No.
"But deliver us from evil."
The last petition to our Father is also included in Jesus' prayer: "I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one." (Jn 17:15)
In this petition, evil is not an abstraction, but refers to a person, Satan, the Evil One, the angel who opposes God.
The devil is the one who "throws himself across" God's plan and his work of salvation accomplished in Christ.
The Bible teaches that Satan is a fallen angel. Scripture sees in this being a fallen angel, called "Satan" or the "devil". (Cf. Jn 8:44; Rev 12:9)
Satan was at first a good angel, made by God: "The devil and the other demons were indeed created naturally good by God, but they became evil by their own doing."
Scripture speaks of a sin of these angels. (2 Pet 2:4) This "fall" consists in the free choice of these created spirits, who radically and irrevocably rejected God and his reign.
The devil "has sinned from the beginning"; he is "a liar and the father of lies." (1 Jn 3:8; Jn 8:44)
It is the irrevocable character of their choice, and not a defect in the infinite divine mercy, that makes the angels' sin unforgivable. "There is no repentance for the angels after their fall, just as there is no repentance for men after death."
Scripture witnesses to the disastrous influence of the one Jesus calls "a murderer from the beginning," who would even try to divert Jesus from the mission received from his Father. (Jn 8:44; cf. Mt 4:1-11)
"The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil." (1 Jn 3:8)
The power of Satan is, nonetheless, not infinite.
He is only a creature, powerful from the fact that he is pure spirit, but still a creature.
He cannot prevent the building up of God's reign.
For more information, see Catechism of the Catholic Church, sections 391-395: http://www.nccbuscc.org/catechism/text/pt1sect2chpt1art1p7.htm#391
With love in Christ.
2007-11-05 06:59:09
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answer #1
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answered by imacatholic2 7
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The previous responser's answer is thorough if long winded.
I am not a Catholic but am a Protestant. In spite of our differences (which are mostly semantic) I completely agree with what he has stated. In short, however, I would respond more simply.
I am not Satan's friend because he is not my friend. He works to separate me from my God and to destroy my life. Tell me, what ind of friend would do that?
2007-11-06 10:16:04
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answer #2
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answered by sparc77 7
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