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After David is anointed as king over Israel, I Samuel 16:14 says that an evil spirit from God was sent to torment Saul. Throughout the following chapters, this/these evil spirit(s) plays a rather prominent role.

But isn't God a loving god? Why would he send evil spirits to torment people? Doesn't that type of thing tend to be the work of Satan? How would you go about explaining this phenomenon?

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A similar thread for further edification: christianity.stackexchange.com/questions/11629/… – H3br3wHamm3r81 Jan 22 at 3:21
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Welcome! Please understand I feel your pain as there are a lot of ropes to learn here and it's not apparently where you can ask what. However, this question is less about the text than it is about the character of God. This is something that needs to be answered by doctrine, particularly that brings other Scripture to bear in putting together a big picture of God's character. This particular site is more for text, translation and interpretation related issues than doctrine. You might try Christianity, but be warned that you'll also need to include what tradition you want to hear from. – Caleb♦ Jan 22 at 22:39

closed as off topic by swasheck, Monica Cellio, Caleb♦ Jan 22 at 22:36

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1 Answer

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God is a loving God, but He is also just. In the case of Sha'ul, it seems that God permitted a demon ("evil spirit") to possess Sha'ul in punishment of his transgressions.

Satan does not possess any authority or power besides that which is expressly permitted by God (cp. Job 1:12). In fact, neither do humans. When Pilate asked Jesus, "Don't you know that I have the power (or "authority"; ἐξουσία) to crucify you and the power to release you?" Jesus responded, "You have not had any power against me except that which was given to you from above." (John 19:10-11).

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