Satan's True Identity?

[Jethro Tull]

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The Bible says, “We fight not with flesh and blood, but against invisible hosts of evil.”

You have to look from your spirit, your true self to see it. Only then can you see it for what it is and how it is the adversary of the truth and the life.

The Bible says, “Satan is the prince of power on earth.”

Satan: The word “Satan” means “adversary.”

The Bible describes the devil as that which deceives the world. There is only one thing that deceives us, one thing that hides the truth and life from us, but it is too close for most people to see it. It is what most people think they are.

Some people think the devil is a living creature, something with horns and a pointed tail, a cosmic criminal. It is actually a metaphor for our own animal minds.

The devil is just a name for the force of deception in all our lives. The adversary of God, the Antichrist etc., is the mind, the beast within.

And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the devil and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world. Revelation 12:9

The beast within: There is only one deceiver. It is whatever it is that prevents us from seeing the truth and the life, from seeing true life, from being with God.

The dragon is a mythical beast that does not really exist.

The Bible’s metaphorical description could not be better. The devil or dragon referred to in the Bible is our animal mind, the invisible beast within us.

The Bibles says that Christ will slay the Antichrist with truth.

When people learn the truth and the life, they will have the mind of Christ and will use the truth against the forces of deception to control the devil, change the devil.

Jesus said, “Get behind me Satan! You are blocking my way.”

Guardian angel: Jesus does not get rid of the devil (mind); he just takes control of it and puts in its place in the background, behind life.

The Bible says Satan will be transformed into an angel of light.
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From Page 53 of The Present (with religion) at http://www.thetruthcontest.com


What do you think? Is Satan/the devil actually the mind? The invisible beast within? The mind truly is control of our world.


Check out that section of the book and share your thoughts!

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Satan's the oogity boogity man.

 

[Riverwolf]

Interesting interpretation. This is what the Baha'i believe in terms of Satan.

I would be willing to accept calling the aspect of the human mind which is primitive and materialistic "Satan," though I'd not use this term when in a conversation with someone who has indulged in these desires.

 

[Trey of Diamonds]

Satan's the oogity boogity man.

So he's a disco queen? Does that mean he cross dresses? While I think disco is inherently evil, I'm ok with cross dresser's singing Abba. I'm just not sure what that says about me...

 

[Kilgore Trout]

So he's a disco queen? Does that mean he cross dresses? While I think disco is inherently evil, I'm ok with cross dresser's singing Abba. I'm just not sure what that says about me...

Oogity-boogity, not oogy-boogy. If you did this on purpose, it's the funniest post I've read today.

 

[Trey of Diamonds]

Oogity-boogity, not oogy-boogy. If you did this on purpose, it's the funniest post I've read today.

Glad to spread a laugh now and then.

 

[Delilah Roo]

I agree that satan is not a evil creature with horns and a pitchfork, but other than that I am not on quite the same page.

I do not see satan as being the opposite of truth. Evil is part of human nature. It is not a force outside us, tempting us or influencing us, in my opinion. I don't think it is something that needs to be avoided or hidden. People can be cruel and anamalistic and should not feel that they are any less human because of that. I, of course, do not condone cruelty, but it is there, pretending it is not will not make it go away. (Sorry, I got a little off-track.)

I will ask, you say,
"When people learn the truth and the life, they will have the mind of Christ and will use the truth against the forces of deception to control the devil, change the devil."
Is truth the same for all people? Are those that do not see christ in some sort of lie?
If I enterpret that sentance correctly, (which perhaps I am not) you make it sound like truth is the way to Go and not the other way around.

Thats, respectfully -- DelilahRoo

 

[Thief]

Thief here...Hey Jethro!
I like your opening remarks.

Satan is defined as adversary....but which way do you want to go with this?
Shall we treat this as the identity (the name) of a person?
How about a concept that can be personified?

As...adversary...I assume the ultimate adversary to the ultimate Good.
So the Adversary would be the personification of evil.
Does the name of Lucifer play into this?

 

[Riverwolf]

Does the name of Lucifer play into this?

No. The name "lucifer" was originally given to planet Venus by the Romans, and in the Vulgate, the word is used twice: once in Isaiah to refer to a Babylonian King, and another time in Peter to refer to Christ.

The word literally means "light bringer." So if it were to refer to any deity or legendary being, it would be Prometheus, who stole the fire of the gods and gave it to man.

It's primarily from misunderstanding that the word "lucifer" was attached to Satan.

 

[gnostic]

Hi Jethro Tull

Welcome to RF.

If you are going to copy passages, please cite a source(s) for each passage. You only gave one source Revelation 12:9.

 

[gnostic]

Does the name of Lucifer play into this?

No. Lucifer is simply mistranslation of Jerome. There's no Lucifer except in Roman myth, who was equivalent to the Greek Eosphoros, the son of Dawn (Greek Eos or Latin Aurora), which referred to the morning star, ie. the planet Venus.

Isaiah's Morning Star or Son of Morning, hence Lucifer, is actually comparing how Venus and all the stars fade away from sight, because of the morning light, hence the fall of Morning Star, and this Morning Star referred to the King of Babylon in Isaiah's time, not to the late Jewish Satan or the Christian Devil.

 

[Thief]

Thief here...
Okay...so it's nice to know where the name came from, and it's good to know a simple error has misplaced it.

But most people use that name loosely anyway.
And you skipped over the more important questions.

 

[Jethro Tull]

Thanks for your thoughts all.

Delilah Roo said:

I will ask, you say,
"When people learn the truth and the life, they will have the mind of Christ and will use the truth against the forces of deception to control the devil, change the devil."
Is truth the same for all people? Are those that do not see christ in some sort of lie?
If I enterpret that sentance correctly, (which perhaps I am not) you make it sound like truth is the way to Go and not the other way around.

Yes, the truth and the life is the way.

Satan is defined as adversary....but which way do you want to go with this?
Shall we treat this as the identity (the name) of a person?
How about a concept that can be personified?

The way I see it is that Satan, the devil, is the animal mind, the carnal mind. Something like this:

Riverwolf said:

I would be willing to accept calling the aspect of the human mind which is primitive and materialistic "Satan," though I'd not use this term when in a conversation with someone who has indulged in these desires.

As...adversary...I assume the ultimate adversary to the ultimate Good.
So the Adversary would be the personification of evil.
Does the name of Lucifer play into this?

This is a continuation of the quote in the original post:

Once the mind realizes that it is the problem, it will begin to turn from Satan into your Guardian angel. The story is of Lucifer, God’s helper that turned into Satan.

The Bible says Satan ts a fallen angel, the highest angel that turned into the devil, the enemy of God. It just has to do the opposite and turn from the devil back into God’s helper again, and you will become a divine spiritual being.

Your mind is now in front of your spirit, and it needs to be behind you.

Until it changes back, the mind is your mortal enemy, the enemy of truth and life and the enemy of God. The mind is what the Bible calls Satan and the devil.

Page 54 of The Present (with religion)

 

[Jethro Tull]

Thief here...
Okay...so it's nice to know where the name came from, and it's good to know a simple error has misplaced it.

But most people use that name loosely anyway.
And you skipped over the more important questions.

I think it's important to realize that Satan, the devil, is actually the mind, because then people will begin to realize that the mind is the problem. The mind needs to be changed from the controlling beast to the companion, the overlord to the technical consultant, the devil to an angel.

The correct interpretation could eliminate all confusion and delusion that comes with misinterpretations of Jesus and Scripture. I think The Present (with religion) could unite all religions, because it makes sense out of Christianity with truth we can check for ourselves rather than blind faith. I'd love to know your thoughts about it.

 

[Azakel]

The way I see it is that the true identity of Satan is dependent on what ones Religious belief is. To the Jewish faith he is an Angel of God who's job it is to test humanity. To Christians he's a Fallen Angel you want's to take everyone to Hell with him. To Islam he's a Djinn. And to other he's an aspect of the mind, or a metaphor for the human animal and what we are, and so on for different people. I don't not think that we can truly know the true identity of Satan(if any of Spirit) out there, but hey that just what I think.

 

[Thief]

Thief here...
I believe in opposites.
I believe in the Almighty. This term is self explanatory, but I will explain to say...no one can set aside His will...hence 'almighty'.

The Adversary, is then the opposite. Someone actually attempting to perform the impossible, and if He succeeds...then God is no longer the Almighty.

We can personify the adversary. We playfully do at Halloween.
But the actual personification belongs to only one.
In the same way there can be only one God...one almighty...then also...there can be only one Adversary.

The creation of Man is thought to be God's will.
The Adversary then seeks to undue that creation.
He wants you dead. However...

As long as any one man is breathing..it is God's will.
It should be God's say so...that we die. God gives...God takes away.
The Adversary isn't allowed this discretion.

But He is allowed all other discretion.
See the preamble of Job.