by Billy Cox

Created on: June 02, 2010

Satan, as he is most typically characterized by the Christian Church, is in all likelihood a means of asserting the very real and menacing existence of evil in everyday human experience. Based only on the pervasive fascination with 'the devil' in Christian teaching, one could certainly deduce that Satan is a veritable and ever-present Darth Vader in the Bible's epic story of good and evil, yet that is not the case.

The oft-cited passage about the temptation of Eve in the third chapter of Genesis mentions a talking serpent, but not a devil per se. The snake certainly seems devious and devil-like, but even so he is little more than a projection of Eve's own doubts about God's strange command to avoid one particular fruit. At the end of this particular story, the snake gets no opportunity to defend himself but passively accepts God's curse. This is hardly the picture of a worthy opponent for the Almighty God.

Other uses of the word 'Satan' in the Old Testament are interchangeable with the term 'adversary'  thus giving no clear picture that God has an evil counterpart with equal or nearly equal power. Even in the book of Job, where a large percentage of the biblical references to 'Satan' occur, he is little more than a visiting prince or jester taunting God and wagering whether God's prize fighter will survive a real challenge. The devil character exists as little more than a plot device while the 'monster 'is actually God, who allows Satan to do great harm to Job merely for the sake of a capricious game of Truth or Dare. Furthermore, God's answer to Job's plight is an extended series of questions beyond Job's ability to comprehend or to answer. In paraphrase, God says to Job, "I don't have to answer to you and you you wouldn't understand even if I did." With deities like this, who needs an adversary?

When compared with the Old Testament, the New Testament contains far more occurrences of the words 'Satan' or 'devil',  but in substance, the pattern established in the Old Testament continues; namely that the devil or Satan is an adversary on a short leash and is ultimately only dangerous if one gives 'him' more credit than a defeated foe deserves. One could even say that the very act of assigning personhood or existence to Satan gives the devil more than his due.

Satan takes a rare center stage in the New Testament as he tempts Jesus, yet even in weakened condition following forty days of fasting and isolation, Jesus handily defeats the devil. The outcome is never in doubt. Nobody imagines for even a moment that Darth Vader will triumph over Luke Skywalker.

Having said all that, we are still left with the fact that responding to the statement "yes, Satan is real" with the counter-punch, "no, he is not real" falls far short of being emotionally satisfying or definitive in any meaningful way. An intriguing passage found in James 1:13-15 could thus light the way.

13When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. 15Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

Where is the snake? Where is Satan? Who needs a devil when one has untamed desires? Who needs Satan when we have unfettered ambition. We have seen the true enemy and it is us.

Is Satan therefore real? Probably not, but even if it does exist, it has little importance beyond the power that people grant him by way of superstition and fear.

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