Saturday 28 September 2024

Worming out of a deal with Satan?

An aphorism by Laeth that I linked a few days ago, talked of the possibility that some pre-mortal spirits could make a deal with Satan, before incarnation*.

Thus, some Beings, some humans, might be born with commitment to an evil agenda.

This could be understood as someone born strategically evil.


Such a person would also be prone to "normal" evil, which is selfish short-termism - which is, itself found with widely varying degrees - but perhaps never wholly absent". (I mean - we are all prone to impulses of self-gratification.)

This combination of a deal to serve the general, "global" plans of Satan (with hope of some later and desired reward) is in conflict with "doing what I want - Now".

I think this is seen in most people who have a leadership, strategic role in implementing Satan's agenda of evil - they try to worm out of doing their job towards fulfilling the long term deal, and instead will grab what they want, now.


This is one reason why it it a mistake to try and infer a strategy for evil. Even when there is an agenda, it will continually be contradicted and undermined by "petty" and personal corruption.

From a Christian perspective it is important Not to misunderstand such conflict between personal and Satanic evil, between evil strategies and immediate self-gratification.

When the focus is on strategic evil - such as the global totalitarian plans - this is continually being sabotaged by the minions of Satan trying to worm out of their deals - including deals made pre-mortally.


But this is Not a turn towards good.

The totalitarian order ("clown world") may be, probably is, collapsing into infighting among selfish, self-gratifying sub-groups and individuals.

But welshing on a deal with Satan in order to seek immediate corruption, is not virtue.


*It might be asked Why any spirit being would make such a deal? There might be a total incapacity for love; or a feebleness of loving impulse such that the being rejects the core divine principle of creation  (ie. God is love), and therefore joins Satan in opposition to God's creation - on the best terms he can negotiate, given that being's capabilities.

3 comments:

Francis Berger said...

It makes much sense to me, but I believe in things like pre-mortal existence and pre-mortal freedom/agency. Most Christians don't, at least not for us humans.

All the same, I find I'm often hard-pressed to explain the commitment to evil I see today. Laeth's aphorism and your elaboration on it help shed light on one possibility fueling some of the dogged opposistion to God and Creation.

Bruce Charlton said...

@Frank. I think there is a barrier to understanding in that many people seem to require that evil is irrational, when it is only irrational for one who values divine creation (hence love), and in the long term (and plenty of people ignore the long term, deliberately).

More deeply, the oppositional nature of evil is not understood because it requires that God be creating among pre existent Beings, and from a chaos of purposelessness.

Myself, I can and do experience the motivations of evil, including that greatest evil of nihilistic and destructive spite which I repent, but it still recurs.

I don't find it difficult to believe that there are plenty who do Not repent this impulse, but live by it - they say as much themselves.

Bruce Charlton said...

@laeth. Im sure that God intervenes all the time in innumerable ways, but at the individual level and with the most extremely recalcitrant beings. I can feel it, and also perceive it in the lives of others, but it is teaching not compulsion (compulsion being counter productive) hence as completely ignored as all other good teachings.

Wrt Heaven, I think it is of the essence that Heaven cannot be destroyed or disrupted. I envisage that resurrection is a "process" whereby we renounce all but our loving nature and motives, therefore difficulties will always have positive resolutions because all parties are mutually good in will.