Could God forgive Satan?

[GreyWings]

Ah, well then you could say after all he was not created with perfect wisdom?

Pride is an emotion. Surely even the most brilliant can have an ego. That’s what happened to Satan.

Angels have free will, just as we do.

In the Epistle of Jude (Jude 1:9) Michael corrected Satan.

 

[GreyWings]

To further elaborate, consider what Angels are. Their existence is to serve and do God’s will, from the beautiful (the Annunciation to Mary from Gabriel) to the ugly: the plagues of Egypt, etc. They do what they’re told to do. Michael is a perfect example of serving God with holiness. In Jude 1:6 he is even careful as to what he says to Satan: “The Lord rebuke you!” He serves God by protecting humankind, he serves God by fighting Satan; he has already done so once and will do it again.

In Milton’s Paradise Lost, Satan, only for a brief moment, after being defeated by Michael, feels remorse.

Satan feels emotions. But he is so consumed with pride and want of being his own god and has fallen so far from grace that he cannot, will not, repent. Satan likely doesn’t believe John’s Revelations and that he will be defeated in the end.

Satan may be incredibly intelligent, and think he is god, but he is not God. He is so far removed from God that he obviously doesn’t want redemption, either.

 

[Dorothy]

I was not aware of that. But it must have been a very popular idea in the church.
And so many if not most people thought it was official until the church said otherwise. However, the point I’m trying to make is that “reason” helped people to see that it wasn’t a true reflection of a good God to leave his creation in limbo for all eternity on the mere technicality of not being officially baptized. It was in response to the uproar that the church was forced to make an official statement on the matter.

Am i wrong about that?

I believe you are correct. I don’t have the catechism at my fingertips right now, but it states that we leave them to the mercy of God.

(I suppose if that wasn’t put that way, then people may put off baptizing their infants in the Catholic Church, or even raising them Catholic.)

 

[Elizium23]

I was not aware of that. But it must have been a very popular idea in the church.
And so many if not most people thought it was official until the church said otherwise. However, the point I’m trying to make is that “reason” helped people to see that it wasn’t a true reflection of a good God to leave his creation in limbo for all eternity on the mere technicality of not being officially baptized. It was in response to the uproar that the church was forced to make an official statement on the matter.

Am i wrong about that?

The Church has never denied the possibility of Limbo as it has been variously described, if that is what you were thinking. I am not aware of an “uproar” over such speculation; it may be more like “murmuring and grumbling” by some who choose to disagree with the postulations.

I would prefer an “uproar” over the clear and enduring heresies that the dead automatically enjoy Heaven, and the implication that they are somehow not in need of prayers, or funeral rites, or reverent disposition of their remains. It is clearly the work of Satan, who does not want us to repent, that so few people believe in the very realities of Purgatory and Hell.

 

[GodMadeMe]

The Church has never denied the possibility of Limbo as it has been variously described, if that is what you were thinking. I am not aware of an “uproar” over such speculation; it may be more like “murmuring and grumbling” by some who choose to disagree with the postulations.

I would prefer an “uproar” over the clear and enduring heresies that the dead automatically enjoy Heaven, and the implication that they are somehow not in need of prayers, or funeral rites, or reverent disposition of their remains. It is clearly the work of Satan, who does not want us to repent, that so few people believe in the very realities of Purgatory and Hell.

I don’t think anyone on this thread is actually saying hell does not exist, and neither are they saying that purgatory does not exist. There is also a clear and enduring heresy that anyone outside of the Catholic faith or anyone that has not been baptized is necessarily going to hell. That is a serious matter since we cannot allow people outside of the church to have a fallacious view of church doctrine and neither can we afford for people to think that church doctrine is blatantly irrational and proud of it. Limbo might not be rejected by the church as a belief but it certainly is not accepted as doctrine. Limbo as someone else pointed out is speculative theology, and it is highly improbable or morally unreasonable that limbo is the eternal hole in which the unbaptized and unborn exist for all eternity. just like it is unreasonable to think that the universe was really created in 7 days and that the world is only 10,000 years Old. Enduring Mistakes fostered by people afraid of making mistakes. Ooooh the irony!!!

If we don’t allow reason a foot in the door, that is what happens.