Re: Salinger turns to the Dark Side

Thor Cameron (my_colours@hotmail.com)
Thu, 01 Jul 1999 01:48:58 -0700 (PDT) 

OK, but I'm still stuck with the question, in what way, besides name, is 
Satan NOT a God?  He has powers & influence not assigned to any other 
creature in the Bible.  He is able to war against, and throw temptation at 
God Himself.  Satan is not an angel; he's THE bad-boy angel.  Not equal to 
God, but it seems clear that the power chart goes: God - Satan - 
Archangel,..... etc.  If not a God, at least a Demigod, at the VERY least.
Thor



>Ach, that's a good question and this is sticky.  The crux is on the
>nature or class of existent beings.  In the Biblical records, you have
>several different classes of angels (most of the ones we deal with serve
>some kind of a messenger form), human beings, and the Divine.  There may
>well be and probably are other types of beings, but those are the only
>ones we know about.  When you get into Hebrew word studies, at times one
>of the words for "God" is used to refer to angels (elohim, I think, but I
>know more Greek than Hebrew, and only know a little Greek :) ).  What's
>really interesting is that human beings, themselves, are referred to as
>"gods" in one passage in the Psalms.
>
>However, Hebrew culture did interact with several polytheistic cultures,
>and the viewpoint of the Hebrew prophets was largely one of derision.
>These "gods" are presented as, basically, the projection of human pride
>onto a grand scale.  What we are worshipping, really, when we worship
>other gods is ourselves (an interesting observation in view of that
>mention of the Psalms).
>
>Paul, in the NT, questioned the existence of other "gods," and concluded
>that what was most likely happening was that demons were being worshipped
>instead of genuine other "gods."  Now, a demon is a type of angel.  A
>"god," then, in this context, would be another type of being entirely.
>"gods" as worshipped in a pantheon of Gods -- be it the Greek, Roman or
>Hindu pantheon, are beings that exist for different purposes and are of a
>different nature than Biblical angels (fallen or unfallen).
>
>So the upshot of all this is that "other gods" do not exist (as they are
>depicted in various pantheons), but that they are being mistaken for
>angelic beings.
>
>Jim
>
>On Wed, 30 Jun 1999 09:02:45 -0700 (PDT) Thor Cameron
><my_colours@hotmail.com> writes:
> >Appreciate the response, buddy.
> >The only point of contention that I still have with you though, is the
> >idea
> >that Satan is a God.  From your own point, I do let the texts speak
> >for
> >themselves.  Please, tell me, in Christian texts and common mythology,
> >how
> >is Satan NOT a 'god'?  In name only, my friend, in name only.
> >Thor
>
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