devil causes suffering in a righteous human.

So why does God not simply sweep away all this evil so that we, as humans, can live in total goodness? If God is omnipotent, then why not do this? The problem is that, in many ways, evil is actually necessary in this earthly existence. We are called by Jesus to live our lives close to God and to love our neighbours as we love ourselves. At the last day we will all be judged on our lives before entering into heaven. So, in this life, what would happen if we took away all evil? We would then also have to take away sympathy, empathy, compassion, support, love in adversity (different from love when things are going well!), sacrifice and protection in times of conflict, care, kind-heartedness, benevolence, charity, philanthropy... the list goes on. All virtues lke this would disappear overnight.

Because of this God has been accused by sceptics of taking a cop-out and just leaving us to it. But of course God is there with us, in our adversity for he knows himself what suffering actually is. In my own personal experience just a few years ago I lost a dear friend and work colleague through a very gruesome suicide, but now, later, I realised that even in all that pain and grief, God was still with me, as I am sure he was with my friend even in his suffering. In sending his only Son to die for us, God is very much in the thick of our suffering for he knows exactly what suffering is.

At the end of World War II my father, who was British, was serving in the Merchant Navy in the Pacific Ocean in convoy with a US fleet fighting the Japanese. Meanwhile, back home, my mother heard of the plans to invade Europe at D Day by the allied forces (Brits, US, Canadian and so on). When the invasion happened - and this was the biggest invasion the world had ever seen before or since - she and millions of others knew that the war was over - it would only be a matter of time. yes, there would be skirmishes and battles for some time as Hitler and the Japanese retreated, but it was clear that he was defeated and that peace would only be a matter of time.

Similarly, at the Cross we know that evil, death and Satan were defeated, finally annd utterly. Yes there will still be problems in these 'latter days' but one day when we will allbe perfect and sin will be no more, when we will never need compassion, benevolence, philanthropy and so on, the final defeat of Satan will come.

Answer 2

Satan was a supposed to be an angel and disobbeyed God and then God sent him to hell

Improved answer:

The creation and disobey of Satan proves that God is or was not perfect. Would an all-knowing God create something deliberately knowing that that "thing" would disobey him and cause a lot of trouble? The first thing our semi-logical human brains think of is "no". Why would he do that? That is preposterous!

Now, think of this question. If God is the creator of everything, can he create a boulder that not even He can pick up? Again, our first thought would be why would he do that, that is so stupid. If you think about it further, you can suggest that satan is the "boulder" that the question is referring to, but that still doesn't answer the question; Why? Why would God want to put himself through all that trouble? Why would he create something he could not control? The rest is simply led to speculation, as not even the Bible can explain this; God may be not the most perfect creature either.

If you look about it logically, and not religiously, it makes perfect sense that God is not all perfect. God gave his son to humanity as a last resort. He never thought that humans would be so out of control, and he resorted to dire straits to solve the problem. God created Satan, unknowing that Satan would disobey him. In this case, you can look at angels as superior humans, they are still not under the direct control of God, and still have a mind of their own. Even God can't control his angels.

I suppose the question isn't simply "If God was perfect why did he let Satan be created and let him live till today?", rather it should be, "What evidence proves God is perfect?" Lets face it, even the Lord has made mistakes.

Note: This is purely from my prior knowledge of religion and using a logical approach for answering this question, not a religious approach. I know that the religious argument rebuttal would be: "Perhaps God did have all that in mind.." My one and only answer to that question would be, that is pure speculation. Nobody would know whether or not God had intentions for Satan to disobey him. Perhaps the saying "God knows everything" should be altered to "God knows everything about humans"; because, clearly, he doesn't know what the outcome will be. Moreso, he doesn't know what the outcome will be for the end. I honestly don't think God knows who wins over the battle of Good and Evil, if he did then why even continue? Why have the Apocalypse? If God was truly a perfect being, and an all-knowing being, he would not put humanity and life as we know it through pure turmoil for is own benefit, unless he has a underlying motive.