dizerner wrote:God created Satan to worship him and never at any point in time was God the author of evil, nor did he desire evil. To say so, is to me, blasphemous.
Actually, dizerner, you are right. It is not only blasphemous to you—it is objectively blasphemous. If this seems too strong language to some, consider the meaning of "blasphemous". The Greek adjective is "βλασφημος" (blasphāmos). Greek lexicons define this word as "speaking evil of". the word is derived from the verb "βλαπτω" (blaptō), which means "to hurt, harm, injure" and φημη (fāmā) which means "fame". So to blaspheme someone is to injure his fame, that is to say something which will make him appear less in the eyes of others than he is reputed to be. And this is EXACTLY what those are doing to God who say that He is the author of evil, or that He planned that there would be evil upon the earth. It blasphemes the character of God making His character out to be something less than LOVE.
But consider what the apostle John said about the very ESSENCE of God:
God is LOVE I John 4:8, 4:16
This is the message we have heard from him [Jesus] and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. (I John 1:5)
Nowhere did Jesus say that the Father creates evil, kills people, orders women's hands to be cut off, orders that rebellious sons be stoned, etc.
Heb 1:3 declares that Jesus is the EXACT IMPRINT of the Father's ESSENCE. Thus the Son has exactly the same nature as the Father. Never did Jesus kill anyone, order his disciples to cut off women's hands or stone rebellious sons. Indeed, he dealt adequately with a group of Pharisees who would have stoned to death an adulterous woman, if they could have gotten away with it. Of course, they wouldn't have actually carried it out under Rome, since Roman law would not have permitted it.
Did you know that the 1650 Connecticut code included "Capitall Lawes" which required the death penalty for particular offences, and based on the Mosaic law? Would those who believe that the Mosaic law is the just law of God be okay with a government which incorporated these laws and penalties into our present legal system?