What is the relationship between Satan and evil?
Satan usually makes people commit evil; he does this by taking over human's souls and pressuring them to sin. Evil is what Satan embodies.
What purpose does Satan serve?
Satan serves as a balancing force of evil; the opposite force is good. Satan serves as the main antagonist against good.
What can we say about Biblical depictions of Satan/Devil?
As far as physical depictions of the Devil goes, his appearance ranges from a several-headed beast, to an unseen spirit that can take control of man's soul (if I'm not mistaken). However, the goals, despite whatever form the Devil may take, remain the same: to corrupt and torture man.
Do you believe in Satan? If yes, how would you describe Satan? If no, why do you think people do believe in Satan?
I don't believe in Satan. I think people believe in Satan simply because they were taught by the content of their respective religion that Satan does exist.
Thursday, March 27, 2014
What is the purpose of the Devil?
The Devil was created to create a scapegoat for the evils and temptations that afflict man in a world created by God. The presence of evil in the physical was thought not to come directly from God, so the concept of a lesser power that could be attributed to things like an outbreak of pox or a bad harvest. Later the Devil becomes a metaphor for a rebellious figure who struck against his “king”, as means to keep the people in their place socially and economically.
Is Satan necessary to beleive in God?
I would say that Satan’s existence is important to and even contingent to modern belief in God. For many people the excuse that tragedy is all apart of God’s infinitely growing plan, is just not enough. Otherwise we have to question the concept of God as an infinitely good. Believing in the Devil helps settle the mind and place him as the outsider trying to test your faith, because otherwise God just seems like an amoral jerk.
Biblical depiction of Satan?
For a start the Devil as we know him today is not present in the old testament, but does make an appearance in the later texts, so it support the notion that following the Christian movement that along with adapting Christ as the savior, Satan was created to be his antithesis and adversary. Later abuse of the term was than used to control the masses.
Satan and Evil relationship
Satans relationship with evil is not as simple as him being the ultimate embodiment of evil. Satan’s version of Evil seems to be more along the lines of unrestricted freedom shared by anarchist. Free thinking and ambition are traits that could be considered evil if they meant rebelling against a tyrant you lose faith in.
Satan's Questions!
What can we say about Biblical
depictions of Satan/Devil?
In the Bible, Satan is not presented
as a devil. He is an apprentice to the Lord and his evil is only
effective when granted by God himself. Once Lucifer is banished from
Heaven, he is made to live on Earth and taunt the people.
Where is the Devil today?
In my opinion the devil live inside of
each and every one of us. We are all, in some way, devilish beings
in the eye of another. Some may claim the Devil is in hell, but he
is actually walking amongst us, preparing us for our next fall.
Do you believe in Satan? If yes, how
would you describe Satan? If no, why do you think people do believe
in Satan?
I could not say whether I believe in
Satan or not. If he is real, I am more than sure he wouldn't look
any different from us all. Also, his character displayed in the
works we have went over is nothing different from a high school
enemy. People believe in Satan because they need something in the
position to humble themselves. If there was no Satan, there wouldn't
be a God who expelled him from the Heavens, the Heavens would not be
real and humans would not be walking the Earth today.
What is the relationship between Satan
and evil?
Most may say, Satan is the creator of
evil. I believe Satan has no ties to the word. Yes authors create
him as an evil, monstrous being, but evil is the people going around
killing each other on a daily basis. I can not remember a time where
Satan killed anyone, he forces their hand and he collects souls in
the end.
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
The Devil Q's and A's
What can we say about biblical depictions of Satan/Devil?
In the bible we can see that the Devil's role expanded as the New Testament came to be. In the Old Testament, the Devil was not really mentioned a lot but when he was mentioned, he was seen as a servant to God. But, when the New Testament was created many more images or illustrations portrayed the devil as he continued to be a tempter, liar, murderer, and evil.
Do you believe in Satan? If yes, how would you describe him? If no, why do you think people do believe in Satan?
In my opinion I believe that Satan exists. If he did not exist then there wouldn't be chaos such as temptation of grown men to rape women and males to want to go out and murder each other. I depict Satan as this handsome male who has thick ram horns sticking out of his head. Only reason I think he looks like that is because when the devil was an angel, he was seen as this nice looking person so even though he's in hell now, he uses his charm to deceive people. Hence the term "you handsome devil you."
What is the relationship between Satan and evil?
Satan and evil go hand and hand with one another. His total purpose of being is to be evil and cause chaos for those who serve under God's orders. If Satan was not thought of as evil, then their wouldn't be a valid excuse of why so much bad things happen in today's world. Evil things happen because Satan is an evil person who is trying to turn a world evil.
Do we need a Satan in order to believe in God?
In my opinion, I feel as if we need a God to believe in Satan. God is the creator of all things so if Satan was to be non-existent, God will always be thought of. Some people feel as if Satan is a balance of God and in order for God to always be in spirit of faith, their must be a devil but that is not true.
In the bible we can see that the Devil's role expanded as the New Testament came to be. In the Old Testament, the Devil was not really mentioned a lot but when he was mentioned, he was seen as a servant to God. But, when the New Testament was created many more images or illustrations portrayed the devil as he continued to be a tempter, liar, murderer, and evil.
Do you believe in Satan? If yes, how would you describe him? If no, why do you think people do believe in Satan?
In my opinion I believe that Satan exists. If he did not exist then there wouldn't be chaos such as temptation of grown men to rape women and males to want to go out and murder each other. I depict Satan as this handsome male who has thick ram horns sticking out of his head. Only reason I think he looks like that is because when the devil was an angel, he was seen as this nice looking person so even though he's in hell now, he uses his charm to deceive people. Hence the term "you handsome devil you."
What is the relationship between Satan and evil?
Satan and evil go hand and hand with one another. His total purpose of being is to be evil and cause chaos for those who serve under God's orders. If Satan was not thought of as evil, then their wouldn't be a valid excuse of why so much bad things happen in today's world. Evil things happen because Satan is an evil person who is trying to turn a world evil.
Do we need a Satan in order to believe in God?
In my opinion, I feel as if we need a God to believe in Satan. God is the creator of all things so if Satan was to be non-existent, God will always be thought of. Some people feel as if Satan is a balance of God and in order for God to always be in spirit of faith, their must be a devil but that is not true.
Q: What purpose does Satan serve?
A:Satan serves a contrasting figure. God is omnibenevolent, Satan is wicked. His purpose is to tempt human beings of free will to commit evil acts to test our faith and turn us away from God, who he despises.
Q:Do you believe in Satan? If yes, how would you describe Satan? If no, why do you think people believe in Satan?
A: I'm sure there is a Satan, but thats about all I'm sure in that regard. His relationship with God is unclear to me. His appearence, where he is, what hell really looks like....is pretty irrelevent in my opinion.
Q: What is the relationship between Satan and evil?
A: Satan represents evil, he promotes all evil acts because they draw people farther away from God.
Q: Do we need Satan in order to believe in God?
A: No, not necessarily. However, it would either mean that a) God isn't omnibenevolent, or b) there really is no such thing as evil, or good... or c) everything that happens, happens for an overalll, higher good.
It gets very far in depth philosophically.
A:Satan serves a contrasting figure. God is omnibenevolent, Satan is wicked. His purpose is to tempt human beings of free will to commit evil acts to test our faith and turn us away from God, who he despises.
Q:Do you believe in Satan? If yes, how would you describe Satan? If no, why do you think people believe in Satan?
A: I'm sure there is a Satan, but thats about all I'm sure in that regard. His relationship with God is unclear to me. His appearence, where he is, what hell really looks like....is pretty irrelevent in my opinion.
Q: What is the relationship between Satan and evil?
A: Satan represents evil, he promotes all evil acts because they draw people farther away from God.
Q: Do we need Satan in order to believe in God?
A: No, not necessarily. However, it would either mean that a) God isn't omnibenevolent, or b) there really is no such thing as evil, or good... or c) everything that happens, happens for an overalll, higher good.
It gets very far in depth philosophically.
My Thoughts on the Devil
What Purpose Does the Devil serve?
I feel that the Devil’s purpose is to bring into question
for the living whether or not temptation can or cannot be easily dismissed. The
Devil represents the bad according to many religious texts. The Devil tests and
tempts people in order to take the people who represent ‘evil’ into Hell. I am
not sure whether the Devil’s purpose is required since God already punishes the
bad, but I would say the Devil’s purpose is dark-sided.
Do you believe in Satan? If yes, how would you describe
Satan? If no, why do you think people do believe in Satan?
I do believe that Satan exists. I believe that in order to
believe in God and heaven it is required to believe in Satan and Hell. There is
always good and evil, not just good. I do not believe that there is a specific
physical form Satan takes. There are many forms in my opinion. He may have
horns and a tail, or he may look like a human. I know I believe in Satan, but I
am not sure what Satan actually looks like.
What is the relationship between Satan and evil?
Satan was not originally seen as evil. He was one of God’s
angels, but then because of Satan’s greed for power he was sent to Hell. When I
hear the names Satan, Lucifer, Judas, or the Devil I automatically think of the
word ‘evil’. Satan enjoys all things bad. If you are good you do not go against
God, but Satan did the complete opposite. Satan represents ‘evil’.
Do we need a Satan in order to believe in God?
I do think we need a Satan in order to believe in God. There
needs to be a balance of some sort. There is no possible way that there is only
good in the world. If there was no Satan I don’t think there would be a place
for the ones who have sinned. If God exists then a heaven exists, if a person
believes that the one’s who have sinned go to Hell then Satan must exist. If
people have sinned and there was no Satan then all the people who have done
something wrong would still go to Heaven. That is just not possible in my
opinion.
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.
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.
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