Chapter 4
Growing up, I was taught that God has an enemy named Satan. I was taught that Satan had at one time been God’s most beloved angel. Before long, Satan became jealous of God’s power. As a result, Satan’s pride turned him wicked and the Lord tossed him out of Heaven. Satan was cast to the Earth. Specifically, he was tossed into the fiery depths at the center of the planet.
For most of my life, I accepted these notions as fact. I never questioned them. But then, one day, I did question them. I asked my pastor, “How do we know all of these things about Satan?” The pastor answered, “The Bible tells us so.” “Where, specifically?” I inquired.
“Eze 28:12-19 and Isa 14:12-20,” my pastor said in response.
I thought that was superb. Knowing that my belief was based on something substantial eased my mind greatly. That should have been good enough, but out of curiosity, I decided to actually read the passages for myself. They were nothing short of enlightening.
Here, read the passages for yourself and see what you think.
“You were the model of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone adorned you: ruby, topaz and emerald, chrysolite, onyx and jasper, sapphire, turquoise and beryl. Your settings and mountings were made of gold; on the day you were created they were prepared. You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you. You were on the holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you. Through your widespread trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned. So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled you, O guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones. Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings. By your many sins and dishonest trade you have desecrated your sanctuaries. So I made a fire come out from you, and it consumed you, and I reduced you to ashes on the ground in the sight of all who were watching. All the nations who knew you are appalled at you; you have come to a horrible end and will be no more.” (Eze 28:12b-19)
“How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’ But you are brought down to the grave, to the depths of the pit.” (Isa 14:12-15)
As one can see, this is rather convincing, but maybe we should also read the first half of Eze 28:12 !
“Son of man [that is, Ezekiel], take up a lament concerning the king of Tyre and say to him: “This is what the Sovereign LORD says . . .” (Eze 28:12a)
Eze 28:12-19 is not even remotely about Satan, let alone addressed to him!
It is addressed to the king of Tyre, in Phoenicia, a human king! Additionally, to understand the context within which Isa 14:12-15 was written, we must read Isa 14:3.
On the day the LORD gives you relief from suffering and turmoil and cruel bondage, you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon . . . (Isa 14:3)
In context, Isaiah was describing the cruelly oppressive king of Babylon, who swelled with pride but was brought down to defeat! So basically, we know nothing of Satan from these passages. Not a goddamn thing! What a bunch of bullshit!
I went back to my pastor with a somewhat aggressive question: “Is there any scriptural proof for the existence of Satan, or is it just a big lie meant to scare us?”
He could provide me with no proof, merely further verses taken out of context. How could I continue to believe that mankind knows the characteristics of this Satan when the Bible itself doesn’t clearly warrant such beliefs?
I couldn’t.
Still, Christian theology continues to insist that the Devil does exist. “Why else,” they ask, “would the world be such a terrible place?”
Is it? Is the world such a terrible place? Of course, one has to take the good with the bad, but I rather like the world. What could be better than experiencing physical existence?
Well, according to Christian theology, life in Heaven will be far better than our time here on Earth.
It has been hypothesized that in Heaven, in a world removed from physicality, a man’s soul will be free from the limitations of being human. “In Heaven,” so they say, “man will be in touch with God; he will have everything; he will yearn for nothing. In Heaven, man will know all things that can be known.”
We tell ourselves that such a state of existence would be ideal. Have we not yet realized that such a state would be terrible torture?
Knowledge of all things is not bliss. A man who knows all things can learn nothing. He can experience little more than boredom. He can enjoy nothing. That, my friends, would be contrary to everything wonderful about being human. Man’s experience here on this planet, in the human form and function, is a rare pleasure. Blinded from full understanding of Truth, every step a man takes is new and challenging.
We are completely fucking lost, and yet, it’s marvelous because we are free to experience our existence without the burden of having to understanding all of its intricacies. This is our escapism from the Other Side.
Have you not considered the very probable possibility that this could be the pinnacle of existence? There is a great probability that this physical existence is the Heaven that men so desperately seek.
I have some serious fucking issues with Christian theology’s explanation of Heaven. It seems to me remarkably illogical and fictionally manufactured. So much of the theology concerning Heaven blatantly contradicts other Christian theological principles.
It is a tangled web they weave.
Christian theology claims that once man resides in the presence of God (in the afterlife), then man will no longer feel the urge to sin.
Do we not currently live in God’s direct presence? Have Christians forgotten that this is precisely what their Bible claims!
“Am I a God near at hand,” says the LORD, “And not a God afar off? Can anyone hide himself in secret places, so I shall not see him?” says the LORD; “Do I not fill heaven and earth?” says the LORD. (Jer 23:23, 24, NKJV)
He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being, (Ac 17:27b, 28a, NKJV)
We are immersed in Him, and yet, we do sin … everyday.
Were not Adam and Eve in His direct presence when they supposedly disobeyed Him? They spoke with Him face to face; they knew Him personally, and yet, they sinned!
I am told that I have misinterpreted this theological concept.
“Yes,” Christians say, “we are now in God’s direct presence, as were Adam and Eve, but the limitations of the physical bodies interfere with our ability to fully connect with Him.”
“Poppycock!” I say.
Was not the Satan of Christian theology born and bred in such a perfect Heaven? Did he not possess an angelic, non-physical body? Was he not in the Lord’s direct presence? You fucking bet he was! And yet, even living within a system devoid of temptation, he chose independence over glorious slavery before God. You see, it is not in the nature of a free-willed being to submit to any type of slavery. And that’s the fucking fact, Jack!
Satan chose his own path for one reason and one reason alone: Because he could.
Should man have been created without free will? Does man’s free will make him inherently evil? No! Man is not evil. He is just man. Without his free will, a man is nothing more than a beast of the field. The ability and right to choose freely is the essence of what it means to be human.
If Heaven is anything like Christianity suggests it could be, then I promise you, there will still be sinning in Heaven. The Heaven of Christian theology is uneventful and mundane. Such a state of being is destined to forcefully breed curiosity. So long as the character of man continues to be in God’s image, man will continue to possess free will. So long as man continues to retain his free will, he will continue to be curious. So long as he continues to be curious, he will seek out new experiences. Some of these experiences will incidentally violate moral code, and thus, be called sinful.
The only way that God can guarantee the termination of sin is to remove man’s free will. And if Heaven is a life without true, honest free will, do you really want to go there for eternity? ‘Cause I fucking don’t!
Maybe someday we’ll all go to Heaven where God will suck our brains out
of our heads.
Maybe there are no contradictions in the Scriptures.
Maybe no editors have ever manipulated the biblical text.
Maybe the moral advice found in the Bible is still applicable to the modern
era.
Maybe Adam and Eve were literally the first two people on Earth.
Maybe the Devil exists.
Maybe, maybe, fucking maybe.
I am willing to admit that anything is possible, but listen to what I say now: The Scriptures themselves do not conclusively support any of the above possibilities. Consequently, I find no compelling reason that I should trust in the validity of Christian faith.
Instead, I choose to pursue wisdom. I consider myself a philosopher.
The term philosophy comes from two Greek words, philo meaning “love of” and sophus meaning “wisdom”. Philosophy is defined as “the logical analysis of the principles underlying conduct, thought, knowledge, and the nature of the universe”.
In the remainder of my book, I attempt, ever so humbly, to share my philosophy and some of my thoughts about the principles that underlie the nature of existence, the Creator, the soul, and morality.
It is my desire that my words might revitalize the souls of so many men who have, from discouragement, given up on the search for wisdom.
