Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Jewish View on the Devil

So after our discussion in class today I started to wonder what the Jews believe about the devil. So after looking around chabad.org i came across some interesting points in this article: http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/1093498/jewish/Can-You-Sell-Your-Soul-to-the-Devil.htm
"we see that G‑d created an angel to play the role of provocateur; that he is a messenger of, and subservient to, G‑d. He was not a fallen angel or sent to Hell, where he began fighting G‑d; he was created to be Satan. Neither does Satan spend his days stoking the flames of hell with his pitchfork. He is a presence on earth with a mission: to provoke people to disobey G‑d's will."

"There is no power of evil independent of G‑d; otherwise this would imply a lack of G‑d's all-inclusive control and power. To quote the Book of Isaiah:

"…from the place where the sun rises until the place where it sets, there is nothing but Me. I am G‑d, there is nothing else. [I am He] Who forms light and creates darkness, Who makes peace and creates evil; I am G‑d Who makes all these."3

Obviously then, the satan is not an autonomous force who opposes G‑d and recruits people to his militia. Rather, the satan is a spiritual entity that is completely faithful to its maker"


We were discussing today in class that everything God creates is good. However, God was the creator of hell and of Satan. I think some of the points I pulled from the article help answer our questions.


3 comments:

  1. Wow! Seems to pose more questions about the nature of God's "goodness"! Is there a "good" beyond Man's comprehension? Is this an issue Milton must address in his effort to "justify the ways of God to Man"?

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  2. How come there's a hyphen where the "o" should be in God?

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  3. Good question, Monica. Let's see if any of your Evil Classmates can answer this question. If not, remind me to do so in class, please.

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