Well, I hope the title of this post has captured your
attention for the next minute or so.
Whatever you conceive it to be, hell does exist all right!
It may be an ever-burning everlasting fire mixed with the acrid smell of
burning flesh and sulphur. Or it may be just a state of consciousness in the
total absence of God’s presence and love.
When I was at school, many moons ago, a schoolboy described
hell as being upside-down for eternity in a pile of manure. Now, there’s an
image you’d probably never thought of.
And as sure as hell exists we can be certain that the devil
exists too.
He is not just a euphemism for evil, wickedness and
wrong-doings. He is a living being, with us here and now, every day, and intent
on the destruction of souls.
As Christians we cannot possibly believe in God and not
believe in the devil. Yet, sadly for us, and fortunately for him, he has been
cleverly air-brushed away from our sermons and our churches and our lives.
When is the last time you heard a sermon on Sunday about the
dangers of the devil? I haven’t for at least a lifetime!
Yet, the devil belongs to the priest’s sermon as surely as
God does.
You wouldn’t expect to drive on a perilous road without any
warning signs of sharp bends, steep hills, and blind corners, would you? Yet we
seem happy to live our lives oblivious of the very existence of a cunning and
dangerous enemy ever eager to lead us to damnation when we least expect it.
There are indeed people who believe in the devil to the
point of worshipping him. Whilst I cannot understand why anyone should wish to
do so, at least I acknowledge their honesty in so doing; which is more honest
than the millions of so-called Christians who attend church every Sunday yet
don’t know exactly what to believe.
In December 2007, I understand, the Pope issued a directive
to the Church to train and appoint priest exorcists in every Diocese to combat
the spread of Satanism.
Well, at least he believes in the devil and is prepared to
do something about it.
More pertinent point, do we Christians everywhere,
regardless of denomination, actually believe in the existence of the devil as a
living being; or do we espouse the milder euphemism of what he represents?
Are there millions of Christians everywhere sleep-walking
their way into hell?
good post-reminds me of the Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis
ReplyDeleteThank you Melanie. C S Lewis must have been a follower of this Blog.
DeleteGod bless.
Very, very, good post, Victor. People need to understand that satan exists. I rarely hear priests mention satan these days and this could be part of the reason so few believe he exists. I guess it's not "politically correct" to mention the devil or hell these days. Sigh. Thank you for writing about this.
ReplyDeleteYes, your title definitely grabbed my attention! A perfect picture too :)
Thank you Mary. Sadly, priests don't often mention the devil in their sermons. They're afraid their congregation won't like it.
DeleteGod bless you and thank you for your wonderful posts on your Blog.
When I first became a Christian, Victor, I was amazed that people still believed in the devil. It seemed medieval. But, through teaching and a bit more maturity, it all began to make perfect sense. It makes me wonder whether priests feel that their congregations aren't ready for the hard truths? Then, again, Jesus spike hard truths, didn't He?
ReplyDeleteI'm sensing my thoughts going off in a rambling direction, again... Time to go back to my little corner!
God bless, Victor:-)
Oops, a typo - I don't think Jesus actually spiked anything, as far as I know. My iPad doesn't seem to get along with your blog (nothing personal!). It seizes up when I try to edit and, considering the speed at which I write and the mistakes I normally make, that's a little unfortunate:-)
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I really AM rambling now so God bless, again, Victor:-)
Thank you Vicky for your visit and comments.
DeleteIt seems to me that priests, and/or the Church, are concerned that peoples' hearts have hardened so much that they would most probably not believe if told about the devil. How would a priest describe the devil and hell? A being with horns and a pitch fork living in an ever burning fire? I suspect they'd better leave the subject unspoken.
It is disturbing that people are willing to believe in people being possessed by evil spirits, as they see them in the movies; and yet are not prepared to believe that such evil spirits (the devil) exist.
Thank you Vicky for joining in the conversation. God bless you and yours.
I can't remember ever in my life hearing a priest mention the devil during a homily.
ReplyDeleteThank you Victor.
You're right Daily Grace. Even in the recent Gospel reading on Sunday about Jesus being tempted in the desert, the priest's sermon was about something else totally forgetable.
DeleteGod bless you.
Very interesting post. I do believe in the devil and I do believe it is our accuser.
ReplyDeleteI recently heard a podcast where some theologians believed that Satan is not a fallen Angel, but an anthropological creation. It is less a personal being but more than a simple projection. It is real and spiritual, but it is created with every evil human act, which has a spiritual side to it, takes a life of its own, and it is there to tempt us and accuse us before God. This they call "The Satan".
Of course I don't adhere to this belief of the Satan, but I thought it was interesting enough to share.
Blessings,
Jose D. Pinell.
I'd never heard of that belief, Jose. Thank you for mentioning it.
DeleteAs you say, the devil exists all right, and is intent on leading us astray.
God bless you.
I like your prayers Colleen. I use them often. I remember a priest saying we should pray: "Go to the foot of the Cross satan where Jesus will deal with you". Apparently it works.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
There is a quote in a movie called The Usual Suspects (did that make it across the pond back in the 90's?) where Kevin Spacey says "The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist."
ReplyDeleteSadly, that is the truth.
God Bless you.
I don't remember the movie, Michael. But sadly, you're correct about the devil's trick.
ReplyDeleteGod bless you Michael.
"Are there millions of Christians everywhere sleep-walking their way into hell?"
ReplyDeleteYes, yes, yes. Because we'd 1000x rather do what we want to do, which often fulfills the promptings of Satan, than do the hard things Jesus asks of us. Jesus spoke about hell and the devil. If we're Christian, shouldn't we listen to Him?
Sad isn't it Barbara? We just let the devil win by not listening to Jesus.
DeleteGod bless.
Great post Victor. Sometimes when I'm miserable it helps to think that this is the devil trying to get his way. He's so subtle, works on our weaknesses and vulnerabilities.....yes, it's good to remember he's at work.
ReplyDeleteAndie
You know Andie, the closer we are to God the harder the devil works to lead us astray.
DeleteMay God bless you.
Yes, the enemy of our souls prowls around looking for whom he can devour. We need to get wise and savvy to his schemes. And send him packing far from us ...
ReplyDeleteHi Linda,
DeleteIt's true that the devil is always on the prowl, yet many are not aware of this.
Thank you so much for your visit. Much appreciated.
God bless.