King of Lies, Lord of the Flies

Last night I guided my teens through a Bible study on Satan. It is the first time I have ever broached the subject with them, because it is simply not any concern of mine. Many Christians have this terrible fear of Satan and his power and being possessed by him, but the fact of the matter is that he is not God and he is not what we are told he is.

And the odd thing is that some believers cling to this theology of evil as if it were fundamental to our overall faith! People want this dualistic enemy that we war against, almost like we have no purpose otherwise! Here Henry Ansgar Kelly says that without Satan "the fight between good and evil isn't an authentic part of Christianity." Could anything be more ridiculous? How about the good and evil that are in my heart? How about the love that we try to show people in contrast to the evil that they have been shown? How about the natural chaos in Creation that God subjugates in his work of redemption?

I agree with many of the things that Kelly says about Satan in the interview (except there is a surprising silence on the import of apocalyptic literature and the evolution of angel theology), but I do not like his presentation. Most importantly, Kelly is deluded into thinking that removing this Adversary neuters God himself, again betraying a severe reliance on dualistic thought.

Maybe I will write more later on the passages our group studied last night, but for now I will just share our point. Satan is not God's equal, and he (as well as anything else, for that matter) has absolutely no power over you that you do not give him.

So what is our response, then? My reaction is: forget him. Philippians 4:8 says to fill our thoughts (and thus our life) with whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, or praiseworthy. This is God. Be full of God and nothing else.