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You can keep your world systems, I believe the Bible and NO it does NOT support that hell is not eternal separation from God.
Lol. I'm the last person you could accuse of being a part of the world and it's systems, ILNC. People that know me would be rolling on the floor if they knew you said that.
Eusebius, are you here? Do you believe Satan is the fallen angel? How about you Katlljj? Or Legoman?
Well since you asked, yes I do believe Satan exists. This is what I believe:
Satan is the adversary, and he was created to be as such.
Satan was created to be the destroyer and work havoc (Isaiah 54:16).
He is the "crooked serpent" (Job 26:13, Rev 12:9).
He is the "dragon" (serpent) who deceives the whole world (Rev 12:9).
He was a liar and a murderer from the beginning (John 8:44).
He is also called the "god" of this world - he has blinded unbelievers to the light of Christ (2 Cor 4:4).
Satan has been sinning from the beginning (1 John 3:8).
The works of Satan will be destroyed by Christ (1 John 3:8).
Great - now take up your cross and follow Him deeper than every stone-cold assembly in Laodicea. If it's right there on the surface as so many contend, that tells you immediately that they haven't gone in deeper with Him.
The plan of God is deeper than we'll ever know in this life.
The riches of His mercy and grace........how could we ever mine it all in such a short life?!?
Well since you asked, yes I do believe Satan exists. This is what I believe:
Satan is the adversary, and he was created to be as such.
Satan was created to be the destroyer and work havoc (Isaiah 54:16).
He is the "crooked serpent" (Job 26:13, Rev 12:9).
He is the "dragon" (serpent) who deceives the whole world (Rev 12:9).
He was a liar and a murderer from the beginning (John 8:44).
He is also called the "god" of this world - he has blinded unbelievers to the light of Christ (2 Cor 4:4).
Satan has been sinning from the beginning (1 John 3:8).
The works of Satan will be destroyed by Christ (1 John 3:8).
This is much closer than Christians are to what the actual writers of the bible thought. A superhuman being created by God to show evil so men could discover good.
Imagine if you were Adam and Eve after they sinned... They probably thought something along the lines of "Gee we really had it good in that garden... too bad we messed that up!"
Anyway I believe primitive man invented satan as a person when really it is a spirit. Spirit of Christmas... spirit of satan.. spirit of God.
BUT if satan were to exist he would have to be created by God IMO which is shown in Job.
OK, so is that three NO, and one YES? Something like that.
I'm in agreement with legoman. The adversary was created with a purpose in mind. God does make good come out of evil. I don't understand it all yet. Especially when it comes to kids getting hurt.....
This is much closer than Christians are to what the actual writers of the bible thought. A superhuman being created by God to show evil so men could discover good.
Imagine if you were Adam and Eve after they sinned... They probably thought something along the lines of "Gee we really had it good in that garden... too bad we messed that up!"
Anyway I believe primitive man invented satan as a person when really it is a spirit. Spirit of Christmas... spirit of satan.. spirit of God.
BUT if satan were to exist he would have to be created by God IMO which is shown in Job.
I agree. Satan has a purpose. Even SIN is considered by some to be a type of demon: "If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him." Gen. 4:7.
Those who say that sin is a demon, believe that when we die, the sin demon "falls off" and we are taken to heaven.
Well since you asked, yes I do believe Satan exists. This is what I believe:
Satan is the adversary, and he was created to be as such.
Satan was created to be the destroyer and work havoc (Isaiah 54:16).
He is the "crooked serpent" (Job 26:13, Rev 12:9).
He is the "dragon" (serpent) who deceives the whole world (Rev 12:9).
He was a liar and a murderer from the beginning (John 8:44).
He is also called the "god" of this world - he has blinded unbelievers to the light of Christ (2 Cor 4:4).
Satan has been sinning from the beginning (1 John 3:8).
The works of Satan will be destroyed by Christ (1 John 3:8).
Good post LM.
Finn - for the record, I've known thousands of Christian universalists over a 50 year period. Almost 100% believe in "Satan". They are somewhat divided on the fallen angel mythos however and lean toward a "liar and murderer from the beginning" (ie: more scriptural) version laid out above.
Back to the OP (and later statements made about URs not warning about "anything") - of course this a ridiculous claim. Everyone sows and reaps and as long as we live in an imperfect world warnings are an absolute necessity.
The key is to understand what warning for what time.
The problem with the traditional literalistic fundamentalist futuristic interpretation of the scripture is 2 millenia of spin and distortions by corrupt, politically motivated men and organizations who were largely ignorant of the PERSON of Christ. The protestant reformers fancied themselves as breaking completely out of the RCC system but truth be known they carried much baggage out (Jerome's "Lucifer" translation is just one of many) and their barbaric un-Christlike behavior is testimony enough to their ignorance of God's nature and person.
John the baptist and Jesus warned of the Gahenna judgement which occurred in AD 70.
I warn people everyday about the consequences of living a self-absorbed compassion-less life. It is a shallow hellish existence not fit for humans created in the image of God and destroys countless lives on a daily basis.
I warn everyday about the consequences of being duped by false end time/eternal torment/fallen "angel" teachings.
And I'm not even a "regular" traditional biblical universalist - so I'm sure my more conservative UR brothers and sisters give even sterner warnings about many things - just not necessarily about the things ETers think they SHOULD be warning about.
Finn - for the record, I've known thousands of Christian universalists over a 50 year period. Almost 100% believe in "Satan". They are somewhat divided on the fallen angel mythos however and lean toward a "liar and murderer from the beginning" (ie: more scriptural) version laid out above.
I warn everyday about the consequences of being duped by false end time/eternal torment/fallen "angel" teachings.
OK, so you believe there is Satan, you just don't beleive that he is the fallen angel the Bible talks about. It's like saying that you believe there is Satan, and he is the guy living next door with his wife and kids. I guess this is off topic anyway. We already had this discussion so I know how URs downplay Satan and his role. Satan causes a dilemma for UR.
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) - of course this a ridiculous claim. Everyone sows and reaps and as long as we live in an imperfect world warnings are an absolute necessity. 
