An argument was made: Grace and Peace to all of you. Understanding the Devil as a Personification of the Mechanism of Evil and its Institutions. There is not in existence a personal being called, the Ancient Serpent, the Devil or Satan. It is a metaphor, a personification of the combined faculty of man that is used to invent, plan and execute evil as well as the powers and the external authorities that come forth from it as institutions. All references in scripture to this entity as a personal being are metaphors and/or parables. The real deceiver of all mankind is mankind itself, particularly the sinful desires of the unbridled human heart that is deceitful above all else. Jesus was tempted in the wilderness by this in visions. Each of us is tempted by this, by our own desires to do evil. It will be destroyed when the souls of the wicked are destroyed because that is the only place it has lasting existence at that time when the kingdom of the world has already been replaced by the kingdom of God. How did one little snake become the humongous monstrosity of Revelation 12? Obviously, it is because it is a symbol of something else that grows as mankind grows. The caricature of Revelation 12 is proof positive that Satan, the Devil, the Ancient Serpent is but a metaphor. ---------------------------- Addendum: Mark wisely asked for scriptural support for this OP. I provided it in the comments, and now append it here for all to read. ---------------------------- If we look at the description of Satan in Rev 12, we see that it is described as having 7 heads and 10 horns with 7 crowns upon his head, in addition to being humongous and in the sky. In Rev 13a, the Devil transfers its authority, power and throne to another described as having 7 heads and 10 horns with 10 crowns upon its horns. This transfer of authority is symbolized by the moving of the crowns from the heads to the horns. Next, another beast is described in Rev 13b that is said to exercise the authority of the beast in 13a on its behalf. This beast is Daniels 11th horn. The relationship between this beast and the first is described in Revelation 17 as The Woman Who Rides the Beast, a scarlet beast with 7 heads and 10 horns but no crowns. Again, the shift of crowns symbolizes the shift in authority. This time, the woman herself, Babylon the Great, the Great City that rules over the Kings of the Earth (10 horns) crowns the beast. She exercises the beasts authority. So, what we have is a logical progression of the Devil and its authority, power and throne. First, the Devil itself is ruling through its seven heads. Then the Devil, still the seven headed, ten horned beast, is ruling through the Kings of the Earth, ten horns, for a short time. Then the Devil is ruling through the city that rides on him, crowning him so to speak. The beast itself, with the seven heads and ten horns that is a caricature of the Devil is the same entity throughout, even what is called the Ancient Serpent, the Devil or Satan. Its cosmetic appearance changes with the shifts of the exercise of its authority. Now, the angel reveals to John in some detail what the parts of the beast actually are, and they arent personal beings. The seven heads are seven kingdoms, for example. Therefore, it is a caricature. It is a kind of pictographic parable, if you will for the institutions of the world. And, what is most necessary for understanding that this isnt an isolated depiction, is that John records in Rev 12 that this Dragon/Beast is the Ancient Serpent that leads the whole world astray. This means that it is the very same thing depicted in the story of the Fall of Man as a serpent, since there is no other Ancient Serpent of significance in scripture. Therefore, that serpent is also a metaphor, so that from beginning to end, in scripture, the personification imagery of the Ancient Serpent, the Devil or Satan is shown to be but a metaphor. From here, it is easy to show what the metaphor means, but it is useless if one is unwilling to let go of the scapegoat and start taking responsibility for their own sinfulness. Yet, if someone is so willing, the process of overcoming the Devil and the World he governs can begin today, so that, eventually, one can say as Christ said, it has no hold on me. --------------------- ...to which I replied: PLEASE explain how a metaphor can be contained in an abyss/eternal fire: --> Matt25:41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. SECONDLY, how can a metaphor experience torment --> Rev20:10 and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. You try hard to explain away Satan citing as the basis certain symbolisms subject to interpretation... ...but what about the above passages I presented... if we are to accept your interpretation that devil is a metaphor; then why would Scripture indicate that this metaphor was going to be TORMENTED day and night forever and ever rather than simple tell us that the metaphor is done away with permanently. I, for one, would be interested in a response SPECIFIC to my question...
Posted on: Sat, 13 Sep 2014 19:16:01 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015