Question: Is Satan The "Ruler Of This World"?

by Observer17 21 Replies latest watchtower bible

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  VoidEater

  Welcome, Observer:

  I think we humans have set our own kettle of fish quite effectively without supernatural "rulers".

  God limits his power.

  Then God is actually the ruler, if that is the case. Ruler here implies unlimited power. Whoever rules the ruler is indeed the real ruler.

  That's kinda like the WTS: Christ has been here since 1914 but he's letting Satan do his thing for a while. Rather like Satan is ruling on Christ's behalf.

  Rescue? Well, according to every Christian denomination I am aware of, the only "rescue" will be when God gets around to destroying Satan. It's pretty much like being under a President making bad decisions - you wait for the changing of the guard, and in the meantime stick to your own morality.
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  Satanus

  If god is limiting stan's power, then isn't god really the ruler, ruling the earth? Is he not then using satan as a scapegoat for the bad stuff going on in this world. It's kind of like w bush limiting the powers of his underlings. Bush's lackeys and controlers work for him. Ergo, satan works for god (or, does he control god?).
  
  S
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  Observer17

  Thanks for the participation of everyone so far, on this thread.

  I appreciate it.

  Now for my next question on this topic:

  According to the book of Revelation, Satan is said to be "misleading the entire inhabited earth." -- Revelation 12:9

  Or, Satan is said to be "misleading the nations", per Revelation 20:3.

  1. If this is so, how do you believe Satan is able to accomplish such a massive feat, on a worldwide scale?

  In other words, why do you believe Satan has been so successful is this diabolical endeavor?

  Also, an auxiliary question (for those who believe the above) which goes along with this thought would be:

  2. What method do you think he is using to accomplish such a great "deception," that works so effectively on a worldwide scale?

  Thanks in advance for your response.

  Observer17
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  Witness 007

  People are the only "Satan" in this world....blaming our own evil on an unseen being is so 1500's.
• 

  sspo

  Would you allow a wicked and evil man to destroy and kill if you had the power to stop him.

  Well Satan is nothing (thats if you believe in him) in comparison to God. Why would he allow to be the ruler when he could

  easily destroy him.

  Of course the JW's have their answer but the bible no place does it talks about the issue of universal soverignty.
• 

  RubaDub

  I really cannot believe that Satan is the ruler of the world.

  I mean, it has been a long time since that verse was originally written in the Bible.

  I think he was replaced by his younger brother Raul.

  Rub a Dub
• 

  Satans Son

  Perhaps it is just a trap. Get everyone to agree that Satan is to blame, base everything they know and claim to know as that being the truth, then flip the script..and vindicate and reward him.

  Make everyone look silly, and PROVE that to everyone that they really do not know the difference between good and bad.

  Although it is true that humans had absolute faith in God and total obedience, until they ate from the tree, and have had doubt ever since.
• 

  WTWizard

  I can remember Satan as the brave soul that liberated Adam from a lifetime of stagnation under Jehovah. Remember, Jehovah demanded absolute submission to Him. That might not have been too much at that time, but ultimately everything Adam (and all humanity) did would be what Jehovah told them to do (and you thought Bush was bad?).

  Satan had other ideas. He wanted man to think for himself and get things done ahead of Jehovah's interminably s......l......o.......w time scale. But, to do that, he would have to get them to disobey Jehovah's law (which, to me, made no sense since the fruit would have only dropped on the ground and rotted had Adam not ate it). Jehovah, like the Tyrant He is, immediately created the problems for Adam so he could not enjoy the fruitage of independent thinking.

  I also remember Nimrod. He was the value creator that built Babylon and attempted to build a tower to heaven. Had that Almighty Pig not messed that up, Nimrod would have been a great business leader, and would for sure have done what Aristotle and Jesus attempted to (that is, got all man to think for themselves and break free from stagnation). And, Jehovah bashed the crap out of Nimrod to the point of derailing his success.

  With that, I cannot honestly blame Satan for the mess the world is in. I can blame God Himself, the few people that are bent on holding man in stagnation (sounds like what God was trying to do in Eden and Babylon), or both. But Satan is definitely not the culprit.
• 

  glenster

  "World" and "worldliness" in context are restricted to not believing in God and
  going against His will by lying, stealing, etc., and the devil is meant as the
  chief example of it. In Job he tries to get Job to be that way regarding the
  negative side of the considerations of God's prerogative.
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  Satans Son

  Lets be fair.

  God didn't demand absolute obedience. There just were no other options to what God said. There was NO opposer to his commands until Satan..no doubt at all.

  Satan created the doubt, and opened up the possiblity that God was wrong or purposely hiding information or knowledge to stay on top and in command.

  Satan is screwed if he is placed on this earth as a lowly human citizen with no rank or power. Or the powers that be are, if he attacks them and their credibility in the same manner. They will never survive an attack on their actions and intentions.

  If Satan can threaten and shake God's power with success (Possibly with God's permision)....just think what he could do to this world and it's leaders with what he knows?

  Devil your savior?

  .