Re: Who or what is the devil!

Posted by qOLOp on 1118477717

When the natural desire of all normal persons is to live at peace, why is it so common for people to hate and make a practice of killing one another? It truly is a paradox

The Encyclopoedia Britannica (1966), under the heading "Devil," observes: "Modern liberal Protestantism tends to deny the necessity of belief in a personal devil, preferring to understand the biblical and other references to him as to personification of the principle of evil."

to believe in an "animal part of human nature," or a "principle of evil," rather than in a real Devil. Thus, the once-common understanding that the Devil is a living, unseen person is no longer taken seriously by many. Even today the Devil is traditionally conceived as a creature in a tight-fitting red uniform, having horns, a tail, and a pitchfork in his hand.

do not be duped into accepting a purely materialistic view.
the fact that there are unseen, invisible living creatures, and that these exercise a powerful influence upon human affairs.

. "God is a Spirit," the Bible explains. (John 4:24) It also tells us that God made angels in spirit form. (Heb. 1:7) These are real, living persons. So the Devil, too, is a spirit person.


. He made all spirit creatures perfect. But one of these made a Devil out of himself. He was corrupted by his own improper desires. The Bible explains the process by which even perfect creatures can turn bad: "Each one is tried by being drawn out and enticed by his own desire. Then the desire, when it has become fertile, gives birth to sin."-Jas. 1:14, 15.

The improper desire that this powerful spirit creature entertained was to receive the worship of other creatures, which only the Creator, Jehovah God, deserves. He was able to get the human pair to serve him by misrepresenting to them what God had spoken about eating of a certain tree in the garden of Eden. He thus became a slanderer, or "Devil." He is also called in the Bible "Satan," "dragon" and "original serpent." In time, even other spirit creatures joined Satan in rebellion against God, and also became devils or demons.-Gen. 3:1-

God not immediately destroy the Devil and the human pair he had induced to break God's law?" Jehovah God did not choose to do this. An issue had been raised by the rebellion, including the question: Can the Devil succeed in turning all creatures away from God? Adam and Eve were allowed to bring forth offspring so that the integrity-keeping course of faithful ones among their descendants would vindicate their Creator and prove the Devil a liar. So a sufficient length of time was set aside by God{6000 yrs} to settle this issue.-Job chapters 1 and 2.

THE DEVIL'S TIME IS SHORT

Down the great dragon was hurled, the original serpent, the one called Devil and Satan, who is misleading the entire inhabited earth; he was hurled down to the earth . . . On this account be glad, you heavens and you who reside in them! Woe for the earth and for the sea, because the Devil has come down to you, having great anger, knowing he has a short period of time."-Rev. 12:9, 12.Many other Bible passages show that the Devil is a person. For example, 1 Chronicles 21:1 and Zechariah 3:1, 2 reveal Satan to be a resister of God's people and, therefore, of God himself. (Zech. 2:8; Luke 10:16) In fact, the name Satan is Hebrew and means "resister, adversary."


The Scriptures closely associate the commercial element with the political "kings of the earth." (Rev. 18:9-19) Does not commerce, too, manifest the spirit of God's chief adversary? Everywhere greed and dishonesty are apparent, so much so that a common motto today is Caveat emptor, that is, "Let the buyer beware."

But are not the great traditional religions of the world different? Do they not constitute a mighty bulwark against any superhuman evil influence? On the contrary, the religious leaders of both Christendom and pagandom have intimately associated themselves with the political and commercial leaders. As "friendship with the world is enmity with God," these systems of worship betray themselves to be false religions.-Jas. 4:4.

The Bible describes the world empire of false religion, called "Babylon the Great," as a harlotrous woman "with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, whereas those who inhabit the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication."-Rev. 17:2, 5.


Have not the world's religions blessed the nations and prayed for the troops in their blood-spilling war efforts? And what about morals? It is clear that when the middle-class attitude on morals changes, so does that of many religious leaders. Ignoring the Word of God, hypocritical clergymen turn to the wisdom of the world and seek the plaudits and approval of men. No wonder that, instead of being described in God's Word as a place of protection from the Devil, Babylon the Great is called "a dwelling place of demons."-Rev. 18:2.

many who profess Christianity-and who claim to believe the Bible-reject the idea that a real Devil exists? Because, in truth, they do not accept the Bible as God's Word. (Jeremiah 8:9) , psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud associated belief in the Devil with evils that individuals suffered at the hands of a harsh male parent in early life. It became popular to look upon Biblical references to Satan the Devil as referring merely to a personification of evil.That the Devil would hide behind a front of respectability just as is done by the leaders of the Cosa Nostra crime syndicate is to be logically expected. Those underworld bosses appear in the eyes of the public as respectable businessmen, operating legitimate businesses, but under their outward appearances they carry on their vile deeds and widespread illegal activities that are detrimental to the public. This practice of working behind a respectable front is pursued expertly by the Devil, who is the master of deception


What better way can he deceive people and get them to serve him unwittingly than by using a respectable religious front that outwardly appears to be good and enlightening? According to this pattern of deception, he has used religions in Christendom that appear on the surface to be Christian but that are involved in many unscriptural practices and have made themselves a part of his worldwide system of things. This they have done contrary to the fact that Jesus Christ said that true Christians would keep separate from the world, even as he did.-John 17:16; Matt. 7:22, 23



Supposedly Christian religions have been involved in fiendish inquisitions, ruthless massacres and savage wars. Whose influence is manifested by such actions-that of Jesus Christ, who commanded his followers to love one another, or that of the Devil? What about religious leaders who undermine faith in the written Word of Jehovah God by claiming that it is filled with myths? What about those who go so far as to say that God is dead? Is this not the sort of thing to be expected from "the ruler of the world," who is a constant slanderer of man's Creator?

That the Devil would, as the master of deception, mislead people by religions that outwardly claim to serve the true God was foretold in the Bible at 2 Corinthians 11:13-15, where it says: "For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself keeps transforming himself into an angel of light. It is therefore nothing great if his ministers also keep transforming themselves into ministers of righteousness."
If, for example, there is no Devil, how can you reconcile the existence of a God of love with the continuing existence of evil? As Howard R. Burkle writes in God, Suffering, & Belief: "Of all the factors which make belief [in God] difficult for moderns, however, the most important is human suffering." Denying the existence of the Devil might therefore be one breath away from denying the existence of God!