em
s wi
Views
chur
often dif
intrepretations of
society
the gamut," said James M
rd. a professor of biblical studies
at Duke University Divinity School,
"all the way from people who believe
in a literal person who is Satan to
those who believe this a symbolic
figure of speech and who simply
dismiss the idea
"And there is just about every
notch in between those two extremes
with somebody sitting in."
The issue emerged recently in the
Southern Baptist denomination with
an adult Sunday school lesson intend
ed for use July 7 that brought a
stream of angry letters and telephone
calls to the denominational
publishing company. The lesson was
on Job, in which Satan strips Job of
his possessions, family and health as
I God's servant
&?' %y''
The Southern Bttftist Sunday
School Board promptly apologized for
the publicatkn, calling It an incorrect
interpretation of Satan and a depar
ture from traditional Southern Bap
tist teachings. The board initially
blamed the error on statements add
ed to Durham's manuscripts during
editing, hut later said the printed
lesson was "not unlike" the original
version, said Lloyd Householder,
communications director for the
board. Durham could not be reached
for comments this past week.
The lesson was distributed to 76,604
of the nation's 14.3 million Baptists
The Nashville-based denominational
publishing company has received at
least 155 letters and calls protesting
the interpretation. Householder said
The lesson was "diametrically op
posed to what the Southern Baptists
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as a servant
God pur;
denWI '??*
personal devil and at
tributes ,t to legend, "Ttnery said
But the Rev Roger H. Crook, a
Baptist minister wd professor of
religion and philoapohy at Meredith
College, said the Sunday School
Board's retraction was part of an ef
fort by conservatives to regain con
trol of the denomination
"If 155 complained about a
statement- that's a drop in the
bucket," Crook said. "They (board
members) have not taken a poll to see
what is the official Baptist position"
on Satan.
The debate boils down to where one
finds the focus for evil, he said.
It's a question of "whether I can
pass the buck or accept the respon
sibility myself," Crook said. "Did the
devil malce me do it? If he did, I'm
free of blame. The devil can be awful
ly convenient."
The differences cross denomina
tional lines. Few churches have a
doctrine stating what their members
should believe about Satan, so the
subject becomes intensely personal.
"The problem is you're touching on
such an age-old and deeply paradox
ical set of problems that no one set of
University
Chapel HiU.
TIm
creation of the universe and the fall of
man. than the Bible, said Efird, who
is editing ? series of short books on
contemporary Christian concerns
First printed in 1667, the poem
depicts Satan as an archangel who
seeks to overthrow God and is banish
ed from Heaven. On Earth. Satan
becomes God's anitthesis- the rulert
of fallen angels waging an unholy war
to win human souls.
But according to religious scholars,
the Hebrews had no concept of Satan
until about 586 B.C., after the Babylo
nian exile.
"Some say the Jews went into cap
tivity and brought the devil back with
them." said Allan R. Sharp, chair
man of the Deptl of Religion and
Philosophy at Atlantic Christian Col
lege in Wilson.
After the exile, two theologies on
the origins of evil began to taeklhape
and a picture of Satan emerged. The
first theology, the Wisdom Move
ment, is represented in the Old Testa
ment, Efird said.
Satan is mentioned only three times
in the Old Testament- in the books of
Zechariah, Job and Chronicles. In
each instance, "Satan is a servant of
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? it interpretation later proved
unsatisfactory as early Christians
wrestled with the sticky problem of
why a good God would allow an evil
presence in his court. That is when
the Apocalyptic Movement began,
Efird said.
"The Hebrew people began to try to
find a concrete personality to be the
leader of the forces of evil in the
universe as a counterpart to God," he
said. "'By the time you start reading
the New Testament, you've got
Satan... battling the kingdom of
God. ..It's a cosmic struggle, and we
humans are just a small part of it."
In modern interpretation, that
apocalyptical belief is firmly entren
ched in the teachings of fundamen
talist churches.
"The Bible speaks of two
kingdoms- the Kingdom of Light and
the Kingdom of Darkness," said the
Rev. Randy Cox, pastor of the First
Freewill Baptist Church in Raleigh.
"The struggle is under way today."
According to Cox's reading of the
Bible, Satan reigns over the Kingdom
of Darkness. He commands a host of
evil. demons who help him do his
work- tempting people with drugs,
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that by capturing the crowning act of
God's creation, which is man."
Man ultimately has the power to
resist Satan's temptations through
acceptance of Jesus Christ, he said.
The idea of an evil empire has been
adopted in the political rhetoric of
President fWagan, the Moral Majori
ty and the radical right, said Tyson,
of the UNC Dept. of Religion
But in a liberal or more moderate
theology, it's harder to separate the
good guys from the bad guys. Satan
becomes the symbolic representation
for the evil forces, often
psychological neuroses, within people
and society, Tyson said.
"The Hebrews were very graphic
in their descriptions," said the Rev.
A.D. Ellison, associate pastor of the
Hudson Memorial Presbyterian
Church in Raleigh. "We're heirs of
that- like it or not."
, According to Ellison's interpreta
tion of the scriptures, Jesus was
tempted in the desert noy by some
supernatural satanic being, but by his
own self-centeredness. "Satan" is the
force that accentuates self
centeredness in a person, he said.
"We're all two-legged Satans walk
ing around," explained Sharp of
Atlantic Christian College, a school
supported by the Disciples of Christ.
"Therefore, we don't need a head
honcho in charge. When you take the
collection of the sins of all of us and
put it together," he said, "it's a
sizable and real power- an evil power
in the world."
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Living
And
Growing
BY OR. CARL MUMPOWER
"Open Door Policy"
We need people, and there's little
room for debate. People can enrich
our lives in a variety of ways. They
can give us comfort. They can love
and support us. They can reward and
endorse us. These are some of the
more obvious ways that people can
help us. There are others, less ob
vious, that are of equal importance.
People can teach us. We can and do
learn much from watching how
others address life. As children, we
learn by observing our parent's ex
amples. As a rule, we apply their
model to our own behavior. This pro
cess goes on throughout life as we im
mulate others.
People can also reach us. A mind
I that becomes closed to the imput of
people is a mind that is dying. Fresh
insight and information keeps our
minds healthy. Stop such, and our
thinking becomes distorted and nar
row. People can reach beyond our
defenses, open our minds, and
refresh our thinking.
We learn a great deal by noting how
people respond to us. A mirror can
tell us how we look on the outside.
People can show us bow we are on the
inside. Their reactions to our
behavior gives us insight that is hard
found in the confines of our own
awareness. We need that mirror of
our personhood.
People keep us down to earth. Most
of our lives we try, successfully, to
keep ourselves in the road.
Sometimes, however, we steer off the
shoulder and open the door to danger .
Having people around serves as a
safeguard that encouraged a steady
hand on the wheel. We don't always
make the right decisions in life,
s. the insight of others can
a helping hand and sense of
for giving. Giving is i