Why Do People Think Satan/Lucifer/The Devil Reigns In Hell?

[Jeff777]

When he does NOT. Firstly, I don't believe in the bible, but it kind of irks me when people think Satan has a throne in hell and laughs at everyone burning. Hell was originally created FOR Satan and the fallen ones as a prison. God did NOT give Satan the keys to his own palace ._. I watched Constantine last night (again) and it's even clear that Hollywood perpetuates this image of this bad ass Satan running hell when the intellectual theologians will tell you that he's down there burning with the rest of 'em. Now granted he may have power slip in and out, Hell is NOT a place he likes being in. (Eh, I know it sounds like I believe in the bible by this post but I don't...just wanted to correct that perception of Satan) /end_rant.

[AURON]

hell isn't burning until it gets cast into the lake of fire from my understanding.

[Xei]

He doesn't have horns either, that just came from demonising Pagans... There's a lot of stuff the Bible never says but religious branches or word of mouth created. No surprise really, what more is the Bible in the first place than a bunch of embellished events?

[IrisRavenstar]

Personally, I don't believe in Satan or Hell. I believe those ideas were corruptions by the early Roman Catholic Church of earlier Pagan beliefs about the Goddess's cauldron of regeneration, by someone who thought reincarnation wasn't scary enough to keep the masses under control, so they upped the ante to make up a fiery place of eternal torment. It says something about those people, at that time, but is not really anything to do with God, only with humans who need power and control over others. Jesus himself predicted these things; he knew human nature. One of the names for the Goddess at the time was Helle. They simply used her name. Much of what comes down in relgion really needs a critical eye and a knowledge of the history surrounding it, and most don't spend much time developing that, especially if they think the Bible is the only book God inspired in this whole world. God inspires my writing all the time, and that of others I'm sure as well. In any case, even the Bible doesn't do a whole lot to define either Satan or Hell. It's kind of like what does Jesus have to do with the Easter bunny, or Christmas trees? Those are from Paganism, not Christianity, but people who wanted to convert pagans to Christianity used those things, incorporated them, in order to make Christianity more user friendly to the pagans. They even took Pagan gods and goddesses, and turned them into saints. When that didn't work, they just started burning the dissenters at the stake and such, though many burned weren't even Pagan, simply healers or people who didn't buy into the teaching without question. Church history is very messy nasty stuff, really. Most people ignore it in preference of quoting the Bible nonstop, but that is really wearing blinders, you know? If you haven't seen "The Name of the Rose" starring Sean Connery, it's an excellent depiction of some of that history, based on the well-researched novel by the same title by Umberto Eco. Or for a much shorter read, equally well researched historically, try _Incantation_ by Alice Hoffman.

[LucidFlanders]

When he does NOT. Firstly, I don't believe in the bible, but it kind of irks me when people think Satan has a throne in hell and laughs at everyone burning. Hell was originally created FOR Satan and the fallen ones as a prison. God did NOT give Satan the keys to his own palace ._. I watched Constantine last night (again) and it's even clear that Hollywood perpetuates this image of this bad ass Satan running hell when the intellectual theologians will tell you that he's down there burning with the rest of 'em. Now granted he may have power slip in and out, Hell is NOT a place he likes being in. (Eh, I know it sounds like I believe in the bible by this post but I don't...just wanted to correct that perception of Satan) /end_rant. This also means that evil spirits can't come and torment people, because they are stuck in hell with Satan burning to never ending non death. So those people who say "i have an evil spirit in my house" are looking for attention, or completly looking at things all backwards. So if something falls off a shelf and smacks you in the face, it's not an evil spirit like they wanna think. There also is no good vs evil fighting happening as they are trapped in non ending burning. Satan is also not powerfull at all, he was just a normal human being who i think was the first? one down there.

[Noogah]

Hey Jeff, thanks for this! My sister suggested that I point this out, and you beat me to it. God didn't even make Hell for humans. It was intended for Satan, and his followers (who were fallen Angels) humans followed Satan, thus are bound by the rule. As C.S Lewis pointed out in The Screwtape letters, Satan is not equal in power to God. He is not just as bad as God is good. This is just some stuff that has been accumulated through the Church, and common stereotype. Satan is equally as powerless as any humans/angels will be down there. It is not his dominion, it's his prison.

[LucidFlanders]

Hey Jeff, thanks for this! My sister suggested that I point this out, and you beat me to it. God didn't even make Hell for humans. It was intended for Satan, and his followers (who were fallen Angels) humans followed Satan, thus are bound by the rule. As C.S Lewis pointed out in The Screwtape letters, Satan is not equal in power to God. He is not just as bad as God is good. This is just some stuff that has been accumulated through the Church, and common stereotype. Satan is equally as powerless as any humans/angels will be down there. It is not his dominion, it's his prison. Yeah, as in sinners. Sinners are Satan followers, and their reward of a bad life, is an even worse non life burning forever. I'm a sinner, and i'll always be a sinner.

[Noogah]

That, and a punishment for choosing Satan rather than Jesus. Not being clean, you can't enter Heaven. God let his ONE and only son die, and people ignore it, and follow Satan instead. Christians will sin too, which is why nobody can get to Heaven by themselves. Jesus sacrifice is the one and ONLY way to Heaven.

[LucidFlanders]

That, and a punishment for choosing Satan rather than Jesus. Not being clean, you can't enter Heaven. God let his ONE and only son die, and people ignore it, and follow Satan instead. Christians will sin too, which is why nobody can get to Heaven by themselves. Jesus sacrifice is the one and ONLY way to Heaven. If god wanted all of us to be in heaven and he loved us, no way would he allow for evolution. He would make us humans, and never have bad thoughts or a bad life or free will. We can choose whatever we want, thanks to evolution in all the years we evolved. But i am thinking as a human, and to think as a non human is not possible.

[Noogah]

Did evolution happen? Also, who are you to judge Gods motives?

[Bonsay]

That, and a punishment for choosing Satan rather than Jesus. Not being clean, you can't enter Heaven. God let his ONE and only son die, and people ignore it, and follow Satan instead. Christians will sin too, which is why nobody can get to Heaven by themselves. Jesus sacrifice is the one and ONLY way to Heaven. So what if he let his son die, that's his problem. If he's stupid enough to make and kill his son, then why should I hail this as an achievement? If he was actually able to prove his existence, that would be a start, but no... It's a good thing he doesn't exist. Did evolution did happen? Also, who are you to judge Gods motives? Yes it did. Who am I to judge God's motives? Who is God to judge us? He seems pretty retarded to me.

[Ne-yo]

Satan doesn't exist in any kind of hell and Revelations support it. Revelations 12:12 Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for my adversary is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time. So where is he? Right here on Earth.

[Jeff777]

Satan doesn't exist in any kind of hell and Revelations support it. Revelations 12:12 Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for my adversary is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time. So where is he? Right here on Earth. Well that would certainly change my OP. But why did God create hell for Satan and the fallen as a prison if they're never home? Or are they awaiting final judgment to be thrown into the lake of fire?

[Sornaensis]

Did evolution did happen? Also, who are you to judge Gods motives? Evolution isn't an event, it is a process by which organisms change and adapt to their environment to survive. Learn this. You can hardly make points against something you have no understanding of, much less refute it.

[LucidFlanders]

Did evolution did happen? Also, who are you to judge Gods motives? What is god to judge my motives? i'm as free as anyone, god does not judge any motives or he would not let me choose and he would have chosen for me. I would pretty much be a zombie with a few set of commands that does whatever i was programmed to do, but i am not that way. Nobody owns anybody. I am free from a programmer. Yes evolution happened, it's still happening right as we speak, and it will probably always happen. It's taken many many years to evolve to where we are today.

[Arcana]

I think it has to do with John's Milton Epic poem paradise lost since in fact he was the first one to call the morning star Lucifer. We shall be free; th' Almighty hath not built Here for his envy, will not drive us hence: Here we may reign secure, and in my choyce To reign is worth ambition though in Hell: Better to reign in Hell, then serve in Heav'n. -Paradise Lost

[Noogah]

You won't reign in Hell. I think the Bible is quite clear that you will be punished in Hell. You will be subjected to the torture. Satan doesn't invite you to reign with him, he trys to sneak you into suffering with him. Oh, and BTW. Once we die, people won't necessarily just go to Hell right off. The souls may await until judgement day.

[Sornaensis]

You won't reign in Hell. I think the Bible is quite clear that you will be punished in Hell. You will be subjected to the torture. Satan doesn't invite you to reign with him, he trys to sneak you into suffering with him. Oh, and BTW. Once we die, people won't necessarily just go to Hell right off. The souls may await until judgement day. When humans die, their brains stop working. Since consciousness is the product of your brain, it is extremely illogical to assume that you will live on somehow, given that there is no evidence or reason for this belief other than the continuation of the church.

[Noogah]

Unless of course you have a soul. No one has ever shown how consciousness is somehow the product of your physical brain. A mass of matter, chemicals, and electricity.

[Sornaensis]

No one has ever shown that a program is the product of billions of simple processes inside of a modern computer, providing of course that you discard all evidence leading to this and instead substitute this idea with the idea that a computer program is the metaphysical projection of a force outside of reality that interacts with the computer. The idea is not only baseless, but shows general ignorance in the area of logical thinking. I mean, which is more likely -> The earth was created by aliens, or, that the earth formed in the disc of dust that surrounded the young sun? Which is more likely, that the pyramids at giza were created by a superbeing that visited earth and decided to waste a monstrous amount of energy performing such a feat, or that over many years, the pyramids were contructed by thousands of individual egyptians. As someone stated before, theories aren't proven, they are supported. Souls are not supported at all.

[LucidFlanders]

When humans die, their brains stop working. Since consciousness is the product of your brain, it is extremely illogical to assume that you will live on somehow, given that there is no evidence or reason for this belief other than the continuation of the church. Those NDE's like Pam Reynolds say otherwise. There wont need to be an aware project if this was an open and shut case. It's a debatable case as to what happens.

[Sornaensis]

So it's been proven that you can come back to life after your brain has completely shut down?

[Noogah]

A computer can think, but it does not have awareness. That's my point. No, it hasn't been proven, but it's a pretty good idea to say that there is a little more to humans than matter, chemicals, and electricity.

[LucidFlanders]

I said it's debatable, and things like Pam Reynolds story should not be left ignored. The whole aware project is being done for a reason, to find out once and for all if this is trick of the mind, or some type of outside perception like Pam Reynolds story suggests.

[Sornaensis]

Maybe. Personally I think she was reliving what little bits of information her sensory perception had received before she went comatose. Also, it is good to note that all skin cells are light-sensitive, and the immense strain on the brain may have caused it to create imagery that didn't exist, or was a contortion of what really was. There is also the problem of personal bias and exaggeration. It is certainly interesting, but doesn't necessarily point to anything metaphysical as all the things she experienced were physical and comprehensible to her. A computer can think, but it does not have awareness. That's my point. No, it hasn't been proven, but it's a pretty good idea to say that there is a little more to humans than matter, chemicals, and electricity. Humans can think. It is because of this that they are aware. To claim that there is an unseen dimension to existence that controls reality is absurd and baseless and warrants being ignored and doubted. By the way, chemicals are made of matter, which is a form of energy.