Satan

[warmonger1981]

First and I don't know why DoomYoshi is not sharing this..

Satan did not really show up in the bible until Chronicles? He only really got rolling when he shows up in Job. God asks, "Where were you?" He says, "Oh roaming about the earth." So... wanna make a bet?

Second it's not a matter of teaching you to blindly obey people. It's more about warning that you should choose to do the right thing or sin will ruin everything. Many church leaders for different reasons can't be trusted but that is neither supported or opposed by the serpent tricking Adam and Eve into gaining knowledge.

They were innocent like children. You tell a five year old, "Don't cross the busy street without an adult." Or "Don't eat too much candy." It's to protect them, not to prevent them from going to the store for a candy feast because you are oppressing them for fun.

If some stranger says, "Go ahead and cross the street. Pedestrians have the right away. The cars have to stop." Who is the "good guy"?

I was thinking of doing the whole serpent is not satan thing but I thought it was insignificant to the actual answer. Your second example is great, except I still eat too much candy at times.

Anyways, the word Satan just means adversary. The first Satan is actually in the Torah and it is the angel of the Lord, which has also been imagined as a Christophany (by Justin Martyr at least). So, you heard it here first. Jesus is Satan (gasp). "The Satan" isn't introduced until Revelation, and that may just be because of Greek constantly throwing definite articles everywhere.

What is this angel of the Lord's name? Does it end in the last two letters being El?

[2dimes]

Well, you could get into many levels of, "What translation?" "Did you look up the Greek, Hebrew, German, Ebonic, whatever.?" You are going to lose most people just using actuall quotes, way before getting into esoterica.

I don't really like these topics online to begin with, way too much typing and there is always folks that just over filter everything (of course I do it too.) text is way too open for interpretation.

Having typed that, being open for interpretation is not only a potentially bad thing about the bible. Like when some one is trying to support Westburo Baptist ideas, abusing slaves, The klan, or similar.

Often it can be good. Almost every time I read any givin part I think I know, it seems to speak to me in a way that is relevant at that time.

The biggest problem with the bible is not what's actually written, it's what people claim is written. Not enough people are willing to go read the whole chapter to gain the context. Combine all that with things the ancient Hebrews were told to do one time being confused with everlasting laws, and let the fun begin.

[TeeGee]

For those who believe in Christianity:

In all the Bible stuff about the Garden of Eden, why is Satan the bad guy for getting Eve to eat from the Tree of Knowledge? Like, surely if God is trying to keep humans ignorant while Satan is trying to educate them then Satan is the good guy?

Or is the Bible saying that greater authorities should control the flow of information to those they govern, and that it is wrong (perhaps even harmful) for the governed to be shown all the unfiltered facts of the world around them?

How many times have i told you not to mention my name in public threads? This time you went too far, listing my name in the topic

[jimboston]

I never understood how they were supposed to know it was wrong before eating the fruit which made them know right from wrong...

Are you trying to apply logic to the Bible?

Logic and faith are incompatible belief systems.