Shouldn’t God Get Rid of Satan?
“A prudent question is one-half of wisdom.”
Francis Bacon
My deconstruction began when I started asking questions. The questions weren’t the regular softball questions we asked Sunday school teachers which propped up what the teacher was already trying to assert. These questions caused the rest of the class to groan, mumble, and most likely, talk about me behind my back.
I continue to ask the questions in this series. Many would believe that these questions make us bitter or that we’re just causing problems by asking them. I hope the questions help us evolve into a better state of being. Being outside of organized religion, I can finally hear the whispers and observe the drumbeat of the universe and the peace and comfort that I find. I find my comfort not in a finalized belief statement, but a way of being that continues to question everything.
Last Question – Part 1 – A Good Father?
2. Shouldn’t God Get Rid of Satan or not create him in the first place?
Growing up, I assumed that everyone had the same beliefs as I did. When you live in the Bible belt, we often cultivate this assumption of unity among our beliefs, and we ignore and mistreat those who disagree with us. When I attended an Independent Fundamentalists Baptist and then a Southern Baptist church, one of the key cornerstones of our beliefs was the belief in eternal conscious torment (Hell) and a real being called Satan and/or the Devil. A younger old lady queried me recently about my evolving beliefs by asking, “So, if you don’t believe in hell or the devil, then none of the rest of it makes much sense.”
I couldn’t agree more; this is part of my deconstruction story. When I ask honest questions about Satan, the Devil, etc., many of my other beliefs don’t have the same conviction as before. Why? Because without the fear element, it’s much harder to sell the other doctrines of the church. I don’t intend to get into an elaborate study of Hell or Satan, because others have done that adequately and it takes longer than a blog post to flesh it out. The following are summary statements that cohere to my current understanding.
- Jesus referred to a place called Gehenna, a garbage dump outside Jerusalem
- Jesus referred to Satan, who was a fictional character at the time known as “The Accuser.”
- Eternal Conscience Torment goes against God’s nature according to Jesus’ example.
- The Church of Satan and the Satanic Temple do not believe in a literal being called Satan. They are essentially political action groups.
- Writers like Dante, from the Middle Ages, likely influenced our ideas of the Devil and Hell more than our holy books.
- The bottom line for hell and Satan is that the fear tactic works well to keep people under control and dependent upon the church’s alleged protection.
My big question during deconstruction was slightly different than any of that. I was leaning away from the idea that those things were real, and I was inclined toward better questions that were lurking in the shadows.
- Why did God create a broken system?
- Why did he create an adversary to lead us down the wrong path?
- Wouldn’t it have been better not to have a “fall from grace” in the first place?
Written in the 1600s for Christians in Britain and Scotland, the Westminster Catechism states that “Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy [God] forever.” This goal of communion would have been much more achievable, and so much pain could have been avoided if there wasn’t an adversary that God seems to have envisioned who would steer us off the path.
When we look closely at history, it is pretty easy to see that the ideas we have today of how the doctrines of Hell and Satan evolved because religion, like any other sales organization, needs us to fear first so that they can control the narrative, and in many cases, control what we do. It’s easier to manipulate someone when they are afraid.
Was there someone above God that made him introduce this adversary?
I know all the arguments for free will, but they fall apart when we consider all the havoc that this character either caused or was blamed for throughout the ages. It’s OK when we’re talking about minor things, but there is no redemption or growth effects from many of the atrocities we now face. According to the narrative, all of that evil comes from the same root. Why didn’t God just pull it out from the root, or why doesn’t he do it now? It serves no benefit to make excuses for God, but that is what most of us do with this question. We will assume that we cannot understand God (which is true) but we also assume to understand him very well when we make assumptions (theology) about his intentions.
Maybe it’s time we stopped just proliferating the narrative that religion has created to help keep us under control. The fact that we have believed things for a long amount of time doesn’t make them true or effective or helpful for positive change in the world. I know this is not just a provocative challenge, but we must ask, “Who nurtured that terror in us and why did they do it?”
I am not against challenges that make us stronger, but the terrorism of Hell and Satan myths are destructive and cause us to go down too many errant paths that harm us. When I finally thought about this question soberly, it did tear away at the foundation of most of the things that I formally believed. My friend was right, and that terrified her, but her angst was because she didn’t know what was on the other side of the discovery.
We are better morally because we have moved through this area of deconstruction. We are better at doing good things because we’re not constantly responding to our fears and looking for demons under every rock. We don’t live in fear of the afterlife, mostly because we now understand that no one knows for sure about this proposition. We have purpose, meaning, and practices that help us evolve to new levels of consciousness, and we don’t spend our waking hours contemplating the myths of Dante and church leaders.
If you’re wondering what would help you in the Bible in dealing with this cultivated fear that church leaders have stoked for hundreds of years, refer them and your conscience to the over 300 encouragements in that book to “Fear Not.” The agents of fear are not demons; they are the narcissistic, smooth-talking leaders you have elected and hired to keep you informed about what you should fear.
A little research can help you understand what you should actually be afraid of. But, the thousand-year-old myths of literature and history are persistent because they get results for the perpetrators of them.
So, now we are back to the original question, “Why didn’t God do something about it?”
Even after killing his “son” to atone for this work of the accuser, he didn’t do much to prevent the travesties that, in reality, come from the frightened members of religious communities and continue after the sacrifice. Someone has to answer for the worldwide devastation that evolved from our fearfulness that the “other” is always the Devil and God is on our side.
The victims and survivors of global, regional, and local tragedies continue to ask the question “Why didn’t God stop it?” or “Why doesn’t he stop it now?” Meanwhile, the leaders who stoked our fear and caused much of the calamity, assure us “It’s all reasonable suffering to strengthen us and part of God’s plan.”
Are you starting to see how good questions provide much better information?
The answers to the questions don’t come easy and create some temporary cognitive dissonance as we evolve and devalue some of our old understandings and assumptions.
Keep asking good questions!
Be where you are, Be who you are, Be at peace!
Karl Forehand
Travel Tips for the Desert – Part 3
Travel Tips for the Desert – Part 2
Travel Tips for the Desert – Part 1
Our New Course is ready to review for FREE! Start Here
YouTube Playlist – click here
Religious Trauma Resources
Treasure Trove of Trauma Resources
The Desert Sanctuary Podcast
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-desert-sanctuary/id1345562241
Karl Forehand is a former pastor, podcaster, and award-winning author. His books include Out into the Desert, Leaning Forward, Apparent Faith: What Fatherhood Taught Me About the Father’s Heart, The Tea Shop and Being: A Journey Toward Presence and Authenticity. He is the creator of The Desert Sanctuary podcast and community. He is married to his wife Laura of 35 years and has one dog named Winston. His three children are grown and are beginning to multiply! You can read more about the author here.
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In