Is it OK to hate Satan?

[zro_x]

To hate Satan is to hate evil.

no it isn’t. Once again, Satan is not evilness itself personified, like many seem to think. Satan is just a very, very evil being.

Nobody really believes that we should love Satan and evil.

Even on this thread, a significant minority believe exactly that.

What do you propose our relationship with Satan should be?

Love, but resistence against his temptation and empty promises. I’m not saying that we should get warm fuzzy feelings whenever Satan is around, or attempt by any means to please him. That’s not what love is. Love is a desire for others to have happiness and joy. Hate is resentment, the desire for others to feel sadness and pain.

Don’t you hate Satan for fooling Eve?

A lot of people have done things a lot worse than tricking somebody, but I don’t hate them. I don’t hate Hitler or Stalin for their crimes against humanity, for example, and what they did was far worse.

 

[CHRISTINE77]

This is just someone’s personal opinion. He doesn’t give any arguments for why this claim is true, beyond equating resisting the devil to hating him. Otherwise, he just explains what his (likely protestant, based on the cite in your link) opinion is.

To answer his one objection, the devil incites us to do moral evil, and we should resist moral evil no matter who’s trying to get us to commit it. Physical evil, however, is what Jesus is talking about when he says “do not resist an evil person.” or in other words, do not resist when an evil person mistreats you. But do resist when he tries to get you to do evil.

In the chatechism you quoted, the opposite problem arises. I respect the authority of the source, but it nowhere does it explicitly or even implicitly state that we are to hate the devil. Again, we are to resist him, not hate him.

If you resist him, that’s good enough for me!

Jesus, when the disciples asked him top teach them how to pray (Matthew 6:13) Jesus said ‘And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. In Jesus’ prayer to the Father he prays for us, ‘You should keep them from the evil one” (John 17:15-16). Satan is called the evil one. We are promised “who will establish you and guard you from the evil one” (2 Thessalonians 3:3-4).

James 3:14-16: “do not boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there.” This is what Satan’s nature is like.

Jesus said in John 3:20, “For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.”

Satan is in stealth mode as much as possible as he devises evil and hides in darkness trying not to be exposed by the light.

Ephesians 2:2-3 We once “walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,” This is the disobedience that Satan influences us in through our sinful nature until one is regenerated.

Satan is known as the enemy of our souls. He oppresses, he takes captives, he deceives, he lies; he kills and destroys-Peter calls him our adversary1 Peter 5:8. Jesus commends the church that “cannot bear those who are evil” (Revelation 2:2). Satan is evil.

The Bible tells us to pray for those who do evil to us, but in this matter there is no redemption for Satan and his rebellious demons that are already sentenced waiting to be judged. In 1 John 3:8 we are told “for this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.” Satan is to be “cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: Matthew 25:41, as are all those who refuse Christ and follow his ways.

The devil hated Jesus and used everything at his disposal to prevent him from a successful mission. John 15:23 “He who hates Me hates My Father also.”

If God and Jesus hate sin and evil and Satan is the author of it, (and embodies it) then certainly we are justified to hate what God hates.

 

[zro_x]

Satan = Evil. If you love Satan then it follows that you love Evil. It is sometimes hard to realize what is truly evil in this world, and that is how Satan confuses people and steals their souls.

Hate evil and love goodness. Hate lies and love the truth. Hate the darkness and love the light. Satan is the father of all lies. Jesus is the truth and the light and the way.

Once again, Satan =/= Evilness itself. To be evilness itself would be to be the opposite of love itself, and Satan is nowhere near God’s opposite.

 

[zro_x]

Question: “Does God love Satan? Since we are to love our enemies, does that mean we should love Satan?”

Answer: No, God does not love Satan, and neither should we. God cannot love that which is evil and unholy, and Satan embodies all of that. He is the enemy (1 Peter 5:8); the evil one (Matthew 6:13); the father of lies and a murderer (John 8:44); the accuser of God’s people (Revelation 12:10); the tempter (1 Thessalonians 3:5); proud, wicked and violent (Isaiah 14:12-15); a deceiver (Acts 13:10); a schemer (Ephesians 6:11); a thief (Luke 8:12); and many more evil things. He is, in fact, everything that God hates. The heart of Satan is fixed and confirmed in his hatred of God, his judgment is final, and his destruction is sure. Revelation 20 describes God’s future plan for Satan, and love for Satan has no part in it.

Jesus’ command that we love our enemies (Matthew 5:44) is meant to govern interpersonal relationships in this world. We love God, and we love people (even our enemies), who are made in God’s image. Angels are not made in God’s image. We are never told to love the holy angels, and we are certainly never told to love the evil angels.

Since Satan is everything that is antithetical to the God we love, we cannot love Satan. If we loved Satan, we would be forced to hate God, because holiness is the opposite of sin.

God has already determined that there will be no forgiveness for Satan; we are the objects of God’s sacrificial love, shown on the cross. As God was lovingly redeeming mankind, He was putting Satan “to open shame” (Colossians 2:15). God’s judgment of Satan will be part of His great love for us.

Read more: gotquestions.org/does-God-love-Satan.html#ixzz2MhpwMYCu

This source actually is protestant, and has the same problems speaktruth’s source. The one objection I haven’t already covered are the many names for the devil. Those names only show that Satan is incredibly sinful, not that he is sin itself.

 

[zro_x]

If God and Jesus hate sin and evil and Satan is the author of it, (and embodies it) then certainly we are justified to hate what God hates.

God, once again, does not hate Satan. It is God’s love that keeps Satan in existence.

 

[MysticalSelah]

I do not hate him, I resist him (or at least, I try to). Yes, God does love Satan, and the fires of His love are complete torture to him.

On a semi-related note: I remember reading a story of a desert monk who tried to pray for Satan to repent. As he prayed, he heard laughter. When he looked up, he saw Satan outside his cell, mocking him for praying for him to repent. He decided he would not pray any longer for Satan, but rather, resist him and let God deal with him in the end.

 

[CHRISTINE77]

I do not hate him, I resist him (or at least, I try to). Yes, God does love Satan, and the fires of His love are complete torture to him.

On a semi-related note: I remember reading a story of a desert monk who tried to pray for Satan to repent. As he prayed, he heard laughter. When he looked up, he saw Satan outside his cell, mocking him for praying for him to repent. He decided he would not pray any longer for Satan, but rather, resist him and let God deal with him in the end.

That’s an interesting story. I think it also illustrates the point that we as humans should not try to put ourselves on the same level as God by loving Satan.

 

[speakttruth]

The church already states what to do concerning Satan. God’s hate is a removal of love, it’s not a human emotion like we have. He is God. That 's the confusion. Hating the devil is not a problem, just follow Christ and you won’t have to worry about it. End of Story.

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GB