This blog post will probably be nothing short of blasphemous to most people, but I think it's a fun thought.
So assuming you believe in Christianity (specifically Mormonism) the kind of general story is that Satan has to tempt us so we can prove our worthiness. The Mormon story goes that Satan had a plan to force us to all be perfect so we could return to heaven and worship him for saving us then Jesus was like no, you all can go make your own choices and if you decide to accept me I'll be punished for you and you can come back and worship God. Meanwhile Satan gets kicked out and decides he wants to screw with our heads and tempt us to do wrong things to get as many people to come live with him in "hell" instead of with God in "heaven."
Satan sounds like a pretty bad dude at this point. What has to be considered though is that for Christ's plan to even exist, Satan must exist. Satan is what creates evil, the required antagonistic force in Christ's plan. He's what tempts us to do wrong and sin as to not go back to Christ and God, but he is completely necessary.
So did Christ and God banish him for the sake of having an element of evil? It almost sounds like had we just gone with "Satan's plan" there would have never been evil, he wouldn't have been "forcing" us to be good, there just wouldn't have been any evil to participate in. However when God denied him permission because of his arrogance in wanting the glory of a people who he didn't create evil was created at this point. This became part of Christ's plan. Satan was needed in it. Without Satan, Christ wouldn't need to be our savior.
Why does Satan get such a bad reputation then? He's just a misunderstood and incredibly arrogant individual (assuming he even exists) who made a bad choice. We should feel sorry for the guy and help him if we want to be "Christ-like," right? Also what would life be without temptation? Some of the greatest feelings in the world come from either overcoming temptation or temptation itself and without it we would never be able to prove ourselves to God to be rewarded with whatever he deems us worthy for.
This has further implications though. Satan isn't the cause of all evil is he? If a hurricane happens and kills some people is that Satan's doing or is that just natural evil? If you answer that it's Satan's doing then you have to accept that Satan helped create the universe which means he has powers similar to what we know of God. If you say that this was not Satan's doing then you have to accept that God created a universe with built in evil. If God is capable of creating evil, then would this not mean he has to have an understanding and desire for it? Furthermore, God created Satan, according to LDS beliefs. God created Satan, who is the father of all evil, so God did create evil, or maybe he just messed up a little in the whole creation of beings and some of them (a third according to Mormonism) came out wrong.
My mind just went spiraling off on a new tangent. I have to study for finals, I'm done thinking about this.
So I just read some of your post...I will finish later. All I have to say is read Paradise Lost. Awesome epic poem. It deals with Satan and God and Adam and Eve....kind of talks about Eve eating the apple and how it had to happen. Also includes Satan planning to get his revenge, but being shortsided and forgetting that it is kind of hard to plan a sneak attack against God. I mean, if you like to think about religion from a different viewpoint then you might enjoy the poem.
ReplyDeletei've had those thoughts about satan myself but i generally dont talk about all my weird theories with people. what i've heard is that the natural man doesnt come from satan, but is still an enemy to god. so not all things that are bad come from satan. the person who told me that also told me jesus's plan could still have worked without satan, cause we'd just be working to overcome the natural man. but, because of satan, we gotta overcome the natural man and temptation. i've also learned that satan knows how to control the elements (not suggesting he causes natural disasters. i dont believe he does) but i believe he has just as much control over the elements.
ReplyDeletei like how you think.
Hey Brandon,
ReplyDeleteI just read your blog and from what I understand from your blog, you're right on track. Satan is what gives opposition is all things. He is necessary because there is a need that there be an opposition in all things. If it were not for misery how could we know happiness. If not for dark how could we understand light and if it were not for hot how could you understand cold. So it is kind of funny that your thoughts are right in line with what the mormons believe. We also know that satan doesn't control anything because he has no powers. We can be tempted but in the end we make the decision whether or not we will do something and that is why the fault falls on us for our actions. We also shouldn't assume that natural disasters are used to punish the wicked. So taking into consideration what was said at the beginning of your blog about this may be blasphemos to people it surely isn't to any mormon. If you think that it is, you might want to learn a little bit more about what mormons believe before assuming something may be contrary to what is believed.
I wasn't writing that with the intent to offend anyone, I just wanted to point out that it would be considered blasphemous to some. I think it's kind of interesting to think about honestly and I dunno if I'd say no Mormon would be offended by that as one Mormons beliefs differ from another's (even if only slightly), but I'm happy that no one who commented was. Mormonism has some really awesome beliefs in my opinion, I wasn't bashing on the religion. Katie, as for this natural man being evil, doesn't that still mean that God created something evil? I mean I suppose that would go to show that even God is imperfect and is learning which, if I'm not mistaken, is also a belief held by some Mormons.
ReplyDelete