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We are not puppets manipulated by outside forces, but are slaves of our own desires. Whatever we desire more we will do. If our desire is to obey God then we will not break his rules. If our desire is to be rich, then greed will win out and we will pursue money as our desire dictates. We have to take responsibilty for our own actions whether good or bad. The sum of your desires makes you what you are.

There has never been any external cause which can be proven to manipulate our desires. Man has distaste for being wrong, so he finds someone else to blame his shortcomings on. The Christians use the Devil as a scapegoat. They use this word "Devil" as a personal name, but devil is translated to mean demon, a general term. They also use Satan, but this is more of a job description translated to mean adversary. Lucifer is sited as this angel's name in heaven before his fall. This also is a mistaken belief, Lucifer is actually a King James era mistranslation of the Hebrew term in Isaiah 14-12 "heilel ben-schahar" meaning "Helel son of Shahar." Helel was a Babylonian god who was the son of another Babylonian god named Shahar. Helel was the god of the morning star and his father was Shahar, god of the dawn. The people of this time refered to Venus as the morning star. In Isaiah, this title is specifically used, in a prophetic vision, to reference the king of Babylon's pride and to illustrate his eventual fate by referencing mythological accounts of the planet Venus. This has nothing to do with the "Devil" that is accused with all of man's problems in life. There may be a creature completely evil such as the "Devil", but it is certainly not the one the Christians have created to blame their failings on.

God would have no reason to tempt us. Based on the Biblical account of his reason for creating us, we were created to worship him. Being omniscient, God would already know our actions and if we would succumb to temptation or not. Temptation would not futher his cause to worship him. It would be a waste of time and serve no porpuse for God to tempt us.

Is it God or the Devil which causes temptation? It is neither; it is Lucky Charms that causes temptation. Should I eat the healthy cereal that has a bland taste or the cereal that tastes good? Temptation is a function of desire. We make choices based on what we desire more. Temptation is always associated with doing the wrong thing or making the wrong choice. If our greatest desire is to always do the right thing, whether based on the Bible or any other value system, there will seemingly be no temptation.

Learn more about this author, Richard Griffin.
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