And they're lauded as some kind of hero or genius....
What a pathetic state someone's faith must be in for that to be a step up.
Recall that Satan first posed as an agnostic in the garden, asking,
“Is it really so that God has said you must not eat from every tree of the garden?”.
How cruel and unjust of Him!!!
Eve refutes Satan’s assertion but it doesn’t matter since he knew better anyway. It provides an opportunity to call God a liar,
“You positively WILL NOT die”. And Satan adds that God is selfishly keeping the really good stuff for Himself...a supposed mystery revealed!
By Job’s day the slander included all of humankind, they only serve God for what they are promised later. sounds familiar. Satan says God isn’t lovable unto Himself, He has to buy devotion, take away the goodies and they’ll leave.
That refuted, Satan becomes more insulting and accusative,
“Skin on behalf of skin”, Satan waxes poetic...make him hurt a little bit and he’ll curse you to your face. “YOU make Job suffer” and thus arbitrarily give and take.
There are a few that claim it was Satan getting the bad rap all through history when he really wasn’t all that bad.
I’m always reminded of the character O’Brien who tortures Winston in Orwell’s 1984. Winston at some point says that talking to O’Brien is like arguing with someone who may be more intelligent than you but is also completely insane.