According to the Jehovah's Witnesses, where does the Devil come from?
score:5
Q. "According to the Jehovah's Witnesses, where does the Devil come from?"
A. ALL of the beliefs of Jehovah's Witnesses are based on and found within the Holy Scriptures. The question therefore should more accurately be "According to the Holy Scriptures, where does the Devil come from?".
We who are Jehovah's Witnesses DO NOT believe that there are MANY ways to "interpret" the Scriptures, rather, being that the Holy Scriptures are inspired by God THE Almighty Himself (2 Timothy 3:16, 17) via His Holy Spirit which operated on the minds and hearts of the imperfect men He used to write the Scriptures (1 Thess 2:13), we who are Jehovah's Witnesses firmly believe that there is but only ONE WAY to "interpret" the Scriptures and that "one way" is to allow the Holy Scriptures to "interpret" themselves and not resort to philosophical arguments to evade its clear statements of truth. We simply let the Bible provide its own explanation instead of giving our theories as to its significance (1 Cor. 2:13). Indications as to the meaning of certain terms or doctrine are usually found in other parts of the Bible.
The fact is, contrary to popular but highly erroneous belief, God did not create the Devil. ‘Yet if God created everyone,’ a person may say, ‘he must have created the Devil. Who else could have? Where did the Devil come from?’
The Bible explains that God created many, many spirit persons similar to himself. In the Bible, these spirits are called angels. Also, they are called “sons of God.” (Job 38:7; Psalm 104:4; Hebrews 1:7, 13, 14) God created them ALL perfect. Not one of them was a devil, or a satan. The word “devil” means slanderer and the word “satan” means opposer.
The time came, however, when one of these spirit sons of God made himself the Devil, that is, a hateful liar who speaks bad things about another. He also made himself Satan, that is, an opposer of God. He was not created that way, but later became that kind of person.
To illustrate: A thief is not born a thief. He may have come from a good family, having honest parents and law-abiding brothers and sisters. But his own desire for what money can buy is what may have caused him to become a thief.
How, then, did one of God’s spirit sons make himself Satan the Devil?
The angel that became the Devil was present when God created the earth and later the first human couple, Adam and Eve (Job 38:4, 7). So he would have heard God tell Adam and Eve to have children, fill the earth and subdue it (Genesis 1:27, 28). He knew that after a while the whole earth would be filled with righteous people worshiping God. That was God’s purpose. However, this angel thought a great deal of his own beauty and intelligence and wanted to receive for himself the worship that would be given to God (Ezekiel 28:13-15; Matthew 4:10).
Instead of putting this wrong desire out of his mind, he kept thinking about it. This led to his taking action to obtain the honor and importance he desired. What did he do?—James 1:14, 15.
The rebellious angel used a lowly serpent to speak to the first woman, Eve. He did this much as a skilled person can make it seem as if a nearby animal or a dummy figure is talking. But it was really this rebellious angel, the one called in the Bible at Revelation 12:9 “the original serpent,” who was speaking to Eve. At Genesis 3:1-5, he said that God was not telling her the truth, and was holding back from her knowledge that she should have. This was a hateful lie and it made him a devil. He thus also became an opposer of God, or a Satan.
As you can see, it is wrong to think of the Devil as a creature with horns and a pitchfork who oversees some underground place of torment. He is really a very powerful, but wicked, angel.
Blessings.
~ NOTE: I am a dedicated and baptized member of the unified worldwide Christian Congregation of JEHOVAH'S Witnesses.
Upvote:1
Jehovah made angels with a free will.. like he did with humans. So its just a matter of choice. Satan has chosen himself to become an opposite of Jehovah
for more information : http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/2011171?q=devil&p=par The article is on our official website and is called 'Did God create the Devil?'
Upvote:8
Quoting from their 'Reasoning From the Scriptures Book':
"All of Jehovah's works are perfect; he is not the author of unrighteousness; so he did not create anyone wicked. (Deut. 32:4, Ps. 5:4) The one who became Satan was originally a perfect spirit son of God. When saying that the Devil "did not stand fast in the truth," Jesus indicated that at one time that one was "in the truth." (John 8:44) But, as is true of all of God's intelligent creatures, this spirit son was endowed with free will. He abused his freedom of choice, allowed feelings of self-importance to develop in his heart, began to crave worship that belonged only to God, and so enticed Adam and Eve to listen to him rather than obey God. Thus by his course of action he made himself Satan, which means "adversary." -- Jas. 1:14, 15
More post
- 📝 Is "formal schismatic" a useful category in practice?
- 📝 Where does Calmet write when idolatry began?
- 📝 Why are Sts. Peter and Linus not on the cool scrollbar-of-the-popes on vatican.va
- 📝 What core LDS doctrine(s) contradict the Protestant doctrine of salvation by grace through faith?
- 📝 What's the Greek manuscripts of John with the oldest discovery date?
- 📝 Who is the object of the New Covenant and what are it's terms?
- 📝 Is there precedent for a carnivorous interpretation of Genesis 1:30?
- 📝 Why would Jesus begin to be called the Son of God?
- 📝 In John 8, were the scribes and pharisees guilty of the sin of Fornication / Adultery?
- 📝 Has anybody heard the word "beatified love"? Is there a biblical passages or traditions to support this word?
- 📝 How do Anglicans, who recognize apostolic succession, trace theirs?
- 📝 What does D.A. Carson mean about the wrath and the love of God shown in the OT "in experience and types" and made clearer in the NT?
- 📝 When, and by whom, did what we now call Easter Sunday first become known as Resurrection Sunday?
- 📝 Does God feel and appreciate the resiliency of our suffering?
- 📝 Did Abraham, David and Solomon think having many wives was sin?
- 📝 A question about Faith and Law before Sinai
- 📝 Are there any real statistics on how many people fall away?
- 📝 Where did the "humans become angels" tradition come from?
- 📝 How do you get to be in Christ?
- 📝 The stone in front of our Lord's Tomb
- 📝 Did Blessed Virgin Mary hide her pregnancy from public eye?
- 📝 What are the "evangelical counsels"?
- 📝 When was the first appearance of the term "Peccatum Gravis" in Catholic Theology?
- 📝 What is the Jehovah's Witness official viewpoint of 12-step programs like AA?
- 📝 How is the Shema of Deuteronomy reconciled with the doctrine of the Trinity?
- 📝 What was the forgers intentions for doing their forgeries?
- 📝 What does a returning Catholic who contracted marriage in a Protestant church need to do when the spouse wants to remain Protestant?
- 📝 Why aren't I considered illegitimate?
- 📝 What are Christian explanations for the similarities between ecstatic spiritual experiences of Christians and those of other religions?
- 📝 What was the explicit purpose of Jesus' question to James and John?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 According to the Jehovah's Witnesses, where does the Devil come from?
- 📝 From where does the tradition come that Mary rode on a donkey to Bethlehem prior to the birth of Jesus?
- 📝 Where does the tradition come from that Noah's sons went separate directions?
- 📝 Where does Taizé Community phrase, “Stay With Me” come from in the bible?
- 📝 Where does the idea come from that the KJV is the proper bible to be used?
- 📝 From where does the doctrine that there is no time in heaven originate?
- 📝 From where do Jehovah's Witnesses derive the doctrine that Jesus was and now is Michael the Archangel?
- 📝 Where does the story of the spider on the cross come from?
- 📝 Where does the Catholic tradition that Mary did not have pain giving birth to Jesus come from?
- 📝 Where does the story of "the Cross on top of Adam's Skull" come from?
- 📝 Where does the belief that the Earth is relatively young (6000 years) come from?
- 📝 Where did the belief that Saul fell from a horse come from?
- 📝 Where does this famous St. Augustine quote about the repentant thief come from?
- 📝 Where does the belief the Bible is written by the Holy Spirit come from?
- 📝 Where did the hierarchical designations of priest, cardinal, bishop, and pope come from in the Catholic church?
- 📝 Where does the book of Job come from?
- 📝 From where did the Pearl of Great Price come and how did it become recognized as Scripture in the LDS church?
- 📝 According to Jehovah’s Witnesses what does the name Immanuel mean in light of their belief that Jesus is a created being and not God?
- 📝 From where did the Book of Abraham come and how did it become part of LDS Scripture?
- 📝 From where does the teaching on women in ministry come?
- 📝 Where in the Bible does the greeting ("Dominus Vobiscum") used at Mass come from?
- 📝 According to Catholic teaching, where does the disorder stem from?
- 📝 How do Jehovah's Witnesses understand the essential nature of hell, and how does it differ from that of Seventh-day Adventists?
- 📝 Where does the concept of "unconditional love toward others" come from?
- 📝 According to authoritative Catholic exegetes, does 2 Cor. 6:14 forbid Christians from working with non-Christians in the workplace?
- 📝 Where did all the water come from and go during the flood?
- 📝 Where does the LDS section heading for 1 Corinthians 7 come from?
- 📝 According to Biblical Unitarianism does belief in the Trinity disqualify one from salvation?
- 📝 According to Jehovah's Witnesses what does the Bible say about Easter?
- 📝 Where does the practice of sprinkling as a mode of baptism come from?