Satan i Stap o Nogat?
Long buk “All in the Mind—A Farewell to God,” Ludovic Kennedy i tok: “Long bipo tru ol Lotu Kristen i bilip olsem Satan o Belsebul, king bilong pasin nogut, em i stap tru na em i gat strong, olsem sampela manmeri long nau—em namba bilong ol i wok long go daun—i bilip olsem ‘God’ i stap na em i gat strong. Ol Juda na ol Kristen bilong bipo i ting Satan em i olsem hap man na hap animal, na em i as bilong ol pasin nogut ol i lukim. Bihain ol Kristen i luksave olsem dispela em i wanpela tok nating i no gat as bilong en, na isi isi ol i lusim pasin bilong tingim Satan.”
MAN bilong raitim buk na niusman bilong TV, Ludovic Kennedy, em i tok, inap planti handet yia olgeta man bilong Kristendom i bilip olsem Satan i stap. Profesa Norman Cohn i tok, long bipo ol Kristen “i tingting tasol long strong bilong Satan na ol spirit nogut bilong em.” (Buk Europe’s Inner Demons) Na i no ol man nating tasol, olsem ol man i no bin skul ol i tingting olsem. Nogat. Profesa Cohn i tok, “i no ol man i no save long rit rait” i bilip olsem Satan i tanim i kamap wanpela animal i bosim kain kain pasin nogut i gat sem, nogat; “ol man i bin go long bikpela skul ol tu i bilip olsem.” Ol dispela “man i bin go long bikpela skul”—na ol pris pasto tu em ol i gat bikpela save—ol i as bilong wok bilong bagarapim ol marilaman na marilameri long Yurop long 1450 i go inap 1700. Long dispela taim ol i tok ol lotu na ol bikman bilong gavman i bin givim bikpela pen na kilim i dai inap 50,000 manmeri, em ol i ting ol i marilaman.
Olsem na yumi no ken kirap nogut olsem planti ol i no bilip long ol tok i stori long Satan; ol i ting em ol tok nating o bilip kranki bilong ol tumbuna tasol. Inap longtaim pinis, long 1726, Daniel Defoe i tok bilas long bilip bilong ol man em ol i ting Satan i wanpela animal nogut “i gat wing bilong blakbokis, ol kom, lek bilong bulmakau samting, longpela tel, tang i gat sap, na ol kain samting olsem.” Em i tok, kain tingting olsem i ‘no bilong man i gat gutpela save, em ol tingting nating i no gat as bilong en, na ol man i tok Satan i kain man olsem, ol i trikim ol man i no gat save long bilip long dispela Satan ol yet i bin kamapim.’
Olsem wanem? Dispela em i tingting bilong yu tu? Yu wanbel long tok olsem “Satan em i samting ol man yet i bin kamapim bilong ol i ken tok em asua bilong Satan na ol i mekim pasin nogut”? Dispela tok i stap long wanpela buk (The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible), na planti man i tok ol i Kristen ol i gat dispela kain tingting. Jeffrey Burton Russell i tok, planti tisa bilong ol lotu bilong Kristendom “i no bilip olsem Satan na ol spirit nogut i stap—ol i ting em i wanpela bilip kranki bilong ol tumbuna tasol.”
Tasol sampela man i bilip olsem Satan i stap tru. Ol i ting i mas i gat wanpela strong nogut i stap antap na i as bilong ol pasin nogut i bin kamap long bipo i kam inap long nau. Russell i tok, “ol pasin nogut bilong nau” i wanpela as na “bihain long longpela hap taim pasin bilong bilip long Satan i wok long kamap gen.” Man bilong raitim buk, Don Lewis, i tok planti man i bin kisim bikpela skul, ol i “lap,” olsem tok bilas, long dispela bilip kranki bilong ol tumbuna na ol samting “ol tumbuna bilong ol i no bin skul” i bin pret long en, tasol “nau ol i tingim gen ol samting nogut bilong ol spirit.”—Buk Religious Superstition Through the Ages.
Orait, wanem tok i tru long dispela samting? Satan em i wanpela bilip kranki bilong ol tumbuna tasol? O em i wanpela man yumi mas tingim tru nau long dispela taim bilong yumi?
[Piksa long pes 4]
Olsem piksa bilong Gustave Doré i soim, ol bilip kranki bilong ol tumbuna bilong bipo i kamapim olsem Satan em i hap man na hap animal
[Kredit Lain]
The Judecca—Lucifer/The Doré Illustrations For Dante’s Divine Comedy/Dover Publications Inc.