Denying Dualism
[每日靈修] 10/16/2018, 未譯
The
Devil-as-myth view is Satan’s right-hand punch. If that one doesn’t get you,
then watch out for his left hook. The left-hand attack moves the disinformation
to the opposite extreme. If Satan can’t get you to ignore him by denying his
very existence, he will cunningly lead you to attribute power to him far beyond
what he actually possesses. He will seek to persuade you that he is virtually
equal to God.
Dualism,
as a philosophy and a religion, has vied with Christianity from the beginning.
Dualism affirms that the universe is the staging area, the combat zone, for two
equal and opposite beings who struggle with each other eternally.
Satan
is falsely described in terms of omniscience, omnipresence, and the power to do
actual, not merely counterfeit, miracles. He is given attributes orthodox
Christianity labels as the incommunicable attributes of God and he is assigned
power over nature that rivals the Creator’s.
The
Bible teaches that Satan is a finite spiritual being. He is temporal and
created. In a word, he is a creature. He is more powerful that we, but he is
not omnipotent. He is not immutable, as God is. Indeed, Satan’s mutability is
profound. His most obvious mutation is his fall. He was created a good angel.
He fell from his original righteousness and is now totally malevolent.
Coram
Deo
Have
you been attributing power to Satan beyond what the Bible indicates he possesses?
Passages
for Further Study
Luke
10:19
Acts
26:17-18
1
John 4:4