Is Satan a real being or a term to identify any enemy or concept opposing God?

com7fy8 said:

1 John 5:19 >

"We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one." (1 John 5:19)

So, not only is Satan called "Satan" which ones say can mean our accuser and adversary, but also I see how John says he is "the wicked one". And Paul says there is "the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience," in Ephesians 2:2.

God's word doesn't say it was a parable. And it appears that John is saying the world is under the sway of Satan. And this would be by means of the evil spirit "who" is working in disobedient people.

And Jesus told Peter that Satan had "asked" to sift Peter as wheat. He did not say that was a parable. Parables, to my knowledge do not ask to sift humans as wheat.

"Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat." (Luke 22:31)

Jesus refers to Satan as "he", not "it".

In any case, I would say Satan has different names in order to bring out different things which are true of him. He is our enemy, adversary, wicked, and ruling the evil world . . . not what parables and theoretical interpretations are known for doing.

And the Bible does not clearly say otherwise. So, Jesus also says >

"the ruler of this world is judged,"

in John 16:11.

And Jesus says "the ruler of this world is cast out." (in John 16:11)

So, Satan is the ruler of the evil world, I would say this means. A ruler is a personal being, in this case spiritual.

Why does Satan not want us to know this? If people think they themselves are their own gods, then they can be tricked into taking things into their own hands, and not know who is causing them to do this. He is an outcast and condemned . . . not how he wants people to see him, to say the least. Because "he is a liar and the father of it," Jesus also says, in John 8:44.

So, Jesus and John and Paul are talking about Satan as "he", not "it". Parables and interpretations are its.

But yes in God's word there are parables in which there are personal beings. So, I see how ones could decide this is a stepping stone to show that anything about Satan is a parable, too.

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fwGod said:

Whether you are wondering if Satan is real or you are a believing Christian considering how Satan may be deceiving you, it is important to go to the source of all truth about Satan - the Bible. God's Word describes to us in detail who Satan is, his nature, his acts, and his future!

These Bible verses in no way express a myth, but what meaning would there be in them if they did?

1 John 3:7-9 Little children, let no one deceive you: The one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as Christ is righteous. 8 The one who practices sin is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the very start. This is why the Son of God was revealed, to destroy the works of the devil. 9 Anyone born of God refuses to practice sin, because God’s seed abides in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God.

This connects with 1jn.3:9.. James.4:7 So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

But according to you, I guess we don't have to resist what is merely a Greek myth. And further more, I guess that in Matthew 4:1-11 Jesus wasn't really tempted in the wilderness at all, for what deviltry can there be in a mere Greek myth?

This connects with 1jn.3:8.. Acts 3:38 You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.

Where is truth.. or divine purpose if God was so concerned that He sent His only begotten Son, Jesus who came to destroy.. .. nothing more than a Greek myth?

John 8:44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

But according to you Jesus is only talking in parables of a Greek myth. Wonder why none of the religious leaders didn't defend themselves by saying that Jesus' accusations mean nothing because the devil is no more than the Greek myth.

Acts 5:3 Then Peter said, "Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land?

According to you it's a wonder why God struck Ananias down since Peter must of been talking in parables in incorporating a Greek myth into the charges against Ananias.

Here's another one. Why would the apostle Paul be writing to encourage against a Greek myth.. and foolishly involving God in it?..
Rm.16:20 The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.

Zechariah 3:1-2 Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. 2 The Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, Satan! Indeed, the Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?”

Oh no!.. satan is even in the Hebrew language, so the Greek myth is even there too? This url gives the scholarly explanation Strong's Hebrew: 7854. שָׂטָן (satan) -- adversary, also the name of the superhuman adversary of God.

There are still more scriptures that mention the devil/satan but in the interest of keeping this post short, I won't include them here.
Jesus only spoke in parables when he was teaching. Otherwise he didn't. The incident for instance of Jesus being tempted by the devil is an actual event, not a parable.

Parables involve metaphors and figures of speech. However, none of the verses speaking of the devil/satan have any indicative phrases that could identify the texts as anything else but actual events, encounters with a demonic entity.
Matthew wrote the gospel after all of the incidents had happened that are recorded in it of the ministry of Jesus.

Therefore your statement is invalid, and also an example of weird thinking.
There are any number of scriptures that imply the influence or activity of the devil or satan without actually mentioning him.

Trouble, temptation, adversity, affliction, oppression.. etc, etc, etc.

Therefore justifying the scriptural connections I made that are related in showing how the devil can influence our thinking as he did to Ananias and wanted to influence Jesus by tempting him.
The translation of the word in Hebrew or Greek in both languages becomes "satan" as Jesus said "Be gone satan".. who prompted Peter's thoughts and he quickly spoke the words.

That satan was the devil, the same that tempted Jesus in the wilderness.. a supernatural enemy which was once the anointed cherub that covered, rebelled and therefore became a fallen angel, first introduced in the garden of Eden to tempt Adam to disobey God's command and deceive Eve.. such is not merely a human enemy as you attempt to claim, as there was no other human alive when Adam and Eve was. Neither was there any human with or near Jesus when he was in the wilderness of temptation.

In any case, an enemy.. any enemy is not a Greek myth, or any myth from any cultural origin.

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fwGod said:

You would make yourself superior to God and His Word in saying that the word 'devil/satan' should not be in the Bible? But no.. I don't believe that notion originates from you.. but the teaching no doubt comes from some minor person who sets themselves up as a greater authority than God.

You are mistaken to say that the devil comes from Greek mysticism.. that is just one culture but the devil works in all cultures. They have all given him a name.

The infernal names - Wikipedia

His first appearance or entrance into the world is recorded in the old testament.. he was in the garden of Eden to persuade Adam and Eve to sin. He influenced Cain to kill his brother Abel. He blinded the minds of the wicked people who drowned in Noah's flood. He was the death angel who killed the first born in Egypt. King Saul was tormented by him. King David was enticed by him. Jesus was tempted by him but the Lord refused to bow and worship him.

Before he set foot in the garden of Eden he was in God's heaven, the anointed cherub that covered, until his beauty made him prideful and he said that he would sit in God's throne and shortly after he found himself kicked out of heaven, a fallen angel.

I don't quite know what you mean when you say that the devil is outside our comprehension because with every mention of his influence in the Bible.. and upon us we can learn from what Jesus said of him and thereby figure out his tactics.

It's the people in the world who have no comprehension of him even as he influences them, disguised as their own evil thoughts. It's the people in the world who have no comprehension of God, nor any comprehension of His breathing into every person the eternal life of salvation.
It's interesting that after stating that satan is beyond our comprehension, you state what you have been able to comprehend of him from the book of Revelation.
Yet you're mistaken because, where you don't know if it will be an it, or he or she.. yet in all scriptures describing the devil there is used the word "he". (why 'he' and not 'it' or 'she' would be another topic of discussion).

As well as using the identity names or titles that have been throughout the Bible. Abaddon- Hebrew, Apollyon- Greek. Revelation 12:9 So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world.

Further, he is not what "is but isn't".. If that was the exact wording, that would mean that in John's day the empire was in existence but in future will not be in existence.

According to the text the apostle John said that the beast., ie, the future world empire "the Beast that was, and is not, and yet is" (Rev.17:8). Indicating that it was not in existence in John's day, but would be in future. Or, he was saying it according to our perspective. It was in his day, is not in our day, but will be in our future. A revival of what once was. The revived Roman Empire.

In Daniel the beast is not the person but the beasts described were empires.. Babylon, Media Persia, Greece, Rome. Of course each had a ruler, leader, emperor.

John also indicates that that world-ruler of the coming evil empire will be the antichrist, the devil incarnate. So satan achieves with that lawless man what he didn't achieve with Jesus.

Mat.4:6-7 Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; And the devil said to Him, “I will give You all this domain and its glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. “Therefore if You worship before me, it shall all be Yours.”

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com7fy8 said:

It is like how Hitler was a person but also there was all the stuff and the people promoting it that was coming from Hitler's influence. This included how his personality was showing through various people. Each of those people was a person, too.

All that evil was organized, with persons including in it being organized, versus evil being totally chaotic.

Like this, Satan is over his kingdom, and ones doing what he wants become more and more Satanic in his emotions and ways which are connected to evil character. People's selfish personalities and their ways are produced by "the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience." (in Ephesians 2:2)

And you can see in real life how people become deeply degraded as they continue in commitment to their wrong things, and God's word says this >

"But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived." (2 Timothy 3:13)

But it is all organized, all under control. Or else, evil would be totally chaotic.

"God resists the proud," > this is part of why > in James 4:6, in 1 Peter 5:5.

So, Satan's system actually is a sewer system for flowing the spirit of evil and it vessels to the flaming sewer which burns with fire and brimstone > to "everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels", Jesus says in Matthew 25:41. I see how only fire can control Satan and his who are so stubbornly anti-love.

There will be "torment", including as presented in Revelation 14:10. And now already we see how ones of Satan's spirit can suffer "torment" > by not living in God's love > 1 John 4:18. People are now already experiencing how Satan is, in fear, and this a sample of how ones could spend eternity, much more-so with reaping what ones are only sowing now > Galatians 6:7-8. So, already ones are finding out Satan and the "torment" of his fear is not a metaphor, but spiritual reality.

And we have how Jesus has already dealt with this, by so dying for us on the cross > "that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage." (in Hebrew 2:14-15).

So, I will offer that Jesus did not so suffer and die like that, in order to defeat what was merely some metaphor. But "fear of death" is slavery to Satan. And >

"He who loves his life will lose it," Jesus says. Satan is self-seeking, and his spirit deeply ruins humans so they bring their own loss of their lives . . . in many ways . . . including emotionally by being unforgiving, for only one example. The self-seeking spirit is anti-love, anti-creative, bringing people to their own ruin and misery.

There is spiritual power causing that.

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Carl Emerson said:

Just a point the Satan is created - He never was an eternal being...

One must be careful not to attribute to Satan power and place he never had.

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genez said:

Well then? Is God a real being, or a term to identify the one whom the term "Satan" is used to describe as being in opposition?

Is God a real being? Or, a term used to describe something?

Did a "term" inflict sores on Job? Or, did Satan do so?

Did Jesus cast out "terms" from Legion? Did those "terms" later enter a herd of swine?

Satan is real. Or, it would have to mean God has lied to us about telling us about Satan. Or, that God is only a term as well.


It looks like Satan is someone you need to come to terms with.

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com7fy8 said:

But >

"we do not wrestle against flesh and blood"

(in Ephesians 6:12).

So, yes there are humans who are enemies. But the real and deeper problem is >

"the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience"

(in Ephesians 2:2).

Humans, then, are not the real problem. But there is the evil spirit of Satan who "works" within disobedient people.

And so, what do we need to understand, then, if Satan's evil spirit is working in people?

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1213 said:

Interesting thing is that in that place it is with capital s, when for example in Mark 3:26 it is not, even though in there it would be more fitting.

I think "satan" means an adversary (=one who opposes another in purpose or act). The serpent or devil is also called satan, but I don’t think it is a proper noun.

The great dragon was thrown down, the old serpent, he who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. He was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.
Rev. 12:9

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Der Alte said:

SATAN:
By: Joseph Jacobs, Ludwig Blau
Term used in the Bible with the general connotation of "adversary," being applied (1) to an enemy in war (I Kings v. 18 [A. V. 4]; xi. 14, 23, 25), from which use is developed the concept of a traitor in battle (I Sam. xxix. 4); (2) to an accuser before the judgment-seat (Ps. cix. 6); and (3) to any opponent (II Sam. xix. 23 [A. V. 22]). The word is likewise used to denote an antagonist who puts obstacles in the way, as in Num. xxii. 32, where the angel of God is described as opposing Balaam in the guise of a satan or adversary; so that the concept of Satan as a distinct being was not then known. Such a view is found, however, in the prologue to the Book of Job, where Satan appears, together with other celestial beings or "sons of God," before the Deity, replying to the inquiry of God as to whence he had come, with the words: "From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it" (Job i. 7). Both question and answer, as well as the dialogue which follows, characterize Satan as that member of the divine council who watches over human activity, but with the evil purpose of searching out men's sins and appearing as their accuser. He is, therefore, the celestial prosecutor, who sees only iniquity; for he persists in his evil opinion of Job even after the man of Uz has passed successfully through his first trial by surrendering to the will of God, whereupon Satan demands another test through physical suffering (ib. ii. 3-5).
Yet it is also evident from the prologue that Satan has no power of independent action, but requires the permission of God, which he may not transgress.He can not be regarded, therefore, as an opponent of the Deity; and the doctrine of monotheism is disturbed by his existence no more than by the presence of other beings before the face of God. This view is also retained in Zech. iii. 1-2, where Satan is described as the adversary of the high priest Joshua, and of the people of God whose representative the hierarch is; and he there opposes the "angel of the Lord," who bids him be silent in the name of God. In both of these passages Satan is a mere accuser who acts only according to the permission of the Deity; but in I Chron. xxi. 1 he appears as one who is able to provoke David to destroy Israel. The Chronicler (third century B.C.) regards Satan as an independent agent, a view which is the more striking since the source whence he drew his account (II Sam. xxiv. 1) speaks of God Himself as the one who moved David against the children of Israel. Since the older conception refers all events, whether good or bad, to God alone (I Sam. xvi. 14; I Kings xxii. 22; Isa. xlv. 7; etc.), it is possible that the Chronicler, and perhaps even Zechariah, were influenced by Zoroastrianism, even though in the case of the prophet Jewish monism strongly opposed Iranian dualism (Stave, "Einfluss des Parsismus auf das Judenthum," pp. 253 et seq.). An immediate influence of the Babylonian concept of the "accuser, persecutor, and oppressor" (Schrader, "K. A. T." 3d ed., p. 463) is impossible, since traces of such an influence, if it had existed, would have appeared in the earlier portions of the Bible.
SATAN - JewishEncyclopedia.com​

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