Msg Base:  AREA 5  - ASK FATHER            CIN ECHO   AMDG
  Msg No: 211.  Fri 12-13-91 16:24  (NO KILL)  (MAILED)
    From: Father Mateo
      To: William Steele
 Subject: God, sin, love, freedom.

+-
| If God is perfect and good and without sin, how could he create a being
| with sin like the devil, a non-perfect being.  Creating a non-perfect
| being and one with sin would prove that God was not perfect.  Secondly,
| why would he want to create a being with sin or had the capacity of sin
| such as the devil or Adam and Eve.  this has bothered me for a long time
| and continues to do so, I hope you can answer me or give me an answer that
| I can  accept.  Thanks    Brock
 
Dear William,
 
In creating, God produces begins that reflect His perfections in a
limited way.  The very essence of creaturehood is to be limited.  Only
God's perfection is without limit.
 
One of God's perfections is freedom, since God is Love, and love is
impossible without freedom.  Thus every act of creation on God's part is
an act of loving choice, because God does not have to create.
 
In angels and humans, God has created beings who share in a limited,
creaturely way in His intelligence and freedom.  Since we and the
angels are capable of free choice, we are capable of choosing evil as
well as good.  Freely to choose evil is sin, but it is not God who
creates sin.  The free choice of the creature produces sin.
 
God does not "create a being with sin".  God creates beings with free
will, who then choose to sin.  Why does God allow this?  Because it is
better to have the opportunity to love and be free than not to have it
at all.
 
                                Sincerely in Christ,
 
                                Father Mateo