this "war" between god and satan makes no sense to me. satan was "employed" by god and understood how things worked before he got bigheaded and then supposedly lost his job and took just a small fraction of his coworkers when he was kicked out of the office.
since he knew how things worked, meaning that his boss is/has and always will be no.1 and his power can't be beat----doesn't this still mean in some way he still works for the lord? i feel the lord is ONLY GOOD. it seems like someone had to take the "job" that allows god to work his magic way of showing who will be/always has been boss.
what, other than the bible can i read to find out more on this "allowed" continual "war" that can never be won by the "bad" guys?
thx
2006-08-27 09:17:27 · 14 answers · asked by ? 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
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
2006-08-28 06:47:37 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
I think you express this conundrum very well.
Snippets are found in the Bible, but most of what Christians say about this battle between God and Satan comes from outside of the Bible. As well, Satan is a concept that develops over time. "The satan" of the Old Testament [which is not a name, but a generic term] is far different than what evolves in the New Testament, so to understand some of this you have to go to sources outside the Bible, which is what you wanted to do anyway!!
To get you started, I put some links below.
2006-08-27 16:57:25 · answer #2 · answered by Ponderingwisdom 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
NO.
Satan was created perfect, and for the job (if you must) he had which was 2 fold.
1. He was one of the 2 angels that guarded the mercy seat of God.
2. He was the voice of God. That is a command would go from God to Satan to all other angels.
He Loved God.
Now Man is come into existence, and Man is given the earth for his place.
To Satan Fine, no problem, when man would leave his place and enter heaven Man will serve the Angels, as it should be.
The hour that Satan was told by God he was wrong (the first time Satan was wrong) He fell.
How can I serve God and Man!
He persuaded a 1/3 of all angels and 2/3 of man from God and warred
This war destroyed the earth.
Satan Lost, all now in heaven, and God Judges Satan, and is condemned to death!
Earth fixed, and instead of judging man, man would be made Flesh!
As far as Satan is concerned by God where can he go? Most of Satan's powers are taken from him.
2006-08-27 16:57:42 · answer #3 · answered by Grandreal 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think I know what you're getting at.. (hopefully) but Satan knows his future and knows he's doomed. What he is trying to do still is have as many people as he possibly can turn away from God. So even if God wins, He'd lose... get it? Satan thinks he can turn all man away from God and therefore God not have anyone to be with Him in Heaven. In other words, God kicked Satan out of the office and Satan wants to make it so no-one "works" for the company and in effect the business fails.
(thats how I see it anyway)
2006-08-27 16:26:28 · answer #4 · answered by impossble_dream 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well i think that you are overthinking this whole equation here God does essentially use Satan in a way that he does not konw
take this 11th grader in my church 4 instance his dad dies, and his life is completely changed in the way that he really tries to follow the Lord now ( and doin a good job of it ) Satan has power, but God has infinite power Satan cannot see into the future, but God knew that when Job lost everythin he owuld praise God even more
i suggest googling a "summary of the book of Job" or sometin like that to see what God does he works in mysterious ways
2006-08-27 16:24:27 · answer #5 · answered by weird guy 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The Bible is nothing more than a collection of stories that have been exaggerated to the point that they are no longer believible. A work of fiction. I would compare it to if someone were to start a religion based on the writings of Dr. Seuss. Jesus is nothing more than a composite of what they saw as an ideal at the time. Nothing more than a mascot like Ronald McDonald or Mickey Mouse.
2006-08-27 16:32:47 · answer #6 · answered by jake41784 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
well i dont know what other book you can read to help you, but i like the way you wrote that, which shows that you know the truth. GOD rules over everything, and HE has said that in his word, there fore he can not contradict himself. well the truth is that satan does work for GOD, because he knows that there is no other way. GOD will use good things and bad things for his own glory, meaning GOD can even use satan so that people will believe in him, and HE will be glorified.GOD can also use death to bring people closer to him, (like me). well i hope what i said helped you a little. _me*
2006-08-27 16:29:59 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Congratulations for stepping back and taking a good look at part of your religion. Should be done more often, I think--if for no other reason, it can actually strengthen your faith.
I recommend John Milton's epic poem Paradise Lost. It's a very interesting look at the fall of Satan with Satan cast as a sort of anti-hero--much of it comes from his perspective.
2006-08-27 16:25:13 · answer #8 · answered by angk 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Okay.
Imagion: we are all up there... la di da...
and we are all like... "man, God is soo cool. I want to be like him!"
and God said, you can! I will put you on earth and test you, and you will have knowledge and wisdom and be like me! After, *don don don* Satan said... "How about they all go down, and not be given free will, so they will always make right choices so we will ALL be saved!"...We chose free will, and Gods plan. At the second coming.. evil will lose!
2006-08-27 16:23:17 · answer #9 · answered by Princess_SomethingOrOther 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
God rocks Satan sucks
2006-08-27 16:21:58 · answer #10 · answered by papaofgirlmegan 5 · 2⤊ 1⤋