Godlorica

The Devil is indeed one of the most intriguing actors in the Bible. Especially because of his ambivalent relationship to God. And he's much more interesting than the christian caricature of it. But I guess they don't like to be reminded that God bets with his adversary Satan ...

An interesting book on this subject would be "The origin of Satan" by Elaine Pagels.
 

you don't quite have the impression of satan in judaism correct. satan is "the accuser" meaning, he is the prosecuting attorney. satan loves god so much he can not bear to watch man defy god's word. when you reach the heavenly court, satan recounts all your sins before god, so as to say, "see god, he didn't really love you, and he is not worthy of your compassion."
 

I think it remarkable that your erudite readers are so misinformed about the Bible in general. Obviously, they have not read the book at any length or in any depth. If your readers want the "Cliff Notes" to the New Testament, I would recommend reading in seriatum the Books of Luke, Acts, and Romans.

Unlike other religious sources, the Bible's historical accuracy is unparalleled, being verified with every turn of the archaeologist's spade.

Moreover, the manuscript evidence is overwhelming with many more than a thousand manuscripts in whole or part, separated by more than a thousand kilometers in distance, and more than a thousand years in time. All unanimously affirm the same truths. No work of antiquity comes anywhere close -- we are lucky if we have more than two or three surving manuscripts of other ancient works. Yet no one refuses to believe in the historicity of Julius Caeser or Homer. Why all the willing ignorance regarding the existance of Jesus Christ -- the Theanthropist who made such a dramatic appearance on the world stage that we mark time by His birth? What other religious author starts a movement by claiming that he will rise from the dead, and succeeds in convincing the known world, starting with eyewitnesses who were in a position to know the truth from a lie?

With respect to sin and Satan, the Bible is quite clear that individuals are responsible for their own sin, and that Satan instigates sin. Scripture states that Satan does not rule in hell, but that the fires of God's torment were established for his eternal punishment. The clear testimony of Scripture is that there are varying degrees of punishment in hell just as there are degrees of reward in heaven.

We shall all one day stand before the throne of God to give an account of what we have done in this life. Some will go into life everlasting and some into eternal torment.

Doesn't anybody read the Bible anymore? Is literary acumen such a lost art that know one knows the difference in style between ancient history and myth?
 

As a person who has labeled herself a Satanic Feminist, I view my role as that of challenger. I have been at odds with organized religion all my life, and as I got older, institutions of authority. I feel Satanic in the sense that when authority is challenged it rarely likes to answer to many questions. A human is supposed to keep their mouth shut and not rock the boat. Well that behavior is for the coward and faint of heart. Things need a good shaking up to change and become better.
 

I think that Satan is simply the common western interpretation of an ageless Prince of Darkness.

All of man's religions, mythos and spiritual traditions throughout history reveal important information concerning the common subjective experience of its practitioners. Each encapsulates the common spiritual ethos of its adherents.

I feel that by examining the relationship between a society and their devil the greatest insights about the emotional and visceral experiences of that society can be gleaned.

I also feel that by examining the relationship between a society and their principle deity (deities), one gains insight into the motivations, psychopathies, neuroses and sexual deviations of their religious leaders (or founders).

The divine rulers of a given tradition almost invariably reflect the personalities (and character flaws) of that traditions earthly rulers.

The common underlying principle that unifies man's historical spiritual traditions is the dark god. Though the form and function differs greatly between traditions, the shadow intelligence is always there to tempt, question, accuse and inspire.
For those who are bold enough to look beyond the superficial masks, the dark lord becomes teacher and demonic initiator. I think that man understands this on some primal level. No matter how hard religion may try, it cannot stamp out man's instinctive gravitation towards the unknown.

In modern western society which prides itself on a spiritual tradition awash with guilt, denial and self-loathing; it is no surprise that god forbids man to seek out the mysteries of the Universe. I think that both god and those who administer his divine law have a vital interest in preserving man's ignorance of his own spiritual nature. If men and women approached the divine boldly and directly; both god and his earthly representatives would whither and die. Why was Adam forbidden to eat of the Tree of Knowledge? Perhaps so that god could keep his job.

The Prince of Darkness is vastly beyond the crude and self-serving symbols that we use to describe it. Something distinct from the Universe yet is a product of the Universe's architecture. Ancient in ways that are beyond man's laughable understanding of the word. The mythos of the devil, while uniquely colored by man's imagination and perversions, can still offer us some scrap of greater understanding; like the serpent who tempts Eve to challenge her purpose by realizing her potential. The Promethean relationship between man and the devil can be found in many religious mythoi.

In fact I suspect that the dark lord has always been man's greatest benefactor, challenging and tempting him towards his own divinity.
 

look you devil worshipers you need help get the Lord in your life and start doing whats right and stop lying to people and start going to church and maybe you'll learn the truth before you die and go to hell. Now you don't want that do you....I didn't think so.
 

Several comments are in order. To do the subject-matter fullest justice , would take a long-winded dissertation .

First of all Xymoid , what is the bloody point of a balance between good and evil . To attribute a desire for such weird, duplicious balance to Creator is insulting to the Creator !

Second of all, the notion that the agreement portrayed in the book of Job , where God was told to allow Satan to afflict Job and his family was designed to test the faith of Job is a crude, and theologically backward notion .

Nowhere in the book of Job or elsewhere in the Bible is explicitly stated that God's motive for allowing Satan to afflict Job was to test the faith of Job .

What I am about to propose as the probable motive for Satan being allowed by God (given the premise that such an event actually took place in physical history) to afflict the man Job is not ---in all fairness not explicitly stated in the text either but it makes far more sense in light of a deeper acknowledgement of the infinite virtue of God .

The prospect makes more sense knowing that God never intended evil deeds to be done in any universe --to suppose that God was hoping that Job-- in remaining steadfastly loyal to the Creator ---even after horrible atrocities had been sponsored by Satan against Job and his family , in that he refused to give into the temptation to curse God--might possibly shame Satan into repenting---ceasing from all further evil activity . After all, before an event done by agents with free will happens there are many possible futures ---even to God--and so there was (given the domain of discourse we are discussing) a possible future where Satan did repent and another future where he refused to repent . It makes more sense in light of the cosmic concern of God with seeking to eliminate evil on a large scale. Im reminded of the verse in one of the Psalms where , the Psalmist prays,

'oh that the wickedness of the wicked might come to an end. '

The idea that the God was somehow insecure about whether he could rely on Job's character and had to test Job as part of some competitiveness where He felt He had to compete with Satan is a notion that is insulting to God . God is above such competitive contests. Also , He had already fervently vouched for Job's steady character in the early chapters of the book of Job --so such notions about God somehow having lingering doubts about the faith of Job makes not much sense.

It is worth noting, incidentally, that nowhere does God in his dialogue with Job--- in the final chapters of the book -- ever say to Job that he had allowed Satan to afflict Job and Job's family for some mysterious purpose we are NOT meant to know. That mysterious- purpose- for- tragedy doctrine is a totally weird doctrine-- which is insulting to God and is nowhere explicitly stated in the text of the Bible ---despite the willingness of many fundamentalists and others influenced by some Calvinist teachings to advocate that weird, murky doctrine .

Jay at mudstones2@aol.com