What does the WTS say about Satan?

by Doug Mason 15 Replies latest watchtower bible

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  Doug Mason

  Over the past several months, I have been assembling a Study dealing with the life and times of Satan, the Devil. It is my intention to release the First Draft in a few weeks.

  I have provided the Draft of the last Chapter at:

  http://www.jwstudies.com/Pages_174-200.pdf

  This Chapter deals with Satan in the 20th and 21st centuries. As such, it is the tail at the end of the dog. You do not know what the body looks like, so there will be loose ends.

  Nevertheless, I am seeking your suggestions as well as your corrections.

  This Chapter includes a Section with quotations on Satan/Devil/demons by the Watchtower Society [WTS]. Please tell me:

  1. Am I presenting the WTS correctly or have I made mistakes?

  2. Are there better quotations that I should consider as replacements?

  3. Are there additional quotations that I should consider?

  If you have replacement or additional quotations, you need to provide me with accurate and comprehensive details of the passage and its source.

  Thank you,

  Doug
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  Atlantis

  Doug Mason:

  Thank you!

  Atlantis!
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  Ireneus

  Concept of Satan is something that is very interesting if we really understand it. The wise ancient people made it easy by personalizing wasteful qualities into Satan. (Hebrew, Greek root carries the concept of wastefulness as opposed to fruitfulness). Wastefulness is omnipresent in the sense that it is inherent with anything fruitful if its fruitfulness is not made use of. In this sense we can say knot is inherently present in a straight chord if it is used in such a way that a knot appears in it, yet knot is not the part of chord. Knot appears to be real, but it is not. So is the concept of Satan, and the evil he personifies.
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  Doug Mason

  Ireneus,

  I too have found the subject of Satan fascinating and absorbing.

  I am interested in seeing any verifiable reliable sources and locations, along with the specific texts. I cannot rely on hearsay or anecdotes as evidence.

  The remit I give myself is to focus on the Hebraic, Jewish, and Christian beliefs. The topic is vast enough without drawing in distant faith-based belief systems, whether Greek, Indian, Mayan, and the like. I am not keen on venturing too much into the early Canaanites, Assyrians, Philistines, or other immediate neighbours, despite their obvious influences
  

  Even with my self-imposed limitations, I have gathered about 200 pages of material (100,000 words plus several images).

  Thank you for your interest.

  Doug
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  Ireneus

  Hi Doug,

  Details differ according to each culture but essential concept remains the same. You can take Bible as a sample case. Satan is personified and picturized by a snake. Snake is a perfect symbol of ego, and by extension symbol of Satan because it can easily access any place, even in paradise; it is the carrier of poison which symbolizes the final outcome of sensual pleasures. It doesn’t get rooted if a person doesn’t continue to focus on egoistic desires; but gets stronger and stronger if one continues to nourish egoistic desires. This is symbolized by snake having seven heads in some cultures or as ten headed monster in other cultures.
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  Finkelstein

  Satan or the evil one came out of imaginary and original thought of the darkness that the ancients observed in opposition to the light of good or god, so the ideological concept was born out human ignorance of the physical world and astronomical knowledge.

  .... the opposing duality of light and dark is why and how the evil god(s) where imagined and expressed in ancient mythology.
  
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  Vidiot

  Honestly, the way they describe him, he's, like, the ultimate comic book super-villain.
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  Doug Mason

  Hi Ireneus,

  Yes, Snake is in Eden, but Satan is not there.

  Snake is the wisest of all the animals that God created (Gen 3:1). The caduceus symbol is used in the contexts of eloquence and wisdom.

  Moses used a miracle with snakes to demonstrate to Pharaoh the power of God. Moses also elevated Snake for the people to see, which is employed by the Gospel writer as symbolic of Jesus being elevated.

  Snake was used by the ancients as the symbol of rebirth and regeneration, given the way it sheds its skin.

  Doug
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  Doug Mason

  Finkelstein,

  I agree. Satan sees his genesis at the time monotheism became dominant and entrenched. This took place in association with the Babylonian Captivity and Exile (6th century BCE).

  Now that they had only one God, the Jews had to wrestle with the problem that "Badness" existed. The technical term is: Theodicy - Since there is a perfect God, how is it possible for Badness to exist? Previously, the Israelites and Judahites recognised the existence of several gods.

  That issue was addressed through the creation of a being who is today known as Satan, Devil, and so on. Initially, Satan was the individual employed by God to do his "not so nice things". At his beginning, Satan was not the evil individual that he became much later.

  Doug
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  Ireneus

  I too agree with Finkelstein,

  There is a beautiful comment by Sartre in his Being and Nothingness: We are 'condemned to be free.’ What he means is that we cause our own suffering by our choices. This is the truth about God who is The Witness who has left everything to the natural law of Cause and Consequences, and whose natural role is to “renew” the provisions for life’s enjoyment whenever they are depleted or destroyed by human choices. (Mathew 12:35; 19:28) This concept of God, when travelled to the West, was evolved into a jealous God who would not tolerate worship of other gods. (Ex 201-6). This change in the concept about God necessitated the creation of Satan.