is said to have replied: 'Verily I know what ye know not.' When Adam was created, God is there stated to have commanded the angels to worship him. Iblis refused, and on that account became Satan. A detailed account of this will be found in such books as the Hayatu'l-Qulub. ¹

Holy Scripture does not tell us plainly what was the cause of Satan's sin and how it was committed. Since, therefore, God of His infinite wisdom has concealed this matter, it is not in man's power to make it known. Only this much is clear from the New Testament verses we have quoted, that the root and origin of sin is not in God but in Satan himself, and therefore the Lord Jesus Christ called him the father of lying, that is to say, the father and source of falsehood and sin. It should be known that falsehood is the very origin of sin, from one point of view, for through pride man conceives in his heart the false idea that disobedience and sin are better than obedience and submission, and because of this fancy he becomes implicated in sin. Consequently, in accordance with what the Lord Jesus Christ said regarding Satan's sin, it may be thought that pride, self-will and selfishness, as in man they are the source of all sins, so in Satan also became the cause of sin. But the answer to the question, How did this pride and self-will arise in his heart and operate? is entirely concealed from man in this world, and

no one is able to speak with correctness and certainty about the matter. But the fact that evil, which came into operation through Satan and by his means entered into man and became manifest in the world, is not from God is clear and evident without any doubt from the verses previously mentioned and from many other passages of holy Scripture. From reason also it is clear and evident that it impossible that evil should be from God. For, regarding evil, there are only three possibilities: either it is from God, or it is of the same eternity in the past as God is, or it has been produced by a creature. Therefore, if evil be from God, He is not perfect, transcendent, pure and holy: and, since it is impossible that God's holy nature should be devoid of these attributes, it is evident that it is in no way possible that evil should proceed from God. And if evil be not contingent, that is to say, if it be like God eternal in origin and self-existent, then we are compelled to think that sin, becoming God, destroys the divine oneness, and secondly that the one true God is not the creator and preserver of everything. From this point of view, too, it is clear that this idea is self-contradictory and baseless. Since then evil is neither from God nor eternal and self-originated, it is certain that it is contingent and has proceeded from a creature. And, since it is from a creature, it must have come about through the creature's free choice, yet not in such a way that, so to speak, God