What is Satan and how does he influence my life?

[winner08]

Satan, the Illusion, is how I would interpret his influence on the lives of Buddhists! Sin would be equated with ignorance, so the ignorance from humankind springs forth from the Illusion. To me, the Illusion promotes a false perception of reality or how things really are. For example, I may identify myself with the clothes I wear or the money I make, but this is a false reality I hold tightly to due to the power I let the Illusion rule over me. While having these things is okay, it is not well for us as human beings to let these things possess us. One only has to look at the materialism preached in hip-hop culture as an example. From this perspective, I would say that depression for healthy human beings as also coming from the Illusion. I need to see my true being, which basks itself in pure love 24/7.

God is love.

I have to admit I know nothing of buddism. But my bliefs are that God uses Satan for His divine purpose. God can not do, think, or be around evil there for God uses Satan. God created Satan and Evil Isa 45:7 Therefore He is responsible for everything we do. Heres the thing WE ARE ACOUNTABLE FOR OUR CHOICES. God gave us a brain so that we can make choices. But our choices are not free from cause. something or someone always influences the choices we make and if something or someone always influences our choices then our choices can not be free. There goes free will. Our will is not free. It is always influence by something or someone.'


Darren

 

[Ahanu]

something or someone always influences the choices we make and if something or someone always influences our choices then our choices can not be free.

Speaking of Satan, I do not think this something or someone is an outside source; satan is our lower nature, so the Illusion comes from within us. Yeah, I believe we have free will to make good or evil choices. However, I do have trouble with some things here . . .

For example, I said:

From this perspective, I would say that depression for healthy human beings as also coming from the Illusion.

BTW, while writing this, I was a little hesitant to include it. I'm not sure here. I could not help but think of the construction worker who had a metal rod jammed through the front of his brain. All I remember from this story is that once he was a good person. After the accident, their behavior went through a dramatic shift from their normal everday behavior. This person began saying vile comments, acting in selfish ways, and so on. It was an accident that damaged his brain, so how could his current actions be due to Satan's influence on his life? It seems that he does not choose to be good or evil here. His freedom of choice has been diminished to little or none at all because of the way his brain now processes information. Yeah, I question my own conclusion. Like Jesus' dialogue with the Pharisees about the blind man, the conclusion reached was that it was not the result of some sin that he did in the past that the blind man ended up in the condition he was in. As a Baha'i, I do not believe in original sin. It was Satan that gave Adam the inclination to choose to "eat the fruit." It does not make sense to me that through Adam's sin all of humanity now inherits sin. Not only that, but also the idea that nature is also cursed. Natural disasters and physical deformities were most likely occuring long before Homo sapiens entered the scene. It just seems to be nature's order . . . not due to the Satan's influence at all. Those are my jumbled together speculations.

 

[citizenzen]

Speaking of Satan, I do not think this something or someone is an outside source; satan is our lower nature, so the Illusion comes from within us. Yeah, I believe we have free will to make good or evil choices. However, I do have trouble with some things here . . .

As Ahanu said in a previous post, "God is love 24/7".

When I have felt the embrace of God, I have felt only love.

Satan is our lower nature. It needs no supernatural origin. Luckily lower nature stands no chance against wisdom and compassion.

It melts away when exposed to the light.

 

[Saltmeister]

I could not help but think of the construction worker who had a metal rod jammed through the front of his brain. All I remember from this story is that once he was a good person. After the accident, their behavior went through a dramatic shift from their normal everday behavior. This person began saying vile comments, acting in selfish ways, and so on. It was an accident that damaged his brain, so how could his current actions be due to Satan's influence on his life? It seems that he does not choose to be good or evil here.

I know! Satan is in the metal rod! When the metal rod jammed in his brain, Satan flowed from the rod into his brain and the man become possessed!

As a Baha'i, I do not believe in original sin. It was Satan that gave Adam the inclination to choose to "eat the fruit." It does not make sense to me that through Adam's sin all of humanity now inherits sin. Not only that, but also the idea that nature is also cursed.

The Christian perspective (I don't know the Jewish perspective) is that we don't inherit the sin, but the ability to consciously, knowingly and deliberately sin. The descendants of Adam inherited what Adam received, which was the knowledge of good and evil, therefore making it possible for Adam and his descendants to choose to do evil. It is not Adam's sin that his descendants inherited, but the consequences.

With power comes responsibility. Knowledge is power. With our knowledge of good and evil, we have more power, mentally and emotionally, than Adam did before he ate the fruit. Because we have more power, we have more responsibility.

The curse is in the knowledge, yielding power that we can't control. Power corrupts. We were corrupted by the knowledge and the power coming from the knowledge.

I often hear it said, that it is better not knowing something because of what it will do to your mind.

Adam's sin is not insignificant. It has caused misery in the lives of human beings for centuries.

That's the story.

 

[winner08]

Speaking of Satan, I do not think this something or someone is an outside source; satan is our lower nature, so the Illusion comes from within us. Yeah, I believe we have free will to make good or evil choices. However, I do have trouble with some things here . . .

For example, I said:



BTW, while writing this, I was a little hesitant to include it. I'm not sure here. I could not help but think of the construction worker who had a metal rod jammed through the front of his brain. All I remember from this story is that once he was a good person. After the accident, their behavior went through a dramatic shift from their normal everday behavior. This person began saying vile comments, acting in selfish ways, and so on. It was an accident that damaged his brain, so how could his current actions be due to Satan's influence on his life? It seems that he does not choose to be good or evil here. His freedom of choice has been diminished to little or none at all because of the way his brain now processes information. Yeah, I question my own conclusion. Like Jesus' dialogue with the Pharisees about the blind man, the conclusion reached was that it was not the result of some sin that he did in the past that the blind man ended up in the condition he was in. As a Baha'i, I do not believe in original sin. " It does not make sense to me that through Adam's sin all of humanity now inherits sin. Not only thatIt was Satan that gave Adam the inclination to choose to "eat the fruit." It , but also the idea that nature is also cursed. Natural disasters and physical deformities were most likely occuring long before Homo sapiens entered the scene. It just seems to be nature's order . . .



.

It was Satan that gave Adam the inclination to choose to "eat the fruit.

You just gave the perfect example of our free will not being free. Satan influenced Adam and Eve to choose to eat the fruit. Satan is the influence. In everything we choose there are always an influence, therefore our choices are not free.

Darren

 

[mee]

It does not make sense to me that through Adam's sin all of humanity now inherits sin. quote]



it makes perfect sense to me ,because all mankind grows old and dies. we have all inherited oldage and death ROMANS 5;12
And we all know who the instigator of it all was,,it was
SATAN THE DEVIL.

Make no mistake about it, satan has great influence in more ways than one



That is why, just as through one man(adam) sin entered into the world and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men because they had all sinned—. romans 5;12



yes we could have carried on living forever.

But as for the tree of the knowledge of good and bad you must not eat from it, for in the day you eat from it you will positively die.”Genesis 2;17


but that serpent SATAN THE DEVIL had great influence didnt he


Eve was Completely deceived by the serpent and with a strong desire for the prospects tied up with eating the forbidden fruit, she became a transgressor of God’s law. (1Ti 2:14)



but no worries

For since death is through a man,(Adam) resurrection of the dead is also through a man.(Jesus)
For just as in Adam all are dying, so also in the Christ all will be made alive.
1 CORINTHIANS 15;21-23

 

[mee]

Whose

influence is pushing the nations to the world situation that will result in war against God? ​

​

Rev. 16:13, 14: “I saw three unclean inspired expressions that looked like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon [Satan the Devil; Rev. 12:9] and out of the mouth of the wild beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet. They are, in fact, expressions inspired by demons and perform signs, and they go forth to the kings of the entire inhabited earth, to gather them together to the war of the great day of God the Almighty.”
Compare Luke 4:5, 6;
1 John 5:19;
also Acts 5:38, 39;
2 Chronicles 32:1, 16, 17. ​

I am sure you all know the aswer ,the bible is very clear about it ​

ITS THE ORIGINAL SERPENT ​

​

​

​

 

[citizenzen]

You just gave the perfect example of our free will not being free. Satan influenced Adam and Eve to choose to eat the fruit. Satan is the influence. In everything we choose there are always an influence, therefore our choices are not free.

Oh I so disagree.

We are completely free. Nobody chooses for us. We are responsible for our self-indulgent and destructive choices.

We are responsible for our salvation.

 

[winner08]

Oh I so disagree.

We are completely free. Nobody chooses for us. We are responsible for our self-indulgent and destructive choices.

We are responsible for our salvation.

I am not trying to convince you of anything. Here try this. when you make a choice think what make you choose that way. it is impossible to make a choice that has no cause. if and it does always have a cause then it can not be free.

If we are responsible for our salvation why did Jesus die for our sins. Jesus is responisble for our salvation. scripture says WE do not choose God, God chooses us. This is scripture and the inspiered word of God God does not change therefore it is true then and true now. The bible is full of Jesus teachings that God chooses us. Heres another one. Jesus said NO ONE comes to the Father except through the Son. Jesus said I will not loose ONE of my sheep that the FATHER HAS GIVEN TO ME. Salavation is a Gift from God not from man. Like I said I dare you to make one choice that has no cause. No influence on you choice. write down any choices you make then think if something has influence that choice. If you are honest you will see that something has caused the way you chose. It it a law of nature a universal law, cause and effect. it is impossible to make a choice without a caused.

Nobody choose for us. true. we choose forourselves but it is not a free choice.

Darren

 

[citizenzen]

If we are responsible for our salvation why did Jesus die for our sins.

That is your belief. To me it is meaningless.

 

[Ahanu]

You just gave the perfect example of our free will not being free. Satan influenced Adam and Eve to choose to eat the fruit. Satan is the influence. In everything we choose there are always an influence, therefore our choices are not free.

Again, in my worldview Satan is simply a symbol for our lower nature.

This is a quick example I am making up to show what I am talking about so I will not cause any confusion on my view: if I was raised in a family where my parents recently divorced, my father is an alcoholic, and the neighborhood is notorious for its drug problem, the person in that family will have a stronger inclination to choose to make the wrong choices, whereas if I was raised by two loving parents, my father is not an alcoholic, and the neighborhood is safe and provides good education, the person will have a lesser inclination to choose to make the wrong choices.

If the example above I conjured up is not clear, here is another one by Thich Nhat Hanh:

"There are many young girls, boat people, who are raped by sea pirates. Even though the United Nations and many countries try to help the government of Thailand prevent that kind of piracy, sea pirates continue to inflict much suffering on the refugees. One day we received a letter telling us about a young girl on a small boat who was raped by a Thai pirate. She was only twelve, and she jumped into the ocean and drowned herself.

When you first learn of something like that, you get angry at the pirate. You naturally take the side of the girl. As you look more deeply you will see it differently. If you take the side of the little girl, then it is easy. You only have to take a gun and shoot the pirate. But we cannot do that. In my meditation I saw that If I had been born in the village of the pirate and raised in the same conditions as he was, I am now a pirate. There is a great likelihood that I would become a pirate. I cannot condemn myself so easily. In my meditation, I saw that many babies are born along the Gulf of Siam, hundreds every day, and if we educators, social workers, politicians, and others do not do something about the situation, in 25 years a number of them will become sea pirates. That is certain. If you or I were born today in those fishing villages, we might become sea pirates in 25 years. If you take a gun and shoot the pirate, you shoot all of us, because all of us are to some extent responsible for the affairs."

My point here is that the conditions in this world do appeal to our lower nature, or Satan. Genetic make-up may also play a small role. In the situation above I imagine I would be more inclined to do something like rape, for instance. This is as clear as I can come across with my point of view. Still, I have a free choice to choose to be a pirate rapist or not, but my lower nature would have a stronger inclination on me to rape someone in this position, for example.

 

[Ahanu]

The Christian perspective (I don't know the Jewish perspective) is that we don't inherit the sin, but the ability to consciously, knowingly and deliberately sin. The descendants of Adam inherited what Adam received, which was the knowledge of good and evil, therefore making it possible for Adam and his descendants to choose to do evil. It is not Adam's sin that his descendants inherited, but the consequences.

With power comes responsibility. Knowledge is power. With our knowledge of good and evil, we have more power, mentally and emotionally, than Adam did before he ate the fruit. Because we have more power, we have more responsibility.

The curse is in the knowledge, yielding power that we can't control. Power corrupts. We were corrupted by the knowledge and the power coming from the knowledge.

I often hear it said, that it is better not knowing something because of what it will do to your mind.

Adam's sin is not insignificant. It has caused misery in the lives of human beings for centuries.

That's the story.

Thanks for wording that so clearly, Saltmeister. Yeah, I think that is the Christian view too. I am going to quote Dr. James Kennedy, a pretty well-known Christian who preaches in Miami, I think. He said: "When Adam sinned, he brought all manner of woes on himself, his posterity, and the earth. The curse is not only transmitted genetically to our children, but we also find it in nature, which suffers because of sin's curse and because of our first parent's disobedience" (Kennedy 125).

After Adam knows good and evil, why is it that nature is also cursed too? So I am assuming that nature was once in a pre-curse era or something? Perhaps it was all perfect like the garden of eden. I don't know where he is going with that second sentence.


Amazon.com: Skeptics Answered: James Dr Kennedy: Your Store

 

[citizenzen]

Nobody choose for us. true. we choose forourselves but it is not a free choice.

Darren,

I'd like to try a little experiment. I am going to randomly scratch an armpit... live... right here in the forum

Ready? Go.

Right. Left. Left. Left. Left. Right. Right. Left. Right. Left. Left. Right. Left. Right. Left. Left. Right. Left. Right. [rest] Left. Right. Right. Right. Left. Right. Right. Left. Left. Right. Left. Left. Right. Left. Left. Right.

*phew*

Okay. I'd like to take full responsibility for this juvenile little demonstration. After all, the hand that did the scratching is attached to my body. My brain is physically wired to initiate and control acts such as scratching. I proceeded with the experiment. I scratched the pit. I exercised my freedom of choice.

Darren, is there a deterministic explanation for this?

 

[17th Angel]

"god how many fingers am I holding up......"

 

[mee]

Wait what? You're telling me he was nameless before? I thought god had a thing for naming his creations? And not sure why but "Azazel" is stuck in my mind....

(A·za′zel) [Goat That Disappears].


The word “Azazel” occurs four times in the Bible, in regulations pertaining to Atonement Day.—Le 16:8, 10, 26.



the goat “for Azazel” pictures the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

 

[winner08]

That is your belief. To me it is meaningless.

Yes it is MY belief. Not only is it MY belief it is Scriptual not an opinion. You do not believe in the scriptures I do. Therefore you do not believe in the word of God.

Darren

 

[winner08]

Darren,

I'd like to try a little experiment. I am going to randomly scratch an armpit... live... right here in the forum

Ready? Go.

Right. Left. Left. Left. Left. Right. Right. Left. Right. Left. Left. Right. Left. Right. Left. Left. Right. Left. Right. [rest] Left. Right. Right. Right. Left. Right. Right. Left. Left. Right. Left. Left. Right. Left. Left. Right.

*phew*

Okay. I'd like to take full responsibility for this juvenile little demonstration. After all, the hand that did the scratching is attached to my body. My brain is physically wired to initiate and control acts such as scratching. I proceeded with the experiment. I scratched the pit. I exercised my freedom of choice.

Darren, is there a deterministic explanation for this?

Right there proves that you did not act out of free will. I caused you to do that stupid experiment. someone or something always causes you to choose the way you do. it is a law of nature. there is no way around it. Just as the law of gravity here on earth. But if you feel it is meaningless , well that your life not mine.

 

[mee]

Whether you are influenced by everyday advertising may not have serious consequences.

There is another influence, however, that is much more dangerous.

The Bible clearly shows that Satan is the master manipulator. (Revelation 12:9)



His philosophy is basically the same as the thinking of one advertising agent who said that there are two ways to influence customers—“by seducing them or by conditioning them.”


If propagandists and advertisers can use such subtle techniques to mold your thinking, how much more skilled Satan must be at using similar tactics!—John 8:44.



yes the whole world is in the power of the wicked one ..... and that wicked one is satan the devil .........1 JOHN 5;19

 

[winner08]

citizenzen, let me ask you a question. are you a sinner? Do you like to sin? Do you wish you could not sin? If so why can't you or anybody else in the world who wishes they would not sin, do so? Why commit a sin? If you have a free will then why can't you use that free will to choose not to sin and be right with God? You can't. So much for your free will. For that matter why do we need God? Why did Jesus have to die for our sins if we have free will. We should be able to choose not to sin and therefore we can choose to be saved, So why do we need God? If we choose not to commit sin why did Jesus have to die for our sins?



Darren

Darren

 

[Summia Rahmaan]

I'm going to be honest here. I am a Buddhist and a non-theist (if that's even a word). I make plenty of mistakes every day. I often choose to follow a course of action that is not wholesome. I am prone to selfishness, laziness and arrogance. All of these things I see as my shortcomings, my "faults", my responsibility to fix.

But lately, I've been reading (skimming) a lot of posts about Satan, and I wonder how would you describe his influence on your life and the lives of others?

What impact does Satan really have?

I'm Muslim. I can guess you mean by non-theist refers to Atheist. We know we are standing at different believes, or I would like to say one sided belief because Atheist comes with no belief *just a statement* if you don't mind.
In Theist, we refer 'Satan' as evil. It is not just as we watch in our cartoon movies, you know having two horns and red eyes !

Satan can only persuade to convince you to do evil, as already been said one of my fellow here on the post, you have a freewill to choose good or evil. If you convinced by satan you are weak by heart to mind and if not then definately Satan can't convince you.

You know by your term of non-theist, human behaviors has two aspects, good and evil. Evil comes form Satans convincing and if you succeed to resist then surely you are a good person, sophisticated I mean to say .