[Note: As I said in my answer, I wanted to change the title of my question; I feel like it is accusatory and inflammatory; but it might not be fair to the answerers.] In studying the book of Job, it became somewhat clear to me what seems like the entire premise of the book, and it is encapsulated in Job‬ ‭1‬:‭6‬-‭9‬: >Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them. And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought?” [A commentary](https://archive.org/details/bookofjobtransla00elzauoft/page/n1/mode/1up) by the Jewish scholar A. Elzas points out what seems obvious once you read it: >Going to and fro —The Targum: "I am come from going round the earth **to examine the works of the children of men.**" The expression going, walking, means in the Heb. idiom vigilant execution. My personal interpretation of this, and what now seems obvious, is that **satan is looking to find fault among men**. He is, after all, the great accuser. And **God elevates His creation, man, in the eyes of satan, and allows satan to prove to himself whether it is so, or not: are there men who do not curse God, no matter what?** But **it seems like God is almost taunting satan**. He sets him up for the whole series of events that follow. It's like God tempts him! And yet James 1 says God cannot be tempted by evil, nor can He Himself tempt anyone. **I believe this, but I just don't know how to reconcile my thoughts about God and satan in the book of Job**, and I'm hoping there is a theological explanation.

In Christian tradition there is a least one character with full conscious knowledge of God’s existence that chooses not to worship God, namely Satan. Evidently, humans seems not be that favored in having satisfactory evidence for God’s existence (as witnessed by the wild Christian internal disagreement, different denominations and schisms of the original faith; not to mention all the non-Christians). Why is Satan entitled to a such privileged epistemological certainty while humans are not?

According to the a Wikipedia article on Catharism (a Gnostic Christian movement in the 12th to 14th centuries): > The idea of two Gods or principles, one being good and the other evil, was central to Cathar beliefs. The good God was the God of the New Testament and the creator of the spiritual realm, contrasted with the evil Old Testament God—the creator of the physical world whom many Cathars, and particularly their persecutors, identified as Satan. I find the statement about the Old Testament God being identified as Satan to be really surprising. How was this explained? I'm especially interested how references to Satan were handled (e.g. the book of Job) and how any "good" actions from God were interpreted. One point I would like clarification on is that modern Christians (say, Catholics) generally consider Satan a powerful being, but not a god. What was it in Cathar theology that "elevated" Satan to the level of an evil God? Was he just the most powerful evil being they knew of and so he must be the same Old Testament God that they viewed as evil? It's kind of a long shot in that this information may not exist, but I would love to know how they viewed God having Old Testament heroes of faith, like Enoch, Moses, and Elijah, not taste death. I figure having a soul be released without having to die would be very interesting to them.

I wonder that if there are Christians that interpret the Old Testament as something so false/deceitful that it may be the work of the Devil himself in an attempt to lead humanity out of God's true path.

From what I understand, the devil is not a character who appears obviously in any part of the Bible. If this is true, when was it that Satan/the devil began to terrify people who called themselves Christians, and why?

> Now the serpent was shrewder than any of the wild animals that the > Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Is it really true that God > said, ‘You must not eat from any tree of the orchard’?” Genesis 3:1 > (NET) I'm wondering what precisely was Satan's motivation to deceive Eve into disobeying God. I'm assuming the answer is in the context provided in the previous two chapters of Genesis, for example: > Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, after our > likeness, **so they may rule** over the fish of the sea and the birds of > the air, over the cattle, and **over all the earth**, and over all the > creatures that move on the earth.” Genesis 1:26 (NET) I'm thinking it's mostly related to man's authority over the earth - perhaps Satan saw an opportunity to have his own domain, and to rule it using the authority God had delegated to man, thus he usurped their authority. But there's some problems with this: - The authority to rule over the earth was only given to mankind. Satan didn't have a physical, human body (he wasn't mankind), so how was he planning to wield this authority? - Since the Bible does not describe a rebellion of satan prior to Eden, I'm assuming that satan's attempt to deceive Eve was actually his first rebellion against God... So, as described in Ezekiel 28:13-19, satan already held a high rank in God's kingdom as a cherub before he rebelled. What was so enticing about having authority over tiny planet Earth in God's universe compared to being so close to Yahweh and already having a certain amount of delegated authority as a cherub? That doesn't make sense to me (to forfeit so much to gain what Adam and Eve had). If anyone has a similar or different take on **what exactly satan's primary motivation to deceive Eve was** I'm interested to read it and learn from it (please base your answer on Scripture references and not personal opinion). Also, in my two bullets points I was only sharing my current thoughts about it - don't feel the need to engage with them if they are not related to your answer.

> The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. And he > was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was > with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him. (ESV) > > Mark 1:12–13 In this verse, the Holy Spirit sent Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan. Given that Jesus was the Son of God, the Holy Spirit must have known that Jesus could withstand the temptation. Why did the Holy Spirit do that then?

According to Protestantism, can Satan and his demons perform true and genuine miracles? God can perform great wonders and miracles, but can the Devil and his minions perform such wonders and miracles as Almighty God is able to perform. Are satanic miracles permanent and long lasting according to Protestant scholars?

According to Catholicism, can Satan or the Devils perform true and genuine miracles? God can perform great wonders and miracle, but can the Devil and his minions perform such wonders and miracles as Almighty God is able to perform. > A miracle is defined as an extraordinary sensible effect wrought by God that surpasses the power and order of created nature. - [What Constitutes a Miracle?](https://www.catholic.com/magazine/online-edition/what-constitutes-a-miracle)

When I ask this question I usually end up getting the response of: > “Well, that was just him giving us free will!” And then I ask why he would give us free will if he knew we would sin and would send us to Hell. Which gets the response of: > “Well, he didn’t want us to be robots! That would just be awful.” Then this goes on and on. What I’m trying to ask is: why did God give us the ability to sin if he would get so mad at us that he would send us to Hell? Why did God make Satan if he knew he would tempt Adam and Eve? Honestly why even make Satan in the first place?

The first mention in the Bible of the devil or Satan being judged is in Genesis 3, on the occasion of the fall of Adam and Eve, with the serpent generally accepted as either being Satan or being controlled by him. This Genesis 3 judgment may be eternal condemnation and imprisonment in hell or lesser punishment. What is the earliest prophecy (chronologically, according to traditional dating) in the Bible that states unequivocally that Satan will be cast into hell for eternity with no chance of repentance and forgiveness? I ask this so as to get closer to the answer to a larger question: was deceiving Adam and Eve or a prior rebellion in heaven the occasion of Satan's prison sentence without possibility of parole, or is it something that Satan did or will do later in history?

### Background I am intrigued by this conversation between God and Devil in the Book of Job: > "One day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them. The Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” > > Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.” If Job was a historical person and the conversation between God and Devil is the verbatim reproduction of what really happened, I wish to believe that they were not such sworn enemies as we have been trained to believe. I prefer to believe that heaven is the place where the faithful who choose to live for ever with God go, and hell on the other hand, is that state of continued existence which the people who consciously choose to ignore God are assigned to be in. The very fact that those who choose the 'adversary' above God are deprived of God's presence, itself becomes their agony after death. ### Question Has there has been a historical development of the 'image' of devil through the history of the Church?

One aspect of Christian theology that has long puzzled me concerns the internal logic of those sects and denominations – Catholic, Protestant and Eastern Orthodox alike – that affirm belief in a literal Lucifer. In discussions with adherents from various denominations, I have encountered a range of explanations for Satan’s motivations. However, these explanations tend to converge on a common theme: that Satan, consumed by envy and hatred toward both God and humanity, seeks to inflict as much destruction and suffering as possible. Yet this account raises certain difficulties. The portrayal of Satan as an embodiment of unrestrained malice seems to mirror the archetypal villains of literature and popular culture. Figures whose motivations are often exaggerated or simplistic, such as the spiteful fairy or the vengeful antagonist whose actions are driven by little more than resentment or jealousy. The evil, but just misunderstood and socially outcast, witch. The evil antihero in Pocahontas that just wants to annihilate the native tribe for no good reason, only based on incredibly superficial, shallow and hateful grounds. To me, it appears somewhat incongruous that a being described as possessing superhuman intelligence and insight would act with such emotional impulsivity and self-destructiveness. From a logical standpoint one might expect such a being to recognize the futility of opposing an omnipotent deity and to comprehend that rebellion against ultimate goodness is contrary to its own self-interest. The paradox, then, lies in the idea that Satan, though vastly more intelligent than any human being, acts with less rational foresight than the average person. If Satan is fully aware that his defiance will culminate in his own ruin, his continued opposition to God appears irrational, even absurd. Is Satan like those cartoon characters? Maybe *that is* the answer. Maybe Satan is just so blinded with hatred, for no apparent good reason, that he just cannot stop hating human beings and God’s creation. Maybe Satan is like one of those evil caricature in children’s movies, that just wants to destroy everything no matter the cost. Maybe he just cannot reason about his own self-interests. Maybe Satan is a *theological* caricature, a personification of evil in its most absolute and irrational form. Maybe Satan is a caricature of those characters. Or maybe both are a caricature of what we humans identify as the corrupt, destructive, hateful, malevolent and vicious forces of the world – they both take the evils to their respective extremes. To provide some personal context, I approach this question as an atheist and former believer. I lost my faith at the age of sixteen, and since then I have sought to understand Christianity as an intellectual and cultural system rather than as a lived faith. One aspect I found particularly burdensome within my former belief was the tendency of some Christians to use an interpretive framework that cast all events and moral choices as elements within a vast cosmic, constantly raging, struggle between good and evil. While this worldview can offer moral clarity and a sense of taking moral stances, seeing oneself as a “soldier of God” in a colossal war, it can also be profoundly exhausting. It is a mode of understanding existence that definitively do not miss.

When it says lucifer it is clearly referring to the king of Babylon after his fall.Why has nobody corrected this mistake in so many years?

Satan and God have a conversation in which Satan says he wants to bring harm to Job’s family and then God provides Satan with permission to do so. And then Satan kills Job’s children. That appears to be a clear example of conspiracy to commit murder. Is God conspiring to commit murder with Satan the correct interpretation?

I have come across statements (including from some Orthodox clergy and theologians) suggesting that the Eastern Orthodox Church leaves open the possibility that even the devil could eventually repent and be restored. However, I struggle to reconcile this with passages that describe: The devil being “*tormented day and night forever and ever*” (Revelation 20:10) Some angels being *“kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness”* (Jude 1:6) Christ saying everlasting fire is “*prepared for the devil and his angels”* (Matthew 25:41) My questions are: 1. Is belief in the possible repentance/salvation of Satan an official teaching of the Eastern Orthodox Church, or only a theological opinion held by some within the tradition? 2. If it is a theological opinion within Orthodoxy, how do its proponents interpret the above biblical passages regarding eternal condemnation and chains of darkness?

## Background The character of Satan appears very different in the New Testament as compared to the Hebrew Bible. Some of the apparent stark differences appear below: --- - **The idea that the snake in the garden was Satan** Revelation 12:9; 20:2 identify Satan as an "ancient serpent". Later Christians linked this allusion with the snake from Genesis. On the other hand, the Hebrew bible **never** identifies the snake as anything more than an animal, and certainly never teaches that Satan was disguised as or possessing a snake. --- - **The idea that Satan rules the world as god** Satan is called “the god of this age” in 2 Corinthians 4:4: > In their case **the god of this world** has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing clearly the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. and “the prince of this world” in John 12:31: > Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out The Hebrew Bible no where supports the idea of a supernatural being besides YHVH ruling the world. It repeatedly says that YHVH will not share His power and dominion of the world with another: > I am the LORD; that is my name! I will not yield my glory to another or my praise to idols - Isaiah 42:8 --- - **The idea that Satan is a fallen angel working against God** The NT portrays Satan as a fallen angel in Luke 10:18, and portrays him as working at odds against God's plans of spreading the gospel in 1 Thessalonians 2:18. The Hebrew bible contains no references to 'Satan' falling from heaven or working against God's plans and it portrays Satan as one of many 'sons of God' who remains in God's presence in heaven and in fact does God's commands in Job 1:6-22. ## Question How do Protestants explain these differences? Why is Satan taught to be the "god of this world/age" in the New Testament while this theology is absent in the Hebrew Bible?

Christian theology generally teaches that only God is omnipresent, while Satan is a created being with limited power and presence. Yet, believers around the world often experience temptations or trials that they attribute to Satan’s influence. How do Christian theologians explain Satan’s ability to seemingly affect or test many people in different locations at once, if he cannot be everywhere? - Does Scripture suggest he works through a network of demons? I’m asking specifically from a biblical and theological standpoint, not from personal opinion.

Speaking from a mormon mentality. But not necessarily a member. Looking for ideas from all Christian denominations. The mormons preach in the pearl of great price, that in the pre earth life, all of humanity gathered to discuss the plan of salvation with god. Lucifer and Jesus came forward and shared their thoughts. Lucifers plan was ultimately shot down and it is said he became prideful and was cast out. Some of the other angels followed him etc etc. My question is this. If "all good things come from god" as said by mormon prophets, then how was an angel in heaven able to experience pride and turn away from god before being subject to the "natural man" state of temptation? And second, if in order for God's plan to work, Adam and eve had to partake of the apple and give into sin, then SATAN HAD TO BE PART OF THE PLAN. Therefore God orchestrated it. Which in turn makes god responsible for creating something evil right? Asking for answers from all views. Against mormonism for mormonism, whatver your thoughts are.

In the Gospels, Jesus is led into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan (Matthew 4:1–11, Luke 4:1–13). As the Son of God, He would have known in advance both that Satan was coming and the kinds of temptations he would present. For Christians, however, temptations often come suddenly and without forewarning. We usually don’t know in advance what form they will take. My question is: Does Jesus’ foreknowledge of the devil’s tactics set His experience of temptation apart from the temptations Christians face, or should it be understood as fundamentally the same kind of testing?