Who is this Satan?

To start off with the topic of Satan it just wouldn’t be right to not play this clip from Coming To America (the 20 second point of the video to be exact).

As a Jesus follower if somebody asked me who I find to be one of the most fascinating character’s in the Bible (except Jesus of course), then I would put at the top of my list none other than Satan. Yes, this is a strange answer.

According to author Michael Green “Jesus has more to say about Satan than anyone else in the Bible.”

You see I think Satan has a lot to teach us as human beings, and certainly for those who are Jesus followers. Satan can become a great teacher. We can actually make Satan work for us in that regard, which really must piss him off.

I suppose I will refer Satan to a “him” here, as there is support for angels having male names (i.e. Gabriel) in the scriptures. Another fascinating topic would be to explore the physical attributes of angels but that is for another day.

So, let’s not be vague and ask this question up front. Do I think Satan exists as a conscious being?

Yes, I do believe there is a some form of a conscious being (and beings) with a bent will apart from God. Satan either exists or may have existed. But in answer to my questions below I’m left wondering what power Satan has over human beings.

As somebody who holds the Bible in high status I just cannot make sense of Satan being purely metaphorical (non-existent and only caricatured). There are too many personal encounters that Jesus has with what seems to be some kind of a personal, interactive, willful, evil and malicious force.

So I guess I’m just as much a literalist as Jesus was. I mean HE talked to these guys/things/demons/devils/fallen angels. He also encountered Satan himself in a dialog. Jesus most common activities in the Gospels were healing and casting out demons.

Interestingly, Satan is only mentioned 3x in the OT. Somewhere along the line Satan and his cohort evolved, as he either get’s redefined or perhaps more explained in the New Testament.

During the intertestamental period (between the OT and the NT) history tells us it was a ripe time for an evolving story of Satan. So, when Jesus came on the scene there was a framework and context for Satan within the Jewish mind, that had not been there centuries before. I suppose it is possible Jesus did play along with where the Jews were at in their version of making sense of evil. However, it is hard for me to make sense of Jesus as just playing along with where the Jews were at in their “making up” of Satan, as the gospel account describe real accounts with human vs. evil angelic beings.

Here are two questions below that somehow never get asked regarding the topic of Satan…

Can Satan read or insert thoughts into our minds?

Many people in the evangelical world would answer “yes” to this question whether they know it or not. I have hard time believing that Satan and the demonic can read or insert thoughts into our minds.

How much influence does Satan and the demonic have over minds?

Once we start to say the demonic has been given power to influence and plant thoughts into our cognitive function we are on a slippery slope. All of a sudden all the blame of my wrongful actions doesn’t solely fall on me anymore. It is partly the devils fault then too. It also gives the demonic a seat in our soul 24/7, as our thoughts and private life are deeply personal. If the demonic can read our minds and perform thought insertion then why wouldn’t they be doing this all day long? If Satan can read our minds and perform thought insertion then you are in essence part Satan. You are intimately connected with Satan.

If Satan cannot read our minds or insert thoughts into our minds what power does he truly have against us? How can he truly tempt me?

Why don’t we ever talk about this? The answer is either yes, no or I don’t know. But the answer makes a big difference in our theology and every day life.

For me, I don’t need Satan’s assistance with thought insertion (or whatever you call it) in a desire for self-assertion and rebellion. It is already there.

I did months of research to find good books at dissecting the personality of Satan. What is this being thinking about? What is it’s experience of itself? To my surprise I was disappointed in finding exactly what I wanted. I read a solid book on the history of Satan and another book on diversity of perspectives related to Spiritual Warfare. And of course the fun read in The Screwtape Letters to add to the list. All these books are recommend worthy. But I’m still left puzzled over what power Satan really has over us.

I was always told Satan tempts us. But how?????? Nobody has answered that. By all means please comment or reach out to me if you know the answer.

Some would argue that we yield parts of ourselves over to the demonic unknowingly. We in essence give the demonic a place in our minds with chronic and addictive sin for example. Again, where do you draw the line on on that one. Many people have overcome chronic and addictive vices without involving the demonic by name or casting out a Satan (think of the 12 step tradition).

This is where metaphorical language really helps. For those who overcome addiction they could surely use the language of the demonic. They say, “He overcame his demons.” This language fits the experience of a power beyond ourselves that we couldn’t take control over.

I alluded above about sin solely falling on the individuals shoulders vs. a partial blaming of Satan as an involved party. I don’t deny that sin can be shared so to speak but I leave that between human beings not the angelic.

I recently read about a horrific murder in the early 1900’s. The murderer’s step-father was extremely verbally abusive in his upbringing. He in essence breaded hate into his young step-son at an early age. While the crime falls on the murderer I can’t help but wonder if some of the victim’s blood falls on this step-father. I have no problem with calling that step-father demonic in that sense of the word and a part of the evil that occurred.

Does Satan grow or change as a conscious being?

If all of conscious beings (assuming angels and demons in that mix) are directed toward love and shaped by it, you have to wonder what Satan is thinking. Has Satan been handed over to a lesser form of existence (i.e. living in Hell)? Can Satan be redeemed?

Some philosophers will define evil as non-being. Perhaps that is what C.S. Lewis was getting at in describing hell as small as a blade of grass (virtually nothing) in The Great Divorce.

The best conscious being definition I heard of Satan was from a 6'7" black man, ripped out of his mind, who wore the same disheveled ripped sweatpants everyday, (but somehow smelled good all the time), always wearing construction boots, who hadn’t left his group residency in 10 years due to agoraphobia…I used to do home visits as a quasi caseworker. He used to drink cold coffee out of a clear plastic water bottle.

Mr. R. was a patient I often visited. He was so on top of things theologically even in a sort of humble way with a clear mind. I loved being around him. He asked me one day: “Why does Satan resist God if he knows he is going to lose in the end?” I don’t remember what I answered but I will never forget what Mr. R. answered. He said: “Because he thinks he is right.”

Mr. R. hit the nail on the head.

Michael Harden and Brad Jersak do a fascinating interview on what they call the satan. Harden looks at the satan purely metaphorically. In essence we can become the satan (the adversary, the murder, the accuser). We as humans did the violence in the beginning. The responsibility falls on us as humans not a literal Satan. Harden argues the literal fall narrative was with Cain and Abel; the metaphorical in the garden.

Whether Satan exists literally or is a figure adopted through the ages I still could get down with Harden’s thinking in some ways here.

So while I believe that Satan and likely a group of fallen angels existed or currently still exist, it helps me to look at them metaphorically in how I relate to other people. I don’t need the presence or thought insertion of Satan to impact me. I can do evil on my own just fine. Rather my thinking can take the form of the caricature of the satan. We become like the satan when we accuse, do violence, slander, etc. other people. We do violence everyday (i.e. a mean glance at someone is violence). We choose a path of self-assertion and rebellion without any need of assistance from the evil one.

And of course we become like the satan when we disguise evil for good. After all Satan means “light bearer”. The greatest forms of evil disguise themselves as light. Think of the Nazi’s here running parades through the city where masses of people are praising them.

I become the satan when I’m convinced beyond a doubt that “I’m right.” We as humans can approach dangerous places where we can reach a point where we deny reality. You wonder about the nasty evil in this world and how it could be. People can reach a point where the evil they do is somehow justified as right in their minds.

As Mr. R. teaches us it can be a dangerous place to be when we are convinced we are right.

I’m not ready to throw out the literal yet...although I’m close.

It’s funny as I draft this today I had a dream last night. In the dream some sort of liquid blanket was covering my body. I knew that this blanket was some sort of evil presence. It was pulling me down and dragging at me. I felt a lot of fear. I then shouted the classic language I learned from my evangelical upbringing, “In the name of Jesus I command you Satan to leave!” I even shouted it multiple times to bring the power punch, as I thought one time might not be enough. And it worked! I felt peace and the presence lost it’s power within my dream.

I’m not sure if this dream was an actual satanic attack or my own consciousness indicating an area that I felt powerless in and needed freedom.

While I’m left wondering what power Satan has over me if he and his cohort cannot read my mind I still want to leave room for their methods in dragging me down. There are also too many stories in other cultures of involving more a literal interaction with the demonic. Far be it from me to become ethnocentric (or any other “centric”) on an a topic like this.

Whatever the time we live in, place in life, area in the world…we owe it to ourselves to investigate a little about one of the most fascinating characters within one of the most fascinating books in all of history.