Is The Devil Real?

Tweet

This is a question that even theologians argue about at times. Does the devil exist or is it simply something made up by the church to frighten folks into not only being good, but to also listening to whatever the preachers tell us? When I was very young and an orphan, I along with the other children in one particular foster home always went to church on Sunday morning. After lunch, we were told that we could not go out and play unless we first watched Oral Roberts on television. Well, most of you know that Roberts was a hell fire and brimstone preacher and I have to say, it scared me silly. However, when I was about 12 or 13 I began to question the reality of a God that would allow the devil to forever torture lost souls. I just did not believe that a loving God would let such a thing happen. As I moved into my teens and young adulthood, I again pondered this question, because it became clearer to me that there was so much evil in the world: wars, murders, tortures, abuse and so on. Was the devil behind all of these horrible things or were some people simply put, just bad? I had an experience one time when I was suffering the early and intense pain of fibromyalgia. I was lying down attempting to rest when I was sure that the devil walked right into my bedroom and propositioned me. "Give me your soul and I'll take away your pain," he said. My response: "I love Jesus, Mary and all the angels and saints, and you will never get my soul!" When I think seriously about this event, I have to wonder if my mind was playing tricks on me. Was I lucid dreaming perhaps? Or did the devil really come after me during my weakest moment? I don't know for sure. I like to believe there is no devil and no hell. I like to think that lost souls are simply in limbo and that eventually, they will join the rest of the happy souls who go straight to heaven. Am I an idealist? Hard to say. There are people today who strongly believe the devil is real and in fact, can possess some people. In Russia, the clergy are performing more and more exorcisms. See: http://www.exorcism.ru/index.html What is your view on this? Do you think people in these videos are truly possessed by the devil or one of his crew, or do you think these people are just mentally ill and/or delusional?