Not exactly. He's just a serpent; a tempter, but he's also the voice of reason. Eve said, I can't eat that fruit because God will kill me. The Serpent said, no, he won't kill you; he just doesn't want to you know right from wrong.
https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Genesis-3-6/
On the contrary; whereas before, they had been innocently carnal, like the beasts of the field, now they hide their genitals.
Hell was necessary to the Christian rulership, because they had persuaded the serfs to accept their condition in hope of eternal reward in Heaven. Only, the conditions were so miserable that the serfs were inclined to escape to Heaven before all the work could be beaten out of them. So there had to be a deterrent: make non-compliance extra horrible and then make suicide an unforgivable sin. We're still paying for that tradition with archaic euthanasia laws.Hell doesn't make sense to me, because the Bible seems to illustrate that the devil roams the earth, and doesn't ''guard'' hell.
Well, no. Of course not.
I don't get the sense that he was 'jealous,' but rather he wanted to possibly protect and warn his followers of Satan.
One of the two top generals, way I heard it.
Nobody asked Jesus what he thought or felt about anything. He was assigned his mission, briefed, issued a halo and dispatched to some little barn a God-selected backwater on the Mediterranean.
Well, if the tightrope between eternal happiness and eternal suffering is a frivolous issue, name one that merits solemnity.
Well, most of the Bible doesn't really make sense; the devil is no exception. (Also it should be noted that descriptions of the devil in the Bible are sparse and contradictory; the modern conception of the devil was pretty much made up later.)
Satanism, Luciferianism, etc isn't really about ''following'' or worshiping Satan, as I've learned. It's about viewing Satan as the great redeemer...liberator...being of enlightenment. Satan basically reveals who we really are, and leads us to enlightenment, is the idea behind those paths. (not cults) Although, I guess they could be cultish.
Jesus knew that what he asked of them, wasn't easy to follow.
Defining the Devil is tricky business. Had a guy at work who would sometimes chant, "The devil in all of us. The devil in all of us. The devil in all of us."
It is rather a "tricky business" to truly and accurately define "the Devil" as anything other than a non-existent/fictional character, is it not?
The question would be: Is the Devil a foreign entity that can enter us and influence us? Or was the Devil a part of us all along?
Fictional characters represent something. The standard prime-time detective on television represents something in his society, in his culture, in his audience - and that's a trivial, disposable character. The devils of human imagination represent something more significant in the cultures that invented them. They're not a single character, or a single concept, but collectively, they represent an aspect of human nature of which we have been aware - and wary - since the beginning of civilization.
It's more complicated than either. The personal devils in each of us are small, various and of very little power. When a group of Satanists or other demon cultists perform their rituals, the individual devils coalesce, forming an entity of far more sinister aspect, exerting a far greater influence on each member of the coven than the isolated tempter on each individual's left shoulder.
Good point.
Acquired through life. He's only a threat if you take him seriously.
I think that's clearly false. See Jeeves' reply to me: "When a nation pools all of its personal devils in a shared icon, its power and evil are multiplied, rather than added." A Hitler or a Trump provides a focus for the individual evils. That should definitely be taken seriously.
He was in collusion with a foreign entity, but part of us was evil all along.
As I said, defining the devil is tricky business. Hitler helped pull Germany out of financial crisis, but later turned to world war and genocide. If you see Trump marching us in the same direction, please explain how.
Demonization of immigrants and minorities, attacking the free press, excessive nationalism, support of white supremecy, concentration camps, abuse of power, undermining the rule of law, encouraging political violence and war crimes... Is that enough or should I go on?