The Power of Good and the Power of Evil According to Christian Belief

952 Words2 Pages

The Power of Good and the Power of Evil According to Christian Belief

Most Christians believe that the devil, or Satan, is the power of evil

and that God is the power of good. Satan is an ancient Middle Eastern

word meaning "an accuser". Satan appears at various times through the

Bible as the opposite to God. Satan, in the form of a snake, tempts

Adam and Eve to eat the apple and so disobey God. Satan also tests Job

and even tempts Jesus to abandon his ministry (but is unsuccessful).

Many Christians say the devil is a real being, who has the power to

corrupt us into doing evil. Some of these people's lives revolve

around "resisting Satan". They ban the music of rock groups whose

lyrics supposedly include satanic ideas. They hold exorcisms to rid

people of satanic influence.

In the Middle Ages the Church developed an obsession with Satan.

Satan, or the Devil, was seen as an ugly man dressed in red, who lived

in the fires of a place called Hell. Life was pictured as a cosmic

struggle between God and Satan, or Good and Evil, in which humans were

little more than pawns.

Most Christians believe that Satan was once one of God's high angels

until he became greedy and wanted to become more powerful than God.

God then threw Lucifer (Satan) out of heaven and into Hell, "And he

said to them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from Heaven" (Luke

10:18). Some Christians take this to have literal meaning, but others

say Satan is just a made-up person to symbolise evil.

Some Christians say that Evil does not exist, it is merely an absence

of good. St Augustine first suggested this view in the fourth century.

He said that all things were created good, but because of free will it

was possible for things to grow away from good and become evil.

However, he added, that what appears evil may be good in the context

of eternity.

There was a great deal of talk about evil in the weeks following the

Open Document