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Pope says that Satan disguises Evil as Good


DieChecker

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http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/pope-francis-satan-seduces-by-disguising-evil-as-good-85265/

Vatican City, Sep 29, 2014 / 06:31 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On Monday’s feast of the archangels Pope Francis spoke of the ongoing battle between the devil and mankind, encouraging attendees to pray to the angels, who have been charged to defend us.

“He presents things as if they were good, but his intention is destruction. And the angels defend us,” the Roman Pontiff told those gathered for his Sept. 29 mass in the Vatican’s Saint Martha residence.

However this is not easy because Satan has invented “humanistic explanations that go against man, against humanity and against God” in order to destroy us.

“This struggle is a daily reality in Christian life, in our hearts, in our lives, in our families, in our people, in our churches,” the Pope went on, adding that “if we do not struggle, we will be defeated.”

This is something I point out every now and then. Just because something being done is apparently "good", does not mean it is intended for greater evil.

The motives behind a good act are more important then the act itself.

I don't agree with praying to angels however. Why not just pray directly to our (effectively) all powerful God directly?

I just thought it was interesting and perhaps worth discussion.

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http://www.catholicn...-as-good-85265/

This is something I point out every now and then. Just because something being done is apparently "good", does not mean it is intended for greater evil.

The motives behind a good act are more important then the act itself.

I don't agree with praying to angels however. Why not just pray directly to our (effectively) all powerful God directly?

I just thought it was interesting and perhaps worth discussion.

Here is a biblical contradiction for you guys:

John 10:10

New International Version

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

2 Peter 3:10

New International Version

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.

Luke 12:49

New International Version

"I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!

Edited by Mystic Crusader
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Does that also apply to things that might be well intentioned but turn out to have regrettable consequences? I wonder if there might be a political subtext to this, since both those explanations could well apply to most "humanitarian" interventions in far away lands that the governments of the west have indulged in in recent years, couldn't they.

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Of course they would say Satan disguises evil as good -- it gets around a lot of sticky theological problems. I do have trouble though how Satan manages to do it -- pure evil should not be able to do anything even hinting at good, and if he isn't pure evil he should be redeemable, in which case God in his infinite mercy and power should redeem him -- from an ethical perspective.

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Does that also apply to things that might be well intentioned but turn out to have regrettable consequences? I wonder if there might be a political subtext to this, since both those explanations could well apply to most "humanitarian" interventions in far away lands that the governments of the west have indulged in in recent years, couldn't they.

My, your mind set is so transparent -- here the issue is pure religion and you manage to make it into something political to support (rather poorly) your isolationist mania.
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Kind of sounds like he is referring to the war against ISIS and our soldiers being the angels that are defending us.

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My, your mind set is so transparent -- here the issue is pure religion and you manage to make it into something political to support (rather poorly) your isolationist mania.

Sorry Frank? It's not often you come out with something as and then-esque as that. Don't you think there might have been a reference to recent events here? Doesn't it sound as if he';s alluding to the notion that good people often do things that have bad consequences with good intentions?
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I have to agree this seemed quite a bit more conservative then I'd have expected from this usually more liberal Pope.

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Of course they would say Satan disguises evil as good -- it gets around a lot of sticky theological problems. I do have trouble though how Satan manages to do it -- pure evil should not be able to do anything even hinting at good, and if he isn't pure evil he should be redeemable, in which case God in his infinite mercy and power should redeem him -- from an ethical perspective.

To describe Satan as pure evil may not be accurate. Remember that he is not the opposite equal of God; he is still a created being under the sovereignty of God. His desire is mostly likely to lead people away from God in any manner possible. He's not doing good for good's sake; posing as good is just a military tactic.

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http://www.catholicn...-as-good-85265/

This is something I point out every now and then. Just because something being done is apparently "good", does not mean it is intended for greater evil.

The motives behind a good act are more important then the act itself.

I don't agree with praying to angels however. Why not just pray directly to our (effectively) all powerful God directly?

I just thought it was interesting and perhaps worth discussion.

I don't agree with praying to angels, either. I also don't believe in praying to Mary, or confessing your sins to man. All these things should be done by praying to God. That's why I don't agree with the Catholic religion. I feel it's a "lost" religion.

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To describe Satan as pure evil may not be accurate. Remember that he is not the opposite equal of God; he is still a created being under the sovereignty of God. His desire is mostly likely to lead people away from God in any manner possible. He's not doing good for good's sake; posing as good is just a military tactic.

I will repeat what I said -- If he's not pure evil, then he must be redeemable. If he is redeemable, and God surely has the power to do so, then it would be morally required of God to redeem him.

This is the problem with figures like Satan when you posit a benevolent, omnipotent God.

I don't agree with praying to angels, either. I also don't believe in praying to Mary, or confessing your sins to man. All these things should be done by praying to God. That's why I don't agree with the Catholic religion. I feel it's a "lost" religion.

Yea sure and yours isn't. Spoken like a true sectarian.
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I think I read that he was considering Retirement. Already....

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I will repeat what I said -- If he's not pure evil, then he must be redeemable.

We don't know if he's redeemable, since it's never stated whether or not he has a soul.

If he is redeemable, and God surely has the power to do so, then it would be morally required of God to redeem him.

Redemption is a choice of the individual, not a moral requirement of God.

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We don't know if he's redeemable, since it's never stated whether or not he has a soul.

Redemption is a choice of the individual, not a moral requirement of God.

I don't think you have the slightest notion of moral requirements or ethical imperatives, do you? Sometimes just not doing something is not enough -- we are morally required to do something else.
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I think I read that he was considering Retirement. Already....

It is probably a good idea that the old method of waiting until a Pope is doddering and unable to function and dies should be replaced by some sort of fixed term -- say maybe ten years. There is no particular reason from a theological point of view a Pope has to die in Peter's throne.

Also there should be some group who can decide a Pope is incapacitated (say with Parkinsonism) and call on the College of Cardinals to deal with it.

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I don't think you have the slightest notion of moral requirements or ethical imperatives, do you? Sometimes just not doing something is not enough -- we are morally required to do something else.

Oh, I'm quite aware of both. Your fallacy is in trying to bind an infinite God with human philosophy.

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What Christians cannot see is that an all powerfull God does not need Angels.It just shows that Monotheism is just like Polytheism with an entirely new package.The Catholic religion is just the Roman Imperial Cult where they prayed and performed rituals to deities under the God Jupiter.

Once you let go of the nonsense...It's obvious as Winnie the Pooh being fiction.

Come on...Angels, Demons, and a Devil floating around in hyperspace interacting with physical space while doing the creator of everything's will?

When will people drop the fairy tales and take care of the only thing we have for the benefit of all?

Religion is an addiction just like people messed up on drugs or obsessed with material things.True Spirituality is a balance and not worshipping things, even giving praise to a myth.

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The message is far deeper than has been expounded here quite frankly. He is asking us to look inside at our motivations and comprehend the motivations of others. As they say, "the road to hell is paved with good intentions". Understanding the nature of good and evil comes at many levels, he spoke as the leader of a Catholic Church to followers of a faith, that should hardly be a surprise.

As to praying to angels, these are interceding forces (not winged men and women, that was something that came about in the middle ages) who are given specific purposes and tasks, we pray to them based on the nature of the task as they are all aspects of God in action, the same way the wind and the rain are aspects of Meteorology in action as an example.

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Oh, I'm quite aware of both. Your fallacy is in trying to bind an infinite God with human philosophy.

Why then did God give us the ability to reason? If something is unreasonable then it is unreasonable.
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:huh: I read it twice, make sure I got it right. What he is saying is evil disguises itself as good. Angels are good so go to them for help with evil. What a minute, so they are good, so they must be evil. Yup, that makes a lot of sense. Satan wins again. :devil:

Libstak, I think you are mighty nice, but if that is what he was trying to say, then he should have just said it.

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