[Dimensio]

Yes, and as the argument would have it, He should have known what they would do before He even created them.

What makes you think He didn't know that?

"He" is a construct accepted by others, not myself, so His motives aren't really a concern of mine. Still, the argument isn't that He wouldn't have known that but that He must have known that for him to truly be omniscient and omnipotent. This then leads to issues of how can anyone be accountable to G-d for anything since G-d set up the whole mess in the first place with full foreknowledge of how it would all work out and that if He wanted different results then He should have arranged things differently -- after all, He is supposed to be the prime cause of everything.

In other words, Satan was condemned before he was even created, and he never had a chance to be anything but evil.

[ArGee]

This then leads to issues of how can anyone be accountable to G-d for anything since G-d set up the whole mess in the first place with full foreknowledge of how it would all work out and that if He wanted different results then He should have arranged things differently -- after all, He is supposed to be the prime cause of everything.

I know you to be a pretty bright guy from one of our recent exchanges. This question is very adequately addressed in the Bible, particularly the Gospel. Have you read it? I can post a few verses but the context helps a lot.

In other words, Satan was condemned before he was even created, and he never had a chance to be anything but evil.

There is a difference between knowing that someone will do something and forcing him/her to do it. For a simplistic example, if I leave the door to the garage open my dog will go through. I won't want her to, but she will. Will I have forced her to go through? No. Will she have had a choice in the matter? Yes. Will I be responsible for her going through? Yes, in part. But I will still let her know it was wrong in an attempt to have her do what I want next time. I won't, however, beat her too harshly because I could have prevented it all by closing the door.

The example is simplistic because I can not hold my dog to any near the standards of intelligence that G-d could hold Satan to.

Shalom.