Why Did God Put Satan And Us On Earth Together?

[Paladin D]

Someone I know posed an interesting question, which I had no answer for. She's Catholic, but was just curious after watching a few episodes of "Haunting" (a tv show on Discovery channel, which explores true stories of demonic encounters and exorcisms performed, some by Catholic priests). The question:

[b]"Why did God put Satan and his demons, and us, on Earth together in the same place?"[/b]

Thanks in advance.

[Era Might]

The demons have no bodies. I don't think they can be said to be "on earth."

Maybe she means why does God allow the demons to possess us?

[Paladin D]

[quote name='Era Might' post='1700753' date='Nov 13 2008, 06:25 PM']The demons have no bodies. I don't think they can be said to be "on earth."

Maybe she means why does God allow the demons to possess us?[/quote]

That, and/or why does God allow evil to be near us?

[Paddington]

A partial answer:
* God lets Satan attack Job and then uses the attack to teach Job and his friends a lesson.
* St. Paul talks about handing somebody over to Satan (excommunicated?) in order to learn not to blaspheme.
* There is a mutual relationship with people and Satan. Christ told some that they were of their father, the devil, and they wanted to do his desires.

Hope that helps.

[T-Bone _]

[quote name='Paladin D' post='1701395' date='Nov 14 2008, 01:26 PM']That, and/or why does God allow evil to be near us?[/quote]


Evil isn't a thing, but a mere absence of goodness.

[Guest]

very good question. i wonder if there's an answer in this lifetime ?

[kafka]

Job
{1:7} The Lord said to him, “Where do you come from?” Answering, he said, “I have circled the land, and walked around in it.”

So even though the fallen angels are pure spiritual beings they are attached to creation and in particular the earth since God permitted some of them to remain on earth after they were expelled from the heavens after their Fall instead of sending all to Hell. Why?

To provide a test of love for men. God will allow fallen angels to tempt men from time to time. These occasions are not the greatest or most frequent temptations at this time. Concupiscence is the first and most frequent, the evil influences of sinful secular society is second and less frequent than concupiscence since we are not always with other sinners but we are always with ourselves and it is more frequent thant the temptations of fallen angels since we are with other sinful men and susceptable to their influences much more than God permits fallen angels to tempt us. God only permits them to tempt us on occasion as a testing and probing, for us to grow spiritually, win merit, make up for our sins, etc. And Jesus prepared us for these when he was in the desert. But God does not give them free reign, and God does not permit a temptation beyond any unique human person's strength at any given time.

God also uses the presence of fallen angels on earth who havent been cast into hell as a punishment for sin. And some will be released from hell and allowed to do some limited things during the Tribulation as a punishment for sin and as a test to the Church who as a whole will be metaphorically crucified like her Savior.

Edited January 25, 2011 by kafka

[Guest]

[quote name='kafka' timestamp='1295987966' post='2204253']
Job
{1:7} The Lord said to him, “Where do you come from?” Answering, he said, “I have circled the land, and walked around in it.”

So even though the fallen angels are pure spiritual beings they are attached to creation and in particular the earth since God permitted some of them to remain on earth after they were expelled from the heavens after their Fall instead of sending all to Hell. Why?

To provide a test of love for men. God will allow fallen angels to tempt men from time to time. These occasions are not the greatest or most frequent temptations at this time. Concupiscence is the first and most frequent, the evil influences of sinful secular society is second and less frequent than concupiscence since we are not always with other sinners but we are always with ourselves and it is more frequent thant the temptations of fallen angels since we are with other sinful men and susceptable to their influences much more than God permits fallen angels to tempt us. God only permits them to tempt us on occasion as a testing and probing, for us to grow spiritually, win merit, make up for our sins, etc. And Jesus prepared us for these when he was in the desert. But God does not give them free reign, and God does not permit a temptation beyond any unique human person's strength at any given time.

God also uses the presence of fallen angels on earth who havent been cast into hell as a punishment for sin. And some will be released from hell and allowed to do some limited things during the Tribulation as a punishment for sin and as a test to the Church who as a whole will be metaphorically crucified like her Savior.
[/quote]
So why does God have to allow all this ? I don't get it. And that's not me being upset at God in anyway. He's the boss He does what he wants. But I wonder how many people will end up in hell who wouldn't have ended up there if they never had to deal with evil and satan.

[kafka]

there is no easy answer to this problem other than God Himself and what is revealed in Jesus, but I think you are looking at it from a the bottom up.

The fallen angels, evil influences of the world, and concupiscence cannot touch the will. Each human person has their freedom to cooperate with grace and choose good. Love can only be free and it is proven through suffering and difficulty.

Going to Heaven is not easy. It would be unjust for God to make it easy since what Heaven is: the union and vision of God, overflowing happiness, the love of Jesus, Mary and the Angels and Saints is boundless and eternal. So we are tested and probed before receiving the ultimate gift. But on the other hand God is merciful since one does not have to be as holy as the Saints to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. One simply has to die in the state of grace, and one is free to repent up to the moment of death.

We live in the world-age of the Crucifixion. We have to be united to Jesus and be like him to go to the Father. Evil is a profound and hidden occasion for us to cooperate with grace and go straight to God:

"You see, then, how I in my providence have reconciled the second world, humankind. The first world was left bringing forth troublesome thorns so that in all things humankind still finds rebellion. I did not do this for want of providence or concern for your well-being but with great providence and concern for you well-being, to take away your trust in the world and make you run straight to me, your goal. Thus the vexation of troubles, if nothing else, will make you raise your heart and will above the world. But people are so foolishly ignorant of the truth and so weak when it comes to worldy pleasures that even with all these wearisome thorns they find in them they seem unwilling to rise above them, unconcerned about returning to their homeland. Imagine, daughter, what they would do if they found perfect pleasure and painless rest in the world."

Edited January 25, 2011 by kafka

[Guest]

Who's that quote from ?

[kafka]

Sorry D-boy meant to post that. From Saint Catherine of Sienna from her book of private revelations: the Dialogues.

I'm off take care.

[Guest]

ok cool you take care to man. Godbless !

[phatcatholic]

To answer this question from a different angle, Satan and his demons are "prowling about like roaring lions" (1 Pet 5:8) b/c they were expelled from heaven. In Gen 3, we see that there already existed a spirit of evil who tempted man into pride. Thus, there must have been some type of fall among the angels that caused one of them to be evil. Job 4:18 says, “Even in his servants he puts no trust, and his angels he charges with error.” Traditionally, Isaiah 14:12-15 and Ezekiel 28:12-19 are also seen as referring to the sin and resulting fall of the angels.

Jesus himself says, “I saw Satan fall like lightening from heaven” (Lk 10:18). Perhaps the most explicit reference is from the second letter of Peter, where it is written, "For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of nether gloom to be kept until the judgment ... then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trial, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment" (2 Pet 2:4,9).

We see from these verses that there was a fall among the angels. That their expulsion was lead by St. Michael is one of the most enduring Christian symbols. In Christian artwork, he is seen with a sword, trampling the devil underfoot. In Scripture he is always fighting against evil (cf. Dan 10:13,21; 12:1; Jude 1:9). His role in the fall is most clearly seen in the Book of Revelation:
"Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they were defeated and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world--he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him" (Rev 12:7-9).

I hope that helps.

Pax Christi,
phatcatholic