This was written as a part of the unit we are doing at teachers college at the moment. We have to get involved in a blog (http://www.ew12god.blogspot.com/) and we are asked to answer 5 questions over the course.
This was the first one:
Question 1: If GOD created everything, did he also create evil?
There are more than a few conundrums in the Bible and our theology - one such paradox is the existence of Satan and demons, and evil. Did GOD create these beings? Did He create evil? How would you respond to a person who says, I can't believe in GOD, look at all the suffering, pain and evil in the world? Imagine you lived in AID's ravaged Uganda - everyone you knew, dying around you? Could you believe and love a GOD who would allow this?

This was my answer:
God is the creator of everything. The bible clearly shows that. However, I do not believe that this means he created evil. God created goodness and fellowship with him. He created us to love him, but he did not want jus robots who talk about how much they love God. He wanted intelligent, thinking beings that would make the choice to love God. Thus, he gave Adam and Eve the choice to obey his command to not eat from the tree or to disobey that command, and suffer the consequences.
The choice that Adam and Eve made to eat from that tree was a choice to do evil, and a choice to follow satan.
On the other hand, satan and the demons were created by God. But he did not make them to be what they are today. But the angels, like humans, were given rational minds and free will to turn away from God's love and to fall into sin.
A very controversial passage about satan's fall out of heaven is ezekiel 28. some say that this is about satan and others say it is about the King of Tyre which is referred to in v 1. I did a little bit of web research on this topic and have discovered two different viewpoints about the passage, both backed up convincingly and biblically.
The viewpoint that supports this passage being about satan argue that this is a passage exemplifying ‘double fulfilment’. this means that the verse was about an earthly king but also refers to satan’s fall out of heaven. They back this up by saying that the language in the passage is obviously also referring to a celestial being, as it says

" `You were the model of perfection,
full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. 13You were in Eden,
the garden of God… You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you…You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you… So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled you, O guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones.

What man is perfect? The bible says “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23). They argue that this shows that the passage is about Satan.

Also the words ‘mount of God’ was apparently imagery for the throne of God, not a place where a mere man would be. On the other hand, the cherubim were the angels who guarded the throne of God.

But if this were about Satan, wouldn’t God say that? Or is this all a part of the unfolding metanarrative, this hidden meaning?

On the other hand, others argue that this song used hyperbolic (hugely exaggerated) language to make a mockery of this king. They say that verse 12 “Son of man, make a song of grief for the king of Tyre, and say to him..." does not mean make a sad song about the king of Tyre, but make a song that is mocking of him and will cause him grief. They go on to say that the verses mentioned above show that this guy thought way too highly of himself, through a kind of sarcastic poetry.

But then why God put in the bible something that would so easily lead people astray?
So what do you guys think of this?

Isaiah 14 is another one of these controversial ‘double fulfillment’ passages.
There are other passages that speak of Satan’s turn away from God( Revelation 12:7-9 being the only example that I have at the moment, but I think there are more, don’t quote me on this one), that are more specifically about Satan, and this would make me think that, for us, having the fully unfolded metanarrative that God would want us to look back at passages like Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 and see that there was this extra meaning behind it, and have a more fuller understanding of what satan did through this.
But I really don’t know.

Also, do you think that Satan’s fall from heaven occurred before creation?
I think that it must have for satan to have manifested in the body of the serpent at Eden. But I don’t really know, was thinking about that today.

The funniest thing is that the comment was supposed to be around 50 words! haha