Quote:
Originally Posted by Esaias
John 8:44 proves the devil is not a fallen angel. From THE BEGINNING he was a murderer - he ALWAYS was so. He abode or dwelt not in the truth - from the BEGINNING he was a murderer and did not dwell in the truth.
Abode means to dwell, people assume it means "to remain for a time", so they read it and interpret it to mean "he did not remain in the truth' as if he once was in the truth but at some point left it. That is not what it is saying, though. It is saying he did not DWELL in the truth.
And thus, "the devil is a fallen angel" story collapses under the weight of the word.
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Interesting.
A rabbi friend of mine (Rabbi Kopmar) once explained that in Judaism, Satan, is actually not a fallen angel, but an angel that was created for the express purpose of testing and tempting mankind with evil (since God tempts no man with evil, directly).
While the Christian concept of Satan is a bit different, I mention this because if this were true, Satan would have been evil (a murderous liar) from the very moment of his creation. Of course, that would be from God's perspective. The angels may not have immediately known about the purpose of Satan's creation or about the cosmic battle that would unfold. Perhaps after a time in Heaven this evil created in Satan propelled him to rebel against God, bringing a third of the angels into rebellion with him, and they was cast out of the third Heaven to test man... as planned from the beginning.
Such a thing would mean that God is even the creator of evil, and is in complete control of all things, both good and evil. While it would appear that Satan's rebellion was an effort to thwart God, in fact, it was all a part of God's design to test both men and angels. And so, even Satan himself ultimately continues to serve the will of God.
Thoughts?
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