Ok so I informed him that he may have been thinking about the saints being dropped from the calendar and I explained that when we canonize a saint we’re claiming that someone is in heaven and therefore he’s there for eternity and can’t go out of heaven. Then he said that if Satan can walk through heaven then he could’ve taken someone which would defeat what I said about people being in heaven forever. I was quite shocked to hear this because I’m pretty sure the southern Baptist church would not hold to such an idea. There’s no way he’s learning this in Sunday school. He then brings out his bible and goes to Job chapter 1 verse 6-7 which says “Now on a certain day, when the sons of God came to stand before the Lord, Satan also was present among them. And the Lord said to him: whence comest thou? And he answered and said: I have gone round about the earth, and walked through it.” He claims that Satan is in heaven in this passage and as proof due to Satan after God asks him where he came from, Satan answers he was on earth. I then said to him but the bible says that nothing unclean shall enter heaven. My dad then replied that there are contradictions in the bible.
At this point my brain melted. So apparently my dad believes that Satan can enter heaven and that the bible which I’m sure he holds as the sole rule of faith and as inspired by God can have contradictions. Can anyone shed light on this passage and how to convince him that Satan was not in heaven and can you supply me with passages showing that once we’re in heaven we can’t be taken away? And how can I explain to him that the bible can’t and doesn’t have contradictions?
Let’s look at this in context.
"Job 1: [6] Now on a certain day
when the sons of God came to stand before the Lord, Satan also was present among them. [7] And the Lord said to him: Whence comest thou? And he answered and said: I have gone round about the earth, and walked through it. [8] And the Lord said to him: Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a simple and upright man, and fearing God, and avoiding evil? [9] And Satan answering, said: Doth Job fear God in vain? [10] Hast not thou made a fence for him, and his house, and all his substance round about, blessed the works of his hands, and his possession hath increased on the earth?
[11] But stretch forth thy hand a little, and touch all that he hath, and see if he blesseth thee not to thy face. [12] Then the Lord said to Satan: Behold, all that he hath is in thy hand: only put not forth thy hand upon his person. And Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord."Does this text say anything about them being in Heaven, at all? No, it doesn’t. When we go into a church to pray and worship God, do we consider ourselves to be ‘standing in front of the Lord’? Yes, we do. That’s what’s being talked about in this passage. The phrase, ‘The sons of God’, usually a refers to the angels, or to the holy men of God (faithful church goers). It’s completely feasible that this was a scene where holy men, including Job, had gathered together (on earth) to worship God, like in a synagogue or maybe someone’s house. It’s not hard to imagine that Satan would also be present, to instigate doubts or other sinful thoughts to enter their minds while they pray. That’s why God asks him where he came from, or why he’s there. Then, he says that he wants permission to test Job’s faith in God, because up to that point he wasn’t allowed to do so; and God says, yes.
