this post was submitted on 07 Oct 2023
768 points (90.8% liked)
Memes
45608 readers
1177 users here now
Rules:
- Be civil and nice.
- Try not to excessively repost, as a rule of thumb, wait at least 2 months to do it if you have to.
founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Biblical Satan is a role, not a person. I've seen it translated as "opponent" or "rival". Something like a "devil's advocate" in catholic church - person or entity who tests somebody's faith.
And Lucifer is again a completely different character, not related to Satan until much later.
The devils advocate in Catholicism is something very specific and not at all that. In order for someone to be determined a Saint there’s more or less a trial. One side presents arguments that say the individual has met the criteria by which one can be determined a Saint. The other side, which is called the devils advocate, attempts to poke holes in it and presents arguments by which the individual hasn’t met those conditions. They’ll do things like bring up sins and character flaws that persisted into the individual’s saintly period, as well as attempt to disprove any miracles the individual is said to have committed.
Is that the origin of devils advocate?
That is super interesting if so
Why does faith need to be tested?
Christians seem to love the concept. The idea is if you keep believing if seriously challenged, it means you are a true believer.
The height of stupidity and evil.
I didn't read the Bible fully but as far as I know there are only very few mentions of satan/devil and stuff.
666 the number of the beast.
A story about a guys faith and a bet between god and the devil.
The fall of lucifer the angle (not linked to either above)
And maybe the devil is mentioned in a few more sentences but not more.
Not a bad take, clearly can be read that way in the English. But I don't read Greek, so I can't tell you one way or the other.