2 Corinthians 4:3-4 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
4 In whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
That by the God of this world the supreme Being is meant, who in his judgment gave over the minds of the unbelieving Jews to spiritual darkness, so that destruction came upon them to the uttermost: of THIS WORLD, means simply mankind at large in their state of probation in this lower world, in opposition to their state in the world to come. The same meaning the word has in several other places, to which l need not refer; it simply implying the present state of things, governed by the Divine providence, in contradistinction from the eternal state: and it is very remarkable that, in 1 Timothy 1:17, God himself is called τω δε βασιλει των αιωνων, the King of the WORLD; what we call King eternal; but here it evidently means Him who governs both worlds, and rules in time and eternity.
Some, and particularly the ancient fathers, have connected and have read the verse: But God hath blinded the minds of the unbelievers of this world, Theophylact, and Augustine, all plead for the above meaning; and St. Augustine says that it was the opinion of almost all the ancients The Adam Clarke Commentary
2 Corinthians 4 Commentary - Adam Clarke Commentary
2 Corinthians 3:14 But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ.
Isaiah 6:9: Go and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. MAKE the HEART of this PEOPLE FAT, and MAKE their EARS HEAVY, and SHUT their EYES; LEST they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, Matthew 13:14,15; ; Mark 4:12; ; John 12:40; and particularly Romans 11:8-10: God HATH GIVEN THEM THE SPIRIT of SLUMBER, EYES that they SHOULD not SEE, and EARS that they SHOULD not HEAR; let their EYES be DARKENED, in the same circumstances of willful rebellion and obstinate unbelief; and the great God of heaven and earth is he who judicially blinds their eyes; makes their hearts fat, i.e. stupid; gives them the spirit of slumber: and bows down their back, apostle means the true God by the words the god of this world.
The idea that there is a God in heaven above who fights against a god of the underworld, or hell, is not monotheism, however, it is the same duality found in other pagan faiths. Through His prophet Isaiah, God profoundly states, "I form light and create darkness, I make peace and CREATE evil; I am God, I do all these things" (Isaiah 45:7).Consider this: If there were such an opponent and foe of God (Satan) as Christianity claims, don't you think God is capable of eliminating His created angel with a mere breath - or thought (anthropomorphically speaking)? If God spoke him (Satan) into existence; God could simply quit speaking and Satan would simply cease to exist. (Abraham Joshua Heschel, The Prophets, Jewish Publication Society, 1962, Philip Birnbaum, Encyclopedia of Jewish Concepts, Hebrew Publishing Company, 1991, Aryeh Kaplan, Jewish Meditation, Schocken Books, 1985.).
In the first entrance of evil into the world, the temptation is referred only to the serpent. In the book of Job we find for the first time a distinct mention of "Ha-Satan," the "adversary" of Job. But it is important to remark the emphatic stress laid on the subordinate position, on the absence of all but delegated power, of all terror and all grandeur in it's character. It is especially remarkable that no power of spiritual influence, but only a power over outward circumstances, is attributed to ha-satan. The subordination and inferiority are as strongly marked as ever. Of the nature and original state of Satan, little is revealed in Scripture. The term devil is also derived from the same Indo-European root word for deva, which roughly translates as "angel." It is easy to see how modern religions adapted the satan to mean "fallen angel". ME: from med. L., from L. daemon (or its dimin. daemonium), from Gk daimōn 'deity, genius'. The word "demon" (or daemon) comes from the Greek "daimon", which means "spirit". In ancient times, this term denoted spirits in general, without making a distinction between good or evil. Seir Seirath, hairy; goat; demon; tempest Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary Hebrew demon (שׂעיר). WYCLIFF BIBLE- Read and Study the Bible Online - Search, Find Verses =bibles&q=fiend&t=wyc&c=n
Matt 4:5 Then the fiend took him into the holy city, and setted him on the pinnacle of the temple, Rev 12:12 WYC Therefore, ye heavens, be ye glad, [Therefore, glad ye, heavens] and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the earth, and to the sea; for the fiend is come down to you, and hath great wrath [having great wrath], witting that he hath little time.
Arabic for Satan: trickster (also: cheat, conman, fraudster, imposter, deceiver) a person who cheats or deceives people; a wicked or cruel person. "a fiend thirsty for blood and revenge"; Villain, beast, brute, barbarian, monster, ogre, sadist, evildoer, swine G4567 σατανα σατανάς accuser, cruel wicked and inhuman person, adversary, opponent[G1140 & G1228] G 1140 δαίμονα δαίμονας fiend, troublemaker, demon, mischievous person, cruel, wicked, and inhuman person compare [G4567 & G1228] G1228 διάβολος διαβολης διαβαλλων διαβολέας 'slanderer' 'accuser', diabolical (adj.) Slanderous, hurtful, or corrupting. One who slanders, hurts, and corrupts (casting or sowing throughout) compare [G4567 & G1140]. Whether the devil is directly the cause of man's sinning?
Now God cannot be the cause of sin, as stated above (C/ [79], A[1]). Therefore it follows that in this respect, a man's will alone is directly the cause of his sin. Augustine proves (De Lib. Arb. i, 11) that "nothing else than his own will makes man's mind the slave of his desire." Now man does not become a slave to his desires; except through sin. Therefore the cause of sin cannot be the devil. but man's own will alone. In the first entrance of evil into the world, the temptation is referred only to the serpent. In the book of Job we find for the first time a distinct mention of “Satan,” the “adversary” of Job. But it is important to remark the emphatic stress laid on his subordinate position, on the absence of all but delegated power, of all terror and all grandeur in his character. It is especially remarkable that no power of spiritual influence, but only a power over outward circumstances, is attributed to him. The captivity brought the Israelites face to face with the great dualism of the Persian mythology, the conflict of Ormuzd with Ahriman, the co-ordinate spirit of evil; but it is confessed by all that the Satan of Scripture bears no resemblance to the Persian Ahriman. His subordination and inferiority are as strongly marked as ever.
Demoniacs. This word is frequently used in the New Testament, and applied to persons suffering under the possession of a demon or evil spirit, such possession generally showing itself visibly in bodily disease or mental derangement. It has been maintained by many persons that our Lord and the evangelists, in referring to demonical possession, spoke only in accommodation to the general belief of the Jews, without any assertion as to its truth or its falsity. It is concluded that, since the symptoms of the affliction were frequently those of bodily disease (as dumbness, Matt. 9:32; blindness, Matt. 12:22; epilepsy, Mark 9:17-27), or those seen in cases of ordinary insanity (as in Matt. 8:28; Mark 5:1-5), the demoniacs were merely persons suffering under unusual diseases of body and mind.
What penalty will suffer, everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his strength, 2 Thessalonians 1:9 (Elberfelder 1905 (German))
The Son of Man Must Be Lifted Up
Jobn 12:31-32 Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince [Christ] of this world be cast out.
32 And I, [Christ] if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. John 16:10-11 Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; 11 Of judgment, because the prince [Christ] of this world is judged.
4 In whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
That by the God of this world the supreme Being is meant, who in his judgment gave over the minds of the unbelieving Jews to spiritual darkness, so that destruction came upon them to the uttermost: of THIS WORLD, means simply mankind at large in their state of probation in this lower world, in opposition to their state in the world to come. The same meaning the word has in several other places, to which l need not refer; it simply implying the present state of things, governed by the Divine providence, in contradistinction from the eternal state: and it is very remarkable that, in 1 Timothy 1:17, God himself is called τω δε βασιλει των αιωνων, the King of the WORLD; what we call King eternal; but here it evidently means Him who governs both worlds, and rules in time and eternity.
Some, and particularly the ancient fathers, have connected and have read the verse: But God hath blinded the minds of the unbelievers of this world, Theophylact, and Augustine, all plead for the above meaning; and St. Augustine says that it was the opinion of almost all the ancients The Adam Clarke Commentary
2 Corinthians 4 Commentary - Adam Clarke Commentary
2 Corinthians 3:14 But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ.
Isaiah 6:9: Go and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. MAKE the HEART of this PEOPLE FAT, and MAKE their EARS HEAVY, and SHUT their EYES; LEST they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, Matthew 13:14,15; ; Mark 4:12; ; John 12:40; and particularly Romans 11:8-10: God HATH GIVEN THEM THE SPIRIT of SLUMBER, EYES that they SHOULD not SEE, and EARS that they SHOULD not HEAR; let their EYES be DARKENED, in the same circumstances of willful rebellion and obstinate unbelief; and the great God of heaven and earth is he who judicially blinds their eyes; makes their hearts fat, i.e. stupid; gives them the spirit of slumber: and bows down their back, apostle means the true God by the words the god of this world.
The idea that there is a God in heaven above who fights against a god of the underworld, or hell, is not monotheism, however, it is the same duality found in other pagan faiths. Through His prophet Isaiah, God profoundly states, "I form light and create darkness, I make peace and CREATE evil; I am God, I do all these things" (Isaiah 45:7).Consider this: If there were such an opponent and foe of God (Satan) as Christianity claims, don't you think God is capable of eliminating His created angel with a mere breath - or thought (anthropomorphically speaking)? If God spoke him (Satan) into existence; God could simply quit speaking and Satan would simply cease to exist. (Abraham Joshua Heschel, The Prophets, Jewish Publication Society, 1962, Philip Birnbaum, Encyclopedia of Jewish Concepts, Hebrew Publishing Company, 1991, Aryeh Kaplan, Jewish Meditation, Schocken Books, 1985.).
In the first entrance of evil into the world, the temptation is referred only to the serpent. In the book of Job we find for the first time a distinct mention of "Ha-Satan," the "adversary" of Job. But it is important to remark the emphatic stress laid on the subordinate position, on the absence of all but delegated power, of all terror and all grandeur in it's character. It is especially remarkable that no power of spiritual influence, but only a power over outward circumstances, is attributed to ha-satan. The subordination and inferiority are as strongly marked as ever. Of the nature and original state of Satan, little is revealed in Scripture. The term devil is also derived from the same Indo-European root word for deva, which roughly translates as "angel." It is easy to see how modern religions adapted the satan to mean "fallen angel". ME: from med. L., from L. daemon (or its dimin. daemonium), from Gk daimōn 'deity, genius'. The word "demon" (or daemon) comes from the Greek "daimon", which means "spirit". In ancient times, this term denoted spirits in general, without making a distinction between good or evil. Seir Seirath, hairy; goat; demon; tempest Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary Hebrew demon (שׂעיר). WYCLIFF BIBLE- Read and Study the Bible Online - Search, Find Verses =bibles&q=fiend&t=wyc&c=n
Matt 4:5 Then the fiend took him into the holy city, and setted him on the pinnacle of the temple, Rev 12:12 WYC Therefore, ye heavens, be ye glad, [Therefore, glad ye, heavens] and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the earth, and to the sea; for the fiend is come down to you, and hath great wrath [having great wrath], witting that he hath little time.
Arabic for Satan: trickster (also: cheat, conman, fraudster, imposter, deceiver) a person who cheats or deceives people; a wicked or cruel person. "a fiend thirsty for blood and revenge"; Villain, beast, brute, barbarian, monster, ogre, sadist, evildoer, swine G4567 σατανα σατανάς accuser, cruel wicked and inhuman person, adversary, opponent[G1140 & G1228] G 1140 δαίμονα δαίμονας fiend, troublemaker, demon, mischievous person, cruel, wicked, and inhuman person compare [G4567 & G1228] G1228 διάβολος διαβολης διαβαλλων διαβολέας 'slanderer' 'accuser', diabolical (adj.) Slanderous, hurtful, or corrupting. One who slanders, hurts, and corrupts (casting or sowing throughout) compare [G4567 & G1140]. Whether the devil is directly the cause of man's sinning?
Now God cannot be the cause of sin, as stated above (C/ [79], A[1]). Therefore it follows that in this respect, a man's will alone is directly the cause of his sin. Augustine proves (De Lib. Arb. i, 11) that "nothing else than his own will makes man's mind the slave of his desire." Now man does not become a slave to his desires; except through sin. Therefore the cause of sin cannot be the devil. but man's own will alone. In the first entrance of evil into the world, the temptation is referred only to the serpent. In the book of Job we find for the first time a distinct mention of “Satan,” the “adversary” of Job. But it is important to remark the emphatic stress laid on his subordinate position, on the absence of all but delegated power, of all terror and all grandeur in his character. It is especially remarkable that no power of spiritual influence, but only a power over outward circumstances, is attributed to him. The captivity brought the Israelites face to face with the great dualism of the Persian mythology, the conflict of Ormuzd with Ahriman, the co-ordinate spirit of evil; but it is confessed by all that the Satan of Scripture bears no resemblance to the Persian Ahriman. His subordination and inferiority are as strongly marked as ever.
Demoniacs. This word is frequently used in the New Testament, and applied to persons suffering under the possession of a demon or evil spirit, such possession generally showing itself visibly in bodily disease or mental derangement. It has been maintained by many persons that our Lord and the evangelists, in referring to demonical possession, spoke only in accommodation to the general belief of the Jews, without any assertion as to its truth or its falsity. It is concluded that, since the symptoms of the affliction were frequently those of bodily disease (as dumbness, Matt. 9:32; blindness, Matt. 12:22; epilepsy, Mark 9:17-27), or those seen in cases of ordinary insanity (as in Matt. 8:28; Mark 5:1-5), the demoniacs were merely persons suffering under unusual diseases of body and mind.
What penalty will suffer, everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his strength, 2 Thessalonians 1:9 (Elberfelder 1905 (German))
The Son of Man Must Be Lifted Up
Jobn 12:31-32 Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince [Christ] of this world be cast out.
32 And I, [Christ] if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. John 16:10-11 Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; 11 Of judgment, because the prince [Christ] of this world is judged.
