In the original Jewish conception, evil came from God. It was God who permitted the Serpent to tempt Eve (knowing also, of course, what the outcome would be). It was God who sent the 'evil spirit' to possess Saul. It was God who bet with the Evil One on the loyalty of Job. It was God who created the enmity between Abimelech and the Shechemites. "A lying spirit in the mouth of all His prophets" drives Ahab to destruction. Watchers sent to earth turned out to be bad angels (some of them) who mated with the sons of mean for no good result, but it was God who sent them and permitted what occurred.

The two books of Samuel, especially, make it clear that evil is under the control of God and The Evil One reports to God. The Devil is a tempter and accuser but it is God who takes action.

It is only after the Exile that the Jews begin to pick up on Zoroastrian dualism and to build up Satan as an opponent rather than as a servant of God.

By the Book of Enoch, Satan has his own evil kingdom. By the time of the New Testament, Satan is the Adversary, acting out of his own evil motives. Satan's best work in the New Testament, of course, is inspiring Judas. Without Judas there would have been no Crucifixion, no Redemption. The Devil has been tricked by God into contributing to God's great plan.

Nonetheless, in the long run Satan will be cast into a lake of fire and brimstone (II Peter II:4) and will be totally, finally defeated by Christ (John XVI:33).

Christ's First Coming delivered mankind from Satan's control of the dead. His Second Coming will complete the defeat of Satan. To say that the goodness of God will eventually pardon His tool Satan is heresy in Christianity.

Those who believe in the inerrancy of the Scripture have the problem of the evolution of The Evil One, a change in his role and even basic nature. The 11th edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica: having discussed various views about the evolution of Satan the author (Reverend Alfred Ernest Garvie) writes that: