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You used The Book of Job to illustrate points that you seem to believe were the whole of the lesson. You are wrong. Job is older than the Old Testament by thousands of years. Biblical prose was added to it which morphed it into a parable. It isn't. You WANT to believe in a satan, and I tell you that there is no such thing. There is only you. YOU decide for yourself what is good and what is evil, and if you allow evil to have dominion over the divine soul, your SELF is lost to it.
Job is a rulebook. A guide. It tells us to learn all we are capable of learning and about what. This is somehow not seen as the true message of Job as it was meant to be. Consequently, people have allowed too many OTHER people to do their thinking for them and stupidity ravages the earth.

Likutei Amarim
Chapter Thirteen

[In the previous chapter the Alter Rebbe described the spiritual
profile of the Beinoni.

In the Beinoni's heart, said the Alter Rebbe, evil desires may often
arise, but his divine soul constantly prevents such desires from
finding expression in actual thought, speech or action.

On the contrary, these three soul-garments are the exclusive domain of
the divine soul and are utilized by the Beinoni only for thought,
speech and action of Torah study and the fulfillment of the mitzvot].

Accordingly, we may understand the comment of our Sages (1) that
"Beinonim are judged by both [their good and evil inclinations]" -
[both "judge" him and dictate his conduct. As Scriptural support for
this contention, the Talmud cites]:

For it is written:(2) "He - [the Almighty] - stands at the right hand
of the poor man, to save him from them that judge his soul." [The
plural "them that judge" indicates the presence of two judges within
the person, the evil inclination and the good.

We thus find that the Beinoni's inclinations are described as his
"judges."

Now, were the term Beinoni to be understood in its simple, literal
sense of one who has an equal history of good deeds and bad, it should
more properly be said that "the Beinoni is *ruled* by both
[inclinations]". For one to sin, his evil inclination must rule him;
for him to do good his good inclination must rule. The Beinoni who
supposedly does both, must be ruled (and not merely "judged") by both.

However, according to the explanation of the term Beinoni given in the
previous chapter, it is clear that, indeed, the Beinoni is merely
judged by both inclinations, not ruled by both, as shall be explained
presently].

Note that [our Sages] did not say, "He is RULED by both [the good
inclination and the evil]," G-d forbid, because where the evil nature
gains any rule and dominion, albeit momentarily, over the "small city,"
[i.e., whenever the evil rules one's body - likened to a city which
both the good inclination and the evil seek to conquer], one is deemed
"wicked" [rasha] at such times.

Rather, the evil inclination [in the Beinoni] is no more than, for
example, a magistrate or judge who expresses his opinion on a point of
law, yet in fact his decision is not necessarily final, for there is
another magistrate or judge who disagrees with him.

It then becomes necessary, in order to formulate a binding decision, to
arbitrate between the two, and the final verdict will rest with the
arbitrator.

Similarly, [in the battle between the evil inclination and the good]:
The evil inclination states its opinion in the left part of the
[Beinoni's] heart, [i.e., it creates an evil desire in his heart and
demands that he act accordingly, thus rendering "judgment" as to his
future conduct].

From the heart [the desire] ascends to the mind for contemplation.
[This ascent is automatic; whenever a desire is awakened in the heart,
the brain will contemplate it].

Immediately upon its ascent to the brain it is challenged by the second
"judge", the divine soul [residing] in the brain, which extends into
the right part of the heart where the good inclination abides [i.e.,
reveals itself.

The good inclination is actually the voice of the divine soul's
emotional attributes, and is hence active in the right part of the
heart; see chapter 9. The good inclination thus battles the evil,
ensuring that the latter's passion not be realized, for the "opinion"
of the good inclination is that all of the body's faculties and organs
be utilized only for matters of holiness].

The final verdict rests with the arbitrator - the Holy One, blessed be
He, who comes to the aid of the good inclination, [enabling it to
prevail over the evil inclination].

As our Sages say, (3) "[Man's evil inclination gathers strength daily,
.... and] if the Almighty did not help him [i.e., help his good
inclination] he could not overcome it [his evil inclination]."

The help [that G-d grants him] is the glow of divine light that
illuminates his divine soul, that it may gain superiority and mastery
over the folly of the "fool", the evil inclination, [a dominion]
paralleling the superiority of light over darkness, as stated above,
[in chapter 12.

Just as a little light banishes much darkness, so is the abounding
folly and darkness of one's evil inclination driven away by dint of the
little light of holiness emanating from his divine soul. It is this ray
of divine illumination that constitutes G-d's assistance to the divine
soul. (4)

The Alter Rebbe now goes on to resolve the contradiction and answer the
question noted in the opening words of the Tanya:

The Talmud states that a Jew is charged with an oath to regard himself
as wicked, whereas elsewhere, the Mishnah declares: "Be not wicked in
your own estimation." Also: "If a person considers himself wicked, he
will be grieved at heart and depressed, and will not be able to serve G-
d joyfully and with a contented heart."

He now explains that the meaning of the oath - which literally reads,
"Be in your own eyes like a rasha" - is that one regard himself not as
an actual rasha, but as like one, having traits similar to those of a
rasha. This means that he must consider himself a Beinoni, who
possesses the same evil in his soul as does a rasha and can desire evil
just as a rasha does.

Footnotes:

1. Berachot 61b.
2. Tehillim 109:31.
3. Kiddushin 30b.
4. It was stated in the previous chapter that man's mind innately
rules his heart. Why, then, should he need special divine
assistance in curbing his appetites?
The Rebbe answers:
This divine assistance is necessary whenever the conflict between
the two souls does not involve a struggle of mind vs. heart; e.g.,
(1) when the divine soul wishes to prevent sinful thoughts from
arising in the mind, or
(2) when the emotive faculties of the divine soul seek to overpower
those of the animal soul (without recourse to contemplation and
meditation).
But now the question may be reversed: Why in chapter 12 does the
Alter Rebbe use the argument of the mind's natural supremacy over
the heart to point out the divine soul's supremacy over the animal
soul?
To this the Rebbe answers:
In chapter 12, the Alter Rebbe speaks of the state of the Beinoni
after prayer, when the effect of his meditation on G-dliness during
prayer still lingers in his mind. At such time his mind is
suffused with G-dliness to the point where the animal soul cannot
so much as voice an opinion there. Thus, any struggle between
the souls at that time would be a case of mind vs. heart, where
the natural supremacy of the mind could confer victory on the
divine soul.
____________________________________________
In the first part of your essay, change Iago to Paul and you have exactly what happened to the NT after Paul. Iago is Paul personified.
As for missing your friend, Irv. I don't believe you.

You WANT to believe in a satan, and I tell you that there is no such thing.

I am an atheist.

But, I will bet Simcha7 or arielb would not agree with you.

Here is a post in response to me from arielb...

To: Sir Francis Dashwood
"Often it is claimed by the Neo-Pagans that Satan is only found in Christianity. How can this be if Satan is undeniably a Hebrew word adapted from the name of the pagan Egyptian god Set? The Jewish synod of rabbinical authority will deny that Satan even exists. This cannot be reconciled with the fact that it is a Hebrew word..."
I'm sorry Sir but that is incorrect. Please see http://www.beingjewish.com/basics/satan.html
Does Judaism believe in Satan?
83 posted on 11/17/2002 4:32 AM PST by arielb
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 74 | View Replies | Report Abuse ]
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/790001/posts?page=83#83

I would be interested in your opinion and any other research sources you can point me to.

I view "Satan" as a literary figure and a Hebrew word derived from the name of the pagan Egyptian god "Set." If you also noted Hobbes, he states:

"Which significant names (Satan, Devil, Abaddon) set not forth to us any individual person, as proper names do, but only an office or quality..."

If you did notice, I was making reference to the conflict facing Jews from the ancient times into the modern day. The story you presented further proves this.

As for the Book of Job, here is a link about the controversy surrounding it's origins: www.sacred-texts.com. Some claim it was Moses, others claim it is older. I find the topic of this thread to be fascinating and would be interested in hearing more from you along with both arielb and Simcha7 on these topics...