Yeah, right. It's just bad P.R.
Posted on 04/24/2006 6:11:19 AM PDT by NYer
A FORMER Jesuit turned university professor has set himself an ambitious project: rehabilitating the devil.
Henry Ansgar Kelly says Satan is the most maligned figure in history and has endured 17 centuries of unjustified character assassination.
"For 1700 years Satan has been the enemy of God, whereas in the Bible he works for God, he's his prime minister or attorney-general, in charge of policing the world," Professor Kelly said.
"He is one of God's angels, and his job is to test people."
The 71-year-old University of California professor has played devil's advocate for four decades, and is the author of many books and scholarly articles.
The devil did not have a kingdom, did not rule over hell, and did not try to damn people, Professor Kelly said. These ideas had developed from the second to the fourth centuries AD, and were refined for the next 1000 years. Professor Kelly said it was important to recapture the biblical understanding of Satan to combat the doctrine of original sin, "in which the whole human race is delivered to Satan".
"That's the most immoral doctrine in Christianity, that the whole of the human race is doomed to hell for something they didn't do. Once you get rid of that, Christianity becomes less unreasonable."
Satan's rare appearances in the Old Testament were not by one person, but a number of angels doing God's work, Professor Kelly said. He would like his theories to attract more official hostility, he said, because then they would be better known.
Professor Kelly is officially an exorcist, but he has never tackled anyone with demon possession.
"Demons are like talking germs - parasites looking for a place to stay, like diseases - and are under Satan's control," he said. "I prefer to have a global exorcism [of Satan's reputation]. Then we wouldn't have to worry about these minor manifestations."
Same argument we just heard about Judas.
"....Once you get rid of that, Christianity becomes less unreasonable.""
By all means, create a reasonable religion. Why doesn't he just become a Unitarian?
None of that pesky Saviour, died for our sins, crucifixion and Redemption nonsense...just a perfectly "do as you will" belief.
One of the interpetations of Satan that I've heard was that he was kind of a defense attorney for the damned.
Yeah, right. It's just bad P.R.
Well, yeah...but guilt sure rakes in the cash. Original Sin is about as likely to disappear as the income tax. ;)
Thank GOD that says former Jesuit!!
I don't know what this man is smoking, but he has certainly fallen for one of Satan's greatest tricks - trying to keep us unaware of his existence.
Satan operates in deceit and treachery, using all sorts of weapons to destroy us. His mission is one of hatred - hatred for God, souls and all that is sacred, pure and holy. Christ's mission, on the contrary, is one of love for all souls - tender, merciful, overwhelming love. Christ taught love; Satan teaches hatred. Christ preached truth; Satan teaches deceit. I certainly would not consider Satan or his lies "minor manifestations."
The Father Of Lies snagged another one...........
Amazing what's been crawling out of the woodwork lately...Sometimes, it makes me wonder if the Dark One has hired a new PR firm...
surely the end is near....or has this happened before -- people defending the devil?
Look for the National Geographic documentary, coming soon!! I forsee a Hollywood movie or too!
Well, Satan entered into Judas. (John 13.27) But they were just testing Jesus, in co-operation with the Father.
John 8:44
" Ye are of [your] father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it."
Maybe there's a devil, but he's not one of the Satans?
What is the purpose of testing people, when God already knows what we are going to do?
Why would anyone want an unreasonable religion?
His knowing how we will respond does not make us follow a particular course of action. To cite an example. Imagine looking out a window. You see a child step off the curb into the path of a speeding car. You know what will happen. Did you cause it? No.
Correct. Confession isn't good for the soul, it is good for the Till. The Church with its Sacramental System is all about cash, and it isn't going to change; nor will similar richly absurd charges against it ever be in danger of experiencing a devaluing of its "critical" currency.
How do you know this?
If God knows how we will respond to something before we do it, and God can never be wrong, how can we do anything else?
We are human, we cannot create what happens, God does.
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