In a previous post in regards to this overall discussion of the concept of Satan, I asked, "How exactly would an angel fall?" I will discuss the ramifications of that question in this post.
From a fundamentalist standpoint, the angels (including Lucifer) were created BEFORE God got down to the point of the creation story. In various places in the Old Testament, the text suggests that the angels were created by God before anything else.
So, at this juncture, all of existence was God and his host of angels. There was no light. There were no planets. There was no life. So, what could an angel want?
It must be remembered that God is said to be perfect -- fully self-contained. If the angels were part of his realm AND there were no other realms, then it would stand to reason that they too were perfect as an extension of God's perfection. If everything is as it is and will be, then there are no needs, no desires, and no wants.
Rebellion can ONLY occur where needs are felt to be unmet. If a being has no needs, then rebellion holds no meaning. There would be nothing that could be attained by insurrection because you have everything already. You can't receive more of everything if everything is all there is.
Now, it could be argued that Satan wanted to influence humankind in such a way that people would worship him as they worship God. Of course, the problem with such an argument is that there weren't any people -- they hadn't been created yet.
Okay. Maybe Satan wanted the other angels to worship him instead of God. But to go down that road, one has to stipulate that angels -- just like people -- have needs. Needs are borne of the ego and the self. And, if we continue down that road, then what would cause ANY angel to stay WITH God? It would make far more sense to believe that all the angels followed the tack of Lucifer because the self wants to be elevated above all others.
As far is the self is concerned, it is the center of our universe. In essence, each self sets itself up as god. So, if angels have selves, then what Satan did is what every other angel would have done too. (Heck, maybe the entity believers refer to as God is nothing more than an entity with an enormous self and an over-sized ego.)
I realize that millions of people the world over accept the notion of Satan carte blanche. However, I contend that if one looks at the issue from the standpoint of the how and why, the concept becomes truly untenable.
From a fundamentalist standpoint, the angels (including Lucifer) were created BEFORE God got down to the point of the creation story. In various places in the Old Testament, the text suggests that the angels were created by God before anything else.
So, at this juncture, all of existence was God and his host of angels. There was no light. There were no planets. There was no life. So, what could an angel want?
It must be remembered that God is said to be perfect -- fully self-contained. If the angels were part of his realm AND there were no other realms, then it would stand to reason that they too were perfect as an extension of God's perfection. If everything is as it is and will be, then there are no needs, no desires, and no wants.
Rebellion can ONLY occur where needs are felt to be unmet. If a being has no needs, then rebellion holds no meaning. There would be nothing that could be attained by insurrection because you have everything already. You can't receive more of everything if everything is all there is.
Now, it could be argued that Satan wanted to influence humankind in such a way that people would worship him as they worship God. Of course, the problem with such an argument is that there weren't any people -- they hadn't been created yet.
Okay. Maybe Satan wanted the other angels to worship him instead of God. But to go down that road, one has to stipulate that angels -- just like people -- have needs. Needs are borne of the ego and the self. And, if we continue down that road, then what would cause ANY angel to stay WITH God? It would make far more sense to believe that all the angels followed the tack of Lucifer because the self wants to be elevated above all others.
As far is the self is concerned, it is the center of our universe. In essence, each self sets itself up as god. So, if angels have selves, then what Satan did is what every other angel would have done too. (Heck, maybe the entity believers refer to as God is nothing more than an entity with an enormous self and an over-sized ego.)
I realize that millions of people the world over accept the notion of Satan carte blanche. However, I contend that if one looks at the issue from the standpoint of the how and why, the concept becomes truly untenable.
I read a blog yesterday by a young Calvinistic preacher who said that God planned the fall of Lucifer and planned the fall of Adam so he could then show his grace and mercy to a select few human beings. What a wonderful god.
ReplyDeleteYou raise a good point about the angels andbtheir "need". You are very right, look at the whole picture and seems quite untenable .
Bruce
It's amazing how if you even look a little into this, let alone as deeply as you are now, that the God of the Bible is clearly drawn in the image of man, not vice versa.
ReplyDeleteI do think that you're reading a bit much into all of this.
ReplyDeleteIf you don't believe in a God, then it's quite easy to not believe in anything.
If you do believe in a God, then it follows that it becomes easier to believe in the presence of other Gods.
I can believe in a God but not in a "perfect/infallible" one. After all, any intelligence and technology which is sufficiently greater than ours is automatically "God".
Why wouldn't there be more of them - and why wouldn't they be in disagreement?