[FONT='Verdana','sans-serif']"I would love to hear the opinion of some of our other member here though.[/FONT]
[FONT='Verdana','sans-serif'][/FONT][FONT='Verdana','sans-serif']Yeah. Where are all of the other members??"[/FONT]
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[FONT='Verdana','sans-serif']May I join this conversation, guys? For the sake of clarity, I will try to make my thoughts brief and to the point. I will also address particular statements that have already been made, in an effort to be on point. Please take all of my comments as my own belief/opinion and please understand that I desire to be honest but respectful.[/FONT]
[FONT='Verdana','sans-serif'][FONT='Verdana','sans-serif']"Could all beliefs of evolution spawn from Satan?...[FONT='Verdana','sans-serif']Notice how it seems that Satan has evolved into a lion from the previous story?...[FONT='Verdana','sans-serif']What are your thoughts on this theory?"[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT='Verdana','sans-serif'][FONT='Verdana','sans-serif'][FONT='Verdana','sans-serif'][FONT='Verdana','sans-serif']I honestly get a little lost in your train of thought, but from what I understand of your posts the original question has two parts. First part seems to be "Could all beliefs of evolution spawn from Satan?" The second seems to be more along the lines of does Satan's animal form actually evolve in Scripture and does this mean that Satan controls the actual evolution of animals in our world and makes specific animals inherently evil. Is this correct? If I misunderstood, please let me know. But for now, I will give my thoughts based on the assumption that this is what you were originally asking.[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT='Verdana','sans-serif'][FONT='Verdana','sans-serif'][FONT='Verdana','sans-serif'][FONT='Verdana','sans-serif']In short my opinion is this: To the first question, I don't know. To the second, not in the way you seem to be speculating. The following is my reasoning why.[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT='Verdana','sans-serif'][FONT='Verdana','sans-serif'][FONT='Verdana','sans-serif'][FONT='Verdana','sans-serif']Part 1 of original question: The reason I can't say for certain that all beliefs of evolution do spawn from Satan is that I can't say for certain that God did create the world in 7 actual days as we experience day units now. Yes, the account in Genesis does outline a 7 day time frame from sunset to sunrise every day. However, in Job God puts Job in his place by asking him a series of questions about how the world was made. But Job doesn't have the answers. The context seems to point to why Job is not able to answer - because God asks, "Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?" If we're being honest, we don't know how the world was made. We take it on faith that the information provided is correct and that we are interpreting it correctly. But we weren't there to witness it and thus can't testify to its correctness, except to testify about the character of God as we know Him personally and trust Him. But even so, He has not revealed to us more than we need to know to get the point of the story - salvation. And the Bible is written predominately as a story - a story with a point, with a moral, an overarching salvation theme. I do believe evil has influenced human belief systems and perverted them from what God consistently has told every generation is true in regard to the nature of God's own character. So it is not far fetched to think Satan has also had a hand in the development of beliefs relating to evolution theory. But I wouldn't go so far as to say all belief regarding the theory is inherently evil or of Satan, because we do observe minor adaptation in our natural world. Which takes us nicely to part 2 of the original question.[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT='Verdana','sans-serif'][FONT='Verdana','sans-serif'][FONT='Verdana','sans-serif'][FONT='Verdana','sans-serif']Part 2: Does Satan's animal form actually evolve in Scripture, and does this mean that Satan controls the actual evolution of animals in our world and makes specific animals inherently evil? I do not believe this is true for several reasons.[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT='Verdana','sans-serif'][FONT='Verdana','sans-serif'][FONT='Verdana','sans-serif'][FONT='Verdana','sans-serif']First, is evolution theory apparent in Satan's animal form in Scripture, as it changes throughout the Bible stories? No. That theory is pure speculation. I respectfully disagree with it having any biblical merit. I suppose the fun thing about speculation is you can theorize whatever you want, but the Bible would have to be chopped up into isolated verses in order to support the theory - which is not honest or respectful exegesis/interpretation. The reason the descriptions for the devil change depending on the Bible story is because each Bible author was writing to a specific audience within their own time and culture. There are often deep meanings and principles that we may still derive from these stories in our time, but we must keep in mind that the author was trying to make a point. Often the best way to get an idea across to an audience is to wrap it up in a story, like children's story at church. We tell these stories because we can relate to them and understand them and as the moral of the story unfolds we begin to understand the deeper meaning behind it as well. Different people relate to different images in various ways. So to get the point across, I believe God used multiple images in nature that people were and are familiar with. I believe the point in most of those images was that there is an evil adversary and he is dangerous. There's no evidence of evolution inherent in these images, nor is there a recognizable pattern of such.[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT='Verdana','sans-serif'][FONT='Verdana','sans-serif'][FONT='Verdana','sans-serif'][FONT='Verdana','sans-serif']Second, this theory makes a lot of logical jumps. A lot of things you assume to be commonly accepted facts are not actually such. For example, "[FONT='Verdana','sans-serif']We all know that god created the world in 7 days. While all of us here accept this as fact, there is no denying that some hell bound souls still believe in the myth of evolution." I already discussed how we do not KNOW God created the world in 7 days as we define days now. We trust that He did. Also, for those who do not accept our theory of creation, I do not agree that they are necessarily hell bound. That is an illogical jump - and a rather judging/condeming one at that. "[FONT='Verdana','sans-serif']Notice how it seems that Satan has evolved into a lion from the previous story?" No, it's an added description of the same thing, not an evolved form. The text doesn't even say that Satan took any form at all in reference to the lion, it only makes a comparison of two alike things. And it's speaking to the character of the person of Satan rather than the physical form. "[FONT='Verdana','sans-serif']Now we all know serpents are the spawn of the devil, however could it be that other creatures stem from this being, such as giant reptiles thousands of years ago, and that this 'evolution' theory could just be a few creatures, descended from Lucifer, who have come to lead others from the word of the Lord?" It is not logical that serpents are the spawn of the devil, because God created the serpent in Eden which the devil used. God did curse the serpent as a result of its useage by evil, but the Bible says it was one of God's most wonderful creatures to begin with. According to the Bible, Satan is not the originator of anything apart from pride and evil intent. There is no biblical record to my knowledge of Satan creating anything. Thus, logically, no animals can be the "spawn" of Satan if Satan does not create new forms of life. That is not to say that evil is not a part of the natural world as much as it is a part of our current human nature and civilizations, but that would not be unique to any particular animal life. "[FONT='Verdana','sans-serif']It is undeniable that evolution was alluded to in the Bible with very clearly negative connotations." Show me from Scripture where this is true. I don't see the logic. It's an assumption, until it is proven. "W[FONT='Verdana','sans-serif']hen the Bible was first written, it is very likely that the scripture inside was pure of metaphors and similes as we know in the English language, for such things were not invented yet" I do not know where you got this idea, but it's false. When the Bible was first written it had even more metaphors than it does now translated in English. Humanity has not changed much in as many thousands of years since the tower of Babel and language is always given meaning by cultural context. People used metaphors and object lessons from their cultural context to communicate in their own languages even in biblical times. We just may not understand those metaphors since we live in a distinctly different cultural context than they did. Anyway, there are more places continuing the conversation where you both have made references to assumed truths that I don't see the logical connection, but I'll leave it at those examples for now.[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT='Verdana','sans-serif'][FONT='Verdana','sans-serif'][FONT='Verdana','sans-serif'][FONT='Verdana','sans-serif'][FONT='Verdana','sans-serif'][FONT='Verdana','sans-serif'][FONT='Verdana','sans-serif'][FONT='Verdana','sans-serif'][FONT='Verdana','sans-serif']Finally, my biggest reason for disagreeing to the way your theories interpret and apply biblical images of the devil is that you give the devil way too much credit - to the point where your devil is bigger than your God. The Bible is unclear about a lot of things, but it is clear on a few things that are very important. One of those things, I believe, is the overarching message throughout all the stories that no matter what the devil may try to do, God will put a stop to it. God is always in control, God is always bigger, better, and more bad-ass (pardon please, but I can't think of a better way to say that part). God is always victorious and He has our back! To make your concept of the devil larger and more powerful than your concept of God is the very definition of idolatry. Every idol puts itself in the place of God, tries to overshadow or push out God from our lives, and ultimately causes its worshipers to live in fear. I refuse to accept any theory which negates, ignores, or belittles the power of God in our world. In my opinion, this theory paints a picture that gives the devil more power than God in our world. Maybe I misunderstand you and if so, please correct my perception. The devil does not own these images you speak of either. All the images used are merely that - images - nothing more. It is how they are used that gives them meaning to people. Yes, the Bible says the devil is like a roaring lion, but it also says that Christ is the Lion of Judah (Revelation 5:5). You see, the one gives us power to overcome the other. One may prowel and seek the weak whom he may devour, but the other devours the enemy no matter how strong he may seem.[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]