Origin of Evil Archives » From Daniel to Revelation

2020-12-152023-06-13

Demons are spiritual forces of wickedness that possess people.

Angels are mentioned nearly 200 times in the New Testament, but they are called “spirits” only once:

“Ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation” (Hebr. 1:13-14).

In contrast, the New Testament uses the Greek word pneuma many times for “unclean spirits,” also called “demons,” for example:

“Jesus summoned His twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out” (Mt. 10:1; cf. Mark 6:7; Mt. 12:28).

“A woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit … kept asking Him to cast the demon out of her daughter. … And He said to her, “Because of this answer go; the demon has gone out of your daughter.” (Mark: 7:25-30).

Demons possess people.

It is not recorded that Jesus ever encountered these “unclean spirits” by themselves. Rather, the demons interacted with the physical world by possessing people (Mat. 8:16). In fact, many demons may exist within a single person:

“Mary who was called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out” (Luke 8:1-3).

Jesus told the story of an unclean spirit that goes out of a man, but find no place to rest. It then goes back to the man and “finds it unoccupied, swept, and put in order.” “Then it goes and takes along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first.” (Mat 12:43-45; cf. Luke 11:24-26; cf. Luke 11:24-26; Mark 5:2-16).

Demons possess animals.

The following is another example of many demons possessing a man, but in this instance, these demons were also able to possess animals; in particular pigs:

Jesus and His disciples sailed to the country of the Gerasenes. “When He got out of the boat,” He was met by a man from the city who was possessed with demons; and who had not put on any clothing for a long time, and was not living in a house, but in the tombs.” The man “ran up and bowed down before Him (Jesus); and shouting with a loud voice, he said, “What business do we have with each other, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God, do not torment me! For He had been saying to him, Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!’ … He was asking him, ‘What is your name?’” “And he said, ‘Legion’; for many demons had entered him.”

The story goes on to relate how the legion of “demons” went out of the man and into the swine, and how the entire herd of about 2000 pigs drowned in the sea. But “the man who had been demon-possessed” was “sitting down, clothed and in his right mind.” (Mark 5:2-16)

Cast out

To cure possessed people of these demons, Jesus cast them out, for example:

“They brought to Him (Jesus) many who were demon possessed; and He cast out the spirits with a word” (Mat. 8:16; cf. Mark: 7:25-30; Mark 1:21-26).

Jesus also gave authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, to His twelve disciples (Mt. 10:1; cf. Mark 6:7; Mt. 12:28).

Intelligent Beings

Sometimes it seems as if these unclean spirits were really only a natural disease, such as epilepsy or seizures, for example:

“One of the crowd answered Him, ‘Teacher, I brought You my son, possessed with a spirit which makes him mute; and whenever it seizes him, it slams him to the ground and he foams at the mouth, and grinds his teeth and stiffens out. I told Your disciples to cast it out, and they could not do it. … Jesus … rebuked the unclean spirit … ‘I command you, come out of him and do not enter him again’. … The boy became so much like a corpse that most of them said, ‘He is dead’! But Jesus took him by the hand and raised him; and he got up. … His disciples began questioning Him privately, ‘Why could we not drive it out?’ and He said to them, ‘This kind cannot come out by anything but prayer.’” (Mark 9:17-29; Luke 9:37-43).

In this case, the spirit did not speak and probably was only a natural illness. However, these spirit beings were able to speak through the people they possess. For example, Philip performed many signs. “In the case of many who had unclean spirits, they were coming out of them shouting with a loud voice” (Acts 8:7; cf. Acts 19:12).

These demons also knew that Jesus was “the Son of God,” something which ordinary people did not realize:

“Whenever the unclean spirits saw Him, they would fall down before Him and shout, ‘You are the Son of God!’” (Mark 3:11)

Some Jewish exorcists “attempted to name over those who had the evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, ‘I adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches.’” But the evil spirit said to them, “I recognize Jesus, and I know about Paul, but who are you?” And the man, in whom was the evil spirit, leaped on them and subdued all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. (Acts 19:13-16)

In Capernaum “there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit.” When Jesus entered, the man cried out, “What business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!” After Jesus “rebuked him, … the unclean spirit cried out with a loud voice and came out of him.” (Mark 1:21-26).

These unclean spirits, therefore, were intelligent beings. In modern times we find it difficult to believe in the existence of demons possessing people, but if we believe the Bible, we have to.

Controlled by demons

In addition to speaking through the people they possess, these demons are able to control people in other ways. In one instance they caused the possessed man to attack people (Acts 19:13-16). These evil spirits also actively infuse people with false teachings:

“The Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons” (1 Timothy 4:1).

In one instance a man, possessed by an evil spirit, was in the synagogue (Mark 1:21-26). This shows that demon-possessed people also attend church and we are not aware of it. But Jesus’ presence forced the unclean spirits to present themselves.

Spiritual forces of Wickedness

Jesus described the unclean spirits as “the enemy:”

“The seventy returned with joy, saying, ‘Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.’” Jesus then said, “Behold, I have given you authority … over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you. Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven.” (Luke 10:17-20)

This reminds me of Paul’s words:

“Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12).

“The prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience” (Eph. 2:1).

“The god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ” (2 Cor. 4:4).

These are indications of the war in the spiritual realm. See War in Heaven.

SUMMARY

Angels are mentioned nearly 200 times in the New Testament, but only Hebrews 1:13-14 refers to them as “spirits.” In contrast, the New Testament uses the Greek word pneuma many times for “unclean spirits,” also called “demons.”

Possess people

It is not recorded that Jesus ever encountered these “unclean spirits” by themselves. Rather, these demons interacted with the physical world by possessing people (Mat. 8:16). Many demons may exist within a single person (Luke 8:1-3; Mat 12:43-45; cf. Luke 11:24-26; Mark 5:2-16). There is one incident where demons also possess animals; more specifically, pigs (Mark 5:2-16).

In addition to speaking through the people they possessed, these demons are also able to control the people they possess in other ways. In one instance they caused the possessed man to attack people (Acts 19:13-16). These evil spirits not only passively possess people; they actively infuse them with false teachings (1 Timothy 4:1).

To cure possessed people of these demons, Jesus cast them out (Mark: 7:25-30; Mark 1:21-26). He also gave authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, to His twelve disciples (Mt. 10:1; cf. Mark 6:7; Mt. 12:28).

Intelligent beings

Sometimes it seems as if these unclean spirits were really only a natural disease, such as epilepsy or seizures (Mark 9:17-29; Luke 9:37-43). However, these spirit beings were able to speak through the people they possess. They also knew that Jesus was “the Son of God” (Mark 3:11; Mark 1:21-26; Acts 8:7; Acts 19:12) and they knew about Paul (Acts 19:13-16). They, therefore, were intelligent beings. In modern times we may find it difficult to believe in the existence of demons, but if we believe the Bible, we have to.

In one instance a man, possessed by an evil spirit, was in the synagogue. This shows that demon-possessed people also attend church and that we are unable to recognize such people. But Jesus’ presence forced the unclean spirits to present themselves.

Spiritual forces of wickedness

Jesus described the unclean spirits as “the enemy” (Luke 10:17-20). This reminds of Paul’s words:

ARTICLES IN THIS SERIES

- - Origin of Evil – God creates his intelligent beings able to disobey Him so that their service and love will be their free choice. Evil arose from this freedom.
  - Why did Satan think he could win against God? – A study of the book of Job
  - The Rulers and Authorities, to whom Paul and also Peter refer, are supernatural beings that oppose Christ.
  - Demons are spiritual forces of wickedness that possess people.
  - How did the Cross disarm the supernatural rulers and authorities?

For general discussions of theology, I recommend Graham Maxwell, who you will find on the excellent Pineknoll website.

2017-06-042024-01-28

Why Satan thought he could win against God

The Question

God is all-powerful. He created everything. Satan and His evil angels, in contrast, are merely created beings. The devils believe that God is one, but they “tremble” (James 2:19). Satan is perhaps the most brilliant mind ever created, but why did he think he could succeed against God? What power does Satan have to oppose God? What are his strategy and his goal? Why did God allow Satan to torment Job without cause? – A study of the Book of Job

Final Conclusions

Job This article analyses the text of the Book of Job, and comes to the following eleven conclusions:

1. Satan is only able to do what the Lord allows him to do. Satan had to ask permission from God to test Job by destroying all his possessions.

2. God claims certain people as His (His elect). The dispute in Job is over the Lord’s elected people only; not about the followers of Satan.

3. Satan is the accuser of the brethren. He accuses God’s elect.

4. By rejecting God’s assessment or judgment of His elect, Satan is actually saying that God judges wrongly. When Satan tests Job, he is actually testing God’s ability to judge.

5. Satan has no real interest in humans; his goal is to save himself. He and his angels are condemned by God, and Satan wants to show the universe that God makes mistakes when He judges.

6. Job had no idea of the events in heaven, but his sufferings on earth were the direct consequence of a dispute and an agreement made in heaven. This was not an isolated incident but still continues every day.

7. If it can be shown that God’s judgments are faulty, even only in a single instance, the implications for the creation will be massive; Satan would be able to claim that he also has been judged unfairly.

8. Satan not only wants to be cleared from guilt; he is also fighting to retain the right to rule the earth.

9. The Lord and Satan are in a battle for the minds of the people. God does not take the rule by force. Nor does He allow Satan to force angels and people to submit to his authority. This war for the right to rule will NOT be won on the basis of power but on the basis of loyalty.

10. God’s intelligent beings are free to choose. God wants them to trust His judgments so that they would serve Him because they want to serve Him. Satan is the one who does not grant freedom. He controls people and angels against their will.

11. Satan thought he could succeed against God because he knew that God allows His intelligent beings to choose for themselves, and he thought that he would be able, through brilliant deceptions, to convince them to side with him.

Overview of the Book of Job

Job tormented One day “the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD” (Job 1:6).

Satan also was among them (Job 1:6). The LORD asked Satan: “From where do you come?” (Job 1:7).

Satan answered, “From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it” (Job 1:7).

But the Lord said, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil” (Job 1:8).

But Satan rejected God’s assessment of Job. He declared that Job fears God only because God protects him on every side, and blesses the works of his hands, making him very wealthy. Satan continued, “But put forth Your hand now and touch all that he has; he will surely curse You to Your face” (Job 1:9-11).

The LORD then permitted Satan to test Job by destroying everything that Job owned (Job 1:12), including his children.

“Through all this Job did not sin nor did he blame God” (Job 1:22).

A second meeting of the sons of God with the Lord is described in Job 2:1-6. The same issues are brought up but with slightly different specifics. Satan failed the first time around to destroy Job’s faith in God. The Lord now adds, referring to Job, “he still holds fast his integrity, although you incited Me against him to ruin him without cause” (Job 2:3).

Now Satan requests even more power to show that Job does not really have faith in God:

“Stretch out Your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will surely curse You to Your face!” (Job 2:4-5)

“And the LORD said to Satan, Behold, he is in your hand, but spare his life” (Job 2:6).

“So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD, and struck Job with painful boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head” (Job 2:1-7).

Job with Painful Boils Job was the wealthiest man in the East, and Satan said that Job feared God only because the Lord blessed the works of his hands. God then allowed Satan to take away everything that Job owned, and to cover Job’s body with painful boils so that “Job took a potsherd to scrape himself while he was sitting among the ashes” (Job 2:8). The wealthiest man was reduced to one of the poorest and most miserable people. But still, Job did not curse God. He said:

“As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will take His stand on the earth. “Even after my skin is destroyed, yet from my flesh I shall see God; whom I myself shall behold, and whom my eyes will see and not another.” (Job 19:25-27)

Introduction

Job was a real person.

The book Job helps us with the question above.

It is possibly the oldest book in the Bible. Job himself made “morning and offering burnt offerings” (Job 1:5), and there is no mention in the book of the Jewish priesthood. Job probably lived before the time of Abraham.

Job was “blameless, upright, fearing God and turning away from evil” (Job 1:1). He was also very wealthy (Job 1:2-3); “the greatest of all the men of the east” (Job 1:3).

He was a real person. Other Bible writers refer to him (James 5:11). Ezekiel mentions him with Noah and Daniel as exceptionally righteous (Ezek 14:14, 20).

The Lord and God are distinct.

The book of Job makes a distinction between God and the Lord (Job 1:8-9; 2:3). In the article Son of God, it is proposed that “the Lord” in Job refers to Jesus Christ before He became a human being.

Who are the Sons of God?

Who are these “sons of God” who came to present themselves before the Lord? Jesus is “the only begotten Son of God” (John 3:18). Believers are also called “sons of God” (Rom 8:14). However, in Luke’s gospel, in the genealogy of Jesus Christ, where the sequence of generations is listed using the phrase “son of”, for instance, “the son of Joseph, the son of Eli, the son of Matthat”, Adam is called “the son of God” (Luke 3:23). So perhaps God also created other worlds and perhaps these “sons of God” in Job are the leaders of these worlds, as opposed to angels. As ruler of this world (John 12:31), Satan was among them.

Satan was an extremely mighty angel.

Satan means adversary. In the previous article (Origin of Evil) it was shown that Satan is one of a special class of angels (covering cherubs) that serve in God’s immediate presence. Ezekiel saw four of them (Ezekiel 10:9). “The sound of the wings of the cherubim was … like the voice of God Almighty when He speaks” (Ezek 10:5). “Each one had four faces and each one four wings” (Ezek 10:14, 21). “Their whole body, their backs, their hands, their wings and the wheels were full of eyes all around” (Ezek 10:12).

Ezekiel describes them as “living beings” (Ezek 10:15, 20). John also saw “four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind” (Rev 4:5).

These are extremely mighty creatures. When Satan looks at the mighty angels of the lower classes, they just run (Dan 10:21).

Principles in the War in Heaven

1. Satan is only able to do what the Lord allows him.

Satan had to ask permission from God to test Job. Satan was not allowed to kill Job, but God allowed Satan to kill Jesus. We do not have to fear Satan.

2. The dispute is about God’s elect.

We see in Job that God claims certain people as His. He elects them on the basis of qualities that are invisible to Satan and other created beings. The dispute in Job is over the Lord’s elected people only. The dispute is not about the followers of Satan.

3. Satan is the accuses them.

Satan accuses Job. In general, Satan accuses God’s people. In the book of Revelation, he is called the “accuser of our brethren” (Rev 12:10). In Zachariah 3:1-2 Satan stands next to the high priest Joshua “to accuse him.”

4. Satan accuses God of unfair judgment.

Satan rejects God’s assessment or judgment of the Lord’s elect. Satan argued that Job will curse God if Job’s possessions are taken away. But the issue is not Job as a person. The issue is much bigger. By saying that Job fears God only because God protects him and blesses the works of his hands, and by saying that Job will curse God if Job’s possessions are taken away, Satan was actually saying something about God, namely that God judges wrongly. And when Satan tests Job, he is actually testing God’s ability to judge. Satan wants to show that God makes mistakes when He judges.

This confirms the conclusion in the article on the Origin of Evil that Satan inspired distrust in God. In Eden, he called God a selfish liar.

Satan did not respond to the Lord by saying that Job is but one in millions. It was important for Satan to show that God was wrong with respect to Job. Apparently, the question is not the view of the majority. God does not need all people on His side to win this war. It is proposed that the issue is not who will be saved, but whether God makes mistakes when He judges.

5. Ultimately, Satan attempts to defend himself.

Why does Satan want to show that God makes mistakes when he judges? Is he concerned that God might save the wrong people? It is proposed here that Satan has no real interest in humans; his goal is to save himself. God has cast Satan “as profane from the mountain of God” (Ezek 28:16). He and his angels are condemned by God (Jude 1:6; 2 Peter 2:4). It is to defend himself against God’s judgment of himself that Satan wants to show to the universe that God makes mistakes when He judges. If God’s judgments can be shown to be wrong in even a single instance, then Satan has won; then God’s judgment of Satan and his angels are brought into question.

6. Agreements in heaven have consequences on earth.

Job had no idea of the events in heaven, but the test he went through on earth was the direct consequence of a discussion and agreement made in heaven between the Lord and Satan. It is proposed that what happened to Job was not an isolated incident, but a general principle. The book of Job is a revelation of what always has been happening in the invisible realm. Satan accuses God’s people and requests God’s permission to allow him to test them, to prove that God judges wrongly. There is, therefore, a very direct relationship between the dispute in heaven and the trials on earth.

Jesus similarly said to Peter, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail” (Luke 22:31-32).

We see something similar in Daniel 10. Daniel’s prayer caused a skirmish in heaven. For three weeks the heavenly messenger struggled against the supernatural “Prince of Persia”. Only when Archangel Michael came to his assistance was he able to deliver the message to Daniel. Daniel had no idea of what was happening in the spiritual realm as he prayed but only learned of it afterward. The principle is that this is a single war, fought on two fronts; heaven and earth.

On the basis of Job, we can safely assume that there was a debate between the Lord and Satan before Adam and Eve were tested in the Garden of Eden and that the Lord gave Satan permission to test Adam and Eve, just like he was later allowed to test Job. Just as in the case of Job, Satan was limited as to what he was allowed to do. God allowed Satan to test Adam and Eve only with respect to the prominent tree in the middle of the garden (Gen 3:2-3). It is called the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil not because the tree contained some magical properties, but because that was the only place where they would encounter evil.

In fact, we can assume that events on earth today still are governed by debates and agreements between God and Satan.

7. Tests on earth have consequences for heaven.

The consequences also go in the other direction. The debate in heaven results in tests for God’s people on earth, but the tests of God’s people on earth prove or disprove the reliability of God’s judgments, and therefore have consequences for all beings in the universe. The earth serves as testing ground for God’s judgments, that “the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places” (Eph 3:10). In other words, the opinions of the “rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places” are influenced by the church. The church refers not only to the New Testament Church but to the people that trust in God (have faith in God) throughout all ages.

If it can be shown that God’s judgments are faulty, even only in a single instance, the implications for the heavenly beings will be massive. Satan would be able to claim that he also has been judged unfairly.

8. Satan is fighting for the right to rule.

It is was proposed above that Satan wants to show that God makes mistakes when He judges to defend himself against God’s judgment of himself and his followers. It is now further proposed that Satan not only wants to be cleared from guilt; his ultimate goal is to rule.

There are indications in the debate between the Lord and Satan that the issue is the right to rule:

When Satan said that he has been “roaming about on the earth and walking around on it”, he was implying he rules the earth and all of its people.

When the Lord referred to Job as a “blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil”, He was disputing Satan’s claim for full control over the peoples of the earth.

Initially, Adam and Eve had ownership of the world. God gave them “dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth” (Gen 1:26, 28). When Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit, Satan became “the ruler of this world” (John 14:30; 12:31). He wants to retain the right to rule the earth.

9. The right to rule is won by loyalty.

God does not take the rule by force. Nor does He allow Satan to force angels and people to submit to his authority. This war for the right to rule will not be won on the basis of power but on the basis of loyalty. It is a battle for the minds of the people. From the earliest times God has always been sending message after message to the people of this world, ensuring them of His love and asking them to trust Him:

“God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son” (Heb 1:1-2).

Satan’s purpose is firstly to show that God’s elect does not really have faith in God. But Satan does more than objectively testing the loyalty of God’s people; because the right to rule is won by winning loyalty, he actually incites people and angels against God. As the Lord said to Satan,

“you incited Me against him to ruin him without cause” (Job 2:3)

10. God’s intelligent beings are free to choose.

Satan is the Lord’s enemy, but note that the LORD does not use force against Satan. The Lord allows Satan into the heavenly meetings, listens to him, debates with him, allows Satan to question His judgment, and allows Satan to test His judgment. When Satan comes back after having failed the first time, God even allows Satan to put Job through an even more stringent test.

Eden Similarly, God allowed Satan to visit the Garden of Eden and to tempt Adam and Eve and allowed him to tempt Christ in the Wilderness.

The Lord’s very claim, namely that Job serves God, as well as Satan’s test of that claim, would make no sense at all if God sovereignly decides who will serve Him, and then programs them to serve Him with irrefutable force, as claimed by the theory of election.

Everything in Job happened with God’s intelligent beings looking on. They hear the challenges and see the tests. God works out this rebellion/sin problem in full sight of the whole universe. This also implies that God wants His intelligent beings to understand the issues, and to decide for themselves who is right; the Lord or Satan. God wants them to trust His judgments so that they would be able to serve Him in complete freedom because they want to serve Him.

This entire story of Job is a major difficulty to Christians who believe in the sovereignty of God, by which they mean that God determines everything and that nothing happens outside of His will. If that was true, why do good people suffer? What is the point? People who believe that God decides who will be saved often describe that as God’s mercy, but they seem to ignore the fact that that also means that other people will be eternally destroyed in hell, simply because God arbitrarily decided that they will. Personally, I believe this is blasphemy. God is love (1 John 4:8). God is Light, and in Him, there is no darkness at all (1 John 1:5). To then say that God will decide who will be eternally destroyed in hell, irrespective of what these people want or do or think, sounds to me like blasphemy. And I do not accept the view that God works with a different system of ethics. I believe that what we understand as good is what God also understands as good.

Job confirms a principle from the previous article (Origin of Evil), namely that God created His intelligent beings with the ability to disobey Him so that their service and love will be their free choice.

Freedom is the foundation of God’s government. God is all-powerful, but by granting unlimited free will to His intelligent beings, God limited Himself. God could have created robots, that only do what they are told to do, but it was God’s choice to create intelligent beings that are completely free. He is able to do away with evil by forcing His intelligent beings to serve Him against their will, but He created this universe for His intelligent beings. To force them to obey Him would undo His entire goal for this universe. He wants all His intelligent beings to love and worship Him by choice and not because He forces them to worship Him.

Free choice is a fundamental difference between God’s systems of government and Satan’s. Satan is the one who does not grant freedom to others. Satan attempts to force people and angels to do what he wants them to do. When people are possessed, they no longer have the ability to leave Satan behind. The mark of the beast is specifically used to force people to worship in a certain way.

11. Why Satan thought he could succeed

We are now able to answer the question above. For the following reasons Satan thought that he could succeed against God:

He knew God very well and knew that God would not use force. He knew that God allows his intelligent beings the freedom to choose for themselves. He knew that the contest will not be on the basis of power but on the basis of loyalty.

He thought that he would be able to convince them to side with him, because, as a mighty covering cherub, who previously explained God’s decisions to the universe, he was loved by all angels and they had much respect for him.

Satan had an advantage over God because he could tell lies. Because he knew God so well he knew that he would have to tell lies and misrepresent God before man and before the angels. But he also knew God cannot use deception or lies, and that God’s only weapons are love and truth.

He has perhaps the most brilliant mind ever created and was able to use extremely cunning deception and lies.

Jesus said of Satan:

“He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44).

Category: Origin of Evil