Satan's greatest accomplishment

[Mr.Vicchio]

I believe that Evil, has a face, a name, Satan. Prince of Darkness. I could be wrong, but I do believe, just as Jesus is the Son of God, Evil has a personifiable figure.

What is Satan's greatest accomplishment then? Making sure people quit believing he could even exsist.

Think about it for a moment, throught history, Evil has always been seen as having an entity that promotes said evil through the world of man, who corrupts, twists and ruins mens lives. Satan is the western Christian view of this, the fallen angel cast out of paradise.

For centruies the Churches held the faithful aware of the temptations of Satan, that evil is real, and we should guard against it. But now, we live in a world not of absolutes, black and white, good versus evil, but a world dominated by shades of moral grey. What better enviroment for Satan and his minions to control then one in which there is no "evil" and Satan's just like God, a fairy tale of the enslaved mind reliant upon "religion" to get them through life?

I read this premis somewhere, forgot to save it, but it made me think. Satan can only flourish when no one is looking for him.

[Lilith]

I've always wondered what Satan would look like. If he was an angel in heaven at one time, then he probably is quite beautiful. You know the serpent was also a symbol used in the ancient goddess religions, once upon a time, before the *Male* god took over...imagine that...the serpent/female/goddess tempted Eve to sin in the garden....

[LogicaLunatic]

Quote by: Mr.Vicchio I read this premis somewhere, forgot to save it

First time I heard it.....

Quote by: Verbal Kint in The Usual Suspects He is supposed to be Turkish. Some say his father was German. Nobody believed he was real. Nobody ever saw him or knew anybody that ever worked directly for him, but to hear Kobayashi tell it, anybody could have worked for Soze. You never knew. That was his power. The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist. One story the guys told me - the story I believe - was from his days in Turkey. There was a petty gang of Hungarians that wanted their own mob. They realized that to be in power you didn't need guns or money or even numbers. You just needed + the will to do what the other guy wouldn't. After a while they come to power, and then they come after Soze He was small time then, just running dope, they say...

Actually first written by Baudelaire

As to what the devil looks like...

PETE
I always wondered-what's the devil
look like?

EVERETT
Well, of course there's all manner
of lesser imps'n demons, Pete, but
the Great Satan hisself is red and
scaly with a bifurcated tail and
carries a hayfork.

TOMMY
Oh no! No suh! He's white-white as
you folks, with mirrors for eyes an'
a big hollow voice an' allus travels
with a mean old hound.

And now the argument........

I of course, don't believe that Satan exists. So if he does then I've definitely been duped :) But also, if Satan does exist I highly doubt we know the whole story. Yeah we've read what is available on Captain Howdy from the Bible but, assuming it's true, it has to be extremely biased since it is all divinely inspired by Satan's arch enemy, God.

I'll bet, if we did hear from Satan we'd hear a similar story but in this one, god would be the bad guy. So I think, if I do decide to become religious (ever) I'm going to wait to hear both sides of the story before I affiliate myself with either.

TOMMY
I had to be at that crossroads las'
midnight to sell mah soul to the
devil.

EVERETT
Well ain't it a small world,
spiritually speakin'! Pete and Delmar
just been baptized and saved! I guess
I'm the only one here who remains
unaffiliated!

[Vee]

Lilith was also Adam's first wife, allegedly.

[Samildanach]

Im with you LL. As for the question of Satans beauty..there would be no question of it. If evil stalked the land breathing fire, killing and bellowing curses everyone would turn away from it. True evil is as beautiful as Catholic stained glass windows....also there is nothing to stop evil portraying itself as good. Good can never portray itself as evil. So how do you know your churches are not founts of evil rather than good?

[Gorgo]

21st Century and people are still talking about the possibility of Satan and ghosts and boogeymen?

[Mr.Vicchio]

You guys gonna ya know, stick to the topic or just derail it?

Just curious. If you wanna do a thread on what Satan looks like, be my guest, but do it in ANOTHER THREAD PLEASE.

[Lilith]

Lilith was also Adam's first wife, allegedly

Don't worry, I don't have any past life delusions about that! (it's such a pretty name, tho.)

[Chris the Chees]

The idea of Satan totally contradicts Christian logic.

If god is all powerful, then he obviously can simply destory Satan. If he is all knowing then he knew that the Morning Star would become evil. Yet what does he do? Nothing. So much for an benevolant all powerful god.

[PlumBun]

In Old Testament times/teachings, satan (meaning adversary or one who opposes) seemed rather an instrument of god (being one of his angels), kind of like the military advisor to the president who has his finger on the button. God is the source of all good and evil. The word satan was also used for humans who oppose some good.
In the New Testament, Satan takes on a more powerful role and becomes the direct adversary of God. Some timelines put the writing of the new testament at the same basic time as Zoroastrianism was in practice. In Zorastrianism, there is one good supreme god and his twin brother, the god of all evil. Some scholars suggest that the new Christian idea about satan as the ultimate evil being stemmed from the spread of Zorastrianism in the Middle East.

[Samildanach]

Hang on a sec Chris, you are assuming that Satan does more harm than good by being here. If the long term consequence of Satan being around outweighed the negative consequences of him not being around then God would not destroy him as it would be good for humanity so there is a way out of that contradiction.
Im more worried about how the Christians can tell their churches are good with evil being able to emulate good any time it wants.

[Mr.Vicchio]

Free will. If God want's us to volunarily choose to love and honor him, wouldn't make sense to allow temptation to have a have a champion?

Also, in the universe as we know it, everythin has an opposite.

[PatrickHenry]

You are probably right Mr. Vicchio. Other great accomplishments by our spiritual enemy:

Penetrating the church and establishing a presence there, bringing shame to the otherwise wonderful name of Jesus.

Convincing people that they are on God's team when they are actually cooperating with the Enemy.

Gaining control of the highest levels of nearly every government, especially in Washington, DC.

Convincing people that Greed is Good.

Persuading rationalists that GOD doesn't exist.

[Chris the Chees]

Quote by: Mr.Vicchio Free will. If God want's us to volunarily choose to love and honor him, wouldn't make sense to allow temptation to have a have a champion? Also, in the universe as we know it, everythin has an opposite.

Good excuse! I have to say, I didn't think of that, however it's irrelevant, unless of course you can find me a quote in the bible which specifically says that.

[tman_ndsu08]

Quote by: Mr.Vicchio I believe that Evil, has a face, a name, Satan. Prince of Darkness. I could be wrong, but I do believe, just as Jesus is the Son of God, Evil has a personifiable figure. What is Satan's greatest accomplishment then? Making sure people quit believing he could even exsist. Think about it for a moment, throught history, Evil has always been seen as having an entity that promotes said evil through the world of man, who corrupts, twists and ruins mens lives. Satan is the western Christian view of this, the fallen angel cast out of paradise. For centruies the Churches held the faithful aware of the temptations of Satan, that evil is real, and we should guard against it. But now, we live in a world not of absolutes, black and white, good versus evil, but a world dominated by shades of moral grey. What better enviroment for Satan and his minions to control then one in which there is no "evil" and Satan's just like God, a fairy tale of the enslaved mind reliant upon "religion" to get them through life? I read this premis somewhere, forgot to save it, but it made me think. Satan can only flourish when no one is looking for him.

His greatest accomplishment was to get people to organize into different religious groups.

This way, people can have a reason to hate each other that goes right to the roots of their own beliefs.

[Gorgo]

Satan's greatest accomplishment is getting people to believe in him and to believe in god and to think the world is a war between good and evil.

[ericsp23]

I've always felt that evil was simply the absence of good, similar to how darkness is simply the absence of light.
I don't find it necessary to believe in some personification of evil, although I can see how it would be helpful to the established religions to encourage the belief.

[Gorgo]

Evil and good are often just terms used to obscure what is happening.

[Mr.Vicchio]

No, evil and good are real tangible realities. Anyone who think that there is no absoulte good or evil is deluding themselves.

[Mr.Vicchio]

Quote by: Gorgo Satan's greatest accomplishment is getting people to believe in him and to believe in god and to think the world is a war between good and evil.

Welll if there is a Satan then there is a God. Thanks for clearing that up Gorgo.