I voted No.
Satan is NOT a fallen angel that goes around causing people to sin.
Man is the one responsible for his own actions,not some supernatural fallen angel.
A classic case of ''the devil made me do it'' is in Genesis 3.
The man blamed the woman(Genesis 3:12)
The woman blamed the serpent(Genesis 3:13)
The serpent had no one to blame.
But the punishments were given to Adam,Eve and the serpent.
Man is the one who sins,he causes himself to sin etc etc
James 1:14-15:[sup]14[/sup]But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
[sup]15[/sup]Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
Sin comes from within a man.(Matthew 15:17-20,Mark 7:18-23)
The Temptation of Eve and Jesus
It is assumed that just because the words "Satan" and "Devil" are incorporated into the Masoretic text, that proves the existence of a literal supernatural being. However, if we probe a little deeper into Scripture to see who or what is the principle of temptation in the case of both Jesus and Eve, we will discover something that cannot be easily dismissed or passed off as mere coincidence. To understand what tempts man, we must search scripture for an answer (to see whether it is a personification of evil called "Satan" or something else). I believe the answer is found in I John 2:16 which says, "For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world." The "Satan" or "Devil" is not mentioned as having anything to do with "All that is in the world." What this tells us is that all temptations of evil are of this terrestrial world.
How does this relate to the three accounts of the Temptation of Christ? It must have been an important lesson to be included in the three gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. In each book, Jesus is tempted in three situations which (ironically) correspond to the three elements of 'all that is in the world'.
1. "And when the tempter came to Him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command these stones be made bread" Mt. 4:3. This corresponds to the lust of the flesh.
2. "Again the devil [small 'd', thus a noun] taketh Him up into an exceeding high mountain, and showeth Him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them" Mt. 4:8. This corresponds to the lust of the eyes. If we are to understand this exceedingly high mountain to be literal, then we are stuck with the impossibility of literally seeing all the kingdoms of the world by virtue of a limited horizon. Even if one were on top of Mt. Everest, one would not be able to see all the kingdoms of the world. This indicates that the narrative is engaged in figures of speech.
3. "If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down" Mt. 4:6. This corresponds to the pride of life.
These three elements are the only things that tempted Christ. The devil in this case, as it was with Eve and ourselves today, is the adversarial mentality to go against God. We can overcome adverse thinking as did Jesus Christ. Let's look at who or what tempted Eve.
If Adam and Eve had remained obedient to God's command, death would not have entered the world. There's some pretty heavy symbolism going on in the Garden of Eden. Adam was formed exclusively by God and had no flesh mother; and because of that, God's spirit dominated his flesh so that he wasn't carnally minded. Eve on the other hand was made by God out of Adam's flesh and thus the weaker vessel. Adam was made from the dust of the ground. Dust cannot be tempted and neither can God's Spirit (James 1:13). This may explain why there had to be a weak link for Eve to be tempted. If this wasn't God's purpose, He would have created Eve out of the dust also. As such, neither could have been tempted in the flesh.
The three temptations of 'all that is in the world' (I John 2:16) were also laid upon Jesus' flesh (Luke 4:1-13). Christ had a heavenly Father (creator) and also a flesh mother (Mary). The difference between these two temptations (Jesus' and Eve's) is that Christ overcame the flesh. We know God's Spirit cannot be tempted without the introduction of the flesh. After 40 days of fasting in the wilderness, it was Jesus' own hunger, visualization and potential ambition that entered His mental state or condition.
The "tree of knowledge" represents God's Law in spiritual form (Romans 7:14). Partaking of its fruit, as Adam and Eve were warned and found out brings on death. It wasn't the actual fruit that inflicted death, but rather their disobedience to what the Lord had commanded. So, in the symbolism of a tree, embodied three manifestations of all that is in the world. That is: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life (I John 2:16). "Satan" is not included in "all that is in the world". When we investigate Eve's infatuation by way of a stimulant i.e the serpent, we find that all three parts of our worldly enticements were presented in the temptation.
1. The lust of the flesh was accomplished in that "The tree was good for food."
2. The lust of the eyes was fulfilled in that "It was pleasant to the eyes."
3. And the pride of life was achieved in Eve's belief that it was "A tree to be desired to make one wise" (Gen. 3:6).
Perhaps, conceptually, the word satan has been so misinterpreted to align itself with pagan mythology rather than with the Word of God, that it is incomprehensible to those who have been inculcated with years of superstitious teachings and 'doctrines of devils' to believe in the simplicity of Christ. Let me give you a comparative example of how the Bible says the same thing in two different ways. "For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil" I John 3:8. And then we read the same premise just three verses prior, "He was manifested to take away our sins." It shouldn't be too hard to comprehend that it is our sin nature, which the Bible says is the only thing in the world (that should be of concern) and it is: the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes and the pride of life. It is these three things that tempted both Eve and Jesus, not a vicarious supernatural agent in lieu of God. We are further told in James 1:14 that "every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed." Again, no mention of any supernatural being. That should give any casual reader pause for reflection.
THE "SATAN" CONTROVERSY
The following was in the May ‘78
Newsletter:
— The “satan” controversy —
We have had a few criticize my sermons
on satan and Eve in the garden of
Eden, and we have had many misunderstand
them.
For that I am sorry, but I am currently
preaching a series of 8 sermons which; I
pray, will answer almost all questions or
objections.
This series is titled, Give The Devil
His Due, and will cover almost everything
in the Bible about satan, the devil
and the serpent.
Here are some items of information,
which I pray, will move many of you to get
this series and study it. This may be
the most important series of sermons
I have preached which is directed to
expose falsehoods as taught by the
false churches!
Consider this:
A. Jesus warned that as this age ended
many would come in His Name and would
deceive many, i.e. teach lies which would
be believed.
B. The New Testament Epistles warn
that false "ministers" would deceive God's
People in the end of the age.
C. If the above are true warnings, the following
statement should be true:
"In the end of the age, if any large number
of ministers teach a certain doctrine and
that doctrine is believed by a large number
of people, that doctrine is probably
false!”
Therefore, consider the following:
Most ministers teach, and most
churchgoers believe:
1. That man remains conscious after
death. We examined that common doctrine
and found it to be false.
2. That most men go, after death, to a
region of fire and brimstone where they
spend eternity in conscious pain. We
found God's Bible teaches no such thing.
3. That a tiny percentage of men go, after
death, in a conscious state to "heaven to
be with Jesus." We found that is not
taught in the Bible.
4. That the people who call themselves
"Jews" are the Israelites, God's Chosen
People. That is, also, false.
5. That Christians are going to be takenfrom
the earth in a "rapture" just before a
great "Antichrist" comes and brings seven
years of "tribulation" on the earth. That
doctrine is false.
6. That there exists a mighty, angelic
being called "Satan," who is the "devil,
who is omnipresent, being in all parts of
the world at once, and in "hell" at the
same time. That this supernatural being
is long lived, that he has power to frus-
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THE "SATAN" CONTROVERSY
Excerpted from the May & December issues of
America’s Promise Newsletters. by Sheldon Emry
trate most of God's plans, and many of
man’s, that he is the cause of all. corruption
and evil in the world and that he will
continue to do all such evil work until
sometime in the future, when he will be
destroyed.
We are, now, examining that doctrine"
to see if it has any more foundation in
Bible Truth than do the first five!
In the first few of the 8 sermons we
have found some "interesting" pieces of
information.
The Chaldean word "sawtawn," from
which we get the English word "satan," is
in the original Hebrew manuscripts 30
times. Nineteen times it was translated
by the King James translators, as "satan"
and 11 times as the word "adversary." In
all it is in 9 passages.
Of the 9 passages, once the "sawtawn"
is God Himself, once it is God's angel, once
David is the "sawtawn," once it is David’s
officers, once Solomon says he has no “saw
tawn.” Three times the “sawtawns” are
men whose names are given, and only in
the Book of Job — one passage of the nine
in the Old Testament where “sawtawn” is
found — is the “sawtawn” possibly-similar
to the “satan” of the churches.
So, we examined the Book of Job further,
and were startled to find that all
except one of the acts we thought “satan”
did, were admitted to have been done by
God Himself!
The one act “satan” might have done,
himself, is in Job 2:7 where he “may” have
given Job boils! Not quite the kind of
momentous act we had expected of
“Satan!”
When we went to “serpent,” we were
similarily treated.
“Serpent” is in the Old Testament 19
times, and in all except Gen. 3, where a
“serpent” spoke to Eve, it is easy to prove
that “serpent” stood for a real snake, a
symbol of a real snake or the star constellation
which stands for a snake.
The conclusion is obvious, even though
it defies tradition: If God used the Word
“serpent” 18 times to mean a literal snake
or a symbol of one, what authority do we
have to come along in the 19th case and
identify that “serpent” as anything other
than a real snake? (This is especially-true
since in the Book of Revelation, where
both “satan” and “serpent” are used for
the same thing, that “serpent” is a “beast”
with seven heads and ten horns; which is
later identified as a great world empire,
not some individual angelic creature!)
Three more things will be mentioned
here; then the rest will be on the tapes:
1. The title “Lucifer” appears only once in
the Bible and it is a mistranslation!
Even then, the passage is plainly
addressed to a mortal man who is identified
and told he is going to die soon! Yet
that passage has been used for centuries
by “the clergy” to expound about an oldarchangel
called “Lucifer!”
2. “Devil” is not in the Old Testament at
all.
3. “Devils” (plural) is used 4 times and
only in reference to idols of wood and
stone. It does not refer to any “living”
thing.
And that is enough said. I repeat what
I said at the first: “This may be the most
important series of sermons I have
preached.”
_______________
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The following was in the December ‘78
Newsletter:
SATAN
Ministers quote Rev. 12 about the "war
in heaven” and “the great dragon was cast
out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and
Satan.......” and insist that “satan” is a
“fallen angel.”
But, in verse 3 that “satan” has “seven
heads and ten horns, and seven crowns
upon his heads.” That is the SAME seven
headed “beast” upon which Mystery
Babylon rides in Rev. 17 and there it is
quite plain — it is a conglomeration of
nations!
They say the “war” in Rev. 12 was
fought in God's “heaven,” but, in verse 1,
we find the “woman clothed with the sun,”
was, also, in “heaven.” The woman is
Israel, and Israel is (and was) on the
earth, so the “heaven” of Rev. 12 is on the
earth, also!
These 2 facts: (1) The “satan” of Rev.
12 is identical to the "kings" (nations) of
Rev. 17, and (2) the "heaven" of Rev. 12 is
where Israel is, absolutely rules out Rev.
12 as being about any supernatural,
omnipresent, fallen angel. The "satan" of
the Churches cannot be found in Rev. 12.
The truth about "satan" is nothing
short of ASTOUNDING. The satan of the
churches is as real as the hell of the
churches!
_______________
Note: To further enhance your study of
this subject, you should listen to the following
recorded sermons by Pastor Emry:
Tapes, 7722a, 7722b & 7723a, 7723b,
titled: “Eve And The Serpent In The
Garden Of Eden, What Actually
Happened,”
and the series: “Give The Devil His
Due,” 7810a, 7810b — 7811a, 7811b —
7812a, 7812b — 7813a, 7813b.
All the above sermons may be listened
to by going to the Cassette Tape Sermons
section of the Sheldon Emry Memorial
Library.
_______________
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