Does Satan know the future, and if so, how?

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Does Satan know the future, and if so, where does Satan get this knowledge from?

Thank you,
Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk
 
Also, can Satan read our minds? Someone once told me only God can do that - anyone have an opinion?
 
EmRose87 said:
Also, can Satan read our minds? Someone once told me only God can do that - anyone have an opinion?
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Yes, I was quite interested in that question as well. At least from what I’ve read, Satan can not read minds. However, he is very intelligent and is very good at his guesses, so it appears as if he can read your mind, but he isn’t reading your mind per se.
 
I don’t remember where I heard this, but as I understand it, Satan, being a former angel, has an imperfect view of the future.

And from a technical stand point, God doesn’t read minds, He knows what is in our mind. Reading implies that He didn’t already know.
 
it is not so much that satan has knowldege of the future, it is that he is experiencing it now, just as he is experiencing the past, just as he is experiencing the present. satan, as a fallen angle, sees things as an angle would, one also has to remember that angles while, far less than God, are still far superior to humans because they are not limited by the confines a human body, therefore the human construction of time does not affect them…

This is a program from RealCatholicTV.com where i drew this conclusion from
 
A master at deception, persuasion, and seduction yes, a voyeur of future events no. Had Satan known the future consequences of the Crucifixion, he would never have entered Judas for the purpose of betraying Jesus.
 
Perhaps you might find St. Thomas Aquinas’ reflections helpful:
Just an FYI on reading the Summa. This is how Aquinas operates. He will:

(1) pose the question,
(2) articulate several “objections” (i.e. the opposing points of view),
(3) give the correct answer concisely from authority (“on the contrary”) utilizing the writings of the Fathers of Scripture,
(4) explain the correct answer in a little greater detail (“I answer that”), and
(5) specifically respond to each separate objection.
 
Bohm_Bawerk said:
Does Satan know the future, and if so, where does Satan get this knowledge from?

Thank you,
Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk
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No, Satan is not omniscient. He does not know things unless they have come to pass. He does not know the future and cannot read minds. He can influence the future through the power of suggestion and manipulation, but he cannot determine it and cannot guarantee its outcome. That is why he was so confused about Jesus. He didn’t understand who Jesus was or what His purpose was. He knows it NOW.
 
VetA said:
it is not so much that satan has knowldege of the future, it is that he is experiencing it now, just as he is experiencing the past, just as he is experiencing the present. satan, as a fallen angle, sees things as an angle would, one also has to remember that angles while, far less than God, are still far superior to humans because they are not limited by the confines a human body, therefore the human construction of time does not affect them…

This is a program from RealCatholicTV.com where i drew this conclusion from
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I need to go and read the link you posted, but I do not think this is quite correct. We, as Catholics, have a tendency to see things as either part of the universe (and hence time), or outside of the universe (and hence completely outside of time). This dichotemy is then applied to angels and even to the deceased. But if I read Aquinas correctly (please read Replay to Object 2 in this link newadvent.org/summa/1057.htm#article3), it seems that the level of completely outside of time is reserved for God himself.

“Reply to Objection 2. Although the angel’s intellect is above that time according to which corporeal movements are reckoned, yet there is a time in his mind according to the succession of intelligible concepts; of which Augustine says (Gen. ad lit. viii) that “God moves the spiritual creature according to time.” And thus, since there is succession in the angel’s intellect, not all things that happen through all time, are present to the angelic mind”.

When defining time as simply a succession of events, it does apply to angels and saints in heaven. When defining time as part of our created universe in a scientific sense we are used to , it does not. I think this is an interesting concept when considering our own eternal fate. When we die, time may not go through a steady continual forward path that we are used to, but there will be a succcession of events. So while it is not accurate to referring to our time in purgatory in number of years, days, minutes, we should expect it to be a period of “time”. It is just hard for us to understand that type of time.
 
tafan said:
I need to go and read the link you posted, but I do not think this is quite correct. We, as Catholics, have a tendency to see things as either part of the universe (and hence time), or outside of the universe (and hence completely outside of time). This dichotemy is then applied to angels and even to the deceased. But if I read Aquinas correctly (please read Replay to Object 2 in this link newadvent.org/summa/1057.htm#article3), it seems that the level of completely outside of time is reserved for God himself.

“Reply to Objection 2. Although the angel’s intellect is above that time according to which corporeal movements are reckoned, yet there is a time in his mind according to the succession of intelligible concepts; of which Augustine says (Gen. ad lit. viii) that “God moves the spiritual creature according to time.” And thus, since there is succession in the angel’s intellect, not all things that happen through all time, are present to the angelic mind”.

When defining time as simply a succession of events, it does apply to angels and saints in heaven. When defining time as part of our created universe in a scientific sense we are used to , it does not. I think this is an interesting concept when considering our own eternal fate. When we die, time may not go through a steady continual forward path that we are used to, but there will be a succcession of events. So while it is not accurate to referring to our time in purgatory in number of years, days, minutes, we should expect it to be a period of “time”. It is just hard for us to understand that type of time.
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watch the video you will understand where i was coming from, i think i have explained it wrongly i know i did i would have re watched the video, except i am in college right now and i did not, nor will i have time until later but i will rewatch it and revise what i said
 
VetA said:
watch the video you will understand where i was coming from, i think i have explained it wrongly i know i did i would have re watched the video, except i am in college right now and i did not, nor will i have time until later but i will rewatch it and revise what i said
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I will watch it later tonight. Thanks.
 
I speculate that Satan can communicate non-verbally, if not read minds, for the purposes of temptation or provocation.

The demons that are exorcised by Jesus in scripture seem to have at least a vague notion of the future in that they ask Jesus if He is going to condemn them before the appointed time.
 
VetA said:
watch the video you will understand where i was coming from, i think i have explained it wrongly i know i did i would have re watched the video, except i am in college right now and i did not, nor will i have time until later but i will rewatch it and revise what i said
Click to expand...
I watched the video. It was good, but I do question if all angels know all there is to know about the material world, as that implies as you say, that they would know all of the future. But Aquinas says concretely that they do not.
 
tafan said:
I watched the video. It was good, but I do question if all angels know all there is to know about the material world, as that implies as you say, that they would know all of the future. But Aquinas says concretely that they do not.
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Angels know everything that God needs them to know in order to carry out their duties. Not having an organic brain to synthesize, proces, and incorporate the data, they get it “in real time”.
 
piejesu

A master at deception, persuasion, and seduction yes, a voyeur of future events no. Had Satan known the future consequences of the Crucifixion, he would never have entered Judas for the purpose of betraying Jesus.

Likewise, if Satan could see into the future, that Jesus would die on the cross for our sins, why would he bother to tempt Jesus or Judas?

No doubt, Satan, who is the father of lies, can lie very effectively without needing to see into the future or even into the past. It is his nature to lie, and time has nothing to do with lying.
 
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