Is Satan useful to God?

JH

He's been keeping him around for a long time....I guess he must be useful in something, just like insects that must be useful someway....

Terry

Actually, I think Satan is useful for explaining how a Supreme being could tolerate insubordination, evil and desuetude as a part of his good and perfect creation.

No wait! Just the opposite!!

Who's in charge, here anyway?

IP_SEC

Sure, everyone needs a good scapegoat!

Philosophically I guess good cant exist without its partner can it?

Terry

Philosophically I guess good cant exist without its partner can it?

We humans seem to require food, shelter and clothing as necessity. The lack of those is __not good__but, certainly not evil.

We also need purpose, knowledge and significance in our lives and the lack of those is __not good__but, certainly not evil.

Deliberate ignorance, malicious interference and rude unconcern begin to feel worse than ___not good.

Intentional infliction of pain, deprivation of love, brutal arrogance and sadistic nihilism are full gallop __evils.

There has to be an intelligence behind the destruction for there to be Evil; otherwise it misfortune and ill-timing or awful manners and narcissum.

Any transcendant being with all the power there is who would countenance the mistreatment of the innocent cannot be__good. In fact, I would accuse God (this sort of callous and indifferent being) of the worst sort of bivalent personality bordering on Munchausen by Proxy Syndrome.

Rescue us from death and evil? Indeed!

IP_SEC

We humans seem to require food, shelter and clothing as necessity. The lack of those is __not good__but, certainly not evil.
We also need purpose, knowledge and significance in our lives and the lack of those is __not good__but, certainly not evil.
Deliberate ignorance, malicious interference and rude unconcern begin to feel worse than ___not good.

True terry, but absence of those things would be bad. Bad is an opposite of good no?

Crumpet

Any transcendant being with all the power there is who would countenance the mistreatment of the innocent cannot be__good. In fact, I would accuse God (this sort of callous and indifferent being) of the worst sort of bivalent personality bordering on Munchausen by Proxy Syndrome.

Terry - I love the way your mind works. I have these kinds of thoughts too!

The Dragon

My guess would be...no..God screwed up when He created Satan...He was not looking into the future..and chose to ignore that fact that Satan would one day turn on Him and lead himself and His creation on course of self destruction.

Or yes......He had a reason for creating Satan and a purpose that we have just not figured out or been allowed to know yet. Perhaps even Satan was put on the job when a rebellion was nessesary for change...Like perhaps this one is rebellion against the withholding of information from others for power and control over them?

Whats your guess?

daystar

Well, since we create all gods, it makes sense to have an entity to symbolize certain darker aspects of the human condition. So, I guess I'd say yes. However, were there no "Satan", we would merely imbue some other god, or God, with the darker qualities as well, which we do to one extent or another anyway.

Narkissos

Related questions: http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/10/67503/1.ashx (and the first link from there).

Madame Quixote

Is Satan useful to God?

Of course he is. Every literary protagonist needs an antagonist and vice-versa.

What archetypal story would lack those elements?

After all, the bible is very entertaining, if not true.

Is Satan useful to God?

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