Satan: Real? A Metaphor for Evil or Something Else?

Alexandre Cabanel, Fallen Angel, ca. 1847, Musée Fabre, Montpellier, France. Wikimedia Commons (public domain).

 

Here is an interesting viewpoint by Greg Albrecht about Satan, the devil and evil. Let the pitchforks start flying...

Q & R: GREG ALBRECHT – “DOES SATAN EXIST?”

QUESTION: 

I just listened to one of your sermons broadcast and after being with Plain Truth ministries for a LONG time, I was quite surprised when you said you didn’t know if Satan exists? The Bible says that God created the devil as the most perfect beautiful angel he could make, but because of his beauty he turned against God and persuaded 1/3 of the angels to go with him, he was thrown down to Earth. 

 

I don’t know why I’m writing this. You’re more knowledgeable than I am, or at least I thought you were. I’ve settled in my mind that Satan exists as an evil influence, and that as humans, we’re capable of evil but Satan with his influence makes things worse. That’s how I see it. I have read the Bible several times and I have seen numerous mentions of Satan in his different ways… I don’t want to start doubting Plain Truth Ministries!

RESPONSE: 

We are delighted that PTM has been able to serve you for a LONG time – thank you for allowing us this privilege. You say you were surprised to hear me say I don’t know if Satan exists. 

 

Before answering your question I have listened to the audiotape and reviewed the manuscript of that sermon to which you have referenced – with due respect, it is misleading to assert that I said I do not know if Satan exists. I said I did not know if the devil spoken of in Scripture is “real” or if that term/word (Satan, Lucifer, etc) is a symbol or metaphor of evil/unseen powers of this dark world/spiritual forces of evil (Ephesians 6:12). Based on my reading of all passages in the Bible (as noted in the sermon) I do not believe that anyone can know such a thing, though I am aware that many dogmatically will proclaim they do (and castigate any who might disagree). 

 

“Real” as understood by an overtly literal reading of the Bible would have us believe that God has arms and wings and that he is a rock. “Real” would have us required to greet fellow Christians with a holy kiss and to gouge out our right eye or cut off our right hand if they offend us. The Bible is not a collection of flat-lined instructions – it is inspired for us within literary genres and cultural/historical settings – and there are many from Genesis to Revelation. For example, many Christians realize that the parables of Jesus are not “real” in that there was no historical person specifically known as the prodigal son – indeed there have been and are tens of millions of prodigal sons. The fact that we may not unearth the actual identify of a specific/”real” person named “the prodigal son” in an archaeological dig does not make Jesus’ teaching false or less significant.

 

I could continue with many other examples – because of its first chapter that paints a picture of the angels presenting themselves before the Lord, joined by Satan, I made a similar point in terms of the book of Job and what it teaches us in the sermon — but time fails me to cover all the many examples of how the Bible shares its message. 

 

The sermon in question also provides a brief exegetical look at 1 Peter 5:8 which was our keynote passage, which again broadens the conversation about the topic you query. 

 

Again, your assumption that I do not believe in evil/darkness or diabolical evil is erroneous – I did say in this sermon that I find the popular depiction of a literal, “real” Satan as a red devil-like figure wearing red leotards/tights, brandishing a flaming pitchfork, with a fiendish grin on his face to be superfluous to the discussion of evil/depravity and dark forces. Within the time limits of that message, I attempted to supply some background for what the Bible is affirming and what it does not specifically address, in terms of the devil/Satan/Lucifer. 

 

Hope this helps,
In Christ,
Greg Albrecht

What are your thoughts? Do you envision Satan as the big bogeyman of Armstrongism who is always out making life difficult for splinter group leaders who are the most persecuted men on earth today? After all, he is the most powerful entity of Armstrongism. Spoken more about than Jesus. 

Is the concept a metaphor for evil or something else? 

St. Michael Vanquishing Satan – Raphael

Miserere mei, Deus

 

David Hurd's Psalm 51

If someone had told me twenty years ago that I would be smearing ashes on the foreheads of people tonight, I would never have believed them. Tonight was Ash Wednesday at the church I attend. A night that signifies the start of forty days of self-examination. An examination of our fallibility, our mortality, our participation in oppression and injustice to others. At this time we are particularly drawn to Jesus' call for justice: freedom for the oppressed, release of the captives, good news to the poor and recovery of sight to the blind. It's about confronting the power of death in all its forms, terror and tyranny, corruption and greed, disregard for creation and all the forces that prevent people from living life in its fullest.

It's not about giving up chocolate, sweets, meat, dropping a dollar in the swear jar, or other things. It's about being authentic to yourself and to God, while you get off your rear end and make a difference in the world around you.

Growing up in Armstrongism I listened to endless sermons by ministers and evangelists mocking and deriding those that kept this day as insincere and a total waste of time. Meredith came up with some of the most absurd and inaccurate comments that anyone could dream up. Actually what he said was and still is, a blatant lie!

Seeing the wide eyes of little kids kneeling in front of you with tears in their eyes, or huge smiles as they experience something that only a child can through untarnished minds. They look into your eyes with a look of awe. And then they turn to their parents and look them in their eyes with a deep connection only a parent can ever see. Probably like the kind of look we should be having with God. Totally free with no baggage. Oh, to be a child again!

I saw a blind young man tonight who is wheelchair bound with a body that is wracked by cerebral palsy, rhythmically moving in slow motion due to the muscles in his body twisting and writhing about, sit there with tears streaming down his cheeks as he attempts to stop his body from moving when the ashes are placed on his forehead, clearly and distinctly saying 'amen' afterwords. He does the same thing when the Eucharist is brought to him. His body stops moving as he takes the wafer in his distorted hands and places it in his mouth and sips the wine. He understands something that I probably never will. Something deeper and more meaningful than any HWA sermon, booklet or book ever did. Something deeper about the mystery that surrounds us, the mystery of the unknown yet knowable, the grain of the universe that calls to us into something we cannot fathom, something so foreign to us that we let it slip past us the minute we walk out the doors of the church into the real world.

I saw people in attendance tonight that I know are agnostic and a couple of atheists who have no idea what or who God is. Yet, they admit something draws them back, week after week. Something they cannot understand but want to be a part of. They are involved in feeding the homeless, knitting prayer shawls for the sick and dying, caring for those with AIDS, working in hospice or visiting the sick and homebound. They too have the opportunity to delve into something deeper and more mysterious with new ways of looking and understanding that I can never have. It is a delight to be around them

I am grateful for my journey out of Armstrongism. I regret many opportunities lost because of its aberrant, absurd, and irrelevant teachings, yet there was a lot I treasure. How I came out halfway sane is a miracle! :-) I am grateful for Gavin's web sites and blogs over the years and for Dennis's unwavering self examination and willingness to question without apology. What a ride it has been and continues to be!

Gary, 2011

Addendum 2025

Who would have imagined I would still be serving at an Ash Wednesday service as I did at noon today so many years later. In fact, this is now year 25 doing this.

I was reminded of the original post that I did in 2011 (above) after reading Bob Thiel's sophomoric understanding of Ash Wednesday and Lent that he posted the other day. His thinking was inherented from equally sophomoric men from the Worldwide Church of God and Ambassador College.

This explanation that I saw on X today establishes the Christian thought behind the season of Lent.

Lent was never meant to be easy. It was meant to break you. 

 

For centuries, Lent has been seen as a time of mild sacrifice—giving up chocolate, social media, or coffee.

But the truth? The origins of Lent are far more brutal, far more raw. It wasn’t about self-improvement. It was about spiritual survival. 

 

In the earliest days of Christianity, when faith was a crime punishable by death, Lent was a preparation for war.

It was a time of fasting so intense that bodies weakened, a period of prayer so fervent that the line between heaven and earth seemed to blur.

Those who took part weren’t just giving up luxuries—they were stripping themselves down to nothing, purging everything but faith, because they knew what was coming.

Baptism on Easter was not a ceremony. It was an initiation into a life that could lead to the arena, the stake, or the sword. 

 

The forty days of Lent mirror Christ’s own forty days in the wilderness, where He faced the devil as a starving, vulnerable man.

And yet, He endured. That’s what Lent was always meant to be: a confrontation with the darkest parts of ourselves. A reckoning. A test. 

 

But over time, the world softened it. It became a season of small sacrifices rather than total surrender.

We made it comfortable.

Yet true Lent, real Lent, was always meant to cut deep. To leave scars. To change you. 

 

So, the question isn’t what will you give up?

A couple of todays readings:

A reading from Joel (2:1–2, 12–17)

Blow the shofar in Zion! Sound the alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the people of the land tremble! For the Day of our God is coming — it is near — a day of bleakness and gloom, a day of fog and dense clouds. A vast and countless horde appears like soot spread over the hills; it is like something never known before, nor will be seen in ages to come. “But know this,” says our God: “Return to me with all your heart, with fasting, weeping and mourning. Tear open your heart, not your clothes!” Return to your God who is gracious and deeply loving as a mother quick to forgive, abundantly tenderhearted — and relents from inflicting disaster. Who knows? God may come back, relent, and leave a blessing behind — grain and drink offerings for your God. Sound the shofar in Zion! Order a fast! Proclaim a solemn assembly! Gather the people! Purify the community! Assemble the elders! Gather the children — even infants at the breast! Let the bridegroom leave his bedroom and the bride her canopied bed! Let the priests, the ministers of God, stand weeping between the portico and the altar and say, “Spare your people, O God! Do not let your heritage become an object of ridicule, a byword for the Nations! Do not let the peoples say, ‘Where is their god?’”

A reading from Isaiah (58:1–12)

“Shout for all you are worth, raise your voice like a trumpet! Proclaim to the people their faults; tell the house of Leah and Rachel and Jacob their sins! They seek me daily, they long to know my ways, like a nation that wants to act with integrity and not ignore the law of its God. They ask me for laws that are just, they long for God to draw near. Yet they say, ‘Why should we fast if you never see it? Why do penance if you never notice?’ Because when you fast it is business as usual, and you oppress all your workers! Because when you fast, you quarrel and fight and strike the poor with your fist! Fasting like yours today will never make your voice heard on high! Is that the sort of fast that pleases me — a day when people humiliate themselves, hanging their heads like a reed, lying down on sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call fasting, a day acceptable to God? On the contrary! This is the sort of fast that pleases me: Remove the chains of injustice! Undo the ropes of the yoke! Let those who are oppressed go free, and break every yoke you encounter! Share your bread with those who are hungry, and shelter homeless poor people! Clothe those who are naked, and do not hide from the needs of your own flesh and blood! Do this, and your light will shine like the dawn — and your healing will break forth like lightening! Your integrity will go before you, and the glory of God will be your rearguard. Cry, and God will answer; call and God will say ‘I am here—provided you remove from your midst all oppression, finger-pointing, and malicious talk! If you give yourself to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your shadows will become like noon. God will always guide you, giving relief in desert places. God will give you strength to your bones and you will be like a watered garden, like a spring of water whose waters never run dry. You will rebuild the ancient ruins and build upon age-old foundations. You will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, and Restorer of Ruined Neighborhoods.’”

God, Jesus, and HWA - Eliminate Any One And You Eliminate Yourself From The Kingdom!

 

The Church of God version of the Holy Trinity. Armstrongism gets dumber by the day.

The Body of Jesus Christ is connected to Jesus Christ. God the Father sent His Son. His son, Jesus Christ sent Herbert W Armstrong! Jesus Christ THROUGH Herbert W Armstrong sent the ministry! It was God the Father that sent them through Jesus Christ and Herbert W Armstrong! Eliminate any one of them, and you erase yourself from God's Church and Coming Kingdom, and from the book of Life! There is Government in His Body, and you break that chain in that Governmental line, whom God and Jesus Christ placed, you're not in it. Hirelings, and wolves look to draw away members of God's Church, unto themselves, unto their organization and corporate Church. If they cannot pull the Father of the family, they go after the wife. And if the wife cannot be pulled away, they will go After the Children. I have witnessed this very thing! I have lived through it, and God shows me instantly when it happens, by the power of His Holy Spirit. Because without it, I would be blind to it. I wouldn't see it. But I do. That's God through and through, and the Glory goes to God. I have come across many wolves, who seek to steal and destroy, JUST AS JESUS CHRIST SAYS! They, the hirelings and wolves, say the sheep have a path of destruction behind them, because many have clung to them with vain flatteries, or false pretenses! With ulterior motives! And their plans fell through and came to nothing! God's Word is true every time! Some were trying to take the children , literally. Some sought more members for their corporate Churches. All with lies and deception, false pretenses, of their father the Devil! Judge the fruits! What does God say He will do? The fire of God is coming up on the disobedient and rebellious! God come quickly and RIP your sheep from their claws and deliver what they have delivered to us!

Courtesy of WCGArchives (Kitchen Bros) 

Is the Doctrine of the Trinity Suspect?

 

Is the Doctrine of the Trinity Suspect?

 

In the commentary thread for my last post (Should the Feast Days Be Kept?), the issue of the Trinity was raised and offered as evidence that Christians should be observing the Feasts and Sabbaths of Torah. “WHAT?” some of you will ask. It was asserted that Jesus of Nazareth was the God of the Old Testament – that Christ was the one who gave the Law to Moses. Hence, for them, the Law of Moses = the Law of Christ. And, of course, everyone knows that Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever! Now, admittedly, in the realm of human reasoning there is a superficial kind of logic to this assertion. However, as usual, if we dig a little deeper, the logic falls apart (because it relies on the Armstrongist binitarianism). In other words, a heresy built on the foundation of yet another heresy!

In response to one of the comments, I wrote: “The fourteenth chapter of John is critical to understanding this phenomenon. We read there: "6 Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.' 8 Philip said to him, 'Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.' 9 Jesus said to him, 'Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.'" (John 14:6-11) Jesus had already told them that he and the Father were ONE (John 10:30).

Likewise, Christ alluded to another part of the Godhead in that same chapter (14) of the Gospel of John. He said: "15 If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. 21 Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.' 22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, 'Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?' 23 Jesus answered him, 'If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24 Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father's who sent me." (John 14:15-24) Did you get that? Jesus promised that all three parts (Father, Son, Helper/Holy Spirit) would make their home with true Christians - God with and in us!”

In response, the commentator who relied on binitarianism quoted the following passages:

1 Jn 2:1 But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate [parakleton] before the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. (BSB).

Jn 14:16) And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate [parakleton] to be with you forever— (BSB).

Rom 8:9 if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

Rom 8:10 And if Christ be in you

Gal 4:4) God sent forth [exapostello] his Son

Gal 4:6 And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth [exapostello] the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.

Now, the commentator obviously believed that these passages supported his/her binitarianism; but if we take a closer look, we see Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in these passages, and they appear as ONE and a part of each other.

Likewise, the same commentator cited a number of other passages that he/she believed would support his/her binitarianism. As one example, the commentator quoted John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” He/she then asked: “Why isn’t <it> ‘and the Word was with God and the HS’?” He/she, however, fails to acknowledge that later (in this same chapter) we read: “32 Then John testified, “I saw the Holy Spirit descending like a dove from heaven and resting upon him. 33 I didn’t know he was the one, but when God sent me to baptize with water, he told me, ‘The one on whom you see the Spirit descend and rest is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 I saw this happen to Jesus, so I testify that he is the Chosen One of God.” (John 1:32-34)

In similar fashion, the commentator quoted: “1Jn 1:3b and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.” Then asked: “Why isn’t our fellowship with the Father, Jesus Christ and the HS?” As is usually the case with proof texting, the commentator completely ignored what followed. In the second chapter of this same epistle, we read: “20 But you are not like that, for the Holy One has given you his Spirit, and all of you know the truth. 21 So I am writing to you not because you don’t know the truth but because you know the difference between truth and lies. 22 And who is a liar? Anyone who says that Jesus is not the Christ. Anyone who denies the Father and the Son is an antichrist. 23 Anyone who denies the Son doesn’t have the Father, either. But anyone who acknowledges the Son has the Father also. 

24 So you must remain faithful to what you have been taught from the beginning. If you do, you will remain in fellowship with the Son and with the Father. 25 And in this fellowship we enjoy the eternal life he promised us. 26 I am writing these things to warn you about those who want to lead you astray. 27 But you have received the Holy Spirit, and he lives within you, so you don’t need anyone to teach you what is true. For the Spirit teaches you everything you need to know, and what he teaches is true—it is not a lie. So just as he has taught you, remain in fellowship with Christ.” (I John 2:20-27) 

I don’t know about you, but that sure sounds to me like John believed that the Holy Spirit was essential to maintaining our fellowship with the Father and the Son!

The commentator then went on to list “Well-wishes with two divine sources.” In this instance, the commentator pointed to the greetings in several epistles (mostly Paul’s):

Rom 1:7b Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ

1 Cor 1:3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ

2 Cor 1:2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ

Gal 1:3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ

Eph 1:2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ

Phil 1:2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ

2 Thess 1:2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ

1 Tim 1:2b Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ

2 Tim 1:2b Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ

Titus 1:4b Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ

Philemon 3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ

2 Pet 1:2 May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord

2 John 3 Grace, mercy and peace will be with us from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father’s Son, in truth and love

--David E. Aune, Revelation 1-5, WBC, p.27.

Then, he/she went on to quote from Bullinger’s commentary on Revelation: “Nowhere do we find the Holy Spirit associated with the Father and the Son in any salutation. Not even in the Pauline Epistles”

REALLY? Please notice the rest of Paul’s salutation in his epistle to the Romans:

Romans 1: 1 This letter is from Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, chosen by God to be an apostle and sent out to preach his Good News. 2 God promised this Good News long ago through his prophets in the holy Scriptures. 3 The Good News is about his Son. In his earthly life he was born into King David’s family line, 4 and he was shown to be the Son of God when he was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit. He is Jesus Christ our Lord. 5 Through Christ, God has given us the privilege and authority as apostles to tell Gentiles everywhere what God has done for them, so that they will believe and obey him, bringing glory to his name. 6 And you are included among those Gentiles who have been called to belong to Jesus Christ. 7 I am writing to all of you in Rome who are loved by God and are called to be his own holy people.” (Romans 1:1-7a)

Likewise, in his first epistle to the saints at Corinth, we read: 

“6 Yet when I am among mature believers, I do speak with words of wisdom, but not the kind of wisdom that belongs to this world or to the rulers of this world, who are soon forgotten. 7 No, the wisdom we speak of is the mystery of God—his plan that was previously hidden, even though he made it for our ultimate glory before the world began. 8 But the rulers of this world have not understood it; if they had, they would not have crucified our glorious Lord. 9 That is what the Scriptures mean when they say, ‘No eye has seen, no ear has heard,  and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.’ 10 But it was to us that God revealed these things by his Spirit. For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets. 11 No one can know a person’s thoughts except that person’s own spirit, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit. 12 And we have received God’s Spirit (not the world’s spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us.” (I Corinthians 2:6-12)

The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit may not be mentioned in all of the salutations; but this trio is woven into the very fabric of the New Testament (and the Hebrew Scriptures). Indeed, some of the very passages which Armstrongists use to disprove the Trinity actually demonstrate the unity of the Godhead! In the first chapter of Genesis, we read that “the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.” While in the New Testament, we read that God created all things by Jesus Christ (Ephesians 3:9). So, who did the creating? Was it God, the Word, or the Holy Spirit? The answer is YES! In the Gospel of Matthew, we read that Mary “became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit.” Moreover, the angel told Joseph that “the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit.” (Matthew 1:18-20) Was the Holy Spirit involved or was the Father involved? Once again, the answer is YES! No, sorry folks, the Trinity is demonstrated in a few proof texts – it is in almost every page of the Greek New Testament!

Lonnie Hendrix/Miller Jones