There is a philosophical saying: “Nemo dat quod non habet” – no one gives what he does not have. While the Devil has free will (just like you and I) and this can be a powerful weapon for a pure intellect (as all angels are), he is not infinite like God. He might well be able to tempt Jesus with an escape route from the suffering he is about to endure, but can not offer to raise him from the dead. The temptations of the devil are subtle and tantalising (as indeed are most of our temptations to sin) but ultimately they are deceptions. You don’t really get what they offer, but harm yourself instead.

All this is pretty basic theology for anyone who was sincerely interested in the topic…

Let’s use an example: Joe has a basket full of candy bars. He offers one to Sally. Sally tells Joe, “Oh, I really shouldn’t!” Later, we see Sally eating a candy bar. Did she get it from Joe, or from someone else? We cannot know for certain, and that was all the author was trying to point out.

Yes it says that satan tempted Jesus but what satan tempted Jesus to do was to save himself and make a spectacle of God. Satan did not offer magic invincibility powers to Jesus. He told to Jesus to jump off the temple because if Jesus was who He said He was,

“He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.” (matthew 4:6)

It wasn’t satan’s powers that were going to save Jesus from the fall, it was God’s. So the idea that satan raised Jesus from the dead from that viewpoint isn’t biblical. And you have to look at it biblicaly if you are recognizing satan as being who satan is and the fact that he tempted Jesus.

Just thought I would set that straight as far as what the bible says.

To those of you who are seeking and trying to figure all this out, read what the bible actually says about God. It is very different from what most of us Christians make it out to be. Because we are sinful and live in a messed up world. But I believe the only hope to stop this sad way of life we idolize is by following Jesus and becoming more like Him.

Salvation doesn’t come through following a set of rules. It comes through knowing Christ.

Keep searching.

He does heal them, he gives them the strength to deal with the pain of loss, and helps them thru thier daily life.

Remember, God did not make them that way, MAN did.

Christians love to praise God when something goes *right*… yet, when something doesn’t go *right*, who do they blame?

Your daughter was out with three friends… they get in an unfortunate wreck and all die, except for your daughter… would you say that God loved your daughter more than the others? Or would you say, naw, it was the other girls time to go? Either way, to pretend that God favors one over another is a direct contradiction to what’s taught in the bible… discounting jewish people of course… being God’s favorite people… the very ones that don’t believe in Jesus Christ.

I could go on and on… do your research… and while you’re at it, find one, just *one* amputee that God “healed” by reforming the missing limb (without medical intervention)… and I’ll have to re-think everything all over again. As Jesus said himself… “test everything”. Probably the BEST advice this man ever gave to anyone.

Secondly, you’re saying you believe in a God that can and will/does send people to an eternal punishment. If you were in Gods place for just one measly day… is there any single person (young or old) that you could look squarely in the face and say, “my dear son/daughter, though I love you, you didn’t do this right or that right, so I must send you to a place of indescribable torment, forever! Could *you* do that to anyone at all? Doubt it. But if you say you would, how much more evil would that make YOU? If you were truly a loving and compassionate God, would it not have been better to create no one, considering the supposed consequences for the *majority* of all men, women and children that have *ever* lived?

Also, why on earth would God need to pay a ranson for our sins? Isn’t god “all-powerful”? If so, why the need to cut deals with a devil? And if sin was required for whatever reason, why the need to cut deals, again… it makes no sense.

Last point… your great, great, great grandfather broke a law when he was young… today you get a knock on your door… it’s the cops… they’re there to hold YOU accountable for your G-G-G grandfather’s mistake… sound fair to you? Yeah and neither does “original sin”… it’s all fear-based crap that makes people judge others and come to believe they are better than x, y or z. And all of this written by *anonymous* people who at that time believed the world was flat.

Get your head out of the stone-age. I did, after 25 YEARS of reluctantly believing this b.s.

To me, there must be some sort of higher power, but I don’t see him/her/it as what’s portrayed in any religion that needs to use FEAR to get converts. After all, if you have children, would you prefer they love you because they choose to or out of fear of what will happen if they don’t?

And how do you know you are not following the devil, if you believe in such a creature? How do you know the Bible wasn’t written by the devil to send you down the wrong path?