Perspective of the Devil

In my opinion, I still think of the devil being a manipulative, selfish, he or she or it. I just came to realize though that he is limited in what he can do to people though and that because God is "God" it was already destined for the devil to be the way he is.Him being damned to hell was something that was planned in order for people to have that though of "Good and Evil." He does not have that much power as I used to think he did and I came to understand that God will always be in control of the devils actions. By me being a strong believer in faith I do not want to question God whatsoever, but as I learned and read more of the texts in class, I see that the devil is nothing you should fear. God uses the devil to test peoples faith in him and that just made me want to get to understand and get closer to him.

My thoughts of the Devil

My perspective of the Devil has not changed much. I still think of the Devil as a tester and from the readings we have read for class it only further proves my point. Although I am starting think that the Devil's character is a bit more complex than what I originally portrayed. I don't understand his personality entirely, but I do understand that everything that he does only has intentions of harming others to ease the pain he may  be feeling from being deprived of the light of heaven for all eternity.

My Changed Perspective

The source that has had the biggest impact on me has definitely been the Bible, because a lot of the other literature seems to be based on the Biblical Satan and has been filled in with imagination of writers and artists.
More and more, Satan has become just a literary character in a book, a symbol or personification of everything evil and bad in the world.  Similar to before, he seems like a joke.  I take the idea of Satan way less seriously than before.
I'm NOT certain, but he may just be a human invention to put the blame on.

My view of the Devil: Then and Now

When I first went to class, I didn't know much about the devil. Although I had been raised Catholic, my church and family talked about God and Jesus not the devil. Prior to starting the class, I did believe in some type of evil being, but I was unsure about the details. Now, I don't really believe in the devil at all. Our analysis of the bible made me realize there are so many inconsistencies in the text that no of it is really believable. Later religions put so much emphasis on how evil satan is and how good God is, but the proof is in the bible. God let devils, or adversaries test humans. To me, this shows that satan isn't really a bad guy. He's just following orders. God is the wrathful in the old testament, something I was not taught in church. Even in later works of literature like Doctor Faustus the devil is not claiming innocent souls. Doctor Faustus sought out the devil and he was warned about the consequences of selling his soul to the devil before he signed anything. All of this makes me think that the devil isn't as bad as everyone makes him out to be. But that being said, I still think the devil is just a made up entity made to personify the evil in human nature.

The Devil: Then & Now

Based off of a new understanding and viewpoint on the Devil with what we have been learning in class, my view of the Devil has not changed. I still have interest in wondering how all this came about and started, but would never fully comprehend the reasoning as to why there even is a Devil. The Devil has always had a bad reputation and people make jokes such as "go to hell," but I never take it seriously. None of us truly know if a Devil exists, but the story has been passed down for many years that it makes us believe there is a Devil. I did not worship the Devil in the beginning and still am not going to worship him now. My viewpoint has remained the same - uncertain. I have not learned anything extraordinary that I didn't know before, but there has been a few discussions during class in which caused me to think how serious the Devil and Hell is. I'm not sure whether or not the Devil exists, but I am sure that there has to be some sort of bad supernatural out there.

The Prince of Darkness

     The Devil to me has always been an evil creature. I have seen him as a heartless beast that feeds on fear. After being in the Devils class for about two months now, I must say that my opinion on the Devil has changed in some sense. The Devil to me will always be ugly and gruesome, but my thoughts on the existence of this beast still confuses me. Yes, I have grown up into a religion of the belief in Heaven, Hell, God, and the Devil, but now I am not so sure of any of these presented beliefs.

     This class has showed me that the Devil was an angel of God, but then cast down to Hell for his greed for power. The Devil may have been an angel at one point, but emotions and acts of emotions change. The Devil is an evil creature full of sin and lack of love. Does the Devil exist? I do not know, but all I do know is my opinions have not been finalized just yet.

The Devil II

In the beginning of this class I posted to this blog saying that the Devil was a scary figure found in the Bible and in horror movies.  He was the antagonist of God's story.  While this image has not exactly been erased from my mind, I can say that it has been altered in some ways.

My view of the Devil after the first two months of this class has been broadened.  I can now say that based on what we have read, the Devil is multidimensional.  On one hand he is this awful, self-absorbed, manipulative liar.  He would do anything to overrule the kingdom of Heaven or to get someone on his side.  Then, on the other hand, he is this pathetic, trapped, depressing creature.  God must first authorize all of the Devil’s influence in the world. He is shunned from this amazing kingdom that God rules, which he had the chance to be part of, and now must watch it all pass him by from Hell.

I still cannot tell you whether or not I believe in the Devil.  However, based on what I've learned I can say that he is a much more complicated character than I had believed him to be.