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

[sparow]

Matthew 16:23 (NKJV)
23 But He turned and said to Peter, "Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men."

Jesus calls Peter Satan and it is interesting why:

Matthew 16:21-22 (NKJV)
21 From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.
22 Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, "Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!"

This doesn't mean there is not an Archangel called Satan. My position is similar to Judaism where Satan is a metaphoric title implying evil. The verses above are straight talk and not parable but clearly Peter is not an Archangel.

The translators present Satan as a person; but is it true?

 

[Goodhuman]

Satan was seraphim but now is transformed to the devil.
He told satan to Peter, because satan was controlling his speaking.

 

[Christian Sonic Fan]

Satan is a fallen angel that wanted to be like God but God did not allow this and sent him into Hell. He was also said to be the prettiest angel that there ever was. Don't let his good looks charm you because he is truly the most evil thing there is. He can control people and make them do very bad things. This is, of course, doing sin.

AntiChrists are people that go against the word of God.

 

[Phronema]

I do believe he was an angel, and now a demon. So, no I don't believe he is a "concept". To think so really contradicts almost 2 millenia of Christian teaching.

It seems a bit strange to me that people would even consider this "controversial" as it states in the Holy Scripture that Lucifer is a spirit. He was an angel, and now a demon. It's kind of lost on me how people could misinterpret the Holy Scriptures on this one.


Satan is clever. He knows how to play us, both our weaknesses and our strengths. The Apostle Paul warned that he masquerades as “an angel of light” [14And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. (2Corinthians 11:14)]. Satan was in the beginning the angel of light. That’s why his name was ‘Lucifer’ which means “bearer of light.” St. Clement of Alexandria said, “God created an archangel and the archangel made himself a devil.” Jesus said, 18And He said to them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. (Luke 10:18). [12"How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations! (Isaiah 14:12)]

That's an excerpt from here : Who is Satan? | Saint George Greek Orthodox Church

 

[solid_core]

I am kind of agnostic about this issue, the traditional church view is that satan is a real person, but I think its possible that he is just a personification of various ungodly concepts and temptations.

 

[Dkh587]

The concept of Satan being an actual being, is confirmed by Christ:

John 8:44

Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do.

He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him.

When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

He goes all the way back to the beginning and references the Serpent, who was the first liar, making him the father of lies:

Genesis 3:4

And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die

1 John 3:8

He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning.

there is an actual being in the Law & Prophets called “the Satan”, which is who appears in Job.

Job 1:6

Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before Yahweh, and the Satan came also among them.

The sons of God are members of the divine council of God in heaven.

They are divine beings, and appear before God’s throne - Satan showed up with them 1 day, as recorded above.

 

[ChetSinger]

While the word can be used generically, my answer is that yes, he's a real being. And he's not the only evil spiritual being out there: in the Old Testament there are also the gods of the nations, and in the New Testament there are also the principalities, powers, and rulers.

In Revelation the ancient serpent is linked to Satan and the Devil. Afaik it's the only time all three terms are linked in a single place. But the link is there.

 

[Broken Fence]

Matthew 16:23 (NKJV)
23 But He turned and said to Peter, "Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men."

Jesus calls Peter Satan and it is interesting why:

Matthew 16:21-22 (NKJV)
21 From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.
22 Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, "Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!"

This doesn't mean there is not an Archangel called Satan. My position is similar to Judaism where Satan is a metaphoric title implying evil. The verses above are straight talk and not parable but clearly Peter is not an Archangel.

The translators present Satan as a person; but is it true?

Ezekiel 28:14-16 he is a very real spirit do not under estimate him. I have meet him, he does not care about you or any human. He will try everything he can to destroy your faith. God bless.

 

[solid_core]

.

 

[DebbieJ]

This doesn't need to be debated upon. Just read the Bible.

 

[Goodhuman]

Ezekiel 28:14-16 he is a very real spirit do not under estimate him. I have meet him, he does not care about you or any human. He will try everything he can to destroy your faith. God bless.

Тhis is a delusion.

 

[ChetSinger]

...My position is similar to Judaism where Satan is a metaphoric title implying evil. The verses above are straight talk and not parable but clearly Peter is not an Archangel...

This is just food for thought, but Judaic beliefs of today are not the same as they were 2,000 years ago; some significant changes were made in the 2nd century after the second Roman war and the final theological break between Jews and Christians. For example, there was a Jewish godhead during the 2nd temple period that was considered orthodox at that time. Now it's considered heresy.

So a contemporary rabbi will probably not share all of the same beliefs as the rabbis who taught the apostles.

 

[Aussie Pete]

Matthew 16:23 (NKJV)
23 But He turned and said to Peter, "Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men."

Jesus calls Peter Satan and it is interesting why:

Matthew 16:21-22 (NKJV)
21 From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.
22 Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, "Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!"

This doesn't mean there is not an Archangel called Satan. My position is similar to Judaism where Satan is a metaphoric title implying evil. The verses above are straight talk and not parable but clearly Peter is not an Archangel.

The translators present Satan as a person; but is it true?

Absolutely. The Bible says that Satan entered Judas and Ananias before they did their wicked deeds. I believe that the Lord Jesus was speaking to Satan directly when He said to get behind Him. Then Lord Jesus spoke to Peter. Satan sought permission to sift Peter like wheat, Satan thwarted Paul's plan one time and Satan tested Lord Jesus in the wilderness. The book of revelation calls Satan the serpent of old - present in the garden of Eden. Satan heads up a real hierarchy of fallen angelic beings and they are the enemy. Revelation chapter 12 indicates that Satan is a real being, not just a metaphor for evil.

 

[Broken Fence]

Тhis is a delusion.

No is not. He wants to sift you like wheat. Thankfully, God has him restrained, somewhat. For now.

 

[Tom 1]

Matthew 16:23 (NKJV)
23 But He turned and said to Peter, "Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men."

Jesus calls Peter Satan and it is interesting why:

Matthew 16:21-22 (NKJV)
21 From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.
22 Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, "Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!"

This doesn't mean there is not an Archangel called Satan. My position is similar to Judaism where Satan is a metaphoric title implying evil. The verses above are straight talk and not parable but clearly Peter is not an Archangel.

The translators present Satan as a person; but is it true?

I think it's debatable. Satan, the accuser, in Job is just a plot device in a philosophical exposition, presented is in the form of a story. Biblical language can be both elegant and subtle, Genesis 4:7 appears to refer to sin as an entity - 'it' desires to have you, and James says that we are tempted by our own desires which then give birth to sin; does this actually mean sin is a thing that a) is trying to trap us or b) is created by us giving into temptation? I think the meanings here are figurative representations of human behaviour. Then there are passages like those in Rev 20 - the ancient dragon, the serpent/Satan. How much of revelations was written to make sense to the original audience, and how much can be usefully re-interpreted for today's church? On the other hand Peter wrote about Satan walking the earth like a lion roaming the desert, and Jesus says he saw 'Satan fall like lighting from heaven'. As it generally seems to be accepted that heaven is not a physical place, that image seems to straddle metaphor and allusion to something we can only really guess at. Peter was steeped in Jewish tradition, and elaborate metaphors are part of that.

 

[Carl Emerson]

Matthew 16:23 (NKJV)
23 But He turned and said to Peter, "Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men."

Jesus calls Peter Satan and it is interesting why:

Matthew 16:21-22 (NKJV)
21 From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.
22 Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, "Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!"

This doesn't mean there is not an Archangel called Satan. My position is similar to Judaism where Satan is a metaphoric title implying evil. The verses above are straight talk and not parable but clearly Peter is not an Archangel.

The translators present Satan as a person; but is it true?

Jesus was not addressing Peter, rather He could see what Satan was wanting to achieve in the spiritual realm and addressed him (Satan) direct.

Satan is a created mortal angel with limited power, corrupted by sin and soon to be judged.

 

[bling]

We sometimes talk about: "Going through Hell" or something being "Hell", not meaning literally hell, but to describe something extremely bad, so maybe Jesus is not using satan as the literal being but describing Peter as being like satan?

 

[Goodhuman]

No is not. He wants to sift you like wheat. Thankfully, God has him restrained, somewhat. For now.

Ok.

 

[eleos1954]

Matthew 16:23 (NKJV)
23 But He turned and said to Peter, "Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men."

Jesus calls Peter Satan and it is interesting why:

Matthew 16:21-22 (NKJV)
21 From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.
22 Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, "Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!"

This doesn't mean there is not an Archangel called Satan. My position is similar to Judaism where Satan is a metaphoric title implying evil. The verses above are straight talk and not parable but clearly Peter is not an Archangel.

The translators present Satan as a person; but is it true?

Satan is a fallen angel and is an angelic being. Angels are a different kind of being and have supernatural powers and the ability to influence human beings in many different ways.

Jesus calls Peter Satan and it is interesting why:

I don't believe this is the case .... I think Jesus recognized satan was influencing Peter and Peter was unaware he was being used by satan ... and Jesus knew this ... and Jesus rebuked him (satan) not calling Peter satan.

 

[public hermit]

Matthew 16:23 (NKJV)
23 But He turned and said to Peter, "Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men."

Jesus calls Peter Satan and it is interesting why:

Matthew 16:21-22 (NKJV)
21 From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.
22 Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, "Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!"

This doesn't mean there is not an Archangel called Satan. My position is similar to Judaism where Satan is a metaphoric title implying evil. The verses above are straight talk and not parable but clearly Peter is not an Archangel.

The translators present Satan as a person; but is it true?

As has been pointed out, by those that can handle nuance, whether or not Satan is an actual being is debatable. The scriptures indicate in a number of places that Satan is a being and I find no reason to assume, out of hand, that such is not possible.

On the one hand, the term "satan" can be used to simply mean "an adversary." On the other, if used with a definite article (ha-satan/the satan) then it refers to a being.

At any rate, I would say it's pretty clear from the passage you mention that Jesus is calling Peter an adversary, because Peter's suggestion was opposed to the will of God.