The adversary is within

@fmf said
So, if I don't believe there is a being called "Satan", you contend that this is proof that a being called "Satan" DOES exist because his strategy is to "capture the minds of those who do not believe in his existence" and I don't believe in his existence meaning he DOES exist and his capture of my mind is proof of it, have I got it right?

It's not that complicated.
Satan doesn't exist because you choose not to believe he exists.

-Removed-

I don't think that's a choice.

There are lots of things we can't choose. For example, you can't choose your parents.

@sonship said
@moonbus

Who put a snake in the Garden?

As I briefly explained above, this enemy is called "the ruler of the authority of the air" in Ephesians. He is in the realm of the atmosphere of the planet.

In Genesis during the six days God successively pronounced each day that what He made or prepared was good. But there is the exception wit ...[text shortened]... serpent, he who ois called the Devil and Sata, he who deceives the whole inhabited earth. . . " [/b]

Cut to the chase: God put the serpent in the Garden. God created evil, on day 2, before Adam.

@josephw said
Satan doesn't exist because you choose not to believe he exists.

I have no credible reason to believe he does exist and I cannot just decide to believe that he does. I believe "Satan" is a metaphor, as I said, served up in a kind of fairytale.

-Removed-

Its love over evil, the flames of Hell, could be pretty meaningless to all of us since Jesus Christ laid down His life for us so we could be redeemed by turning to Him as Lord and Savior.

I'd liken that to a mother telling her child that was cooking not to put their hand in the fire on the stove because it fascinated them. Obeying the mother, the flame would do what it was there for without any danger to the child. If the child, in a willful act of disobedience, puts their hand into the fire anyway, it will suffer the consequences of doing what they were warned not to do. Refusing the love and forgiveness offered by the Lord for our ways in life, there are consequences fixed in advance. Hell was made for the devil and his, and he is the small 'g' god of this world. Those that belong to God are not his they have been redeemed. As far as Satan is concerned, he doesn't care one wit what we believe just as long as it is not putting our faith and trust in the One that laid down His life for us, Jesus Christ, so we may be part of God's family where we can call Him Abba.

Towards that end, are we scattering people away from Jesus Christ or leading them to Him by lifting Him us. We are lost without the Lord; there is no picking out the good ones from the bad for us; we have all sinned.

@moonbus said
Cut to the chase: God put the serpent in the Garden. God created evil, on day 2, before Adam.

That's not the way it tells it in the Bible.

Lucifer chose to rebel. God changed his name to Satan.

@fmf said
I have no credible reason to believe he does exist and I cannot just decide to believe that he does.

I get that.

If you knew God existed, and you were given the choice, would you choose to believe in Him or not?

@josephw said
If you knew God existed, and you were given the choice, would you choose to believe in Him or not?

What a ludicrous question. Gosh.

If I KNEW your God figure existed, as described by you, how on Earth could I choose to NOT KNOW he existed?

@josephw said
If you knew God existed, and you were given the choice, would you choose to believe in Him or not?

This reminds me of one of the many, many gormless questions dj2becker used to arrive at from time to time in those appalling duologues I used to have with him [words to the effect of...]:

dj2becker: FMF, if you knew that the God of the Bible really existed and everything the Bible said was true, what would be your justification for still being an atheist?

@fmf said
If I KNEW your God figure existed, how on Earth could I choose to NOT KNOW he existed?

Gosh! What an absurd question.

Even the way you phrased it is absurd. "Your God figure"?

That's just your way of deflecting around the question. Makes me think you know you were created by God, but use the "God figure" term as a means of reinforcing your belief that God doesn't exist.

It's simple. God exists, and you're in denial. That's "how on Earth could you choose to NOT KNOW he exists".

-Removed-

It's no secret. Jesus spoke plainly about it.

@moonbus said
Who put a snake in the Garden?

Nothing happens in this world without the knowledge of God