Is Satan technically a Christian?

[Gift_from_God]

I understand Satan is pure evil and such, but I realized something while I was out jogging; A Christian is someone who believes in God and believes Jesus is the Son of God. Satan believes this, so does this technically make him a Christian? I know he can never go to Heaven because of his actions, but think about it.

 

[twf]

No. A Christian is a human being who has been baptized into Christ and His Church, and as such has been adopted as a child of God. Faith in Christ must follow baptism for infants, and precede baptism for adults, but it is the sacrament of baptism, not simply belief in Jesus, that makes one a Christian. Through faith and the sacraments, a Christian is then called to grow closer to, and become more like, Christ. Jesus did not become an angel nor die for angels (Satan is a fallen angel). Jesus became a man in order to redeem man and allow us to share in His eternal glory as His adopted brothers and sisters.

 

[StrawberryJam]

I understand Satan is pure evil and such, but I realized something while I was out jogging; A Christian is someone who believes in God and believes Jesus is the Son of God. Satan believes this, so does this technically make him a Christian? I know he can never go to Heaven because of his actions, but think about it.

I can believe the chair I am sitting on is a chair, and that I am sitting on it. But, if I know that chair is the supreme God of the universe, and I don’t do what that chair wants me to do, I’m not a chairian. So, Satan was not a christian. He did not do what God wanted him to do, and we have no evidence he worshipped God at all, which is a biggie with God. No worship, no obedience, no title that indicates following God allowed.

 

[karoleck]

I understand Satan is pure evil and such, but I realized something while I was out jogging; A Christian is someone who believes in God and believes Jesus is the Son of God. Satan believes this, so does this technically make him a Christian? I know he can never go to Heaven because of his actions, but think about it.

You certainly must have got a lot of oxygen into your brain with all that jogging**,Gift from God!,**to come up with that question,good for you–I hope that you still looked out where you were going!!;though I should get my brain energized.-I have two meat pies with sauce in the oven-the health food of my nation!!!
Can I add that not only satan “believes” that Jesus is the Son of God,he also KNOWS it!!We as humans believe something because we put a trust in a statement that we believe is correct ,on the witness or evidence of the person making it;and the person is worthy of belief or trust worthy.In other words we believe that Jesus is the Son of God because what He said and did as is written, in the Scriptures and handed down through the apostolic traditions of our Fathers in the Faith.Hence on Sunday morning we profess our faith in the beliefs as set out in The Apostles Creed.It spells out what we believe as christians,I am assuming that you are a Catholic.But even if you are not ,you still base your beliefs on what the Bible teaches about Jesus and how He proved He was God because of His Ressurection from the dead.

Now as you know Satan ia a fallen ArcAngel,a being who is a spirit(no body) with a high intellect and will.So before his fall he had an infused knowledge of God and then to use his will to adore,love and worship God ,who created angels out of nothing.Yes Satan and other fallen angels rebelled from the sin of pride and were thrust into Hell fire by St.Michael and the other bad angels.

When the Second Person of The Blessed trinity took on human nature and became man,satan (because he had lost his friendship with God) lost his knowledge of God ,so was left in the dark.He knew that a Saviour would come ,as he was there when he tempted Adam and Eve to disobey God,He also knew of the promise that Gods’Chosen People were to be restored by a Messiah or Savior.So after the birth of Jesus,satan wispered into Herods’ear to kill every first born male(females get all the breaks) in the hope that this would thwart God’s plan,Satan knew something was brewing-perhaps it was another prophet for all he knew.You know scripture,so there was the tempation in the desert,how Jesus lived a hidden life and satan could not forment people to kill Jesus.Even Our Lady or Mary the Mother of Jesus brought forward her Sons’ public life-for His first answer was that His time had not come.You know the ending ,at least satan thought that it was,as he was able to lead others to kill Jesus.So in one sense, satan was formulating his" belief"about who Jesus was,but could you imagine his hatred,anger,malicious hurt pride when Jesus rose from the dead.Satan not longer was in darkness,he knew then that Jesus was The Son of God ; but his kingdom on this earth was taken back from under him.That is why since he cannot get at God any more ,he can and does attack the people who call themselves Christians and believe that Jesus is Lord!! ( But only if we are not baptised or believe in The Gospel or give into serious sin and hardening our hearts by not repenting—for Catholics—confession,The Bead of Life in receiving The Eucharist—prayer and penance etc.)
So no satan is not even technically a Christian even in the sense that you put in your thread.
St.Michael,defend us from the powers of satan,help us to believe that Jesus is The Son of God and to act out this creed with our actions.Amen.
p.s.I only used small s for satan-as a capital one shows a sign of respect or importance.I only use he for satan in the general english language as he is all evil spirit.

 

[StrawberryJam]

You certainly must have got a lot of oxygen into your brain with all that jogging**,Gift from God!,**to come up with that question,good for you–I hope that you still looked out where you were going!!;though I should get my brain energized.-I have two meat pies with sauce in the oven-the health food of my nation!!!
Can I add that not only satan “believes” that Jesus is the Son of God,he also KNOWS it!!We as humans believe something because we put a trust in a statement that we believe is correct ,on the witness or evidence of the person making it;and the person is worthy of belief or trust worthy.In other words we believe that Jesus is the Son of God because what He said and did as is written, in the Scriptures and handed down through the apostolic traditions of our Fathers in the Faith.Hence on Sunday morning we profess our faith in the beliefs as set out in The Apostles Creed.It spells out what we believe as christians,I am assuming that you are a Catholic.But even if you are not ,you still base your beliefs on what the Bible teaches about Jesus and how He proved He was God because of His Ressurection from the dead.

Now as you know Satan ia a fallen ArcAngel,a being who is a spirit(no body) with a high intellect and will.So before his fall he had an infused knowledge of God and then to use his will to adore,love and worship God ,who created angels out of nothing.Yes Satan and other fallen angels rebelled from the sin of pride and were thrust into Hell fire by St.Michael and the other bad angels.

When the Second Person of The Blessed trinity took on human nature and became man,satan (because he had lost his friendship with God) lost his knowledge of God ,so was left in the dark.He knew that a Saviour would come ,as he was there when he tempted Adam and Eve to disobey God,He also knew of the promise that Gods’Chosen People were to be restored by a Messiah or Savior.So after the birth of Jesus,satan wispered into Herods’ear to kill every first born male(females get all the breaks) in the hope that this would thwart God’s plan,Satan knew something was brewing-perhaps it was another prophet for all he knew.You know scripture,so there was the tempation in the desert,how Jesus lived a hidden life and satan could not forment people to kill Jesus.Even Our Lady or Mary the Mother of Jesus brought forward her Sons’ public life-for His first answer was that His time had not come.You know the ending ,at least satan thought that it was,as he was able to lead others to kill Jesus.So in one sense, satan was formulating his" belief"about who Jesus was,but could you imagine his hatred,anger,malicious hurt pride when Jesus rose from the dead.Satan not longer was in darkness,he knew then that Jesus was The Son of God ; but his kingdom on this earth was taken back from under him.That is why since he cannot get at God any more ,he can and does attack the people who call themselves Christians and believe that Jesus is Lord!! ( But only if we are not baptised or believe in The Gospel or give into serious sin and hardening our hearts by not repenting—for Catholics—confession,The Bead of Life in receiving The Eucharist—prayer and penance etc.)
So no satan is not even technically a Christian even in the sense that you put in your thread.
St.Michael,defend us from the powers of satan,help us to believe that Jesus is The Son of God and to act out this creed with our actions.Amen.
p.s.I only used small s for satan-as a capital one shows a sign of respect or importance.I only use he for satan in the general english language as he is all evil spirit.

Satan lost knowledge at the incarnation? I never read that anywhere before. I did read that at every possible cost Satan wanted to prevent the Crucifixon, because that alone would bring his ultimate blow to death. How could Satan have lost a single bit of knowledge? He sat and chatted with Jesus while trying to tempt him to opt out of the divine plan.

Anyway, the bottom line is you really can’t call Satan a Christian just because he knew God. More than knowledge of God is required, so even if I met God today in person I would not be a christian unless I also believed and worshipped him.

Satan should not be the only one to consider in the OP’s question. Why not ask if all the other fallen angels were Christians also? What would make Satan more of a Christian than them?

So, in the end it would make christianity seem ludicrious if all the fallen angels and Satan were “Christians” simply because they knew God and got the royal boot from heaven for an eternity.

 

[Fran65]

One important aspect of being a Christian is following Christ.

Satan follows no-one other than himself. His demons and supporters follow him.

I know that the Dalai Llama is the leader of Tibetan Buddhist. Knowing that does not make me Buddhist.

 

[James_S_Saint]

Satan lost knowledge at the incarnation? I never read that anywhere before. I did read that at every possible cost Satan wanted to prevent the Crucifixon, because that alone would bring his ultimate blow to death. How could Satan have lost a single bit of knowledge? He sat and chatted with Jesus while trying to tempt him to opt out of the divine plan.

“Knowing God” comes in different forms. The term is a little conflated. To “know God” might mean;

1. Know that there is a God
2. Understand the make of God
3. Be aware of God’s current actions
4. Know of God’s eventual destiny
5. Know God’s plan or design.

Being “in darkness” refers to being unaware of the current situation (3) and thus not being able to compensate for what is happening such as to control it.

 

[StrawberryJam]

“Knowing God” comes in different forms. The term is a little conflated. To “know God” might mean;

1. Know that there is a God
2. Understand the make of God
3. Be aware of God’s current actions
4. Know of God’s eventual destiny
5. Know God’s plan or design.

Being “in darkness” refers to being unaware of the current situation (3) and thus not being able to compensate for what is happening such as to control it.

Satan knew his fate before the incarnation.
He had *no way *of changing his situation.
There was no way for him to have any control except for to attempt to stop Jesus from getting on that cross. Which, he was not able to slow down, let alone stop.

I don’t see how his knowledge dimmed after the incarnation.
But, I am sure you will tell me.

 

[Mike_Dye]

I understand Satan is pure evil and such, but I realized something while I was out jogging; A Christian is someone who believes in God and believes Jesus is the Son of God. Satan believes this, so does this technically make him a Christian? I know he can never go to Heaven because of his actions, but think about it.

A Satanist believes Satan is real and believes he is who he is. God knows Satan is real and believes he exists and is who he is, but that doesn’t make God “technically” or in any other way, a Satanist.

 

[karoleck]

"Satan lost knowledge at the incarnation? I never read that anywhere before."Quote by Strawberry Jam.
I never said that,satan lost his infused knowledge, when through pride he was driven into Hell by St.Michael and the good angels(a correction on my last posting-I wrote bad) Apart from that I agree with your conclusion.James St.James(I love your name,one of my favorite Apostles) did a good summary about knowledge-it was infused knowledge that was missing from satan,hence he had to work out who Jesus was the hard way-by testing,observation etc.I am no authority on this but this is my understanding,don’t worry about misreading my posting Strawberry Jam;I sometimes do it too.I do have long winded postings.

 

[karoleck]

Now as you know Satan ia a fallen ArcAngel,a being who is a spirit(no body) with a high intellect and will.So before his fall he had an infused knowledge of God and then to use his will to adore,love and worship God ,who created angels out of nothing.Yes Satan and other fallen angels rebelled from the sin of pride and were thrust into Hell fire by St.Michael and the other bad angels.

When the Second Person of The Blessed trinity took on human nature and became man,satan (because he had lost his friendship with God) lost his knowledge of God ,so was left in the dark.He knew that a Saviour would come ,as he was there when he tempted Adam and Eve to disobey God,He also knew of the promise that Gods’Chosen People were to be restored by a Messiah or Savior"Quote by me Karoleck

Strawberry Jam,please accept my apology-sense my last post I reread my posting and you are right that I wrote that satan lost his powers at the Incarnation.It was not what I meant to write!!!

This is what I should have written–Satan because he had lost his friendship with God when driven into Hell,lost his infused knowledge of God , so was left in the dark about Jesus.
I would add that satan had not knowledge about The Incarnation,it started with a conversation between Arch Angel Gabriel and the Immaculate Virgin Mary,once she accepted and said “yes”;by the power of The Holy Spirit,The Second Person of The Holy Trinity became flesh(a human person) in the womb of The Ever Virgin Mary.

 

[Mystic_Banana]

Really, Christianity is not about knowledge, but faith. I suspect Satan would not put his faith in Jesus. - but reject him, whether he understands his nature on a technical level or not, he’d reject him on a spiritual level - he’d put his faith in himself.

 

[StrawberryJam]

Really, Christianity is not about knowledge, but faith. I suspect Satan would not put his faith in Jesus. - but reject him, whether he understands his nature on a technical level or not, he’d reject him on a spiritual level - he’d put his faith in himself.

I’d say if Satan did not know or understand his nature, then we have no way of doing so either. He would know much more about Jesus than we even do.

 

[jtoth]

That is an interesting theory and concept but I don’t think Satan is a Christian. A Christian follows God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost. Satan is all about himself and does not follow anyone.

 

[Mystic_Banana]

I’d say if Satan did not know or understand his nature, then we have no way of doing so either. He would know much more about Jesus than we even do.

Possibly, but I’m generally agreeing with your earlier post! Anyway, knowledge is not really what makes a Christian, as I thought you’d said - it is belief and faith in Christ. Do we know Jesus is the son of God? No - it’s faith in him, and following his way, that makes a Christian. Faith, not knowledge, is the key - I’d assume Satan doesn’t put his trust Jesus…

On the other hand, you could argue Satan doesn’t understand God, otherwise he’d not disobey him! There are technical and spiritual elements to all this - perhaps Satan doesn’t understand himself either… and that’s what makes him what he is!

 

[karoleck]

"He would know much more about Jesus than we even do"Quote by StrawberryJam.

I would disagree with your statement about satan—As Catholics ,hopefully in the state of grace, we are the temples of The Holy Spirit.As Jesus said to his disciples–"He(the Holy Spirit"will teach you everything.Satan in a fallen ArchAngel–we are united with Jesus,we receive Him in our very souls,we are the children of God The Father.

 

[StrawberryJam]

"He would know much more about Jesus than we even do"Quote by StrawberryJam.

I would disagree with your statement about satan—As Catholics ,hopefully in the state of grace, we are the temples of The Holy Spirit.As Jesus said to his disciples–"He(the Holy Spirit"will teach you everything.Satan in a fallen ArchAngel–we are united with Jesus,we receive Him in our very souls,we are the children of God The Father.

That could be. I just think being in heaven with God and getting to speak to him about human matters (see Job) gives him a type of insight that humans don’t seem to have.
Perhaps that scripture really means that the holy spirit will teach you what God wants you to know, I’ll speculate that would pertain to your salvation and the rest you learn in heaven but there is a lot to know and those that were in heaven may have known far more.

 

[Mystic_Banana]

That could be. I just think being in heaven with God and getting to speak to him about human matters (see Job) gives him a type of insight that humans don’t seem to have.
Perhaps that scripture really means that the holy spirit will teach you what God wants you to know, I’ll speculate that would pertain to your salvation and the rest you learn in heaven but there is a lot to know and those that were in heaven may have known far more.

Well, he *turns up *in in the presence of God, although it’s not clear whether it’s in heaven or not… anyway, you’re still talking in a technical sense rather than a spiritual sense, I think - to give you a reverse metaphor, I could go to a top research physics laboratory, but I wouldn’t neccesarily understand what was going on

My general understanding is, the Holy Spirit (and a handy Bible) will teach you what you need to know - and can understand… I’d say being in heaven would give you access to a whole lot more, but if you don’t get it, you don’t get it, and would be as ignorant as being a technical dunce in a Physics lab, and far less enlightened in Physics, say, than a bumpkin Newton sitting musing while sitting in a haystack :

 

[Brendan]

Really, Christianity is not about knowledge, but faith…

Actually, the angels, and all the Saints in Heaven, do not have Faith. Faith ceases in Heaven and is replaced by Holy Certitude.

Of the Theological Virtues, Faith, Hope and Charity\Love, only Love remains. Hence why St. Paul referes to this Virtue as being the Greatest.

As St. Thomas Aquinas stated, “Faith relates to that which is not seen, and Hope relates to that which is not at hand”. In the case of those who are in Heaven, all is seen and all is at hand, so those virtues do not exist.

A Christian is defined as a creature which bears the mark of Salvic Grace. The Angels who sided with God retain that, as does everyone who recieved the Sacrament of Baptism, and all who are admitted to Heaven.

Satan does not bear this mark, hence he is not a Christian

 

[Mystic_Banana]

Actually, the angels, and all the Saints in Heaven, do not have Faith. Faith ceases in Heaven and is replaced by Holy Certitude.

Of the Theological Virtues, Faith, Hope and Charity\Love, only Love remains. Hence why St. Paul referes to this Virtue as being the Greatest.

As St. Thomas Aquinas stated, “Faith relates to that which is not seen, and Hope relates to that which is not at hand”. In the case of those who are in Heaven, all is seen and all is at hand, so those virtues do not exist.

A Christian is defined as a creature which bears the mark of Salvic Grace. The Angels who sided with God retain that, as does everyone who recieved the Sacrament of Baptism, and all who are admitted to Heaven.

Satan does not bear this mark, hence he is not a Christian

They’d still have faith in God, though, wouldn’t they? Obviously they (and Satan) would have the knowledge that he exists, but it would be their faith in him as the ultimate benefactor which would drive them to his cause (which Satan wouldn’t have)