#copied from mynews24 bible study for atheists

Since the beginning of time (as it would seem) humankind has been plagued by the devil. Adam and Eve were still frolicking in The Garden of Eden when this evil fiend showed up to spoil everything for billions of human beings.

Humanity is fascinated with the devil...and Christians even more so! Songs are sung about him, books are written about him, sermons are preached on his origins and evil tricks, and even Jesus himself talks about him and duels with him in the desert. I am convinced more movies have been made about the devil than “the other guy”!

The devil is feared and...dare I say...respected? Christians prefer not to even talk about him, as talking about him apparently makes him stronger. He must already be extremely powerful, as even the Son of God has to pass a test devised by the devil to prove he (Jesus) is indeed who he claims to be (Matt 4:1 – 11).

WHAT CHRISTIANS BELIEVE ABOUT THE DEVIL

Please note that whatever you read now is what is generally taught in Christian churches and is believed by the majority of Christians, with minor variations. There are some “more enlightened” Christian groups that do not believe this.

According to Christians, the devil started out as Lucifer, an archangel created by God. He was perfect in wisdom and beauty, and according to the way Christians read and interpret the bible, he was adorned with all sorts of precious stones. It is even believed he had a beautiful voice with musical instruments built into his body (Ezekiel 28:12-15). He was one of three archangels mentioned in the bible by name (Michael, Gabriel, Lucifer).

Lucifer then got filled with vanity and pride, and started to have his eye on the throne of God (Ezekiel 28:17, Isaiah 14:13, 14). He deceived a third of all the angels to assist him in kicking God off the throne. This led to a massive war in heaven, with Michael (the war angel) and his angels gallantly defending the throne of God (Revelation 12:7-9). Lucifer was defeated, kicked out of heaven and fell to earth (Isaiah 14:12, Luke 10:18), along with the angels he deceived. Lucifer then became Satan, and the angels that fell with him became demons (Revelation 12:7-9).

Being absolutely devastated by this incident, God decided to create humans (Gen 1:26), apparently to replace his worship angels. The sole duty of man would then be to serve God and worship him (Eccl 12:13). Upon hearing this, Lucifer (now Satan) got really ticked off and decided to “get back at God” and seduce mankind. While posing as a serpent, the devil deceived the newly created humans Adam and Eve to disobey God (Gen 3:1-7).

So, upon learning of this deception, God kicked Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden and promised to crush Satan’s head (Gen 3:8-24). Oh, and God cursed the serpent as well (Gen 3:14). Poor Adam was now supposed to work all his life to put bread on the table, and no more magic children for Eve...she would have to do it the hard way.

And thus starts a 6,000 year old war between humans and the devil, with God on the side of the humans (of course).

According to Christian beliefs, God gave the earth to man in Genesis 1:28. Through the sin and disobedience of Adam and Eve, they in turn gave the earth to the devil. The devil is now in charge of the earth and has full run of the place, doing as he pleases. God has no dominion over the earth, as he gave it to humans who then gave it to the devil. Even Jesus SEEMS to acknowledge this fact in Matt 4:8-10 - Again, the devil took Him up on a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them. And he said to Him, These things, all taken together, I will give You, if You will prostrate Yourself before me and do homage and worship me. Then Jesus said to him, Begone, Satan! For it has been written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him alone shall you serve. Jesus never tells Satan he is a liar, he just quotes a bible verse about worship.

Some Christians think the devil to be a very handsome, charming fellow...a master of deception. Others think of him as half man half goat, with big horns, a pointy tail and a pitch fork. All round, though, he is regarded as a nasty piece of work, bent on destroying all humans.

So, time to expose a few lies here.

LIE NO 1: THE DEVIL WAS ONCE AN ANGEL CALLED LUCIFER

The bible only mentions THREE angels by name:

Michael: The protector of Israel. He leads the war in heaven against Satan (Revelation 12:7-9), acted as a messenger to Daniel (Daniel 10:13), and argued with the devil over the body of Moses (Jude 1:9).

Gabriel: The official messenger of God. Mainly responsible for delivering personalized messages from God to various people (Dan 8:15-26, Dan 9:21, Luke 1:19, Luke 1:26)

Abaddon: The angel of the bottomless pit, and the king of the hordes that will torment mankind for 5 months (Rev 9:3-11).

Not once is Lucifer ever mentioned by name as an angel. In fact, the word Lucifer is mentioned only ONCE in the ENTIRE bible:

Isaiah 14:12 - 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!

The Hebrew word translated Lucifer is helel (or heylel), from the root, hâlâl, meaning "to shine" or "to bear light".

So, who is this “bright, shining one”? Well, in verse 4 it clearly states: “You shall take up this against the king of Babylon...”

No devil here. This verse simply refers to the super arrogant king Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon being knocked off his throne.

LIE NO 2: THE DEVIL WAS A (NAMELESS) COVERING ANGEL THAT WENT NUTS

Ezekiel 28: 12-17 - Son of man, take up a lamentation for the king of Tyre, and say to him, 'Thus says the Lord God: You were the seal of perfection, Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; Every precious stone was your covering: The sardius, topaz, and diamond, Beryl, onyx, and jasper, Sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold. The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes was prepared for you on the day you were created. You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; you were on the holy mountain of God; you walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones. You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you.

Who is this prophecy for? The king of Tyre, of course!

Eden? How could the king of Tyre be in Eden? Well, he wasn’t there physically. “Eden”, “the garden” and “the holy mountain” are all symbols of “paradise”...a place where man was in charge of everything...a place before “the fall of man”...a place of human perfection and dominance. This king was awesome and powerful, but the implication is that everything he accomplished was from God. The iniquity found in him was his pride. The king of Tyre was a man...not an angel.

No devil here either! Just another king being kicked off his throne due to his arrogance.

LIE NO 3: THE WAR IN HEAVEN

Revelation 12:7 - Then war broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels went forth to battle with the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought.

To expose this lie, I quickly have to (once again) include the opening verse of the book of revelation:

Revelation 1:1 - This is the revelation of Jesus Christ. God gave it to Him to disclose and make known to His bond servants certain things which must shortly and speedily come to pass in their entirety. And He sent and communicated it through His angel to His bond servant John,

Whatever is written in the book of Revelation must STILL HAPPEN. This is not a description of something that happened in the past. This is a prophecy of FUTURE events. This war must still take place!

No devil here either!

OK, so it would appear as though the whole Christian fantasy of this “fallen angel becoming the devil” is based (once again) on mistranslation of words and misinterpreting scripture. Christians perceive the devil as an evil monster going around with his army of demons, with one thing on his mind: to destroy humans. I will say this exact sentence again later...watch out for it.

WILL THE TRUE DEVIL PLEASE STAND UP?

Now here is an interesting titbit:

The devil is NEVER mentioned in the Old Testament...not once. You see, the Hebrew word “satan” is translated as “Satan” or “The Devil”, but the word “satan” does not mean “devil”. It means “adversary” or “opponent”.

And guess what?

The devil is NEVER mentioned in the New Testament EITHER! Not once! You see, in the New Testament the “adversary” gets a new name. Diabolos! The Greek word “dee-ab'-ol-os” means “to accuse or slander”. He is ALSO called “satanas”, with the exact same meaning as the “diabolos”...”accuser”. My Hebrew/Greek concordance says that I should also check the Hebrew word “satan” wherever I read the word “diabolos” or “satanas”. So, in essence, it is the SAME word...same description...same character. It would appear as though, purely based on his name, the devil is actually an “adversary” or an “accuser”, not a pitch fork wielding monster.

Try to read your bible with this in mind. Every time you see the word “satan” or “devil”, replace it with the word “adversary”. A whole new world will open up for you.

A quick rewind to LIE NO 2 - according to what Christians believe, the devil was a perfect creation until he corrupted himself and became evil. So, as the final nail in THAT coffin, I would like to offer the following verse:

John 8:44 (AMP) - You are of your father, the devil, and it is your will to practice the lusts and gratify the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a falsehood, he speaks what is natural to him, for he is a liar and the father of lies and of all that is false.

Let me quickly rip this verse apart to show exactly what Jesus meant when he spoke here.

“You are like your father the accuser...he was a murderer FROM THE BEGINNING and does not stand in the truth, because THERE IS NO TRUTH IN HIM”.

See, according to Christian belief, Lucifer was a PERFECT being...“the seal of perfection” (Ezek 28:14), who then corrupted himself through his vanity, but this is simply not true. He started out as a liar and a murderer. Nothing changed in him. And here, of course, is the clincher: “When he speaks a falsehood, he speaks what is natural to him”. It is his nature to lie. He was this way FROM THE BEGINNING!

So now I guess you are thoroughly confused. It is quite obvious that the devil never created the sin in him, nor was he a fallen angel. He was evil “from the beginning”. But then where does he come from?

God created him of course! IN THE BEGINNING!

And where do I get this?

Isaiah 45:7 (AMP) - I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and I create EVIL; I am the Lord, Who does all these things.

Here God admits that HE CREATES EVIL. Wow, what a shocker!

Well, what did you expect? Don’t Christians claim God created EVERYTHING? Well, everything INCLUDES evil! The devil did not CREATE evil or lies! If Christians believe their own theology, then the devil cannot create ANYTHING! Only their God can! It is clearly stated in John 8:44 that “he was a murderer and a liar FROM THE BEGINNING”. God created the devil to lie and to kill! The devil is an instrument in the hands of God!

Bet you thought the devil kills people, makes people ill and hurts people? No, no, sorry my friends. It is clearly written in the bible:

Deuteronomy 32:39 - (AMP) - See now that I, I am He, and there is no god beside Me; I kill and I make alive, I wound and I heal, and there is none who can deliver out of My hand.

You see, the devil is merely an extension of...let’s call it “the dark side”...of God. God decides who lives and who dies, who stays well and who falls ill; He creates and He destroys. He doesn’t always do the destruction himself. He created “satan” as a tool...a destroyer to do his dirty work for him.

And where do I get this?

Isaiah 54:16 (AMP) - Behold, I have created the smith who blows on the fire of coals and who produces a weapon for its purpose; and I have created the devastator to destroy.

Christians perceive the devil as an evil monster going around with his army of demons, with one thing on his mind: to destroy humans. The truth is - the devil is under direct command and instruction from the God that created him. He was created for a single purpose...to destroy. If you are ill, it is God who makes you ill (Deut 32:39). If you die, it was God who killed you (Deut 32:39). The devil is just the hammer that drives the nail into your coffin.

God swings the hammer.

[quote author=RuthlessLeader post=67576776]#copied from mynews24 bible study for atheists

Since the beginning of time (as it would seem) humankind has been plagued by the devil. Adam and Eve were still frolicking in The Garden of Eden when this evil fiend showed up to spoil everything for billions of human beings.

Humanity is fascinated with the devil...and Christians even more so! Songs are sung about him, books are written about him, sermons are preached on his origins and evil tricks, and even Jesus himself talks about him and duels with him in the desert. I am convinced more movies have been made about the devil than “the other guy”!

The devil is feared and...dare I say...respected? Christians prefer not to even talk about him, as talking about him apparently makes him stronger. He must already be extremely powerful, as even the Son of God has to pass a test devised by the devil to prove he (Jesus) [/b] you are either a muslim, atheist or satanic operative

[quote author=Holyede post=69205873][/quote]
Atheist. But didn't you at least read it so you can learn

since you are a self god no need

This is one of the most interesting write-ups I have ever read.

You will never see any of those Christian nut-jobs on this thread especially the one who has "butterfly" attached to his moniker.

Whether you Christians like it or not, we will de-brainwash & deliver you from your mental slavery. Hahahahahaaaaaa!

Zoharariel:
This is one of the most interesting write-ups I have ever read.

You will never see any of those Christian nut-jobs on this thread especially the one who has "butterfly" attached to his moniker.

Whether you Christians like it or not, we will de-brainwash & deliver you from your mental slavery. Hahahahahaaaaaa!

This writeup solves the problem of evil for christians, albeit in a horrifying way by saying God is evil himself. This also explains his character in the Old testament.

But just watch how one of them Laff, will come and divert and start shouting context or another interpretation.

Luvmijeje

Interesting read.