Satan: Evil or just misunderstood? First, read this article, then answer.?

Question

http://www.physorg.com/news75128924.html

Answer 1

Dr. Kelly makes some very poignant and solid points. Not much is really said in the Bible about Satan ... most of the details commonly believed about him, his station, and his purpose stem from dogmatic ideology passed down through the generations.

This is also true with regard to many of the common beliefs in Christianity ... much of what is claimed to be founded on Biblical teachings or principles is actually not based on the Bible at all ...

Answer 2

I just took a look at that article, and that modern philosophy is so twisted it's unrealistic.

First of all, Satan was Lucifer the most beautiful of Angels, He accordingto legend was 2nd under God. And fell due to his attempt to overthrow God.

Satan does have admission into Heaven, look at Job. Satan stands as our accuser. Pointing out everthing we do wrong. But that does not mean that Satan is just a misunderstood being.

One illustration that the author fails to bring up that's in the Bible that the author missed, would have blown this misunderstood philosophy out of the water. Just before Jesus started his 3 years of ministry (where he got the disciples and started to perform the majority of his miracles) Jesus went and fasted and prayed for 40 days out in the wilderness. During this time Satan started to temp Jesus, when Jesus became hungry. Does this sound like Satan was a poor misunderstood being?

For the full story, here is an online link to Matthew chapter 4
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=47&chapter=4&version=31&context=chapter

Answer 3

*When it comes to the Old Testament, Kelly insists that Satan's profile is considerably lower than commonly thought and significantly less menacing. By Kelly's count, Satan only appears three times in the 45 books that make up the pre-Christian scriptures, the best known being in the Book of Job. On each occasion, Satan is still firmly part of what Kelly calls "God's administration," and his activities are done at the behest of "the Big Guy." But his actions aren't evil so much as consistent with the translation of "devil" and "satan," which literally mean "adversary" in Greek and Hebrew, respectively.

"His job is to test people's virtue and to report their failures," Kelly said. *


That was an interesting read. Thank you.

Answer 4

In ancient Jewish tradition Satan is simply an angel doing the work that God assigned to Satan to do.

The word Satan means challenger. With the idea of Satan challenging us, or tempting if you will. This description sees Satan as the angel who is the embodiment of man's challenges. This idea of Satan works closely with God as an integral part of God plan for us. His job is to make choosing good over evil enough of a challenge so that it becomes clear to us that there can be only one meaningful or logical choice.

Contrast this to Christianity, which sees Satan as God's opponent. In Jewish thought, the idea that there exists anything capable of setting itself up as God's opponent would be considered polytheistic or setting up the devil to be an equally powerful polarity to god or a demigod.

Oddly, proof for The Christian satan/devil mythology is supposedly found in the ancient Jewish texts that were borrowed to create the bible. One can’t help but wonder how Christians came up with such a fantastically different interpretation of Gods assistant Satan in their theology.

Other hints about Satan’s role in human relations can be seen if you look at the name Lucifer. It meaning in the original tongue translates as Light bearer or light bringer. Essentially the bringer of enlightenment. The temptations of the Satan idea bring all of us eventually into Gods light. Hardly the Evil entity of Christian mythology.

Love and blessings
don

Answer 5

The evil acts in the OT were done directly by God....in once case God makes a guy (you probably know which character I'm talking about...sorry, it's been a while since I have read the Bible so names are a little fuzzy) go through terrible torture...boils, death of his family etc...just because Satan doubts the man's loyalty to God; essentially it was a bet.

So, the article makes a lot of sense.

Answer 6

This sounds very similar to what my dad has said before. But even if satan has not been cast into hell yet and maybe hell does not exist right now it will exist in the future and the satan will be cast out into the sea of fire in the future and all of the unbelievers along with him.

Answer 7

I dont care what you article says, what is written in the bible is all you need. God's word is enough. And he says satan is evil, and that those following him will be thrown into the lake of fire. It isn't important what theories you have, it is important to know that God does what he wants to , and if he says he'll throw your butt in hell for worshiping satan instead of his son, then count on it.
enough said.
http://www.kcm.org

Answer 8

After reading the article, I think I will stay with my original belief.
I believe that an evil Satan and Hell are scapegoats for people who have to blame someone for the bad that happens and that they are afraid to blame God for fear something horrible will happen to them. Simply, they are afraid of God.

Answer 9

Have not read that he is like this in the Bible
He is Evil pure and simple

Answer 10

I strongly disagree with it. "Intellectuals" having been playing around with Gods word for centuries. Articles such as this are designed to destroy a believers faith and to keep people such as you from knowing Truth and your true purpose in life. Writings like this come and go like the tides. Gods word stands the test of time and endures forever!