Was Lucifer The Hero Of The Bible?
Were we convinced that the hero was the villain?
Was Lucifer The Hero Of The Bible?
Were we convinced that the hero was the villain?
One of the issues I grew to have with the faith I was raised in was with the character of Lucifer, or the Devil.
My initial gut issue that festered was the fact that this character which we’re told is an absolute evil being, was supposedly the source of all evil in the world due to triggering man to commit the “original sin”. It seems like Lucifer’s rebellion would’ve been more “original” but perhaps we’re only supposed to focus on human sin? This narrative also doesn’t exist in the Bible unless you distill it from the psychosis-induced ramblings of Revelation and mix that with Genesis. Ultimately this angel was made by God, someone who isn’t supposed to be able to make mistakes, and is supposed to know all things, and God chose not to get rid of him.
This of course brings us to the issue of whether or not God can get rid of him, because if he can’t then is he truly all-powerful? But if God chooses not to, and the Devil is the source of all evil that exists then is God truly good? This of course brings us to the Epicurean Paradox, which makes this exact argument.
Most Christians when asked the question of whether God created evil and or when asked why he doesn’t destroy the devil will just answer that they don’t know.
Judaism, the parent religion of Islam and Christianity, has a different view about the Devil. They believe he is a henchman of God, basically carrying out unseemly tasks at God’s behest, indeed doing evil things, but still part of the Heavenly Hosts. This makes sense because in Judaism God is both good and evil.
This theology makes a lot more sense if you believe in a monotheistic reality with one all-powerful divine creator.