Is satan (devil) real or symbolic?

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   pisean282311posted 13 years ago

   do you believe that devil is real or do you consider more as symbolic?

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      Baileybearposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      here's a hub by disappearinghead that addresses this question:
      http://hubpages.com/hub/The-Evolution-of-Satan-Part-1

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      Beelzedadposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Amazingly enough, recognizing myths and superstitions is not that difficult.

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      kessposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      If satan (devil) is indeed symbolic...
      
      Then symbolic of What? For all symbol posseses a reality.
      
      Who then knows it's indeed symbolic should also know the reality.

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         Castlepalomaposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         earnest
         
         Oscar the grouch and animal got to me..

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         brotheryochananposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         flesh: its desires, wants, tendancies

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            Castlepalomaposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            Nobody knows that better, than the good old USA

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         Paul Wingertposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         As we all know that to make any story interesting, there ned to be conflict and the Bible, Tora, and Koran are no different. The stories contained in these books have the classic good vs. evil to get their point across. It's funny how some people take theses stories as historical fact. A few Biblical characters did in fact exist, but were made into supermen/women as time went on. Whether Jesus existed is up for debate also. Nothing was written about him till 30+ years after he died by biographers who never met him. But as far as the existence of satan, he, like 99% of the characters in the Bible are metaphores.

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      Baileybearposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I was a christian in the 80s/early 90s when hell, satan,  demon doctrine was in all the churches, especially the pentecostal.
      
      Interesting how christianity has evolved a bit further, and many have dropped these doctrines

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   earnestshubposted 13 years ago

   The devil is just as real as the cookie monster on Sesame street.

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      pisean282311posted 13 years agoin reply to this

      well i thought  your answer might be as real as god!!!!!!!

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         earnestshubposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         or god.
         There ya go!

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      pennyofheavenposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      You mean cookie monsters not real??? Awww crushed my butterfly.

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         earnestshubposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         So sorry Penny, just another bloke in a costume, although I guess that puts him ahead of the other guy who is a total no-show with or without the costume.

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            pennyofheavenposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            Awww too bad....and yes funny but true

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      kirstenblogposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      What kind of heathen would deny the existance of the cookie monster?!?!
      Earnest you have just shattered my whole and entire world view here!
      *curls up in a ball and sways* there is a cookie monster, there is a cookie monster
      
      
      
      Ahhh much better! C is for cookie and thats good enough for me!

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         Castlepalomaposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         COOKIEEEE!!!!  COOOOKIEEE!!!
         
         Nope it inspirers my desire, not fear

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   CMHypnoposted 13 years ago

   Satan seems to have become a very popular topic just lately on these forums!  Satan is a myth, images of Satan are based on those of archaic horned, fertility gods. The early church's version of nobbling the pagan opposition!

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   inspiredbydgposted 13 years ago

   Satan is as real as Santa Claus.
   
   We made up a figure to blame our misfortunes upon.
   
   We are empowered and only we can choose to misuse our power of choice.
   
   There is only a hurricane of grace to give us all the abundance that is available for the seeker, the asker, the creator...

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   brotheryochananposted 13 years ago

   A 2000 yr old doctrine is not that easy to dissuade. After doing research a person should, leaning on God, of course, should be able to come to a quite concrete realization that satan is best used as a metaphor and kept well separate from being an entity by itself.

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   Asp52posted 13 years ago

   Will have to go with symbolic here, Satan is a man-made figure in my eyes.
   Good and Evil do exist though. I suppose every story has to have a villain.

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      Castlepalomaposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Asp52
      
      There is no villain in my life story, some lower energy, some higher energy, that all.
      
      Why do religions need so many villains in their lives?

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         pisean282311posted 13 years agoin reply to this

         interesting question..

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   jay_kumar_07posted 13 years ago

   Good and Evil
   Both are with ourselfs
   We have to choose.

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      Castlepalomaposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      People know what's right or wrong, and understand Yin and Yang.
      
      Why must we lower our consciousness to always look and act over good and evil?
      
      Why sin rather than just adjust mistakes as we go or why keep regretting our pass?

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   thirdmilleniumposted 13 years ago

   Who do you think eggs on people like my good friend Ernest here?

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      pisean282311posted 13 years agoin reply to this

      i didnt get you...

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   kirstenblogposted 13 years ago

   On a slightly more serious line of thinking (beyond feeling upset at the very notion that there is no cookie monster), what if the concept of the Devil or evil is just the other side of the God good coin? These are opposites, like right and left or up and down. Without one the other cannot exist. Hence God (assuming a literal existence in the manner of religions) is going to be one side of the coin, the Devil the unavoidable other side of the coin. Inseparable.

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      pisean282311posted 13 years agoin reply to this

      valid point ...that brings another question..if satan does exist and god didn't end it...is it that god never wanted to end satan?..or god is not so powerful as we assume god to be or was god working with satan to play with humans or is it match between god and satan while humans being mere pawns?

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         kirstenblogposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         The questions that I am lead to is in wondering about these concepts of good and evil. I begin to wonder if it is more the cycle of destruction and creation that we interpret as good and evil. It is said that all things serve god including satan. With this train of thought I tend to leave behind the religious texts telling me the nature of things and begin to consider the nature of things using my mind instead. It is liberating even if it does get a bit confusing

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            pisean282311posted 13 years agoin reply to this

            nice thoughts...i got that...thank you...

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      Baileybearposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      it's the black and white thinking - day vs night, good vs evil, god vs satan, heaven vs hell

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      pennyofheavenposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Well said Kirsten

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    kirstenblogposted 13 years ago

    I think Neil Gaiman says it best in saying
    “God does not play dice with the universe; He plays an ineffable game of His own devising, which might be compared, from the perspective of the players, (ie everybody), to being involved in an obscure and complex version of poker in a pitch-dark room, with blank cards, for infinite stakes, with a Dealer who won't tell you the rules, and who smiles all the time.”

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       pennyofheavenposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       Gosh I'm not getting that one? Care to explain?

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    kazemaru2posted 13 years ago

    Shaitan is a warrior of the soul not the world

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       pisean282311posted 13 years agoin reply to this

       warrior of the soul?

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