The Evangelical Universalist Forum

Satan: Lifting the Veil

Well, that’s hard to explain - I think the best answer I’ve heard/seen for that came from John Polkinghorne in Questions of Truth. Polkinghorne is a former physicist turned priest. And he approaches it from a scientific standpoint - there seems to be a need for a certain amount of “openness” in the system in order for life to arise. And that means that the system has to be open to the possibility of chaos. Thinking in human terms, God gives us freedom in order that we might love - because this is our purpose. But love is not love without freedom. And so for freedom to exist, there is always the possibility that we might abuse it.

Now as far as disasters go - the system of the universe is so complex and beyond our ability to reason still - but, it does seem that a lot of the “natural” disasters we’ve been having lately have actually been our own damn fault. Did you hear that deforestation is likely the cause of the recent mudslide in Washington State?

Yeah, if God goes by evolution, survival of the fittest, and all of that, I guess that would make sense… I guess I still struggle with violence and death being part of the natural order, and not just on a human level… I remember watching the documentary series Planet Earth awhile back and the part where they described how male chimpanzees would sometimes rape and kill female chimpanzees, then eat their brains, that was disturbing (guess it would make sense then, if we’re descended from apes, as human beings can be just as depraved, if not more so, at times) but I think I can cope with that reality if I know it won’t always be that way.

And yeah, I totally agree that a lot of the natural disasters are our own fault, that or people aren’t wise enough to stay away from regular problem areas (can anyone say New Orleans?) or aren’t prepared enough, etc. I guess we should be thankful things aren’t as bad as they could be though.
At least we have better weather here than on Mars :laughing:

universetoday.com/14941/mars-weather/

I finished writing the entire series last night, and after doing some editing today, I just can’t wait to share it with everyone! So I’m going to start publishing one a day now!

This section is called: Accuser

This is excellent, Geoff…really excellent! :smiley:

I’m following along with great interest.

Thanks!

Very glad to hear, Steve!

The next section is up, and explores Satan’s appearance in Job amongst the sons of God - Part 6

Really good article, bro :slight_smile:

I always thought Job was an interesting book, different from a lot of other books in the Bible, and your article was eye-opening and helps me to understand it better. :slight_smile:

Speaking of Job, have you ever seen this Rob Bell video?

youtube.com/watch?v=kQ5dXHBD8jA

It’s the last video in his excellent ( at least I think it’s excellent :wink: )NOOMA series, and it’s a good one :slight_smile:

Thank you so much! It’s really nice to know I have some friends reading the whole series - I put so much work into it, and this is the only thing I get out of that. :smiley:

I have not - I put a little reminder in my calendar to watch that tonight! Thanks!

Part 7 is up, and examines the appearance of Satan as God’s State Prosecutor in a prophetic vision of Zechariah.

Part 8 is now published, and begins the exploration of Satan in the New Testament.

This just gets better and better! :smiley:

Thanks, Geoff.

Thank you so much! I kind of felt the same way as I was researching this topic - it’s absolutely fascinating!

I have published the next section - Part 9: Azazel. This section deals with the ancient rite of Atonement and its connection to Satan.

Part 10 is up, and begins to explore the story of Jesus’ trials in the desert.

Part 11 is up, and explores some of the Jewish history behind the concepts in Jesus’ day of what a messiah would look like.

Fascinating post on Azazel Geoff :smiley: - and I love that quotation from Peter Rollins!

The book was amazing - one of my favorites. Really had me thinking about a lot of things for a long time. And thank you!

I confess I’ve gotten behind on your series, bro, I only made it up to the 4th or 5th post I think. I’ll try to catch up this weekend :slight_smile:

Gasp Well, that’s just unforgiveable.

:wink: :laughing:

I knew as I released these that there would be some who would take it at their own pace, some for whom I wasn’t releasing them fast enough, and some who would read the first section and not any more.

Just read the section on Maccabees Geoff - still enjoying it greatly - and it’s beautifully written :smiley:

How are you liking Jesus Driven Life? I’m about 60% or so through it, and I think it’s phenomenal and very insightful. I think everyone should read it.

Thank you so much!

I’ve just published Part 12, which explores the third and final temptation of Jesus in the desert.