Alan:
First of all, when it comes to what you wrote about Zorastianism, Zoroaster didn't teach people about an evil being. He taught that there is divine will, and the various things that get in the way of divine will. Zorastrian teachers who came along later added the evil being concept.
Regarding Lucifer, if you consider the manner from a historical perspective, a fallen angel named Lucifer never existed. Lucifer is a fallen king of Babylonia, a physical person, a king of Tyrus. A man named Jerome made some mistakes when he translated the name "Lucifer." Attached are some articles if you're interested.
http://www.israelofgod.org/SatanIs14Ez28.htmThe above article takes a while to make its point.
http://www.lds-mormon.com/lucifer.shtmlRegarding evil, I figure the creative aspect of our being is neutral. A part of life is learning to make use of our creative aspect of being in a wise and loving way. It isn't a matter of God purposely creating evil, or some evil being such as satan being responsible. It is a matter of allowing the creative aspect of being to have enough freedom to be functional. Along the way, each of us gets to decide what kind of being we want to be. A being who lives according to love, or a being who lives according to whatever. Just as a loving parent allows a child to become the kind of person it wants to become, a loving God allows his children to become the kind of souls they want to become. A lot of positive guidance is available in order to help them find their way. Apparently a few get lost for however long.
Here's another article about Lucifer. I don't know if you'll be able to get the site to come up, so I posted the words.
Taunt of the King of Babylon (Isaiah 14:4b-21)
Is 14:4b “Look how the oppressor has met his end!
Hostility has ceased!
14:5The Lord has broken the club of the wicked,
the scepter of rulers.
14:6It furiously struck down nations
with unceasing blows.
It angrily ruled over nations,
oppressing them without restraint.
14:7The whole earth rests and is quiet;
they break into song.
14:8The evergreens also rejoice over your demise,
as do the cedars of Lebanon, singing,
‘Since you fell asleep,
no woodsman comes up to chop us down!’
14:9Sheol below is stirred up about you,
ready to meet you when you arrive.
It rouses the spirits of the dead for you,
all the former leaders of the earth;
it makes all the former kings of the nations
rise from their thrones.
14:10All of them respond to you, saying:
‘You’ve also become weak like us!
You’ve become just like us!
14:11Your splendor has been brought down to Sheol,
as well as the sound of your stringed instruments.
You lie on a bed of maggots,
with a blanket of worms over you.
14:12Look how you have fallen from the sky,
O shining one, son of the dawn!
You’ve been cut down to the ground,
O conqueror of the nations!
14:13You said to yourself,
“I will climb up to the sky.
Above the stars of El
I will set up my throne.
I will rule on the mountain of assembly
on the remote slopes of Zaphon.
14:14I will climb up to the tops of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High!”
14:15But you were brought down to Sheol,
to the remote slopes of the pit.
14:16Those who see you stare at you,
they look at you carefully, thinking:
“Is this the man who shook the earth,
the one who made kingdoms tremble?
14:17Is this the one who made the world like a desert,
who ruined its cities,
and refused to free his prisoners so they could return home?”’
14:18As for all the kings of the nations,
all of them lie down in splendor,
each in his own tomb.
14:19But you have been thrown out of your grave
like a shoot that is thrown away.
You lie among the slain,
among those who have been slashed by the sword,
among those headed for the stones of the pit,
as if you were a mangled corpse.
14:20You will not be buried with them,
because you destroyed your land
and killed your people.
The offspring of the wicked will never be mentioned again.
14:21Prepare to execute his sons for what their ancestors have done.
They must not rise up and take possession of the earth,
or fill the surface of the world with cities.”
This passage is an imaginative poem. Its content is a taunt. Just as the trees didn't literally "get down and party" when the king of Babylon died (14:, we shouldn't read the description of Sheol as a theological treatise on the afterlife.
The passage is clearly about the literal Babylon (14:4a, 22) and her human king (14:16). As the epitome of evil, the language used to describe the arrogance of the king of Babylon here is used by Paul to describe an eschatological "man of lawlessness" in 2 Th 2:4 (cf. Isa 14:13-14). But Paul is not interpeting this passage in Isaiah as referring to him, but rather using the language as a sort of cliche; at most, he is treating the king of Babylon as a type of the man of lawlessness.
Historically, it has been a common practice to spiritualize this entire passage to be about Satan rather than the human king of Babylon. This misinterpretation is behind much popular mythology about Satan. The reference in 14:11 to his string instruments (which in context would not refer to the king's personal instruments, but the instruments of the musicians at his court -- compare with David playing the harp at Saul's court) is behind the myth of Satan originally being the chief musician of heaven until he attempted to rebel and take over. Whatever the actual details of Satan's fall from heaven, this passage is not about that.
The above scripture and commentary comes from this site.
http://www.jeff-jackson.com/new/religion/eschatology/Isaiah13-14.html
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