Formerly known as Faith Beyond Belief
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“I could well believe that it is God’s intention, since we have refused milder remedies, to compel [Christians] into unity, by persecution even. Satan is without doubt nothing else than a hammer in the hand of a benevolent and severe God.”
C. S. LEWISWho do you believe in most, God or Satan? I hope your first response is something like, “I believe in both, but not for the same reasons.” Or, maybe you thought, “I believe in Satan because I believe in God and take Him at His Word.” Both are good answers, but the real question is, what do you mean by believe? You see, a lot of people who say they believe in God don’t give evidence that the God they believe in has much to do with their actual, personal lives. He evidently brings them little joy, little hope, little peace, and little, or no fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23). One might well be tempted to echo the epistle of James and ask, what good does that kind of faith do?
I’m afraid for many people Satan is treated with much the same lip service. He’s believed in, but not taken seriously; in other words, he is rarely seen as the motivator behind much of the world’s awfulness. Yet that is what Scripture teaches. Consider, for example, that when Ananias and Sapphira lied about the size of their financial gift to the church, Peter stated explicitly that it was Satan who inspired them (Acts 5:3). And John tells us just as plainly that Judas’ betrayal of our Lord was equally inspired by the wicked one (John 13:2).
We must not forget that the Bible makes it clear not all the devil’s wicked deeds are as obvious as lying, or betrayal with intent to commit murder. In the parable of the Sower, Jesus attributes spiritual absentmindedness to the devil. When the gospel message is not immediately understood, Jesus says, “the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart” (Mat. 13:19). The end for such persons is, of course, an eternity in hell. Unlike drunkenness, spiritual absentmindedness may not cause automobile accidents or start bar fights, but it is a worse thing than even murder if it leads a soul to eternal damnation.
So far, we’ve mostly looked at how Satan wrecks individual lives. But it’s time, I think, that we look at the bigger picture and examine the source behind much of the world’s afflictions. Here, I’m reminded of something the great English preacher Martyn Lloyd-Jones said way back in the 1960s. “I have tried to show” he wrote in The Christian Warfare, “that the modern world, and especially the history of the present century, can only be understood in terms of the unusual activity of the devil and ‘principalities and powers’ of darkness.” Lloyd-Jones preached the importance of Satan’s worldwide impact to the degree that, in explaining the world’s troubles, he argued “that a belief in a personal devil and demon activities is the touchstone by which one can most easily test any profession of Christian faith today.”
Indeed, too many modern Christians speak of evil as a theoretical concept, accrediting expressions of it to psychological problems or mental illness, or very possibly, to something as remote from personal responsibility as unavoidable circumstances. It is time, I think, that we put a stop to such nonsense. Nowhere in Scripture is anyone’s evil behaviour excused, even for those who’ve grown up ignorant of the God of Abraham. I know that in myself, whenever I’ve sinned against God and man, I’ve always had a choice. I did not have to lie. I did not have to lust. I did not have to break a promise and disappoint my friends or family. I’ve done all those things. But I did not have to do them, and in my heart, I always knew, even in the moment of sinning, that God held me accountable. I also knew that often the suggestion to do the evil thing came from outside my own mind. My flesh was doubtlessly attracted to the thing being suggested, otherwise I would not have listened, but to my shame, there have even been moments when some part of me was grateful for the planted thought.
If you’ve read this far you may be thinking, OK, I agree with everything Parker has said (or maybe you disagree), but why is he bringing up all this Satan stuff now? Here’s why. In the last few months something has changed in the ongoing battle with Satan. As explained in the preceding paragraphs, Satan loves to work in the shadows. He plants a thought in the mind of a husband or wife, and then stands back to admire the matrimonial turmoil. Each blames the other for the divorce, and Satan is content to remain the real, but hidden inspiration behind it all. Or perhaps he inspires a book, such as Marx’s Communist Manifesto, Darwin’s On the Origin of Species or Descent of Man, Nietzsche’s Beyond Good and Evil or Mohammed’s Quran and looks forward to enjoying the centuries of warfare and destruction that follow. He is perfectly happy to let human authors take the credit for what is, in fact, his work.
But occasionally, when it appears his efforts have paid off to the point that the world is convinced God is the bad guy and Satan is the hero, he will step from behind the curtains and attempt to take centre stage. Historically, it has never worked out well for him, but he can’t help himself. He steps forward repeatedly—only to be brought down to ruin—because he simply can’t resist the lure of receiving worship that rightfully belongs to God.
And he’s doing it again. Over the past couple of weeks Target, no longer in Canada, but impossible to forget, has come out with a new “PRIDE” collection that features clothing designed by Eric Carnell, a Britisher with “satanist views” whose sweatshirts and tote bags carry messages such as “live laugh lesbian,” “cure transphobia not trans people,” “too queer for here,” and “Satan respects pronouns.” If you ever suspected a possible connection between Satan and transgenderism, Eric removes all doubt. Last year he posted the following on Instagram: “Being called a demon is something I can cope with, and the idea of a trans demon is pretty … cool, most of my work focusses (sic) on gothic or dark and satanic imagery juxtaposed with bright colours and LGBT+ positive messages.”
Target thinks it is catching the crest of a wave. And maybe it is, despite immediate pushback from many, now former, shoppers. As long ago as 2019 Global news in Canada was publishing laudatory articles about “The Rise of the Satanic Temple in Canada,” in which it pointed out that even four years ago chapters existed in Atlantic Canada, Toronto, Montreal, Edmonton, Calgary, Saskatchewan and Winnipeg. And last month more than 800 people from all over the world gathered in Boston for what was billed as the world’s largest gathering of Satanists, featuring such esoteric rituals as “unbaptisms” (you can guess what that means), satanic weddings, all kinds of related merch, and calls for increased political activism in Satan’s name (again, you can guess what kind of politics attendees were encouraged to support). Speaking of merch, in an unholy parody of a children’s song, parents can now provide their children with a video of an animated goat singing: “Satan’s not an evil guy, he wants you to learn and question why. He wants you to have fun and be yourself—and by the way there is no hell.”
This article is already too long, but I must offer two observations before I close. First, I used to think that progress away from Christianity stopped with atheism. But there is evidence that for a growing number the downward trajectory takes them from some form of faith, to progressive faith, to no faith, to atheism, to one final step, Satanism. Explaining why he was no longer an atheist, an attendee at the Boston SatanCon named Typhon Nyx told a BBC reporter, “Satanism stands for everything I believe in, including bodily autonomy, compassion, respect, (and) science. . .. The appeal of Satan is that he is the accepting one, the inclusive one, and someone I can identify with.”
My second conclusion is that Nyx has revealed our adversary’s eternal appeal. Except for Satan’s name being attached, much of the world, including too many Christians, and—horrible thought—too many pastors, embrace his version of the good. And if what that means isn’t already obvious, let me spell it out. These people hate Jesus (and remember, most of “these people” are not professed Satanists). But Jesus is in heaven, beyond their reach. Which means their ire is focussed on self-identified followers of Christ. Are you one of those? If so, know this. What they wish they could do to Jesus they are now determined to do to you. Are you ready to stand in the day of testing? Am I? God help us! He will, and Satan’s doom is sure, just as Martin Luther sang so long ago. But before the Reformation triumphed, a host of martyrs sang their way through torture to triumph. Our turn to stand with the faith heroes of yesteryear is now upon us. God grant us faith to stand.
