In the bible there are a couple stories of where Jesus is basically bribed by Satan where if he were to worship Satan, the whole world would be his. He took Jesus up in the sky and offered him the world and rejected Satan's offer and he disappeared. Was this deity really Satan as in Lucifer, because "Satan" is a title right? Jesus was viewed as a human but divine. Supposedly he confronted Satan, but what is your take on it? Did he really confront him or is this a metaphor for something else?
Firstly, it would help if you explained which stories and where they are found exactly. Obviously the New Testament but which books? And it is never - as far as I know, which is why I'd like a few references - expressly stated that either Lucifer or Satan was a deity. Because there is only one deity in the Old and New Testaments.
Jesus was not bribed because he never accepted any of the offers.
If you want to look into metaphors (and yes, there are analogies a-plenty in the New Testament) then at least start with a few references because each of the Gospels has a different history and ergo a different purpose.
I would say it's Matthew 4:1-11. It's about the three temptations of Christ.
I think that one happened quite literally.
Wait. Wut? Satan carried Jesus up to the sky?Originally Posted by codesharp
Is the forum on crack tonight?
Satan is my spirit animal
Erm...I'm not sure than an attempt at bribing counds as a bribe. A temptation, perhaps (which is what the Chrisitian traditions refer to the Three Temptations as), but not a bribe. Bribe, when used in this manner, sort of implies an acceptance of said bribe. Maybe its splitting hairs, but...its like saying "Last summer, I drowned." No, really, you didn't...if you had drowned, you'd be dead.
With that being said, I think the third temption was Satan taking Jesus to the top of a mountain and showing him the world...not buzzing him around a la Superman. And, like most myths, no, I don't think its literally true. Its a mythic truth and depends on suspended disbelief. Its not really a metaphor (or, more accurately, an allegory) because the story doesn't represent something else. Its a myth, meant to illustrate the divinity of Jesus and his strength in the face of the Adversary.
“You have never answered but you did not need to. If I stand at the ocean I can hear you with your thousand voices. Sometimes you shout, hilarious laughter that taunts all questions. Other nights you are silent as death, a mirror in which the stars show themselves. Then I think you want to tell me something, but you never do. Of course I know I have written letters to no-one. But what if I find a trident tomorrow?" ~~Letters to Poseidon, Cees Nooteboom
“We still carry this primal relationship to the Earth within our consciousness, even if we have long forgotten it. It is a primal recognition of the wonder, beauty, and divine nature of the Earth. It is a felt reverence for all that exists. Once we bring this foundational quality into our consciousness, we will be able to respond to our present man-made crisis from a place of balance, in which our actions will be grounded in an attitude of respect for all of life. This is the nature of real sustainability.”
~~Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee
"We are the offspring of history, and must establish our own paths in this most diverse and interesting of conceivable universes--one indifferent to our suffering, and therefore offering us maximal freedom to thrive, or to fail, in our own chosen way."
~~Stephen Jay Gould, Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of History
"Humans are not rational creatures. Now, logic and rationality are very helpful tools, but there’s also a place for embracing our subjectivity and thinking symbolically. Sometimes what our so-called higher thinking can’t or won’t see, our older, more primitive intuition will." John Beckett
Pagan Devotionals, because the wind and the rain is our Bible
Satan is a formal title, not a name. The actual name of the accuser is not known to humans as far as I can tell. However, the title ha-Satan is generally associated with the fallen angel Lucifer, the morning star as he is the highest ranking entity amongst the fallen.
Yes, I believe that Jesus was literally tempted - on many occasions, and he almost took the deal too from what I can gather. This has some interesting ramifications.
We know that Satan has access to heaven so he has some strong legal rights even after the first great war. The fact that he could also repeatedly engage Jesus Christ without incident, whereas lower ranking ones fled from his presence suggests something unique about that title. Maybe a sort of ambassadorial title?
I am in agreement with Don in that Satan is a title, not a formal name. It is quite likely that the title may be applied to more than one being. However, I do not agree that the term "Lucifer" ever denoted a fallen angel.
Regardless, I do not believe in the divinity of Christ as the son of YHWH or as any aspect of YHWH incarnate. I believe that Jesus was a prophet, but I do believe that it is possible that he encountered Ha-Satan as the role of the entity is to test the faith of Humanity - quite fitting for how Ha-Satan is described in these stories.
If Satan is a title, who did Jesus really encounter? Was it someone else who had the title? Did Jesus ever encounter Lucifer?
If Satan is a title, he encountered some Angel who was a Satan at that point.
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