Dialogue Between Satan and God in the Book of Job

The following is an excerpt from the book of Job, presenting a dialogue between Satan and God:

quote:

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[Satan has just made himself present at a meeting of the "sons of God"]

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Job 1:7 -- And the LORD said unto Sa'-tan, Whence comest thou? Then Sa'-tan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. (8) And the LORD said unto Sa'-tan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God and escheweth evil? (9) Then Sa'-tan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought? (10) Hast thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. (11) But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face. (12) And the LORD said unto Sa'-tan, Behold, all that he hath is in they power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Sa'-tan went forth from the presence of the LORD

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This exchange of words clearly shows Satan's manipulative power, not just over the ordinary man, but over the Man Himself! He uses God's own ego and self pride against Him that He will grant Satan power to do evil unto His most humble and loyal follower.In what is clearly a brilliantly-worked episode of reverse psychology, Satan has outsmarted the Father of Creation!Whether Satan knows Job will give in or not is irrelevant; in fact, all the rest of the book is irrelevant to this one exchange. Were God truly as loving as you are supposed to believe, He would've not allowed such horrible treatment of such a loyal and good man. However, Satan puts up a challenge, and, instead of lovingly backing down, God accepts. Except, Satan's secret agenda is to gain power to do evil, as is customary of Satan. Whereas God is interested only in proving Satan wrong, and shows no regards to Job, but instead allows His God-ly pride to get in the way of His loving nature.This leaves two possibilities:1) God IS all-loving, except He loves Himself a slight bit more
2) God is less brilliant and genius than SatanNeither of these possibilities sits well for Christianity.I would like this topic to focus ONLY on the above passage of Scripture and its meaning. Please do not discuss the rest of the book of Job. References to Scripture which confirm or contradict any parts of my assessment are allowed.Thoughts?J0NFaith and belief? Bible study?Edited by Jon, : Added message to the administrator.

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In considering the Origin of Species, it is quite conceivable that a naturalist... might come to the conclusion that each species had not been independently created, but had descended, like varieties, from other species. - Charles Darwin On the Origin of Species

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