Your comment mostly (I will elaborate below on that) affirms what I stated, and it is as if you read the articles I have posted and understood. Still, I suspect you perceived our understanding of Satan as being completely different. I think you perceived our conversation as being hostile or a competition, and the way you stated your response affirms that too. If I caused you to feel that way, I apologize.

I also think it is important to remember that Satan was once God's most prized and beloved angel (before his rebellion in heaven and inevitable fall). There is power and authority that belongs to Satan, and he can use that in spiritual and physical terms (religious hypocrisy and operations through human beings and institutions like govt. and healthcare and the justice systems, etc.).

As previously stated and demonstrated in Acts 2 and the life of Job, God is sovereign, omnipotent, and utterly authoritative over all (humans, creation, Satan, and demons). He weaves and orchestrates all good and evil to serve His purposes, including personal responsibility and guilt regarding sinful people, Satan, and demons. What I mean by this last statement is while God grants specific power and authority, inherent power and authority belong to Satan... now, don't leave just yet; hear me out.

Evil originated with and inside of Satan, and this is orthodox/biblical. God determined to allow sin and evil to exist and manifest, but it was created within Lucifer/Satan. This means that it is inherent and uniquely belongs to Satan... but God, in the temporal and physical sense, determines the boundaries of which Satan is allowed to operate in time/space/human history and the supernatural sense.

Your argument, while overall, is sound, has one flaw: you state that if someone believes Satan has power in and of himself, then they do not believe in God. This is an overstep of logic and reasoning. There are scores of people around the world who believe in the triune God of Scripture, but they have unsound theological beliefs on certain matters. The bottom line is if Satan possesses no evil authority and power in and of himself, then the logical and theological conclusion is either a) Evil power and authority originates within God and then is somehow granted to Satan, or b) Evil is floating in some nebulous space and Satan externally uses it for the purpose of evil. Neither of those two conclusions is biblical.

Some examples of Satan possessing authority and power over evil are God's Word saying Satan is the accuser against believers, he roams around like a lion, he plants tares among the wheat, he is granted the power to kill, etc. These are not powers that are somehow external to Satan. These are powers that characterize who Satan is. They reveal his nature as a liar and murderer from the beginning. If they do not belong to Satan, then do you believe they are somehow obligated to belong to God? Are we trying to "get God off the perceived hook"?

Your comment mostly (I will elaborate below on that) affirms what I stated, and it is as if you read the articles I have posted and understood. Still, I suspect you perceived our understanding of Satan as being completely different. I think you perceived our conversation as being hostile or a competition, and the way you stated your response affirms that too. If I caused you to feel that way, I apologize.

I also think it is important to remember that Satan was once God's most prized and beloved angel (before his rebellion in heaven and inevitable fall). There is power and authority that belongs to Satan, and he can use that in spiritual and physical terms (religious hypocrisy and operations through human beings and institutions like govt. and healthcare and the justice systems, etc.).

As previously stated and demonstrated in Acts 2 and the life of Job, God is sovereign, omnipotent, and utterly authoritative over all (humans, creation, Satan, and demons). He weaves and orchestrates all good and evil to serve His purposes, including personal responsibility and guilt regarding sinful people, Satan, and demons. What I mean by this last statement is while God grants specific power and authority, inherent power and authority belong to Satan... now, don't leave just yet; hear me out.

Evil originated with and inside of Satan, and this is orthodox/biblical. God determined to allow sin and evil to exist and manifest, but it was created within Lucifer/Satan. This means that it is inherent and uniquely belongs to Satan... but God, in the temporal and physical sense, determines the boundaries of which Satan is allowed to operate in time/space/human history and the supernatural sense.

Your argument, while overall, is sound, has one flaw: you state that if someone believes Satan has power in and of himself, then they do not believe in God. This is an overstep of logic and reasoning. There are scores of people around the world who believe in the triune God of Scripture, but they have unsound theological beliefs on certain matters. The bottom line is if Satan possesses no evil authority and power in and of himself, then the logical and theological conclusion is either a) Evil power and authority originates within God and then is somehow grated to Satan, or b) Evil is floating in some nebulous space and Satan externally uses it for the purpose of evil. Neither of those two conclusions is biblical.

Some examples of Satan possessing authority and power over evil are God's Word saying Satan is the accuser against believers, he roams around like a lion, he plants tares among the wheat, he is granted the power to kill, etc. These are not powers that are somehow external to Satan. These are powers that characterize who Satan is. They reveal his nature as a liar and murderer from the beginning. If they do not belong to Satan, then do you believe they are somehow obligated to belong to God? Are we trying to "get God off the perceived hook"?