Questions About the Devil

What can we say about biblical depictions of Satan/Devil?
The Devil plays a minor roll in the bible. Satan appears in the old testament as an adversary sent by God to test humans. In other words, the Devil is only doing God's work when he appears in the Old Testament. It is God, not Satan who is calling the shots. Furthermore, in the Old testament there really is no fall from grace that religious people talk about. In the New Testament, the devil's role expands. He  tests Jesus in the desert and apparently other "demons" inflict humans, which Jesus casts out. Overall, it is very hard to interpret Satan in the bible because the bible has been translated and edited numerous times. Along the way, many words and phrases have changed meaning so it is hard to decipher what the original writers intended to say.

Do you believe in Satan? If yes, how would you describe him? If no, why do you think people do believe in Satan?
I do not believe in Satan. Although there have been seemingly unexplainable instances of possessions, I think that there is scientific reasonings behind the possession phenomenon. Scientists may not be able to explain possessions today, or ever, but that doesn't mean a scientific reason can't exist. Rather, its just beyond human comprehension. I think people believe in Satan because they need answers to things such as possessions. Humans like to point fingers, and blame others for inexplicable events, so they blame the devil.

What is the relationship between Satan and evil?
Religious people( and people who believe in the devil in general) associate Satan with evil. Satan represents evil. He is the source from which evil things come. However, to people who don't believe in the actual existence of the devil, Satan is not associated with evil. For example, I don't believe in Satan, and I don't think he represents evil. I think evil is found within humans because we are flawed. So for me personally, Satan isn't an evil character at all.

Do we need a Satan in order to believe in God?
I don't think Satan must exist in order to believe in God. I believe in a theoretical God, who is(or was, I'm not sure) the very first cause. He caused everything to exist. However, this God that I believe in is not a religious, all loving, all powerful God who has human traits. If I did believe in a religious God, I think I would say we need Satan in order to believe in God. Since I only believe in a "first cause" type God and I consequently don't believe in heaven or hell, Satan is not in the picture. Just because some entity somehow set the universe into motion, does not mean that evil being exists as his opposite.