The curse of Morgoth in CoH.

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Originally Posted by Raynor

Then again, even we are capable of predicting a certain behavior, given certain characteristics. And Eru knew Melkor better than anyone could; even if Melkor retained free will all throughout, Eru could still predict quite easily what he would do, at least in certain circumstances (as we could too, if we had that knowledge, I would venture to say) - and I do not presume in this case prescience, simply a very good use of psychology.

So you're saying that when Eru created Melkor he already knew he was going to rebell and torment everything that lives in Arda? Like I said, I don't think this is what Tolkien meant to convey. Wasn't Melkor supposed to be like a brother to Manwe in the original plan? When Melkor rebelled, Eru became angry and had to react, making some adjustments to the original plan. In his infinite wisdom he made sure that Melkor's marring in the end would lead to an even more beautilful world. If he knew what Melkor was going he knew he created a monster.

"...For Eru is the Lord of All, and moveth all the devices of his creatures, even the malice of the Marrer, in his final purpuses, but he doth not of his prime motion impose grief upon them.."

So Eru does not impose grief upon his childern of his prime notion, but yet he creates an prime force of evil and makes him the mightiest being in all of existence? Does that make any sense to you?

The problem here is one that christians have wrestled with for ages: if God is allmighty and good, how come he allows good people to suffer horribly. To find a satisfactory answer to this question one must jump to a conclusion or take a leap of faith if you wish. I don't find Tolkiens answer (as can be deducted from his ME his writings) very satisfactory, although it's certainly to be prefered to the stories in the bible. As I'm not a religious man I stick to what can see and comprehend. And from my point of view, it doesn't really make sense to presume that there's an allmighty God, that he is Good. This axiom will make for some unsolvable questions such as this one.

(The missus is nagging me to use the computer, got to go!)