BellaOnline Forums Religion and Spirituality Bible Basics Satan Who is He & Why it's Important that we Know

Jenna,

Your latest article is great and the description of Satan and his views on humanity is spot on.

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art35691.asp
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Satan is not the red devil media and art have made him out to be. Satan is Lucifer the most beautiful angel God created, he held the highest position of an angel in heaven. This resulted in him looking to himself and not God. He started to believe that he didn't need God and that he was better than God. Upon Jesus' reserection he and his followers were finally cast out of Heaven.

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I explained it to my 7 year old in an analogy. In your classroom the Teacher is in charge. One day you feel that you know more than the teacher and could do a better job. At recess you start telling your friends that they should listen to you and not the teacher because your better then the teacher. Once back in the class you start not listening to the teacher and start talking over her teaching stuff that you do not understand, making up stuff as you go along. As she tries to bring you back into line you give her attitude, say rude things and talk to her like you know more than her. What would happen in the class? What would happen if you kept it up?

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The God of the OT comes over as evil as Satan imo!

It worries me that children are being taught that there is a satan.

Evil is in us all, if we allow it to overcome the goodness. It doesn't come from some boogie man, fallen angel or anything 'out there'. It is up to us to encourage children to be honest, gentle, compassionate and loving, not to fill their impressionable minds with fear and superstition.

Satan is the ultimate deceiver, a lier and he wants nothing more than to keep us from God's presence.

What I find interesting is that you feel that you are enlightened because you won't allow God to fool you, yet you've been fooled.
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The reason Jenna asked for you to seize and desist is that you continue the same arguement over and over and over - its getting boring...... Come up with a new argument. You think that in the old testament God is cruel and unjust -- got it -- can we move on to a different topic please.

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And as for my son.... I teach him the truth so that he will understand and learn how to make choices based in love and not selfishness. Part of that lesson is Satan, he came home from school one day and told me he doesn't believe in Satan. So we looked at what Jesus said about Satan and then discussed who Satan is and how he deceives us into believing that he doesn't exist. I will not allow my children to go into this world blind and unarmed. I'm not brainwashing them, I'm teaching them how to question what they read and hear and how to make informed decisions and choices based in love for others.

Jenna did not ask ME to desit - not yet anyway. Her post was addressed to Loveapple, not to me. Go back and read the thread please.

Your opinion that I've been fooled goes both ways. Perhaps you have!

Because I do not believe in the god of th OT or in the devil does not mean that I do not believe in goodness, love, and in there being a 'presence' in Creation. I have made that clear in a previous post. I am a very spiritual person and I live a spiritual life. I do not believe that I have to, or need to be a Christian to do that.

Patience.

Patience Sorry - I meant love apple not you.

IMHO one of Satan's best tricks has been (lately) to convince people that he doesn't exist!

If people don't think something is real, then they don't feel it is a threat, and they won't be on guard against it. Satan likes it this way.

During this age of unbelief it is easier for people to say there is no devil than to admit that if there is one then there must be the other (God).

It is true that we all have sin inside of us, and Satan just waits to exploit that. But to try and say that it is only the sin nature in people, and that Satan doesn't exist is ignoring a very dangerous (and sly) enemy.

For those who believe that Jesus was a good teacher and not believe in Satan is to not know what Jesus taught.

Jesus not only taught about Satan but he also was tempted by him for 40 days in the desert. When he reserected he saw Satan and his followers fall from Heaven to earth. He rebuked Demons and commanded followers to live up to his high example so that we would be safe from Satan.

If you believe at the very least in the New Testament then you must know that Satan does exist and he is our accuser in front of God and Jesus is our Defender.

Beth Moore talking about Satan - Yet Will I Trust Him -- Very Interesting

There are many theologians that would state that "Satan" was not a being, as such. Rather the term was used simply to represent an adversay to God or to God's people. This, they say, could come in the form of a disbeliever or could be the objectifification of human nature.

The term "Satan," they say, is also used to represent man's severe temptation--in various forms.

In Heb 2:14. The apostle distinctly says that in order to destroy "Satan", Jesus partook of human nature. Scholars say this implies that unnecessary or supernatural force was not required to defeat "Satan." This lends credence to Patience's point that "evil" comes from within. One must partake of and understand human nature, "the great enemy of God," in order to overcome human nature.

As Paul, who is not my favorite by any means, writes: "So here is the great enemy of God: human desire. And what a determined enemy it is! For it does not submit to God's law, indeed it cannot" (8:5-7).

My two cents...

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Thanks Freespirit! <img src="/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Jesus came to Earth so we would be saved but also to show us how to defeat Satan by making the Word flesh. The Word is Jesus, he existed before the world, he exists now and he will exhist forever into the future.

By his example we can see how we can defeat Satan.

IMO, evil (a derivative of human nature) will exist as long as man exists. It's not a matter of "defeat," but a matter of desiring to control and learning to control our base nature.