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Old 05-09-2012, 06:34 PM
Animus27
Posts: n/a
 
In the Bible, the idea of Hell and the Devil are very contradictory.

In the Hebrew Bible there is not much of an afterlife at all. Everyone goes down to the shadowy Sheol, where it's not that awesome at all. It wasn't until later that ideas of resurrection began to be developed among postexilic Jews.

The New Testament emphasizes bodily resurrection at the end of time, rather than a separate place called heaven where we go after death.

In the NT hell isn't Satan's abode, it's where he's going to be thrown at the end of time, along with the Antichrist and False Prophet (per book of Revelation). Satan is upon the earth itself, working in the hearts of people - which is more fitting than poetic, non-Biblical ideas of him ruling in hell as a kind of anathematic god. In the Bible he has no power in and of himself. Merely through the weakness of humanity; satan, in the Bible (in the original Hebrew & Greek) isn't capitalized. It's a word used to refer to anything opposing God. That puts the whole verse with Jesus calling Peter satan into a more sensible light.


/ramble
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