Dear Pastor, is it true that sin originated from Heaven? Besides, who is Satan? Elitwatz from Tanzania
Response:
Theodicy further explained
In the previous Issue, we said that Christian Theodicy argues that for God, to deal with sin preventively is a violation of the conscience human right to choose between freely expressed alternatives (Job 1:10, Genesis 2:16-17).
The identity and agenda of God as distinguished from that of sin can only be rectified if the power (sin) is allowed full access to the creation of God with its activities and the free will of man uninterrupted (Job 1:6-12).
For God to be a just and righteous God (Theodicy), His omniscience must not participate in the perceptive faculties of man as he decides. It must be understood at the outset that Christian Theodicy is not apologetic of a God who is an alternative good.
In other words, if God is good to those free-will beings who have chosen him, evil as well is good to those other free-will beings who have chosen it (Genesis chapters 2-3). Theodicy is not a section of philosophical relativism (preferences). While divine credibility is consistent when God doesn’t interrupt Sin-power and human choice, theodicy teaches that the credibility of God is not restricted to him not involving himself in the volitional affairs of man and the Sin-power but also in his claim of goodness (Genesis 2:17, Psalm 25:8, 10).
Distinguishing Satan from Yahweh as Sources
In the Bible, Satan is largely understood from an anthropomorphic (human characterization of the strange) point of view. Therefore, we have all been taught since childhood that Satan is a being and therefore, the cause of sin.
The name Satan, however, stems from the Hebrew word ‘Ha śatan’ a term whose definition includes “adversary” and “accuser”. (Comay and Brownrigg. “Satan,” pp. 404).
According to scholars and Bible students like Lucas Sweeney, in the Hebrew Bible, śatan was never used as a proper name but served merely as a term to identify an adversary. In the Hebrew Bible, there was no Satan with a capital S, and in early Hebrew traditions, there was no devil, demons, or Hell. Evil and suffering in the world instead had another source; God himself (Isaiah 45:7). God as the source of good and evil (Isaiah 45:7, Amos 3:6) is known as Monism and this was the teaching of Judaism. How could a loving and benevolent God allow so much suffering and pain on earth and retain his goodness? According to Gregory Mobely and T.J. Wray in Tracing the Birth of Satan; The Devil’s Biblical Roots, the eventual answer to this question (can God be both evil and good?) within the religion of ancient Israel was found during the Persian period, 539-332 BCE, when Persia controlled the entire Near East, including Israel.
Perhaps the earliest point in Satan’s history may have its roots in the Persian Empire, which in turn influenced ancient Judaism.
The ancient religion of Persia was Zoroastrianism, based on the teachings of a religious philosopher named Zoroaster who may have lived around 600 BCE. Among his teachings was the compelling idea of dualism.
According to dualism, evil does not stem from the good God or spirit known as Ahura Mazda, ‘wise lord’. Instead, there existed a separate evil being known as Ahriman, ‘fiendish spirit’ also known as Angra Mainya, ‘evil spirit’ that created death, disease, and lies.
People had to choose whether to follow Ahura Mazda on the path of good or Ahriman on the path of evil. The idea from Persia that God was separate from evil would have been an acceptable answer to the early Jewish Theodicy question and would have explained how there could be such suffering in a world created by a loving God.
From this was born the idea that God did not create suffering.
It is, therefore, obvious that the patriarchal religion and the religion of Israel through the period of monarchies did not have the idea of Satan as an opposing side to God, but had Yahweh as the source of both good and evil (Isaiah 45:7, Job 2:3; Exodus=10 plagues on Egyptians, Numbers 25:6-13; Hosea 13:4,9,16; etc.).
Do you give credit where it is due?
When people succeed in life, they thank God but when they suffer loss es they blame the same God.
Muslims believe there are even good ‘jins’ (demons) from God. When Christians hurt, they turn to God as ask; “why me?” We all tend to forget that God said the enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy but He has come that we have life and have it abundantly (John 10:10).
Answered by Pr Isaiah White Send your questions to: editor@goodnewskla.com
