If you were Satan....

[Athetotheist]

I remember a TV preacher once asking his broadcast audience, "If you were Satan....." I don't remember the rest of the question, but I seem to remember that he was talking about prophecy and arguing that Satan was up to some diabolical mischief ("If you were Satan, isn't that what you would do?").

A lot of detail in Christian scripture about what is to happen before Jesus returns is tied to the activity of "Satan". The appearance of the "antichrist", in particular, is supposed to be part of Satan's last gambit before he goes down to utter defeat.

Since it was asked of me how I would react if I were Satan, I think it's fair for me to answer. I know that "Satan" is supposed to be a being of superhuman intelligence, but I can't help thinking that if such a being actually existed and if I were that being, I could do a lot better.

If I were "Satan", I would scrap the antichrist plan. If it's all laid out in the Bible, then everyone knows what to expect and you've lost the element of surprise. With that one simple deviation from the prophetic scenario, the whole thing would be gummed up. No antichrist, no mark of the beast, no abomination of desolation, no anything I was supposed to do as Satan to set the stage for the return of Jesus. And without those prophetic components in place, Jesus couldn't return to fulfill prophecy. And how could anyone stop me? I wouldn't be taking some action which could be prevented; I would be defeating prophecy by not taking action.

So let me pass the preacher's question on to you. If you were "Satan", what would you do----or not do----to thwart prophecy?

[The Nice Centurion]

[Replying to The Nice Centurion in post #59
You say that you

wanted to give an example of how many complications come with the want to find a possible answer to your OP.

.....but you still seem to be trying to come up with an answer.....

I try to find possible answers. Already presented one with help from Robert Prize. You didnt like it, so I try to dig deeper for you.

[Replying to The Nice Centurion in post #59

For all we know ; isnt it possible that Satan already tried several times to win Armageddon without fullfilling Antichrist and other too obvios prophecys - But each time the Trinity made a clear vote that the second coming is to be called off ?

Without an antichrist, there won't be an Armageddon. And if the second coming were called off, that's all "Satan" would need.


How many straws are you going to grasp at?

Hey, I myself wanted to present the theory that the antichrist is needed for Armageddon.

Again, how can you know what Satan needs? I still suppose that you cannot read his mind.
I would rather hold it plausible that he needs the second coming, or else there is no Armageddon to win.

I want to earnestly present possible answers (not THE ANSWER, for I neither can read the mind of that Big Boss) to your OP.

Instead of applauding me, you accuse me of grasping for Straws. That is not rationale of you.

[Athetotheist]

[Replying to The Nice Centurion in post #61

Again, how can you know what Satan needs? I still suppose that you cannot read his mind.
I would rather hold it plausible that he needs the second coming, or else there is no Armageddon to win.

You would rather hold that plausible than hold it plausible that he simply doesn't exist?

Why would "Satan" need Armageddon?

[The Nice Centurion]

[Replying to The Nice Centurion in post #61

Again, how can you know what Satan needs? I still suppose that you cannot read his mind.
I would rather hold it plausible that he needs the second coming, or else there is no Armageddon to win.

You would rather hold that plausible than hold it plausible that he simply doesn't exist?

The Question for his existence was not part of the OP.
Au Contraire the OP implied that we should (for the Sake of argument) assume that Satan does exist.

[Replying to The Nice Centurion in post #61
Why would "Satan" need Armageddon?

Supervillains seem to be obsessed with the Idea of having that one last final fight with their Nemesis.

Michel Vaillants Nemesis "Team Leader" comes to my mind whose most interesting effort on that is in the animated series:
Team Leader wants to have one final car race against the Boss of the Vaillant Team. He invites his adversary and both leaders forbid their Teams to interfere.
As they drive to the dueling ground. they first have to get rid of their teams, who both follow to give their leaders unaprecciated help.
The Team Leader reveals that he has holed a whole mountain in the desert and built a modern car racing arena therein just for this one fight.
That gives an insight in how supervillains spend their money.

If you need more examples, see how Spider-mans enemys are fixated on him. The Storyline "Kravens Last Hunt" is a prominent example.
And Doctor Octopus is that obsessed with Spider-man, that he managed to put his mind into Spider-mans body before dieing. Than he live his enemys live for two real live years. (In the Superior Spider-man Series.)

That stated, I myself do not necessarily think that this is Satans (sole) reason to need Armageddon.
I suspect that Satan has a more rationale reason.

I suspect he needs to crush the trinity for the same reason Wallenstein needed to crush his military enemys.
To win a war.

[Athetotheist]

[Replying to

The Nice Centurion in post #63
Supervillains seem to be obsessed with the Idea of having that one last final fight with their Nemesis.

You're giving "Satan" the same motive as that of cartoon supervillains?

I suspect he needs to crush the trinity for the same reason Wallenstein needed to crush his military enemys.
To win a war.

How would nullifying Christian prophecy not accomplish that ?

[The Nice Centurion]

[Replying to

The Nice Centurion in post #63
Supervillains seem to be obsessed with the Idea of having that one last final fight with their Nemesis.

You're giving "Satan" the same motive as that of cartoon supervillains?

You see a reason to differ? Please enlighten me! Is Satan necessarily more than an ancient version of todays Cartoon or Comic Book supervillain?

[Replying to

The Nice Centurion in post #63

I suspect he needs to crush the trinity for the same reason Wallenstein needed to crush his military enemys.
To win a war.

How would nullifying Christian prophecy not accomplish that ?

If Kraven never went on his Last Hunt, how could he have accomplished burying Spider-man alive and finally defeating him afterwards by setting Vermin (his version of the Antichrist?!) on him?

Furthermore I find that we must avoid the danger of assuming/taking for granted way too much when it comes to unproven beings of whom we also have not that much source material.

I plan making a thread about that common error.

We have much more Marvel tales with Kraven, than we have Bible verses with Satan!

[Athetotheist]

[Replying to

The Nice Centurion in post #63
Supervillains seem to be obsessed with the Idea of having that one last final fight with their Nemesis.

You're giving "Satan" the same motive as that of cartoon supervillains?

You see a reason to differ? Please enlighten me! Is Satan necessarily more than an ancient version of todays Cartoon or Comic Book supervillain?

[Replying to

The Nice Centurion in post #63

I suspect he needs to crush the trinity for the same reason Wallenstein needed to crush his military enemys.
To win a war.

How would nullifying Christian prophecy not accomplish that ?

If Kraven never went on his Last Hunt, how could he have accomplished burying Spider-man alive and finally defeating him afterwards by setting Vermin (his version of the Antichrist?!) on him?

Furthermore I find that we must avoid the danger of assuming/taking for granted way too much when it comes to unproven beings of whom we also have not that much source material.

I plan making a thread about that common error.

We have much more Marvel tales with Kraven, than we have Bible verses with Satan!

Marvel tales are for entertainment. They're not written to make us believe that Spider Man and Doctor Octopus are real.

Make the suggestion that "Satan" isn't real and you get tremendous pushback from those whose entire worldview is threatened by your suggestion.

[The Nice Centurion]

Marvel tales are for entertainment. They're not written to make us believe that Spider Man and Doctor Octopus are real.

Make the suggestion that "Satan" isn't real and you get tremendous pushback from those whose entire worldview is threatened by your suggestion.

Donaldists live to spread the word that Donald Duck and Duckbourgh are real in our world!

Many Holmesians want nothing to do with the notion that Sherlock Holmes isnt real or isnt still alive!

Vernians believe that Jules Verne was somehow able (Time Machine?) to see the future, for how else was he able to write about it.

The only tremendous pushback I keep getting from you, just because I seem to be the only one who tries to satisfy your OP with a proper answer.

Strange!

[Athetotheist]

[Replying to The Nice Centurion in post #67

Donaldists live to spread the word that Donald Duck and Duckbourgh are real in our world!

Many Holmesians want nothing to do with the notion that Sherlock Holmes isnt real or isnt still alive!

Vernians believe that Jules Verne was somehow able (Time Machine?) to see the future, for how else was he able to write about it.

The only tremendous pushback I keep getting from you, just because I seem to be the only one who tries to satisfy your OP with a proper answer.

It doesn't matter what people believe about those works; those works were not written to be literally believed.

I have put forth two questions:

1. If you were "Satan", what would you do to thwart Christian prophecy

and....

2. If "Satan" chose to nullify prophecy by not fulfilling his part, how would that not accomplish his end?

Rather than answer those questions, you seem fixated on making excuse after excuse for assuming that "Satan" would just do everything he's supposed to do, so your answer hasn't yet been proper.

[The Nice Centurion]

It doesn't matter what people believe about those works; those works were not written to be literally believed.

I have put forth two questions:

1. If you were "Satan", what would you do to thwart Christian prophecy

and....

2. If "Satan" chose to nullify prophecy by not fulfilling his part, how would that not accomplish his end?

Rather than answer those questions, you seem fixated on making excuse after excuse for assuming that "Satan" would just do everything he's supposed to do, so your answer hasn't yet been proper.

A hundred years ago it was a common novelist trick, to write to be literally believed. A prominent example are the 26 Tarzan books by Edgar Rice Burroughs. The foreword of the first Novel states until this day that what follows is a true story brought to the author from a friend.

Ambrose Bierce wrote "The Vanishing of the farmer (Orion) Williamson" and another Vanishing Story about a boy as if they were true Storys. Until this day they are debated in Mistery-Forums as if true, by people who not even know that Ambrose Bierce wrote them.
And if they are told, they sometimes research and say that there is a rumor that A.B. put a foreword in the first printing of the book that this explicit storys are true, so they must be true.
Another Horror-Novelist put oil to the fire by claiming the story is true, but name (David Lang) and state were different.

1) Thwart prophecy could also mean that Satan thwarts what prohecy implies/shows; Him losing at the end.
2) Perhaps I tried to show that I find it rather improbable that Satan (thinks he) could win by nullifiing prophecy, (For: No fight, no win!) and answered your second question that way.

[Athetotheist]

[Replying to The Nice Centurion in post #69

Perhaps I tried to show that I find it rather improbable that Satan (thinks he) could win by nullifiing prophecy, (For: No fight, no win!)

No fight, default win.