Ian:
I wish
Besides, I don't get drunk, I get tipsy
Terri:Depends which "Christians" you talk to, as to what they believe. We're a little bit like "pagans", in that regard - difficult to generalize upon.
Apparently he only bit his heel.
Has Satan ever gotten your attention?
by Blueblades 23 Replies latest jw friends
-
LittleToe
-
jgnat
I have looked Evil in the eye....and stared it down. I believe there are evil men. I chose to live in the light, and not to give Evil one more day.
-
Narkissos
To me the monotheistic/dualistic opposition of "God" and "Satan" results in a poor drama with two pretty boring characters.
Yhwh was much more funny when he was not yet God and could act devilish: see his good joke in the Tower of Babel...
The "personal god" I mentioned in the parallel thread ("has God ever gotten your attention?") is ambivalent -- more like the Greek daimon...
-
Narkissos
LT, was Valis' creature your she-devil? I'd understand your description except the term "horrific"...
More seriously now, you wrote:
From a biblical perspective, I understand that Satan is refered to as a "he" (but then, so is the Holy Spirit, whom I suspect is a "she"). However I don't see anywhere that has Satan as the absolute opposite of "God". Yes he is characterised as evil, but not "absolute evil" as a counterpart to "God's goodness".
I agree that there is no archetypal opposer of God in the OT, but in the N.T., and especially in John, I think this is exactly what is meant by "the devil". He is the "ruler of this world", and is radically and eternally evil (with the same relation to God as the darkness has with the light in the Prologue):
He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is the liar and his father. (8:44.)