Through further research I learned that the persona of the devil was altered for a very specific reason. He was given an added human essence because mankind could be more easily manipulated, tempted, confused, and corrupted by a human-like image that we can more easily relate too ~ rather than a beastly one we fear. As for who altered the image, all I can say is that it is the church who is responsible for telling us these stories. But why? Why would they do this? Unfortunately the reason has nothing what so ever to do with God or the truth. It has to do with the greatest downfall of man ~ corruption and the pitiful human qualities that desires greed, power, and control.
2000 years ago when Christianity was still in its infancy, organized religion and the governing powers were partners in control that walked hand in hand with one another. The religion that was popular and accepted was the one the governing rulers chose to believe at the time. The people were often given little choice but to comply and conform to the state religion of choice. Eventually Christianity had its turn and the leaders of the church were waiting for their rise to power. They knew the best way to control the masses, otherwise known as their congregations, was through fear and to this day fear is the motivating factor behind Christianity. We are told to fear God, fear the devil, fear hell... we are told to fear all the time.
Not only was the devil introduced to make the people too afraid to leave the church for fear of retribution, but his personal powers were leveled up as well. Although Lucifer was said to be defeated by Michael, and would have absolutely no chance against God himself, he still seems to have been given powers of equal or greater strength then Gods. For just as God created Heaven and earth, they say the devil created hell. Just as God can hear all of our thoughts and know each one of us individually, they say the devil can too. Just as God can have power and influence over our mortal and spiritual selves, so can the devil. Or at least, so the would have us believe.
It has come to be my opinion that beyond the vast and active imagination of man, demons and the devil simply do not exist as actual viable entities. However, demons are very real to us and it is because we think they are real that we make them real. They definitely do live and exist in the corners of our minds ~ one of the darkest and scariest place of all. And although there is no actual, physical devil, evil undeniably does abound on this earth. Not to claim our souls, but to teach us lessons.
This evil that dwells on earth comes to us in the form of Black souls. To be perfectly clear up front; a black soul has absolutely nothing to do with a persons skin color. It refers directly to the color of their souls which are black, completely void of light and they truly are dark, vile, evil people with no sense of love, compassion or remorse. Yes, they can and do make your life a living nightmare if you let them ~ hell on earth ~ so to speak, but they can never ever change the color of your soul. Always remember; "A soul with no light can never extinguish yours".
Another disturbing question I had concerning the story of Lucifer derived from the theory that a battle or war could feasibly be fought in Heaven over power. Heaven, or as I like to call it, the Other Side, is a perfect atmosphere of love, peace and harmony. Something, we as humans can not completely grasp the reality of. An existence of no negativity? Hard to imagine isn't it? When the simple fact of the matter is, understand it or not, the negative side of the human experience simply does not exist on the Other Side in any way, shape or form. To imply that such divine entities like God and angels could possibly be capable of embracing such negative qualities is simply irrational and unreasonable. These divine beings are too spiritually evolved and perfected in Gods image. Far beyond the comprehension of mans limited mind. Divine spiritual beings cannot be humanized in any way no matter how hard we may try.
Negativity is exclusively an earthly experience only human beings must endure and learn to overcome. It is the main reason we are born on earth in the first place, for the experience of it and the lessons we can learn from life. If we could learn about negativity on the Other Side, why would we even choose to come here at all? For me, life on earth is hell and with the exception of the black souls (who eternally immediately reincarnate back into life after each death without ever seeing the Other Side at all) we are all accepted back Home with open arms when we return again. What we take with us from life's journey is the education we received in our mortal life and the big question will be; did we accomplish what we came here to learn?
Don't let the human fear of the devil stand between you and your God. Realize that an all loving God would never let any of His children down despite what they may or may not believe. That is the purpose of our gift of free will ~ given to us by God ~ to make our own choices that suit our individual spiritual needs.
Now, please try to keep an open mind and use reasonable and rational thinking when you process this information. Then decide for yourself, research for yourself, and believe what you heart tells you is right for you. For I have to tell you that once I came to realize that the devil is not real, my relationship with God has changed forever. I realized that God was and is all loving and NOT to be feared. I realized the answers we seek may not always be found where we expect to find them I learned there is no retribution or punishment for going our own way to find our personal connection to God. And through these non-restrictions of fear, I found the peace and comfort of the pure unconditional white light of love God has for us all. I pray you find it too.
You seem quite sure that the "other side" has no negetive qualities, and certain souls are black, and reincarnation exists and all. But how do you know this? You just read it in a book somewhere and for some reason it sounded good to you so you excepted it as truth. How is that any different than what you read in the Bible and now except as an untruth. If you can't trust the bible to be true, you cannot trust any other religious book to be true. Think about that. You are on earth, not on the "other side" so you cannot possibly say that you know what the "other side" is like. You just can't, you aren't there! You've made up a belief in your mind, just as you accuse Christians of doing.
#2 by Abraham, May 24, 2008
Some guy my brother's freind knew once thought there was "nothing to fear in God" He soon changed his mind when the Lord bestowed him with a horrific rash of agonising boils!
Only when he found the humility to fall to his knees and beg forgiveness was the curse of boils lifted. And even then not before several weeks of prayer. Today, even the village doctor has warned him that next time it will be the big H (Hell) if he doesn't get back to reading the scriptures.
#3 by Soulblood, Jun 2, 2008
What you have just expressed is an educated, well though out opinion, a philosophy if you will. Surmised by your own human logic. A philosophy is one man's opinion - and we all have opinions.
This type of thinking is called 'reasoning'. Let me put it to you like this: A man depending on reason alone to guide him in religous matters is like a traveler in a dense forest who carries only a tiny candle or lantern. Such a traveler will see something, but not everything, and he will inevitably go astray.
