The Subtility of Satan
- Thread starter Robert Pate
- Start date
Satan is still alive and well, but his days are numbered.
Spiritually he has been defeated, but he is still a hinderance to Christ and his Gospel.
We are always going to have problems and difficulties. That's the way it is. That's life.
The problems can be attributed to Satan, but to me that outlook lets me off the hook for considering how my own free will is actually responsible for the life I lead and the cards I am dealt.
I believe sin comes from no other entity than myself.
I have not found it useful to believe in a literal Devil.
But that's just me.
Then, you reject the Scriptures that speak about Satan huh? What other Scriptures do you reject?
That's because you're a cultist. You don't trust in the Bible.
You place your faith in, The Urantia Book.
Amen.
beloved57
Well-known member
False comment and blasphemy, satan can't hinder the Gospel, the Power of God!
I don't reject ANY of the Bible. But I am living in a modern environment. Since the Enlightenment we preference the scientific method and no longer are inhabitants of the ancient, three-level universe of biblical times.
Both Copernicus and Galileo challenged this universe and got a major "push-back" from the church. In fact, it was not until recently that Pope Benedict (I think) publicly apologized to Galileo for the way he was treated by ecclesiastical power.
Snakes do not really talk (nor have they ever) but the things the snake said in our foundational Creation myth should be taken seriously--as a Christian.
The Bible teaches a real live living devil.
Paul said that Satan hindered him, 1 Thessalonians 2:18.
There is not a literal "Devil" or "Satan." But that does not mean that I do not take the things he says or does in the Bible seriously.
It's always easy to say "the Devil made me do it" instead of being responsible for our own behavior.
My faith in Jesus tells me that God has already been proven victorious. Death and the powers and principalities are not the final word.
"I watched Satan fall from heaven like a lightning flash." --Luke 10:18 from the Holman Christian Standard Bible.
I, too, can say that Satan hinders me. But in doing so I realize I am using an ancient theological formulation as a "cause" for the evil I encounter or participate in.
But to literally accept the existence of an actual malevolent creature makes no common sense to me.