7. According to the Church, Satan, the Chief or King of the Demons (or Devils) is not an allegorical personification of the principle of evil, but is, on the contrary, a real being doing nothing but evil, while God, on the other hand, does nothing but good. Let us, therefore, examine the being thus presented to us, with the characteristics attributed to him by those who represent him as a real, living, active personality. Has Satan existed from all eternity, like God, or is he posterior to God? If he has existed from all eternity, he is increate, i.e. not created, and is consequently equal with God. In that case, God is no longer one, unique; there is the God of Good and the God of Evil.
Is he posterior to God? If so, he is a creature of God, in which case, as he does nothing but evil and is incapable of doing good or of repenting, God has voluntarily created a being doomed to do evil for all eternity. Even admitting that evil is not the work of God, yet, if it be the work of one of God’s creatures who has been predetermined by God to do evil, God is nonetheless the author of evil, and, if so, God is not infinitely good. The same reasoning holds true in relation to all the evil beings designated as “devils” or “demons.”
