Do you believe Satan is real?

I go to a Baptist church on and off again and the pastor mentions Satan and demons ALOT. I was just wondering if anyone out there believes Satan is a real being and if he can tempt and influence one's actions.

reply to post by TinFoilHatMan55

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Satan is only a weak mans excuse for his troubles.

Sure there are evil forces in the world, evil spirits, evil entities, evil people. But as far as "Satan" with the fire and the cruelty and what not, that's just a scare tactic.

Much like the boogy man, or the sandman.

In all honesty though, I know nothing, and so I cannot say that anything above is true, it's only my educated opinion.

~Keeper

I think satan is that invisible enemy religion uses to scare control into people. I think it is the invisible enemy that unites those who hold such religious beliefs.

I personally do not believe in the idea of satan and think it could have been made up solely for the purpose of fear tactics. I mean he's invisible, all powerful, evil, sly and smooth right? What better enemy do you need to scare someone into a religion or scare them into believing in god? Just my personal take anyway.

Edit: You beat me to it tothetenthpower.

[edit on 31-7-2009 by N3krostatic]

No, it is not, is a religion base made believe to explain evil vs good.

Satan,Lucifer whatever you want to call him is a fictional character.Like peter pan(Jesus/God) and Captain Hook(Satan).Every good person needs an arch rival evil person.It's basically about control like the other posters said imo.

[edit on 31-7-2009 by Solomons]

Satan as we know him in biblical mythology is ridiculous, but...

Wasn't Satan one of the fallen angels? I thought the fallen angels were actually reptilians (the original terrans) who still live underground here?

So maybe Satan does still exist, just obviously not in the "popular" form that we think of him as...

Yes, he is real. He happens to be the mayor of my ex's home town.

Seriously, I do believe he exists.

About as much as I believe that God is real, which is to say, not a while lot.

Here is some Bible quotes

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8 KJV)

And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. (Luke 10:18 KJV)

According to those verses Satan is a real presence here on earth that tempts us and seeks to destroy us. Remember Satan shall be cast into the lake of fire to face torment for all of eternity.

And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. (Revelation 20:10 KJV)

reply to post by TinFoilHatMan55

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If were always walking the edge paranoid about some enemy as described we will naturally be more observant. It's a good philosophy in essence to keep us always paying attention but still false in my mind as an invisible enemy is the method.

And for scripture. It has been tweaked endlessly and even if not, the understanding of those who wrote it compared to ours can make a big difference in what is meant to be taken literally with translation and such.

It seems more of a philosophy book where the writers wrote literally to get the readers to think such ways so that they would live those philosophies not understanding the metaphors behind them. Translation is a big problem if the book is real and untweaked since it's from a different time.

[edit on 31-7-2009 by N3krostatic]

reply to post by TinFoilHatMan55

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Do you believe Satan is real?

second line.

reply to post by TinFoilHatMan55

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You can't exactly use the book to prove he exists.I know your a christian and im not...so im probably coming at this from a different angle than you.But history is littered with gods and demons etc or atleast evil entities.All particular to one culture at some point in time and mirrors with that cultures outlook.The bible is basically the same except written for it's own specific time in history and the peoples outlook and culture of that period.

[edit on 31-7-2009 by Solomons]

I can definitely respect you analysis and opinion.

My feelings are that Evil is a very real thing in this World, and I do believe that Satan does in fact exist. I sometimes wonder if a person such as Hitler is not in fact some Earthly reincarnation of Satan himself. The same would also apply to Osama Bin Laden as well. If you study the scripture and knowledge of Satan, not only is he Evil, but also Extremely deceptive. Now, taking the aforementioned into consideration, look at how even though Hitler and Osama Bin Laden were/are capable of ruthless violence on a massive scale, they had/have such a devoted and brainwashed following of immense proportions. Both aspects, the pure Cold Evil, and the Amazing Mass Deception, both bear striking resemblances to the Biblical teachings of who Satan truly is.

primitive man can't think past the "person character" idea that's portrayed on the surface.

true meaningful literature and mythology embeds metaphor and allegory into it's writing.. in order to express a greater meaning.

but humanity goes on with the action-hero type personification.. never looking further.. because they don't want to.. they CANT.. or they just were never taught how to.

satan is your physiology and your mind's desires that are formed by your body's senses.

it is the adversary to your virtuous spirit's evolution.

but yeah.. ignore what i just said and go on and keep thinking it's an invisible boogey man... or go on arguing about who did what like it's a freaking sci-fi fantasy saga.....see how much spiritual enrichment and wisdom that gives ya.

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reply to post by TinFoilHatMan55

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No...

Satan is a scapegoat used by people so we don't have to take responsibility for our own actions. The frightening thing is Jesus is used the same way, as a scapegoat so you can say all your wrongdoings are magically forgiven.

I don't believe in Satan and I find it frightening that some do

maybe satan is like that guy on charlie and the chocolate factory...he actually works for willie wanka and is on his right hand man!

maybe god and satan are the same entity, or maybe hes gods evil twin lol

IMO, i think the idea of "Satan" has been developed and refined over the years to fit into whatever role fundamentalist religion has wanted "Satan" to play. Kind of like "creating God in our image"...

I think there exists a polar opposite to what is considered "good" and i think people can readily access that energy. I haven't thought about the mechanics of it all or why there should be that balance, like yin and yang, but i see that it exists inside of people all the time. Everyone does, whenever they turn on the 6 o'clock news to hear of the bombing of innocent bystanders or the psychopathic murder of a parent's new born baby. . I know it's there, but whether this 'state of being' is founded in the form of an actual person or consciousness, i couldn't say.

So, i pretty much undecided if i believe "Satan" exists. Certainly a "bad" exists, but Satan as a person..??
Sorry, it's such a short post, i haven't thought about this enough!

[edit on 1/8/09 by pretty_vacant]

i wouls think the Creator's adversary would be more of a soul stealer of life than a possessing dominearing type entity,being at such antagony to a great cause would present me to think that the limitless adverseating action would not be to control ones decision. Too petty.roar couldn't resist ; )

I believe in evil entities/people, but I don't believe in Satan, but who knows maybe we've created Satan via Tulpa. I guess Satan could also be based on an exceptionally evil entity or group of entities.