Inherent evil?

[doug*platypus]

First of all I have to apologise by saying that I am not armed with a Christian scholar's knowledge of exactly what Original Sin is. If anyone could provide a brief explanation (PM or Post) or a link I'm sure it would be helpful.

Mhoram's thoughtful original questions were:

Was Melkor evil from the start? Was he fated to be evil? Or is he of such creation that he has the power to do great good or great evil?

I think that he was not evil from the start, because his evil is defined by the results of his actions, and not the underlying emotions that caused them to be taken. I believe that Melkor was created to have Free Will, to have a choice between Good and Evil, but that Eru created him to be more likely to choose the path of Evil. Like Mat Heathertoes said above:

He had to be the mightiest to be an adversary for the the other Valar. He had to have a share in all the others' gifts in order to undo or mar them and he had to turn to evil and order to accomplish both of the above. Eru works in mysterious ways.

The Valar, and sometimes even the Eruhíni gained from Melkor's existence. They developed strength and fortitude, and even such gifts as snow or lava (which are surely not evil in themselves) would not have been possible without him. I don't think he was inherently evil. For all we know his Fall into Evil may have been part of Eru's plan. It is only a guess or a wish of ours to speak of a benevolent creator who desires only peace and harmony for his creatures. It is possible that the creator deemed evil necessary, for what purpose we will not fully comprehend until The End.