Lawyers and Devils- Questions from M

Last updated on: June 1, 2017 at 5:14 pm by John Mark N. Reynolds

Lawyers and Devils- Questions from M 2017-06-01T17:14:36-04:00 John Mark N. Reynolds

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Any time someone associates lawyers and devils, the analogy sort-of-works.

I know. Some of my best friends are lawyers. Really. And I am sorry for the lawyer jokes Phil and Leland, but they are as irresistible as a grieving widow to a lawyer. There are whole websites for lawyers jokes, many classics from my childhood:

What is the difference between God and lawyer? God doesn’t think he is a lawyer.

Many Christians associate the “satan,” the lawyerly accuser in the Book of Job, with Satan, the fallen angel, though many do not. My theology professors were always careful to distance the “accuser” in the book of Job from Satan in the New Testament. That’s new to many Christians, though it should not be.

This brings us to a question from a friendly skeptic of Christianity.

M* asks:

Satan appears to have a very different character in the Hebrew Bible than he does in the New Testament . . .. At what point do you think that Satan’s character changed from being “the prosecuting attorney” to the embodiment of all evil?**

When answering this sort of problem, I prefer to accept as many assumptions in the question as possible. If “the satan” is simply an accuser in the drama of Job, then there is no tension. The Greek New Testament borrows the word to describe someone similar, but a different sort of accuser, not God’s satan, but Satan: the evil one. The satan becomes a type (perhaps the original role?) of Satan. Any accuser is like Satan, though also unlike in other ways.

Let’s assume, however, that is not the solution, no matter how plausible. Instead, let’s accept the premise of the question and agree with other scholars that the satan in Job is Satan.

First, Satan is very bad, but he is not the “embodiment of all evil.” That is not possible. There are three types of evil: the world, the flesh, and the devil. I do not need Satan for me to be tempted by the world or the flesh. Trust me.

Second, Satan is a creation of God. As a result, he is good in so far as he exists. He lies, he is fallen, but he is still God’s creation. In one very limited sense (existence) everything that is (every object) is God’s. He is not perfectly evil, the opposite of God. There is no such thing as “perfect” evil.

Third, evil beings can do good things or serve good ends. Many wretches serve God indirectly by what they mean for evil being turned to good. The “accuser” gives glory to God when God has mercy on the accused! I once knew a wretched man, angry and bad, but in his work he provided a livelihood to many. That was good, though he was often bad.

So it might be with Satan, if he is the satan of Job. He tries to do evil, “I shall accuse Job!”, but God turns it to good for Job, for the world, and for God. The accuser is correct, but he is not loving and merciful.

So M*, the satan of Job is on many traditional Christian readings not the Satan of the New Testament, but may be an image of the role used by writers as they learned about Satan. This is not unlike Babylon who is often compared to Satan based on Isaiah 14. The king of Babylon is not Satan, but he is like Satan. If the satan of Job is Satan, then in Job he is fulfilling his good role in God’s cosmos, even if he wishes to do harm.

Oft what we mean for evil is turned to good and so it is with Satan. He cannot win.

—————————-

*M is a non-Christian that sent me 55 questions early this year. He has asked that I not reveal his or her name. I will write as if “he” is a male, but this is for convenience. I do not know if I will get to all his questions. Here are questions 1, 2, 3, 17, 23, 26, 27, 28, 34, 35, 37 , 54 , and 55.

** I edited out a mention of YouTube videos that did not have links in the question. Here is the missing text: “(see youtube videos by Rabbi Tovia Singer and Rabbi Michael Skobac)”

Apologetics

Previous Post

May 31, 2017

Beauty and the Beast: A Response to a Response

Next Post

June 2, 2017 Mind and Body -Questions from M

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Apologetics Art Culture Education On Books On Education Philosophy Politics Pop Culture Spiritual Reflections Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 July 2025 June 2025 September 2024 July 2024 June 2024 December 2023 June 2023 September 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who was the king of Babylon during the exile of the Israelites?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Nebuchadnezzar Cyrus Darius Belshazzar

Books by This Author John Mark Reynolds

See All Titles »