I was struck by something in the Gospel reading today in church, which was Luke 4: 1 - 13. And, as Satan tempts Christ three times, verses 5, 6, and 7 say:
So, who exactly gave this to the devil? Is it God? Indirectly or directly? Or is it the many men who “lose their souls to gain the world?”
There is a reason behind this question. I’ve learned from the constant debates on the Death Penalty and Just War, that the Catholic Chatechism leaves those decisions in the hands of whoever is in political power at that time and place, instead of making a strict yes or no statement.
How could our church fathers and writers of the chatechism leave the decisions to those in power, when we know from this verse that that “all authority” has been delivered to the devil?
Or, am I misunderstanding this?
Here’s a good citation from the Catholic Encyclopedia:
*Besides exercising this authority over those who were called “his angels”, Satan has extended his empire over the minds of evil men. Thus, in the passage just cited from St. Paul, we read, “And you, when you were dead in your offenses and sins, wherein in times past you walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of this air, of the spirit that now worketh on the children of unbelief” (Ephesians 2:1-2). In the same way
Christ in the Gospel calls him “the prince of this world”. For when His enemies are coming to take Him, He looks beyond the instruments of evil to the master who moves them, and says: “I will not now speak many things to you, for the prince of this world cometh, and in me he hath not anything” (John 14:30). There is no need to discuss the view of some theologians who surmise that Lucifer was one of the angels who ruled and administered the heavenly bodies, and that this planet was committed to his care. For in any case **the sovereignty with which these texts are primarily concerned is but the rude right of conquest and the power of evil influence. **His sway began by his victory over our first parents, who, yielding to his suggestions, were brought under his bondage. All sinners who do his will become in so far his servants. For, as St. Gregory says, he is the head of all the wicked–“Surely the Devil is the head of all the wicked; and of this head all the wicked are members” (Certe iniquorum omnium caput diabolus est; et hujus capitis membra sunt omnes iniqui.–Hom. 16, in Evangel.). This headship over the wicked, as St. Thomas is careful to explain, differs widely from Christ’s headship over the Church, inasmuch as Satan is only head by outward government and not also, as Christ is, by inward, life-giving influence (Summa III:8:7). With the growing wickedness of the world and the spreading of paganism and false religions and magic rites, **the rule of Satan was extended and strengthened till his power was broken by the victory of Christ, who for this reason said, on the eve of His Passion: “Now is the judgment of the world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out” (John 12:31). **By the victory of the Cross Christ delivered men from the bondage of Satan and at the same time paid the debt due to Divine justice by shedding His blood in atonement for our sins. In their endeavours to explain this great mystery, some old theologians, misled by the metaphor of a ransom for captives made in war, came to the strange conclusion that the price of Redemption was paid to Satan. But this error was effectively refuted by St. Anselm, who showed that Satan had no rights over his captives and that the great price wherewith we were bought was paid to God alone (cf. ATONEMENT). *
Also, here’s a link to a decent article by Fr. John Hardon
(don’t know if I hooked it up correctly )
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