Satan's existence?

Satan's existence? [+ favourites]

First and formost I will admit that this is not my religous views, I am mearlly asking a question and would like to find out how the various religons preceve this. If a god created the unvierse then why would there be a satan if the only thing in existance was that god. What would be the logic of creating a devil?

"Fear nothing for fear is the mind killer."

There is no theologically sound logic that permits the existence of Satan. The only probable assumption is that such an entity was created to keep people interested in religion through fear.

"Hating everyone protects me from elitism."

not saying either of you are wrong but here is a nice little explanation by ethereal. Lucifer was an angel of great importance, but he had a choice to follow God or to try to become God. (In essence we all face the same choice). The devil was not created to scare us into trusting God. The devil is there to prove that we have a choice. Hmm seems like we have two conflicting ideas.

"Fear nothing for fear is the mind killer."

A mystic friend of mine once suggested that the principles of good and evil were dependent upon one another, representing merely one aspect of something very much like the symbolic principle of Yin and Yang, or the "positive" and "negative" forces in the universe. The concept of Satan or the Devil merely represented the extreme "negative" position, which should be avoided. The principle of balance was always best, comprised of both principles unified as one. Interesting idea, but totally at odds with orthodox religious concepts.

"Each conscious mind is alone in the universe!"

Eliasan: That is an incorrect definition for this simple reason: Satan is not a symbol for Satan "tempts" and is actually active as an antagonist according to the bible.

If Satan were a passive symbol then the probable theory of him being used to frighten people would be less likely.

Now, if you're going to waste time and bullshit around from a closed minded perspective (like ethereal who is an idiot) then I won't try to explain any more to you. Respond with intelligence.

"Hating everyone protects me from elitism."

In all religions, its a fact that'Satan' was an angel, but refused to obey one of God's orders, namely bowing before a prophet(humans being inferioir to angels).
It's all mythology basically, as much of religion is itself.

quote:

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but he had a choice to follow God or to try to become God

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"I'll heal ur woundz I'll set u free, I m jesus christ on xtacy"

I am congregationalist, but I find myself believing in religion as a method to ingrain moral values that we use daily while fostering a belief in the unknown. Every human being needs to have an adversary, something they strive against in thier odyssey for another great reward. It is this adversary who tempts the darkeness within each and every one of us and at the same time strengthens the desire to be righteous. For the devils existance, I believe he exists in each and every one of us, feeding off our negative emotions and always trying to regain control of our lives, while we consciously try to repel him with good deeds and resolution to do well in the world. As for the angel fallen from grace stuff, I find most old stories to be an explanation which has been (pardon the term) 'glorified' to make it more awesome to us. It's mythology, somewhere in them there usually is a basis of fact or a lesson, whichever way you choose to look at it. (Not saying there isn't both in a text, just usually one is stronger than the other as storyteller stress the strong point.)
But honestly, I don't know.

""As I sit before the fire, I wonder how many before myself have been burned.'"