Video: Why Satan (aka The Devil) is not in the Hebrew Old Testament

[patrolwagon]

This video explores how "Satan" as most people understand him (i.e. an evil bad guy) is non existent in the conceptual world of the Hebrew scriptures. 
 

In the Hebrew Bible "the satan" was more like a heavenly servant of God who was just doing their job. So the devil didn't make anyone do anything in the Old Testament.
 

[romansh]

Just curious ... how do your videos go down on more Evangelical fora?

[patrolwagon]

37 minutes ago, romansh said:

Just curious ... how do your videos go down on more Evangelical fora?

Good question, the "messed up bible stories" series is generally received pretty well.
My take on Noah's Ark (and its relation to other flood stories like Gilgamesh and Atrahasis) got a lot of criticism from Biblical literalists. 
Similarly, the Mark of the Beast video gets a lot of hate comments from what I can only imagine is the evangelical dispensationalists. 

So we'll call it mixed reviews, erring slightly to positive. 
 

Edited July 1, 2021 by patrolwagon

[PaulS]

Another excellent video, mate.

A lot more of this information from biblical scholarship and history is starting to get out into the public arena these days.  Previously much of this was already known in scholarly circles, but not shared with the general public and laity because it's either been held back by religious authorities perhaps out of 'fear' it will rock their religion, or it simply hasn't been presented by such scholars in an easy to digest manner.  Your videos go a long way to sharing this with ordinary people.

Keep up the good work.

[patrolwagon]

On 7/5/2021 at 11:49 AM, PaulS said:

Another excellent video, mate.

A lot more of this information from biblical scholarship and history is starting to get out into the public arena these days.  Previously much of this was already known in scholarly circles, but not shared with the general public and laity because it's either been held back by religious authorities perhaps out of 'fear' it will rock their religion, or it simply hasn't been presented by such scholars in an easy to digest manner.  Your videos go a long way to sharing this with ordinary people.

Keep up the good work.

Thanks, and that's the aim. There's such a huge gap between what scholars are writing > what is taught and seminary > what is preached from the pews.

[PaulS]

9 hours ago, patrolwagon said:

Thanks, and that's the aim. There's such a huge gap between what scholars are writing > what is taught and seminary > what is preached from the pews.

Definitely.  If Christianity is to continue to have any sort of relevance in the world, it has to do so on the basis of truth and facing the facts.  That's easier said than done for a religion that has for so long promoted a lot of messages that actually have no substantiation back to either Jesus or the OT.  It will be hard for Christianity to face, but if it doesn't, it will wither into oblivion in the future.  That could be a good thing when it comes to a Christianity that promotes what I would call poor messages, but I also think Christianity can be a benefit for some as an inspiration for living a fulfilling life, that some might find useful and it would be a shame to lose that as well.