2004 10 18 Presentation1

The Devil: 

The Devil Bible Reading Seminars

Popular ideas about the devil: 

Popular ideas about the devil “Passion of Christ” “Armageddon” (Schwarzenegger) “The Omen” (innocuous humans) “The Exorcist” (demon possession) I.e. a supernatural evil being in competition with God for human souls

Ask the Bible: 

Ask the Bible Gospel Atonement: Man’s sin and resulting death penalty Rightfulness of death God’s righteousness must be upheld Need for reconciliation Achieved ritually in the Law of Moses Achieved for real in Christ Absence of a devil!

Headline sins in the Bible: 

Headline sins in the Bible Old Testament PENALTY Cain & Abel (Gen 4) Cursed Antediluvians (Gen 6:5) Drowned Sodom & Gommorrah (Gen) Fire & brimstone Nadab & Abihu (Lev 10) Consumed King Saul (1 Sam 18 onwards) Slain David & Bathsheba (2 Sam 11) Punished King Ahab & Jezebel (1 Kings 21) Slain Israel’s national disobediences (Ex 32, Jer) Captivity New Testament Woman taken in adultery (John 8) Forgiven Peter’s denial of Jesus (Mark 14:66-72) Forgiven Judas’ betrayal of Jesus (Matt 26:47-50) Suicide Ananias & Sapphira (Acts 5) Consumed Saul before his conversion (Acts 8:1-3) Converted Men & women accountable for their own sin in each case

So why does Bible refer to devil, satan etc?: 

So why does Bible refer to devil, satan etc? E.g. Eden, Job, temptation of Christ, casting out of demons and evil spirits, ‘war in heaven’ … Lucifer gets one mention: Isa 14 and clearly NOT talking about a supernatural “devil” Hebrew & Greek words are satanas, diabolos, daimonion – we risk attaching medieval meanings not intended by the original writers

Sources of sin and evil in the Bible: 

Sources of sin and evil in the Bible Heart of man Gen 6:5, Jer 17:9, Matt 15:19 Our carnal mind Rom 8:7, Gal 5:19-21 Death came by man’s sin Rom 5:12 God Himself! Isa 45:7, Jonah 3:10 The world at large 1 John 2:16

Healing of ‘demons’ in the Bible: 

Healing of ‘demons’ in the Bible NT descriptions not like “The Exorcist” – see Matt 8:16-17, Mark 9:17-29 Lack of hygiene, clean water plus increased travel in Roman Empire spread diseases, without treatments Consistent with modern missionary work in developing countries So these are illnesses which ultimately originate with God – cp 1 Sam 16:14, 18:10, Judg 9:23

Anomalies of believing in a devil: 

Anomalies of believing in a devil Bible could be seen as not sufficiently descriptive of a subject of fundamental importance (cp God’s character, origins and life of Jesus, Gospel, covenants) Human accountability for sin appears unjust Scary stuff of horror movies is real :-( (By the way, the devil scenes in “Passion” are not in the Bible)

Conclusion: 

Conclusion Human sin is the problem Christ overcame (Rom 5:12) Satanas, diabolos, daimonian have wrongly been attributed with supernatural meanings Hollywood depictions of a ‘devil’ have grossly misrepresented the Bible