Christians: Why doesn't Satan repent?

[s.gal83]

Well, he knew he could not overpower God. So, why didn't he try to repent and see if God will forgive him or not? Surely, he knows he has no hope of winning the wars.

I often wonder what is Satan' motivation for doing evil back when I was still a christian.

 

[Ghostaka]

Well, he knew he could not overpower God. So, why didn't he try to repent and see if God will forgive him or not? Surely, he knows he has no hope of winning the wars.

I often wonder what is Satan' motivation for doing evil back when I was still a christian.

Allah says in Chapter 7 of the The Holy Qur'an:

N.B. Iblis is Satan

11. And surely, We created you (your father Adam) and then gave you shape (the noble shape of a human being); then We told the angels, "Prostrate yourselves to Adam", and they prostrated themselves, except Iblîs (Satan), he refused to be of those who prostrated themselves.
12. (Allâh) said: "What prevented you (O Iblîs) that you did not prostrate yourself, when I commanded you?" Iblîs said: "I am better than him (Adam), You created me from fire, and him You created from clay."
13. (Allâh) said: "(O Iblîs) get down from this (Paradise), it is not for you to be arrogant here. Get out, for you are of those humiliated and disgraced."
14. (Iblîs) said: "Allow me respite till the Day they are raised up (i.e. the Day of Resurrection)."
15. (Allâh) said: "You are of those respited."
16. (Iblîs) said: "Because You have sent me astray, surely I will sit in wait against them (human beings) on Your Straight Path
17. Then I will come to them from before them and behind them, from their right and from their left, and You will not find most of them as thankful ones (i.e. they will not be dutiful to You)."
18. (Allâh) said (to Iblîs) "Get out from this (Paradise) disgraced and expelled. Whoever of them (mankind) will follow you, then surely I will fill Hell with you all."
19. "And O Adam! Dwell you and your wife in Paradise, and eat thereof as you both wish, but approach not this tree otherwise you both will be of the Zâlimûn (unjust and wrong-doers)."
20. Then Shaitân (Satan) whispered suggestions to them both in order to uncover that which was hidden from them of their private parts (before); he said: "Your Lord did not forbid you this tree save that you should become angels or become of the immortals."
21. And he [Shaitân (Satan)] swore by Allâh to them both (saying): "Verily, I am one of the sincere well-wishers for you both."
22. So he misled them with deception. Then when they tasted of the tree, that which was hidden from them of their shame (private parts) became manifest to them and they began to cover themselves with the leaves of Paradise (in order to cover their shame). And their Lord called out to them (saying): "Did I not forbid you that tree and tell you: Verily, Shaitân (Satan) is an open enemy unto you?"
23. They said: "Our Lord! We have wronged ourselves. If You forgive us not, and bestow not upon us Your Mercy, we shall certainly be of the losers."
24. (Allâh) said: "Get down, one of you is an enemy to the other [i.e. Adam, Hawwa (Eve), and Shaitân (Satan),]. On earth will be a dwelling-place for you and an enjoyment, - for a time."
25. He said: "Therein you shall live, and therein you shall die, and from it you shall be brought out (i.e.resurrected)."
26. O Children of Adam! We have bestowed raiment upon you to cover yourselves (screen your private parts) and as an adornment, and the raiment of righteousness, that is better. Such are among the Ayât (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) of Allâh, that they may remember (i.e. leave falsehood and follow truth).

So basically, I think Satan is too arrogant to do so. He would rather get damned to Hell then ever bring himself to bow down to Allah's creation (Man). Arrogance is one of the most hated by Allah. It has been said in hadith, that one cannot enter paradise if there is even a hint of arrogance in their heart. And that exactly how Allah judges poeple; He knows what they reveal and what they conceal within themselves.

Peace be upon you.

 

[Kajdav]

This is my first post on these forums!

I agree with Ghostaka that Satan is far too arrogant to repent, but I have to disagree with you on one point, s.gal83. Satan does think he can win the wars. He will have, by far, the advantage in numbers in Armageddon, and God will ask, once again, for him to repent and turn unto him. Satan, in his arrogance and foolishness, will look upon his armies and see what little resistance is on the side of righteousness, and will deny God's offer, thinking he can overthrow God and his plan. It is then that worthy priesthood holders will wipe out entire legions by their faith and holy authority.

Hope that kinda cleared things up...

 

[Katzpur]

This is my first post on these forums!

I agree with Ghostaka that Satan is far too arrogant to repent, but I have to disagree with you on one point, s.gal83. Satan does think he can win the wars. He will have, by far, the advantage in numbers in Armageddon, and God will ask, once again, for him to repent and turn unto him. Satan, in his arrogance and foolishness, will look upon his armies and see what little resistance is on the side of righteousness, and will deny God's offer, thinking he can overthrow God and his plan. It is then that worthy priesthood holders will wipe out entire legions by their faith and holy authority.

Hope that kinda cleared things up...

So as a fellow Latter-day Saint, kajdav, I'm interested in one statement you made. You say that when God offers Satan the opportunity to repent, he will deny the offer. Is that in the Standard Works somewhere? If it is, I'm unaware of it. My understanding is that when Satan (aka Lucifer in the pre-mortal existance) was cast out of Heaven for rebellion, that pretty much sealed his fate. What you seem to be saying is that things could (at least theoretically) still change for him. Could you back up your statement with something from the scriptures?

Welcome to RF by the way!

 

[rcscwc]

Why should he repent? To whom should he repent.

Go back to Gen 1.1 and later passages. Nowhere is it mentioned that satan was created by god. It only implies one thing: In the beginning god was not the only one around the town. There was satan too. Hence satan too is uncreated and is co-eval with god. He is co-equal with god.

Jewish Torah nowhere says that satan is evil and torments people in hell. In fact, they do not believe in hell or heaven too.

Hmmm. God condemns non believers to hell, to be tormented by satan. Right? If satan "reforms" himself, who will run the purgatory for god?

Islamic view too is untenable. Of course, it tries to blame Iblis explicitly, one up on xianity.

OK. Allah tells all frishtas, Iblis included, not to bow before anyone except himself [allah]. When he created Adam he asked all those frishtas to bow before adam. As per original orders, satan refused. Did allah create adam as himself, another surrogate allah?

 

[S-word]

Well, he knew he could not overpower God. So, why didn't he try to repent and see if God will forgive him or not? Surely, he knows he has no hope of winning the wars.

I often wonder what is Satan' motivation for doing evil back when I was still a christian.

He did repent, after he, the God of this world had descended into his dead past, and chose Enoch reborn on earth in the body of the man Jesus as his obedient servant; his earthly image, through who he would reveal himself to the world.

And in the same manner that Moses lifted up the Image of the serpent in the desert, in order that those who were dying because of the serpents venom that was coursing through their veins, only had to turn their face toward the Image of the serpent that had been lifted up: So too was Enoch/Jesus the earthly Image of he who once stood before the face of the Most High continuously accusing the body of mankind, was lifted up in order that those who are dying because of the brother accusing poison that courses through their beings, the poison that brings death, only have to turn their minds eye to the serpent who has been Judged and found worthy to return to the presence of his Father in order to be saved.

It was He who spoke through the mouth of his obedient servant Enoch/Jesus, who spoke not one word on his own authority, but only that which he was commanded to do and say by the glorious simulacrum who was born of the body of mankind into the eighth heaven from which he descended, and it was He who through the mouth of his earthly image and obedient servant, said in John 17: 5; "Father! Give me glory in your presence now, the same glory I had with you before the world was made."

It was he who said through his earthly Image, John 16: 8-11; “The world is wrong about sin and what is right and about God’s judgment. They are wrong about sin, because they do not believe in me; they are wrong about what is right, because I am going to the Father and you will not see me anymore; and they are wrong about judgment, because the ruler of this world has already been judged.”

 

[other-side]

Well, he knew he could not overpower God. So, why didn't he try to repent and see if God will forgive him or not? Surely, he knows he has no hope of winning the wars.

I often wonder what is Satan' motivation for doing evil back when I was still a christian.

The reason was revenge he gained a good ranking at that time and when he was rejected like that he didn't go humble! he was just looking for a way to K.O. Adam !
Maybe still he had a weak spot and that was not getting the point that Human was just not a clay but had hidden power and knowledge ! He was tested by God to get up in the ranking but he sadly just ruined whatever he made before.:cover:

 

[Ghostaka]

Why should he repent? To whom should he repent.

Go back to Gen 1.1 and later passages. Nowhere is it mentioned that satan was created by god. It only implies one thing: In the beginning god was not the only one around the town. There was satan too. Hence satan too is uncreated and is co-eval with god. He is co-equal with god.

If God is the Creator of All e.g. every created thing has a Creator (who is One), how is Satan co-equal to God? God is above all His creation (in every aspect... literally).

Hmmm. God condemns non believers to hell, to be tormented by satan. Right? If satan "reforms" himself, who will run the purgatory for god?

I'm not sure what you believe about Hell, but it isn't being run by Satan.

Islamic view too is untenable. Of course, it tries to blame Iblis explicitly, one up on xianity.

Umm.. unclear here. Please rephrase.

OK. Allah tells all frishtas, Iblis included, not to bow before anyone except himself [allah]. When he created Adam he asked all those frishtas to bow before adam. As per original orders, satan refused. Did allah create adam as himself, another surrogate allah?

We are not told why Allah ordered the Angles and Jinn to prostrate to Adam (PBUH). I would think it was a test; since in Chapter 2 of the Holy Qur'an Allah says:

30. And (remember) when your Lord said to the angels: "Verily, I am going to place (mankind) generations after generations on earth." They said: "Will You place therein those who will make mischief therein and shed blood, - while we glorify You with praises and thanks (Exalted be You above all that they associate with You as partners) and sanctify You." He (Allâh) said: "I know that which you do not know."
31.And He taught Adam all the names (of everything), then He showed them to the angels and said, "Tell Me the names of these if you are truthful."
32. They (angels) said: "Glory be to You, we have no knowledge except what you have taught us. Verily, it is You, the All-Knower, the All-Wise."
33. He said: "O Adam! Inform them of their names," and when he had informed them of their names, He said: "Did I not tell you that I know the Ghaib (unseen) in the heavens and the earth, and I know what you reveal and what you have been concealing?"

OK in order to understand what the Angels meant by “those who will make mischief therein and shed blood”; you must keep in mind that Allah had created Jinn long (appox. 2000 years as per hadith) before Adam (PBUH). Jinn are beings that Allah created out of smokeless fire; that like us humans -- have the choice to believe in Allah or not. If I'm not mistaken, Christians call them fallen Angels (Iblis in particular); but we Muslims are told that angles are like Allah's robots therefore have no choice in the matter of worshipping Allah. Satan was of the Jinn as mention in the Qur'an by Allah. He used to be one of the most obedient of his kind and that's why he had a high status (e.g. living in the same paradise the angles resided).

“I know what you reveal“is considered to be referring to the response to Allah’s question to the Angles. When they revealed their opinion(?). As for “and what you have been concealing?” is a reference to the arrogance of Satan's concerning Adam (PBUH). As far as I know, in hadith not sure if it is in the Qur'an as well but Adam (PBUH) was left in a clay form for a while. Thereby Iblis went up to him and sized him up. My memory is a bit fuzzy but it went down something like this:

The Angles were frightened at the sight of Adam (PBUH) in that state however Iblis was the most frightened. So whenever he would pass by him he would hit him and the body would make a sound like the sound of pottery with a rattle. -- Hence Allah mentions in Chapter 55 verse 14 of the Qur’an (as well as in other places): “…from clay, like pottery”

edit: Found a specific Hadith on this matter:

[ Imam Ahmad reported on the authority of Anas ibn Malik (RA) that the Prophet (PBUH) said:
“When Allah created Adam, He left him for a while as long as He wanted. The Shaytan (Iblis/Satan) used to go around him. Then when he saw that he was hollow, he knew that he was a creature who would not be able to restrain himself” – Ahmad, vol.3 p.152. ]

… then comes the incident with Adam, Eve (PBUT) and the tree.

p.s. Since Allah is All-Wise and All-Knowing, don't assume that He did not know that this would happen. I wouldn't be surprised if someone told me that Allah had created Iblis just for this reason e.g. to be a test for upcoming creation... Adam (PBUH) and his children.

Peace be upon you.

 

[McBell]

I often wonder what is Satan' motivation for doing evil back when I was still a christian.

He is merely following Gods orders.

 

[Zindagee Rahmaan]

Well, he knew he could not overpower God. So, why didn't he try to repent and see if God will forgive him or not? Surely, he knows he has no hope of winning the wars.
.

You've brought so meaningful thought here as if satan would repent there will be no problem on the earth. I wish satan would read your thread to repent.

 

[Ghostaka]

You've brought so meaningful thought here as if satan would repent there will be no problem on the earth. I wish satan would read your thread to repent.

LOL! Assalamu Aleikum .

 

[other-side]

[ Imam Ahmad reported on the authority of Anas ibn Malik (RA) that the Prophet (PBUH) said:
“When Allah created Adam, He left him for a while as long as He wanted. The Shaytan (Iblis/Satan) used to go around him. Then when he saw that he was hollow, he knew that he was a creature who would not be able to restrain himself” – Ahmad, vol.3 p.152. ]

I read that before,nice one .It simply shows that God wanted to hit two goals with a bullet!
1- Test Satan with it and specify his ranking at that moment because he was the only creature which had free will at that time, and his ranking had to be refreshed to be decided if he can go up a step or not
2-make another creation which was similar to the Jinns (free will) but had much more hidden powers (which Satan didn't understand)

I wouldn't be surprised if someone told me that Allah had created Iblis just for this reason e.g.

That's true,Allah knows everything without interfering in decisions.He knew that Iblis will fail this test but it was necessary for him because he had reached the ranking which is full of series of tests designed to gauge Iblis's wisdom.So God used the result of this exam to check Humans with it and make their tests a little bit more difficult than Iblis had.

God just wisely shot two targets with one strike

You've brought so meaningful thought here as if satan would repent there will be no problem on the earth. I wish satan would read your thread to repent.

:tribal:well said! :tribal:

 

[godnotgod]

Someone once said that, if you meet the Devil face to face, do not be afraid of him; instead, compliment him on the quality of his illusion.

"Satan, your act is so good, it continues to convince us that it is actually real! Bravo!"

"Why, thank you so much! I happen to think it is not so bad myself, actually."

If you have ever looked closely at some of the statues of the Buddha and other deities of Eastern wisdom, you will have noticed that they sometimes are holding up one palm outwardly. This gesture is known as a mudra. It is saying to you:

"Fear Not. What you are observing is nothing more than a Big Act"

The illusion so created is known as maya.

In the end, the personifications of Good and Evil will join hands and come onstage to take their bows.

They are One.

There is no Devil.

It is all just One Big Act.

So don't miss out on the Big Show!:slap::clap:tribal::nightcraw::tigger::drunk:
opcorn:
"Tweedledeedee and Tweedledeedum agreed to have a battle!"

 

[blackout]

Why doesn't Satan repent?

Because he really doesn't care.

really.

 

[Caladan]

Well, he knew he could not overpower God. So, why didn't he try to repent and see if God will forgive him or not? Surely, he knows he has no hope of winning the wars.

I often wonder what is Satan' motivation for doing evil back when I was still a christian.

The show must go on.
which is why there will always be humans with a world of gods and demons.

 

[Trey of Diamonds]

Well, he knew he could not overpower God. So, why didn't he try to repent and see if God will forgive him or not? Surely, he knows he has no hope of winning the wars.

I often wonder what is Satan' motivation for doing evil back when I was still a christian.

I don't see Satan as a lesser power than God but rather the opposite side of the same coin. One is possitive and one is negative but both exist in balance to the other.

 

[Heneni]

Why doesnt satan repent? Because right now he cant. He has a corrupted spirit which has no ability to feel remorse.

He has depraved desires to the core. There is no good in him. He has not one shred of conscience. Without a working conscience he cannot understand the depravity of his condition. He is shut up in a hall of mirrors. He can see his glory on the outside but he cannot see his depravity on the inside.

He lost his conscience when he traded the glory of god for a glory of his own. He did not give glory to the giver of his glory when he was in heaven.

 

[godnotgod]

Assuming for the moment that there really is a Devil, and that he is really, really Evil, then we must also accept the notion that he is totally a creation of God, looking at the Christian scenario of the story. If that is so, then Satan had no hand at all in creating the Evil which sprang forth from within his being. That Evil can only have come from God himself. What supporting evidence exists for this position?

Think about this:

God deliberately and knowingly planted a tree with the Forbidden Fruit in the Garden of Eden. This fruit was an extremely dangerous one, bringing with it total banishment and separation from God for just one single infraction. And yet, the Fruit was succulent, provocative, inviting, irresistible, while God's children were innocent and naive.

Now imagine that you are parent to two children, and you have placed a mysterious box in their room along with all their other toys. You say to them: "Now, children, you can have anything in this room you wish, but you are not to open this box under any circumstances. Do you understand?" "Yes, daddy". What is the very first thing the children will do when you leave the room? There is absolutely no question, is there? Even if they resisted for awihile, or even a long time, eventually they, or their children would have opened the box.

However, in the case of the Forbidden Fruit, we have the added feature of exteme danger added to the mix, but please notice that the danger was not from the Fruit itself, but the punishment that would come from God if his children partook of the Fruit. What kind of mind would do such a thing? The only conclusion I can come to is a malevolent mind. Of course, this is if you are looking at the story from the orthodox Christian point of view, which, when laid out on the table, makes little sense, especially in spiritual terms. The only "sense" it makes is that of a corrupt priesthood who took the original story and twisted it to control the congregation for the purpose of shaking them down for tribute. Get it?

So what is the original story? Heh, heh, heh. OK. Here it is in a nutshell:

God plants the tree of the Forbidden Fruit in the Garden and tells his children not to eat of it, and then goes away. Then the godhead reappears to them in the form of a serpent to make certain that they eat of it. Why? Because the 'Forbidden Fruit" is a symbol for Higher Consciousness. The ordinary mind of man must be raised to the level of the divine so that spiritual union with the divine essence can occur, and it is spiritual union with the divine that is the goal of all religious endeavor, of course. Now, remember that, in the orthodox story, the serpent told Adam and Eve that God did not want them to eat of the Fruit simply because He did not want them to "see as He sees". "Seeing as He sees" is none other than Higher Consciousness. God is setting up a device of resistance, already knowing the outcome, simply because He wants union with his children. And everyone lived happily ever after. Story end. This earlier story achieves the goal of divine union.

The corrupted orthodox version does just the opposite: it achieves separation from God.

So does the story of Lucifer.

But only if you believe the story on face value.

If Evil did not originate from the mind of the Christian God, then from whence did it come?

 

[godnotgod]

"The Green Wolf, with his bunch of red roses
is slinking away
All on a summer's day"

 

[McBell]

Why doesnt satan repent? Because right now he cant. He has a corrupted spirit which has no ability to feel remorse.

He has depraved desires to the core. There is no good in him. He has not one shred of conscience. Without a working conscience he cannot understand the depravity of his condition. He is shut up in a hall of mirrors. He can see his glory on the outside but he cannot see his depravity on the inside.

He lost his conscience when he traded the glory of god for a glory of his own. He did not give glory to the giver of his glory when he was in heaven.

Wow.
If what you say here is true, Why does God allow him free reign?