Do the Devil, Evil & Hell Exist?
One of the favoured topics of today but very rarely spoken about is the devil. There seems this intrinsic belief these days that there is no devil. Others go further and believe in Hell and the dire consequences awaiting the extremely evil people of the world. There are also those who believe that no matter what they do wrong, God will automatically forgive them of everything, and they will end up in Heaven – not correct.
Devil
Fundamental/Literal followers of many religions believe in the Devil. Their belief is based on a literal interpretation of their scripture and holy books, i.e. taking the written message word for word as the truth. The more liberal religions and denominations of those religions and others interpret their scripture more from a contextual viewpoint. From what the author/s meant for the day and age when it was written or orally told. And then relating this to today.
Evil
My personal belief, based on many decades of inspired messages from God, is that there is no devil as such, but that there is definitely considerable evil throughout this world. Evil occurs when we choose to do something against God or God’s teachings knowing this to be wrong. When this occurs, the person is choosing No God to God for that moment in time. The person, through their individual free will, is freely moving away from God. Evil influences many of our decisions and choices. It is we who are making a choice. It isn’t the devil or God or anyone else. We are responsible for our own decisions, nobody else is. These choices we make, good, bad or indifferent, are our own personal choices. We then must take full responsibility for these decisions.
The concept of the ‘devil’ does exist but in the form of the force of evil. Evil people or people’s evil influences, etc., impact on us and our decisions. There is no actual gigantic, other-worldly evil force pushing us towards an evil outcome.
It was quite easy historically for people to explicitly believe in the devil. Why? Without being flippant, humanity often craves for a ‘goody’ and its counterweight, the ‘baddie’. It is easily accepted and understood. Yet, in this circumstance, the reality is way beyond humanity’s ability to comprehend. There is no devil. But there is so much evil in various peoples’ beliefs and behaviours, though.
Forgiveness – The Final Option
After our lifetime on earth, there will be one final option for everyone, no matter how evil, to turn back to God – to be forgiven for their evil ways. This is because God is absolute love and by definition, gives everyone a final chance out of absolute love. At the moment of a person’s death, God will give the person one last chance to decide on God or no God. Those who choose no God will be banished to Hell.
Hell & Purgatory
Hell is an existence where the evil exist in total isolation, without there ever being a chance to return to God. Catholics also believe in an existence called Purgatory, where the person who died chose God but wasn’t pure enough to actually go straight to Heaven. While in Purgatory, these people continue their growth and free choice to move to God in Heaven.
Overview
Evil – YES
Hell – YES
Forgiveness – YES
Devil - NO
Text and Image - Copyright © 2019 Bryan Foster
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