As someone who was raised Christian and Catholic, I have to wonder why religion is as it is. Why, I ask, is do we need to believe in Satan and Hell? Why do we have to have a place to go to where we're punished forever? Why do we have Satan, anyway? If he is God's opposite (at least that's what I've been told) Why doesn't he rule? Do we believe in an evil force anyway? Or is it that we feel we can't be perfect and blame something else other than our own fault? This is just a thought.

-- Anonymous, April 11, 2000

Answers

M.E.;

I am a Christian writer, and perhaps some excerpts from some articles I have recently written will help you understand this a little bit better, since it is a very important topic indeed. I hope it helps, for what its worth. ____________________

The Bible teaches that in the beginning, Almighty God created everything: the Earth, the Sun, the Moon, the stars, etc. He also created beings of incredible power; angels, seraphim, cherubim, and other amazing spiritual creatures. Now most people these days, thanks to TV shows like "Touched By an Angel," believe that angels exist, so I won't go into that. One of these was a powerful being called a "cherub," who was not a cutsey babe with wings as popular paintings would portray a cherub, but apparently a being of great beauty and power, who held a very prominent position. He became so prideful at his own beauty and perfection (Ezekiel 28:12-17) that he thought he could actually usurp the position of the Almighty. He was cast out of heaven along with his rebellious followers, and we know him today as Satan, the Adversary. He is not God's opposite, he is a complete corruption of the best God had created.

Since that time, Satan has been the "god of this world" (2 Corinthians 4:4), feeding it his power, and although the victory over him has been won at the Cross, the struggle continues until Jesus' return, in much the same way as our war with Japan in World War II was probably won at the battle of Midway, but it took us another three years to get Japan to accept it's inevitable defeat. "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms" (Ephesians 6:12).

Now the Bible says that God prepared an eternal place of punishment for the Devil and his rebels (Matthew 25:41). We call this place "Hell." He decreed that all of Satan's followers would be punished there. Well, then God created Man ... and Satan saw his chance to "get even." He tricked Man into wilfully disobeying God, and thus brought the same death sentence upon Mankind that was upon himself.

The Bible starts out with the entire world in a garden state, with man and all of nature in harmony and peace, with each other and with God. Through man's rebellion (instigated by Satan), that peace has been broken. The whole point of the Old Testament was to get us to see that we could not get back in harmony with God by our own devices.

All mankind has since inherited a rebellious nature. We all want to do what we want, not what God wants. As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one." We have all fallen short of God's perfect standard of perfection, and are under the same curse. And no amount of good deeds can make up for our rebellious nature. God is so righteous, so holy, so perfect, that even all our best deeds look like soiled rags before Him (Isaiah 64:6). (If you get pulled over for speeding, can you say, "Well, I helped an old lady across the street today, so that should make up for it?" Of course not!) We owe a debt we cannot pay! The "rules that could never be kept" in the Old Testament were meant to show we could never attain peace with God on our own steam.

Yet as great and glorious as God is, He is still knowable, personable, and approachable, and because of his great love for mankind, He Himself desired to bridge this awesome gulf. Which is why God decided to enter the world Himself in the Person of Jesus Christ. He decided to offer Himself, freely, as a peace offering; all we need do is accept His gift. "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are declared righteous freely by His grace, through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus" (Romans 3:23-24). "But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners [God's enemies], Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).

When we hear of His peace treaty, when we are offered it, we need to receive it! "Today is the day of salvation" -- we may not get another chance! Then we need to tell others! He has given it to us to become His good will ambassadors, spreading His message of a free pardon and peace with God to a lost and dying world.

-- Anonymous, April 12, 2000

Kami, if you live in this world long enough, eventually you will see how corrupted,cold , and evil it is. It isn't God's will being done as to the evil deeds of mankind so we pray "May thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven". God knows what is going to happen before it happens though. God allows Satan to run around and test mankind to see who loves the truth. Some go through harsher trials than others. He is like a rabid pit bull on a strong chain and Jesus is the owner. He cannot speak the truth because there is no truth in him. He prefers to keep a very low key profile so people don't believe he exists so he can get their soul to torment for eternity. It is some scarey stuff. Actually it is unclean spirits that manipulate sinners to do the evil deeds they do but they are accountable for the deeds because they refuse to surrender to the faith of Christ to be healed at their heart. When you realize how much people reject the truth, then you will understand why the world is so messed up.Believe in JESUS and the devil is the looser for it. Believe in the truth to receive more truth. Only people who obey the truth can understand the Bible, a precious gift indeed.

-- Anonymous, April 20, 2000