It is written:
Revelation 12:9-So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
Different Satanists have different belief about Satan. Let’s examine these beliefs and see which (if any) line up with what the Word of God teaches.
Is Satan Just A Symbol For Evil?
Some Satanists are atheists, believing in neither God or Satan. Instead, they claim that Satan is a symbol for the dark impulses of mankind. Of course, this presents a problem for Satanists: how can there be “dark” impulses within mankind without there first being a standard of morality by which the “dark” impulses are measured, which in turn points to the existence of God?
“NDErs commonly experience two things in the presence of this Being of Light: an overwhelming love and compassion, and a life review where this God of light emphasizes the impact of their actions on others….People commonly say, “All religions basically teach the same things.” There’s some truth to this. It’s actually uncanny how similar the moral laws are across cultures— in ancient China, Babylon, Egypt, Greece, and Rome; across Anglo- Saxon and American Indian culture; through Buddhist, Hindu, Christian, and Muslim sacred writings— all basically agree in this area. Former Oxford scholar C. S. Lewis gives evidence of this common moral law summarized below: Don’t do harm to another human by what you do or say (the Golden Rule). Honor your father and mother. Be kind toward brothers and sisters, children, and the elderly. Do not have sex with another person’s spouse. Be honest in all your dealings (don’t steal). Do not lie. Care for those weaker or less fortunate. Dying to self is the path to life. 10 In just about every culture and world religion since the beginning of recorded history, we see this common moral law. “They demonstrate that God’s law is written in their hearts” (Romans 2:15 NLT).” (John Burke, Imagine Heaven: Near-Death Experiences, God’s Promises, And The Exhilarating Future That Awaits You, 160-161 (Kindle Edition); Grand Rapids, Michigan; Baker Books).
The harder people try to get away from God, the more they demonstrate their need for Him.
Is Satan God?
Some teach that Satan is God’s co-eternal and co-powerful counterpart. This philosophy is known historically as dualism. It is represented in many societies and religions with symbols such as the ying-yang (as displayed on the Korean flag), and is prominently embraced in many secret societies such as the Masonic Lodge.
For example, Albert Mackey, a recognized scholar on Freemasonry, has written under the heading of “dualism” in his encyclopedia:
“The state of being two-fold, as good and evil, for example. In the old mythologies, there was a doctrine which supposed the world to have been always governed by two antagonistic principles, distinguished as the good and the evil principle. This doctrine pervaded all the Oriental religions. Thus in the system of Zoroaster, one of the great religious teachers of the East we have Ahriman and Ormuzd, and in the Hebrew cosmogony, their explanation of the system of the universe, we find the Creator and the Serpent. There has been a remarkable development of this system in the three degrees of Symbolic Freemasonry, which everywhere exhibit in their organization, their symbolism, and their design, the pervading influences of this principle of dualism. Thus, in the First Degree, there is Darkness overcome by might; in the Second, Ignorance dispersed by Snout e, and in the Third, Death conquered by Eternal Life.” (Albert G. Mackey, Encyclopedia Of Freemasonry And Its Kindred Sciences,, 20364-20370 (Kindle Edition))
However, while Freemasonry and many other religions around the world teach that Satan is God, this simply is not true.
Very simply, evil cannot be eternal. At least two evidences from logic and reasoning clearly establish that Satan is not some eternal being who is equal in strength and power with God.
First, evil can only exist in that which is first good, showing us that evil cannot be eternal. Lewis has well pointed out:
“In other words badness cannot succeed even in being bad in the same way in which goodness is good. Goodness is, so to speak, itself: badness is only spoiled goodness. And there must be something good first before it can be spoiled. We called sadism a sexual perversion; but you must first have the idea of a normal sexuality before you can talk of its being perverted; and you can see which is the perversion, because you can explain the perverted from the normal, and cannot explain the normal from the perverted. It follows that this Bad Power, who is supposed to be on an equal footing with the Good Power, and to love badness in the same way as the Good Power loves goodness, is a mere bogy. In order to be bad he must have good things to want and then to pursue in the wrong way: he must have impulses which were originally good in order to be able to pervert them. But if he is bad he cannot supply himself either with good things to desire or with good impulses to pervert. He must be getting both from the Good Power. And if so, then he is not independent. He is part of the Good Power’s world: he was made either by the Good Power or by some power above them both. Put it more simply still. To be bad, he must exist and have intelligence and will. But existence, intelligence and will are in themselves good. Therefore he must be getting them from the Good Power: even to be bad he must borrow or steal from his opponent. And do you now begin to see why Christianity has always said that the devil is a fallen angel? That is not a mere story for the children. It is a real recognition of the fact that evil is a parasite, not an original thing. The powers which enable evil to carry on are powers given it by goodness. All the things which enable a bad man to be effectively bad are in themselves good things—resolution, cleverness, good looks, existence itself. That is why Dualism, in a strict sense, will not work. But I freely admit that real Christianity (as distinct from Christianity-and-water) goes much nearer to Dualism than people think. One of the things that surprised me when I first read the New Testament seriously was that it talked so much about a Dark Power in the universe—a mighty evil spirit who was held to be the Power behind death and disease, and sin. The difference is that Christianity thinks this Dark Power was created by God, and was good when he was created, and went wrong. Christianity agrees with Dualism that this universe is at war. But it does not think this is a war between independent powers. It thinks it is a civil war, a rebellion, and that we are living in a part of the universe occupied by the rebel.” (C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, 43-45 (Kindle Edition); HarperCollins e-Books)
Second, before anything can be identified as evil, there must be an ultimate standard of goodness by which the evil is judged as such. Therefore when we speak of God (the uncaused First Cause), we are speaking of that ultimate Goodness which is an intrinsic part of His Nature. Being the uncaused First Cause, God is that goodness which is prior to the existence of evil.
Satan is not some coeternal opposite of God, although he would like us to believe this, and would like his followers to believe this.
Will Satan Defeat God?
Other Satanists teach that Satan was created by God, but that he will one day defeat God. Of course, the problem with this is pretty apparent: how could a finite created being ever hope to overthrow the infinite eternal Creator of everything?!
From logic, we can see that Satan is a created being. What’s more, it is apparent that he was created good (since God is the source of goodness and everything is made in that same likeness).
However, clearly at some point, Satan rebelled against God.
Yet how could a being that was sinless turn away from God?
Geisler has well written:
“According to the Bible, Lucifer (Isaiah 14:12; cf. 1 Timothy 3:6), a created archangel, was the first to sin, thus becoming Satan. A third of all the angels fell with him (Revelation 12:4). After that, Adam and Eve were tempted by the devil (Genesis 3) and fell into sin (Romans 5:12). There had been no sin in the universe. There was a perfect God, a perfect place called heaven filled with perfect creatures called angels. How could sin arise under such perfect conditions? Who caused Lucifer to sin? He was not tempted by anyone else. God does not tempt anyone to sin (James 1:13). Lucifer had no evil nature that gave him a propensity (inclination) to sin. Many consider this an insoluble mystery. But is it? Not really, not once we understand what free choice entails. The best way to comprehend the basis of a free act is to examine the three possible alternatives. A free act is either uncaused, caused by another, or self-caused. That is, it is undetermined, determined by another, or self-determined. No action can be uncaused (undetermined); that would be a violation of the law of causality (every event has a cause). Neither can a free act be caused by another; for if someone or something else caused the action, then it is not ours (not from our free choice) and we would not be responsible for it. Hence all free actions must be self-caused, that is, caused by oneself. Now we can answer the question, “What caused Lucifer to sin?” No one did. He is the cause of his own sin. Sin is a self-caused action, one for which we cannot blame anyone or anything else. Who caused the first sin? Lucifer. How did he cause it? By the power of free choice, which God gave him. Thus God made evil possible by creating free creatures; they are responsible for making it actual.”. (Norman Geisler, If God, Why Evil? A New Way To Look At The Question, 30-31 (Kindle Edition); Grand Rapids, Michigan; Bethany House Publishers)
What led to this falling away?
In our next study, we will examine two amazing passages of Scripture which address the origin, downfall, and demise of Satan.
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, be with you all. Amen.
Leave a Reply