Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!uwm.edu!psuvax1!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: djdaneh@pacbell.com (Dan'l DanehyOakes) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: Could Jesus have sinned? Message-ID: Date: 2 Jun 91 05:21:27 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: Pacific * Bell, San Ramon, CA Lines: 55 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu In article dhosek@euler.claremont.edu (Don Hosek) writes: >I've always puzzled over the temptation narrative with >the question "What was Satan thinking? He KNEW who Jesus was, so >why is he bothering?" One possible answer: Perhaps Satan is *not* "the devil." Satan, in the OT, appears to be pretty much God's District Attorney, looking for ways to convict humans for their sinful nature -- not to personally lead them into it. That, at least, is the impression I receive, esp. from Job. There is Satan. Then there is "Lucifer," who fell flaming; there is the Beast of the Apocalypse. Now, does anyone have any sensible proof that any two, let alone all three, of these are the same person? Failing that, let's concede Lucifer and the Beast, but leave Satan (which means "adversary," in the sense of debate) aside. Where else does his name show up as such? I don't have a good index, but I remember two other cases. One is the temptation of Christ: in which Satan is as much as anything else doing God's work. For Jesus to be wholly human he must be tempted; if Satan is the Devil and knows (as all the demons Jesus meets seem to know) who He is, then (as you observe) it would be a waste of time for him to try to tempt Him. If, contrariwise, he's serving God as the prosecutor of humans, then it's his job to prosecute *this* human, else this human is not fully human. The other is when Christ calls Peter Satan. For what? Not for doing anything evil, but for a suggestion Peter made out of love for his Master. Not that the suggestion was right (Peter's love was not perfect, nor was his understanding), but it was done in the spirit of service and love. Would Christ call anything done in that spirit "satanic" if Satan was the devil? Just some thoughts. Ah has spoke! -- Pansy Yokum The Roach [Consider Mark 3:23 and par., which talks about Satan as the prince of demons, and Satan's kingdom in a way that makes it sound like it opposes God's. I believe by NT times Satan was viewed as opposing humans not just because it is his job, but because he is genuinely hostile. "Get behind me Satan" need not be taken as accusing Peter of being Satan or even being possessed by Satan. If you assume that Satan was tempting Jesus, Peter is simply (unintentionally, no doubt) supporting Satan's argument. --clh]