>The idea that Christianity or Judaism believe that the devil is >a separate but (thankfully, not quite) equal power to God is >nonsense: it goes against the whole idea of monotheism. You can >accept or not accept the monotheistic God of Judeo-Christianity >as you see fit, but you can't accept it _and_ have this "other >power" floating out there, too. He works for God or he doesn't >exist.
I think that Enoch was a monotheistic Jew. Most of the common understanding of the devil comes from Enoch. Indeed, in the book of Jude, Enoch was quoted as scripture. The idea of the Satan as chief of the fallen angels who used their divinely given free will to oppose God doesn't contradict monotheism. It sorta puts Satan as a super-Hitler...someone who can convince others to do evil, and can do evil on his own, but a creature of God who sins. Non-monotheistic Judaism is seen earlier in the Old Testament, before, say, Isaiah and Jeremiah. The gods of the Egyptians, for example, were not considered a fantasy, but weaker gods than Yahweh. Dan M. _______________________________________________ http://box535.bluehost.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
