Does the devil exist?

[Sigurd]

I am not going to let you theists weasel yourselves out of this one.
One of the major doctrines in Christianity (I guess we landed on this one religion in here), is that of the existence of evil.
I can’t think of any Christian denominations that does have the godhead but not Satan in its theology. And this notion that we live under a spell called fate smacks of wrong definitions of omniscience.

We had fate in our pagan beliefs and that was one of the things Christianity abolished.
I think there is room for an omniscient being to know every possible path we can end up on. Paths that change depending on what we choose on a particular turn in our life. It is this choice that God’s children are free to make.
I am not a believer in fate, but I believe that someone can predict outcomes based on knowledge, experience and perhaps manipulation. The more knowledge and experience you have the better the prediction will be. The more power and tools you have the more you can manipulate outcomes.

If I ever considered Christianity, I would not believe in a God who has names written in a book, names that will enjoy heaven or are damned to hell. It would seem pointless. It would be fate all over again. Whatever you do, you can’t change it. It has been decided for you, you can’t free yourself of this path you are on.
In Christianity there is a devil or many devils. You can’t get around it. To do so you must renounce the Bible; the very source Christianity is built upon. Take away the Bible and the card house which is Christianity tumbles to the ground.

[ajaxfetish]

I am not going to let you theists weasel yourselves out of this one.

I don't consider it a weasel issue so much. My church definitely believes in a literal Satan. But this is one of numerous points where I'm just not so orthodox as some people would like me to be.

Ajax