I've read the bible and I don't recall Satan himself actually ever doing anything evil or harmful...
Else
I hate to play Devil?s advocate here Else, but there is that little account of Job:
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"Does Job fear God for nothing?" Satan replied. 10 "Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. 11 But stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face."
12 The LORD said to Satan, "Very well, then, everything he has is in your hands?
.. 18 "Your sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother's house, 19 when suddenly a mighty wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on them and they are dead
Satan is pictured here as doing something evil, killing Job?s family.
Now to be fair and play, well, an advocate for the Devil , this account really doesn?t put God in a good light either. God telling Satan to ?do your best? is a rather shatty thing to do as the God of Love. If a parent was approached by an evil person, say a convicted felon, and the felon said:
?I think your kid loves you only because you feed and house them. Take that away and I bet your your child will no longer love you.?
What we think of a parent who said;
?Go ahead, do what you like to my child, just don?t do any bodily harm to him?
Nice parent. A real ?God of Love? for sure.
however I read many accounts where God killed or tormented countless thousands of people for arbitrary reasons.
Else
And that?s a good point. Satan is shown in a bad light a few times in the Bible, God?s propaganda piece. But in God?s own written word, you can open the Bible and let the pages fall where they lie and likely find God kicking someone?s ass because they were acting like a normal human being.
RE: the Genesis account, sure I have always been a fan of mythology, so this little account is just as interesting as Zeus and the Titans battling.
Here?s what God said to Eve as she understood it according to Gen 3:
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but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die .' "
4 "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. 5 "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
Genesis 2
17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die .
So Eve knew of only ONE consequence of taking the fruit:
Touch the forbidden fruit and you will die that day
Now what was Satan?s thoughts on the consequences if she took the fruit?
- You will surely not die
- your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil
And what really happened? It happened just like Satan said it would happen:
1.
They did not die THAT DAY
2.
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And the LORD God said, "The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil.
As far as I can see, Satan was right on the money.
But God got really pissed off that Satan was right, so he unloaded a can of whop-ass on everyone. So God changed the rules and the punishment. Instead of killing them that day, God instead:
- Covered up Adam & Eve?s perfect asses with a fig leaf
- 16 To the woman he said, "I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing;
- 16 To the woman he said, ?Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you."
- 17 To Adam he said, ? "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it
- 18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.
- 19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground,
since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return." - 23 So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken.
- 24 After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.
As far as I can see, God is just a sore loser, got mad, and took his football so no one could play.
So if I choose to spank my children who don't have a clue why they were mislead about something, I'm not really punishing them, I'm reiterating the consequences of not reading my mind? Therefore, since I love my children, I'll let them live but only for a little while?
Princess
Darling, parenting is like taking care of a car. You gotta do PM [preventive maintenance]. You don?t wait for the engine to seize up before you change the oil. You have to regularly change the oil.
Same with kids. You gotta beat them every 3 months or 3000 miles, whatever comes first. You put that off and before you know it they?ll be holding up liquor stores with BB guns and listening to Air Supply.
In fact, it looks like you are getting outta line on the board yourself little missy. Maybe I should tell Steve you are overdue for a good spanking
