Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!cs.utexas.edu!usc!apple!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: kamphau@oktext..sbc.com (Mark Kamphaus) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: Question for Net.theologians Message-ID: Date: 29 May 90 07:12:12 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Lines: 30 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu In article ii44@vaxb.acs.unt.edu writes: >However, Satan is capable of taking any good thing that God created and turn it >to evil purposes: he has done so with every emotion that God made for mankind >to use for good. Love, pain, anger, kindness, compassion (although Satan I >think may have a difficult time with this one), and any other you might come up >with. The strongly negative emotions, i.e. hate and anger, are the easiest for >him to pervert, and as such we need to be on the watch of those emotions. We >are in danger every time we employ them, for with just the slightest misstep, a >good use of these negatives can become an evil one. This seems to be becoming a prevalent belief in many demoninations by well meaning and sincere Christians. The problem I have with it is that Although it seems sensible, it is not Biblical. Nowhere is there precedent of Satan overcoming God. The biblical illustration is that when Satan is allowed to tempt Man, that Man perverts the Goodness and not Satan. James says that sin begins in Man. all Satan does is provide oppurtunity for these "lusts" to be exposed and acted on. But, Satan is not the only one. Other men can cause a man to fall. It is ludicrise (sp?) to believe that God has a warped sense of Judgement that we will be punished for things we are not responsible for ("the devil *made* me do it"). Satan is not capable of taking any good thing God created and turn it to evil purposes without the consent of God. Anything else deifies Satan as an equal but evil God. It also reflects that God is not omnipotent. This type of thought IMHO, is of the theology that believes one should not be responsible for their actions. It has its roots in the "Blabbit and Grabbit" movement that looks at God as a comodity they command and who must conform to their wishes because of their faith [in themselves]. While the rest of the argument has merit, this misses it. mark