As far as I'm concerned, Satan is more or less a literary device in the way people use him.
People have come up with all kinds of theories about what Satan is and what he was and what he does in the world and our lives today. But can anybody really be sure that what they believe about Satan when they learn about the concept in Christianity, is ultimately true?
The issue with Satan is just like the issue with Jesus and God.
Does God exist? What is he like? Some say that there probably is no God. Does Satan exist? What is he like? There is probably no Satan.
I never said there wasn't. My position is that in the event that there is no Satan, I can at least be comfortable knowing that I didn't rely on his existence for my personal spiritual well-being, nor do I rely in him not existing. Instead, my position is hypothetical. I have one policy to fit both situations.
God has always been an enigma. It was the same with Jesus and it's the same with Satan as well. God is an enigma. Jesus is an enigma. Satan is an enigma. They've all got their respective, arcane mysteries.
As I said before, Jews and Muslims don't even have the same concept of Satan and its called Shaytan and Shaitan not Satan.
The idea that you have to adopt a particular position on God, Jesus and Satan and that if you don't you're an infidel or straying from the right path is what I call legalistic theology.
From my perspective there is no essential or ultimate truth for God, Jesus or Satan. It's a matter either of practical usefulness or sentimental value. It's a question of whatever is of value to you as a person and individual.
When people argue for and promote one theology over another, most of the time they don't prove that one party or the other is right or wrong. What they instead show is that their life experiences are different.
Whether it's theology or Law one must never forget the need for pragmatism. The Law was about justice. The Gospel was about one's relationship with God. Arguing that Satan exists is like arguing about your approach to and your way of observing the Sabbath, or about the way you perform circumcisions, or whether you must observe the Five Pillars or perform the Five Daily Prayers.
There is a sense of ideological hypocrisy where Christians often accuse Judaism of being legalistic with regards to the requirements of the Law, when they themselves are legalistic about theology. These are double standards.
Do we really have to follow all these rules? Perish the thought! Theology, just like Law, is a means to an end. See the end, not the means.
Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules: "Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch?" These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings. Colossians 2:20-22
EDIT: Oh, I thought I might add -- you ignore my advice at your own peril.
