Do Christadelphians deny there is a literal "Satan/Devi

Post by **_brody_in_ga** » Fri Jul 28, 2006 10:57 am

I found this on another site

Under the heading "Devil" and "Satan" in the Christadelphian publication, "Key to Understanding the Bible", on page 15, we find,

"Devil.....Its general meaning is sin or lawlessness, whether manifested individually or politically. It is also applied to the unlawful lusts and tendencies of human nature which invariably lead to sin. It is not a supernatural being. Satan is a Hebrew word signifying "adversary", "enemy", or "accuser"."

If this is true, then why did God rebuke Satan in Zephaniah 3:1-2?
Was God rebuking part of his sinful nature? No way! Also, Jesus had a dialogue with Satan in Matthew 4, what of this? Lastly, in John 8:44 Jesus called him a murderer, and father of lies. These are terms that cannot be in reference to "Feelings".

What is everyones thoughts here?

Post by **_TK** » Fri Jul 28, 2006 12:44 pm

i suspect that they might state that the devil is a "force" (the dark side??) but not an actual being. thus "rebuking" the force might be equated with "resisting." does this imply that Jesus was talking to Himself in the desert? i believe that it does, which is why it doesnt make much sense to me.

of course i cannot speak for a christadelphian so this is all conjecture; evangelion will have to enlighten us upon his return.

TK

Post by **_brody_in_ga** » Fri Jul 28, 2006 1:38 pm

TK wrote:i suspect that they might state that the devil is a "force" (the dark side??) but not an actual being. thus "rebuking" the force might be equated with "resisting." does this imply that Jesus was talking to Himself in the desert? i believe that it does, which is why it doesnt make much sense to me.

of course i cannot speak for a christadelphian so this is all conjecture; evangelion will have to enlighten us upon his return.

TK

I agree, I cant wait to hear his responce.
In any event, I personally believe you would be commiting exegetical suicide to say that the devil is a mere force.

Post by **_TK** » Fri Jul 28, 2006 4:58 pm

brody said: In any event, I personally believe you would be commiting exegetical suicide to say that the devil is a mere force.

somehow, someway, i am sure evangelion will disagree

and i am sure whatever he comes up with will require me to think. i hate when that happens!

To Evangelion-- i hope you dont mind us talking about you in your absence. look at it this way-- you are missed!

TK

Post by **_brody_in_ga** » Fri Jul 28, 2006 5:54 pm

TK wrote:brody said: In any event, I personally believe you would be commiting exegetical suicide to say that the devil is a mere force.

somehow, someway, i am sure evangelion will disagree and i am sure whatever he comes up with will require me to think. i hate when that happens!

To Evangelion-- i hope you dont mind us talking about you in your absence. look at it this way-- you are missed!

TK

LOL. I agree. But no matter what anyone says or what logical argument they present, if the suposition is wrong, it doesn't matter if the argument presented is flawless, it is still wrong.

Ofcourse I am not presenting the idea that you should never think deeply about things, I am just alluding to the fact that sometimes people can over-think things and end up with crazy ideas. Like the devil is a mere force or something of that nature.

Post by **_STEVE7150** » Fri Jul 28, 2006 7:11 pm

Ofcourse I am not presenting the idea that you should never think deeply about things, I am just alluding to the fact that sometimes people can over-think things and end up with crazy ideas. Like the devil is a mere force or something of that nature.

I don't think they even think the devil is a force but just our sinful desires and they have answers to anything you can think of.

Post by **_Paidion** » Sat Jul 29, 2006 7:39 pm

i suspect that they might state that the devil is a "force" (the dark side??) but not an actual being.

A significant number of people state the same thing concerning God.

Post by **_SoaringEagle** » Mon Jul 31, 2006 2:29 pm

Here is Evangelion's take of Matthew 4: http://www.thechristadelphians.org/foru ... owtopic=22

Post by **_Paidion** » Mon Jul 31, 2006 2:39 pm

If Christ pre-existed, and if "Satan" is an evil, supernatural being, then "Satan" would have known that Jesus was the Son of God, and he would not have asked such a question - a question which only makes sense if the questioner is a mortal human being.

That's not the only way in which the question makes sense.

When did Jesus Himself know that He was the Son of God? Did He know it from birth? Or was it revealed to Him somewhere along the line? I think it was revealed to Him, perhaps when He was 12, saying He must be about the things of His Father.

After Jesus had been in the wilderness, having fasted for 40 days, Satan thought he could cause Jesus to doubt what had been revealed to Him concerning His deity--- Who He was. Thus he prefixed his tempation with, "If you are the Son of God..."