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Is God More Powerful Than Satan?

The following article addresses the idea that God allowed Satan the Devil to “pre-counterfeit” over a dozen “god/man saviors” in an attempt to confuse people when the real savior, Jesus, came on the scene.  Many Christians use this explanation of ‘Satan the Devil’ pre-counterfeiting the story of the Messiah to justify the incredible similarities between Jesus and the many other “saviors” who preceded him.

For those who believe in the pre-counterfeit argument that the traditional Satan the Devil did it- 

Let’s ask:

Is Satan the Devil less / equal / or greater in power - compared to YHWH (God)?

Using the theology that there is a “Satan the Devil,” as is popularly believed, consider the following:

The Background:

The pre-counterfeit argument has been mentioned to me more than once when I’ve been asked about the numerous other “Messiahs” (Mithra, Krishna , Buddha, Horus, etc.) that exist in the history of the world and its nations. They all tend to have similar to identical purposes, miracles, and hope for eternal salvation, as that which is found in the story of Jesus.  Was Satan the Devil responsible for counterfeiting the plan of God in advance- as an attempt to mislead people and turn them away from the true son of God and savior of the world? The idea of “pre-counterfeiting” has been promoted by the church since at least Tertullian, as he made just such a claim in defense of the striking similarities between Jesus and the other pagan god/man saviors. 

Does this possibility make sense or not? Let’s examine it and see.

While it is widely recognized that the pages of the bible do not support a teaching in a personality identified as, “Satan the Devil”- a spirit being, fallen angel, arch enemy of God, that concept did infiltrate the early church through the adherents converted from paganism and other related religions via the proto-Catholics.

If we examine every possible use and appearance of an adversary to God, is there ever a single time that this terrible entity did something God/YHWH opposed him doing? Supposing there is not a recorded episode of defeating God’s will- then for the premise that this was all a ‘counterfeited-in-advance’ scheme, it would require it to be in approval with whatever plan YHWH has. Would that be a fair conclusion?

Meanwhile-

Who does this describe? Now don’t peek and look ahead for the answer, just answer by the acts/events/ and rituals you see, thank you:

His father is God and his mother is/was a mortal virgin. He is born in a cave or humble cow shed before shepherds. A star/ angels announced his birth in Bethlehem . He escaped a death threat when he was an infant because God told one of his parents of the danger and to flee. There is an absence of history between age 12 and 30. He was baptized with water at age 30 by someone known as a “Baptizer”. This Baptizer would later be beheaded. He offers his followers the chance to be born again through the rites of baptism.  He had twelve close followers (although some think it more). He was carried off to a high mountain to battle (testing by) his arch-rival. He walked on water, cast out demons, healed the sick, restored sight to the blind. He "stilled the sea by his power." In Bethany (originally Bethanu in Hebrew, but altered anciently to Bethany ) he would raise Lazarus (originally Elasar) from the dead. He was transfigured on a mountain and is also known for “The Sermon on the Mount.” He rides triumphantly into town on a donkey while people wave palm leaves to honor him. He is crucified with two thieves and dies at Easter time as a sacrifice for the sins of the world. After his death he is buried in a tomb; descends to Hell, then on the third day he rises from the dead and ascends to heaven in glory. His followers await his return as the judge during the Last Days, at which time he will rule for 1,000 years. His death and resurrection are celebrated by a ritual meal of bread and wine, which symbolize his body and blood. He ascended into heaven where he sits at the right hand of the Father judging the world.

OK, so who is this describing?

It sure sounds like it describes Jesus Christ of Christianity- BUT the above description actually describes one who came more than 2,000 years before the time of Jesus (the) Christ!

The above is a description of the Egyptian God-man Savior Horus and the Osiris-Horus Myth. There are many more “similarities” that have not been listed, such as Horus being called “KRST” (as in, Horus the KRST), but are readily available for anyone wanting to know.

Now, this is the complication that the supposition that this was all done in advance by Satan does not address:

If ancient Israel was told by God to come out from among them- ancient Egypt and its ways (Egypt types/sin – to co-mingle quotes from the Tanakh and New Testament Paul) and touch not the unclean thing, wouldn’t it be fair to say that worshipping the false God-man or messiah Horus was an unclean thing? The bible calls such worship an abomination.

If worshipping Horus is unclean, then should we not also conclude that worshipping Krishna , Buddha, Mithra, and 24 other world cultural Messiahs – all with striking similarities to the acts, events, conduct, and message of Jesus Christ, and all predating Jesus, is also unclean and condemned by YHWH? It would seem so, based on the many biblical statements against these pagan practices and forms of worship.

The Problem:

Then, why does YHWH go through all this trouble of separating Israel from ancient Egypt in the Exodus; giving them specific life instructions; a national code of conduct; and a specific priesthood to administer this from – if, in the New Testament YHWH is going to introduce a virtually indiscernible messiah from the one all the world, and ancient Egypt- specifically, already worships en mass on every continent on the planet Earth?

Do you see the problem?

The problem is taking Israel out of a culture and pagan belief system in Egypt, totally replacing the belief system with what we find in the Tanakh/Old Testament – even under penalty of death for certain infractions. Then 1500 years later replacing that belief system with one virtually identical to the very one God condemned and removed Israel from in the Exodus in the first place, which we call Christianity today. It appears to be a complete reversal at every level.

So, what do we do with that? Is that the way the mind of God/YHWH works? Did Satan the Devil pre-counterfeit the story of Jesus in an attempt to thwart the plan of God? Why would God allow this and why would God change his mind?

Then, of all things, those closest to practicing the teaching God gave to Moses and Israel look at this “new” instruction, and to this day as a group say, “Forget it, YHWH says this is wrong and it does not come from the Tanakh”. What would you say?

In fact, there are many more problems, but this paradox is a significant problem for the argument that Satan, a supposed fallen angel, or even specifically created being, did this dastardly deed in advance, when it would have had to have been ok’d by YHWH himself.

This leads us to two final serious points to ponder:

1) YHWH approves of the wicked, sinful behavior done by Satan, that lead most of the world to follow abominable worship practices, and approves the worship of Jesus, even if it is identical to worship of pagan deities. 

or 

2) YHWH disapproves of Satan's behavior but is powerless to stop it.

Richard Fix

December 2007

Please send me your thoughts and ideas.