Q: My friend says that if there is only one Creator, then God must have created the devil. I said that God didn't, and Lucifer made the choice of disobeying God, and made himself evil. However, my friend said that this must mean there is more than one creator. How do I answer him?You are correct. God created all things, including Lucifer (his name actually means "light bearer" or "morning star" so his role was to lead the worship of God among the angels). Like human beings, God created angels with free will - the ability to choose. Lucifer became prideful and chose to rebel against God, so he was banished from God's presence (i.e. heaven). Today he continues to do his evil work by influencing this world.
To answer your friend, I suggest you read this post. Here is an excerpt:
If a person is asked, “Does cold exist?” the answer would likely be “yes.” However, this is incorrect. Cold does not exist. Cold is the absence of heat. Similarly, darkness does not exist; it is the absence of light. Evil is the absence of good, or better, evil is the absence of God. God did not have to create evil, but rather only allow for the absence of good. God did not create evil, but He does allow evil. If God had not allowed for the possibility of evil, both mankind and angels would be serving God out of obligation, not choice. He did not want “robots” that simply did what He wanted them to do because of their “programming.” God allowed for the possibility of evil so that we could genuinely have a free will and choose whether or not we wanted to serve Him.
Summarily, there is only one creator. Evil exists because it is - by definition - the absence of good, and not because there is an evil creator out there.
[Answered by Pastor HM]
