Prosecution vs the Defense

[That_one_guy]

Is it right to say that Satan is the prosecuting attorney and Jesus is our defense attorney?

I said this to someone and they said that was a Lutheran thing and not Catholic.

This should be a short thread,huh?

 

[DavidFilmer]

they said that was a Lutheran thing and not Catholic.

Actually, it is an ancient Jewish thing (the Book of Job is a good example of this analogy).

The word “satan” is of Hebrew origin and means adversary or accuser. Ancient Jews (and many Orthodox Jews to this day) view Satan as a prosecuting angel at the Heavenly Court.

Some protestants (and, it seems, especially Lutherans) have grasped this ancient teaching as a way to avoid issues of personal accountability. The idea is that Jesus is the ultimate Perry Mason - he cannot ever loose a case. So it doesn’t matter what you do - your lawyer (Jesus) will get you off the hook. This fits nicely with Lutheran doctrine.

The Jews, however, have no concept of Jesus as the opposing defense attorney, so Lutheran adaptations of this idea assume something which is not in evidence. Actually, in the Bible, Jesus is depicted as the Judge, not the attorney. And Jesus makes it quite clear that he will not condone wickedness.