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This thread will attempt the unpleasant task of proving that Satan is not bound in any sense of the word, despite what preterists would have us believe. I will first deal with the arguments presented by Dee Dee Warren (dizzle) in episode 48 of her "Preterist Podcast" (which are largely a rehashing of Dr. Greg Bahsen's arguments) before presenting a few arguments of my own. Please forgive the haphazard nature of my responses to Dee Dee, but I am working from the notes I took while listening to her podcast, which I refused to do more than once.
Dee Dee first begins by claiming that Satan's dominion is "not a physical one" and that it was his "spiritual dominion" that Christ was "plundering", referencing:
While it is clear that Satan is the "strong man" in these parables (also the "owner of the house" in Matthew and Luke), why does Dee Dee view his dominion as purely a spiritual one and not a physical one? Was Satan offering Christ "spiritual dominion" here?
Are we to believe that Satan was offering Christ "spiritual dominion" over the world? Wouldn't that be the same thing as surrendering altogether? No, Satan was offering Christ physical kingship, but at the price of his own continued and--had Christ accepted--solidified spiritual dominion.
Dee Dee goes on to argue that since Satan keeps humanity "bound" by their fear of death (Heb 2:14), the "unbinding" of Christians from that fear results in Satan's "binding." Now I am not sure what to call this particular display of illogic, but obviously her conclusion does not follow. How does his bondage follow from our freedom? At best it but gives us the chance to gird ourselves before meeting him on the battlefield.
She continues by claiming that the following verse (called the "proclamation of the gospel") is proof that Satan is bound:
Do I even need to point out how this cannot be used as proof that Satan is bound? If another Christian and I agree, could we "bind" a suspected serial killer or a dictator or the Empire State building? This verse is not granting omnipotence to Christian study groups, but is a commentary on the importance of unity and the resulting strength for positive change that will accompany Christ's body, as is clarified here:
and here:
Next she uses the following verses as proof that Satan is bound:
Clearly Satan "falling from heaven" was a future event from when Christ said this, unless Dee Dee believes that seeing a few people healed and a few demons excorsized was enough to "toss him down" from heaven, so in what sense is he bound here? And clearly Christians are harmed nowadays, so the "nothing will harm you" bit lends one to believe that this was a temporary authority given to the disciples for the express purpose of safely spreading the gospel at that time and was not an indication that Satan had been "dealt with."
Next she assumes Revelation 12:11 refers to the time of Christ:
But let's look at the context:
Dee Dee fails to explain when this cataclysmic war in heaven took place. Her explanation for the "short time" Satan had after his casting down to earth was (if I recall correctly) the time between the crucifixion and the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, despite the fact that John specifically says it is for "a time, times and half a time" (3 and a half years). If I recall correctly, she says that it was during this time that Satan was trying to "destroy the early Christian church." Her logic is typically convoluted and involves Judaism being "mother" to the early Christian church (attempting to make the Jews "Mystery Babylon") and the "daughter" Christianity "cutting the cord"--so to speak--after the sack of Jerusalem in 70 AD. So I guess we are to suppose that Satan thought the destruction of Jerusalem would destroy the Christian church and his throes of defeat could be heard from miles around as he was soon afterwards "bound." One has to wonder who was being divinely protected (the woman) in her scenario.
Next, Dee Dee explains that "the biblical view of binding does not automatically mean utter immobalization, but rather restriction on scope or authority or the scope of authority."
As proof of this "biblical view", she refers to:
For clarity's sake, Dee Dee does not believe this refers to the angels that mated with human women, but refers to all demons.
So she does not believe the Genesis account refers to fallen angels mating with human women. Correspondingly, she must consider Jude's allusion to sexual sin after his mention of the fallen angels completely arbitrary:
One also wonders where she thinks the 9+ foot tall giant Goliath came from and why Scripture specifically mentions that he descended from "the Nephilim."
By the way, both Jude and Peter mention that the fallen angels "bound in chains" are being held for the Day of judgment:
Nevertheless, Dee Dee claims that all demons have been bound, presumably since the beginning of human history, and that therefore their continued activity (demon possession, etc.) despite being bound is proof that being bound is not really all that inconvenient a thing, Biblically speaking. (Sounds like Satan got put up in some minimum security prison with cable and a mini fridge).
She goes on to explain that the specific application of Satan's binding means that he can "no longer deceive the nations as he did before Christ's advent. The power of the proclaimed gospel can shatter Satan's ability to deceive. Because Christ now rules the nations, Satan is no longer able to deceive the nations."
Sounds nice and all, but it's nonsense. The twentieth century saw the worst wars mankind had ever seen, which had to have involved some pretty keen deceiving of some nations. If that happened while Satan was bound, God help us when he's given a free(er) hand.
And for the record, fallen angels did mate with human women and it was they (maybe even just the chief instigators) that were bound, not "all demons." That "Biblical binding just means a limit to the scope of authority" is something that remains to be seen, and seems quite dubious.
Dee Dee claims some leeway for her "Satan is bound even though the world sucks" argument by pointing out that futurists believe sin and death will still exist during the millenium, proving that futurists thus believe Satan will have some scope of activity while bound. First, sin and death will be massively reduced during the millenium of the futurists, unlike the arguable increase in sin and death since the 1st century, with lifespans returning to the pre-Flood limits and peace extending even into creation, with lions literally laying with lambs. Second, sin and death are not literal lightning bolts hurled personally by Satan, but they "prosper under his hand." When his hands are bound, they cease to prosper, but they will not be destroyed until he is.
Finally, Dee Dee attempts to argue that even the demons recognized the end of Satan's reign by what they expressed to Christ:
But what about these verses indicates the demons thought Satan's reign had come to an end? The demon in Luke is unsure about Christ's intentions. The demon in Mark is more worried about not finding a host than anything else and asks (and is granted!) leave to enter the pigs nearby. Most damning of all to Dee Dee's claim is the question asked by the demon in Matthew, "Have you come...before the appointed time?"
The demons know that a time has been appointed for their judgment and this demon is accusing Christ of coming too early! That's a far cry from the "acknowledgment that Satan's reign has ended" that Dee Dee accuses the demons of.
Now as to proof that Satan has not yet been bound...Let's look a little more closely at those "owner of the house" parables:
We've already established that Satan is the "owner of the house" in these parables, but who is the thief?
Christ is the thief! And is it not now clear that Christ associates the overthrow of Satan's kingdom with His return and not His first advent? Certainly Satan suffered a fatal blow when Christ came the first time, but it is not until Christ returns that Satan is cast into the Abyss to mark the beginning of the truly glorious Millenial reign of Christ.
Let's take a closer look at Mark:
Here Christ associoates Satan's "end" with a time when Satan's kingdom is divided against itself (when do preterists think this happened during Christ's first advent?):
Continuing, Satan is called "the god of this world/age":
Preterists attempt to argue that Paul meant only that "those who reject Christ" have "chosen Satan as their idol", a weak explanation on its face, but it gets worse:
Either the apostles (under God's inspiration) were pretty bad at saying that "bad people are doing Satan's will" or they meant that Satan's kingdom has not yet been destroyed:
Finally, Satan's kingdom will see its most powerful manifestation "at the time of the end" and in the person (preterists hate this guy, and not because he's evil, but because his reality makes mincemeat of their whole foolish system) of the Antichrist, for whom Satan (the dragon) prepares a throne and with whom Satan's own fate is inextricably bound. He is called by various titles (like Christ, his counterpart), but his character, campaign and fate are all detailed in Scripture:
Take note for how long this "little horn wages war against the saints" (3 1/2 years):
Let's take a closer look at Daniel 7:26-27:
This clearly states that it is only after the destruction of the Antichrist (and therefore Satan's kingdom) that the kingdom of God is ushered in on earth, which lines up nicely with:
I could go into much further depth about the Antichrist, but this thread is already exceedingly long, so I may save that for another thread.
This thread will attempt the unpleasant task of proving that Satan is not bound in any sense of the word, despite what preterists would have us believe. I will first deal with the arguments presented by Dee Dee Warren (dizzle) in episode 48 of her "Preterist Podcast" (which are largely a rehashing of Dr. Greg Bahsen's arguments) before presenting a few arguments of my own. Please forgive the haphazard nature of my responses to Dee Dee, but I am working from the notes I took while listening to her podcast, which I refused to do more than once.
LOL, haphazard is accurate, that is for sure. It is the height of irresponsibility to claim to respond to something when by your own admission you refuse to listen more than once. When I critiqued Dr. James White on my podcast, I listened over thirty times.... it is called caring about accuracy and understanding, something you have proven yourself incapable of.
It is nearly impossible to make heads or tails out of what you said and you completely cherry-picked to remove the flow of the argument. However, I only read your post once at this time. I will read it multiple more times, and if any sense can be made, I will possibly provide responses on my poddcast as I don't bother with you here.
I never heard Bahnsen in the subject. I am flattered I came to the same conclusions.
Since you failed to give the courtesy of a link for those who actually care to carefully pay attention it is here:
I really wish there was a daft-ness test that was required before listening. But alas, our technology is not there yet. Perhaps the antichrist will invent it along with the head/hand implants.
LOL, haphazard is accurate, that is for sure. It is the height of irresponsibility to claim to respond to something when by your own admission you refuse to listen more than once. When I critiqued Dr. James White on my podcast, I listened over thirty times.... it is called caring about accuracy and understanding, something you have proven yourself incapable of.
I meant that I could only bear one sitting. I did rewind as necessary to catch anything I missed.
It is nearly impossible to make heads or tails out of what you said and you completely cherry-picked to remove the flow of the argument. However, I only read your post once at this time. I will read it multiple more times, and if any sense can be made, I will possibly provide responses on my poddcast as I don't bother with you here.
There's probably more Scripture to read than you're used to, but I'm sure you'll digest it by the thirtieth read through. Considering your track record of responding to me in the past, however, I won't hold my breath.
I never heard Bahnsen in the subject. I am flattered I came to the same conclusions.
I'm not sure what to make of this, since you link to Bahnsen's article in the resources section of your 48th podcast and quote him verbatim here:
I really wish there was a daft-ness test that was required before listening. But alas, our technology is not there yet. Perhaps the antichrist will invent it along with the head/hand implants.
The RFID chip already exists. I think your attempt at sarcasm would have worked better if it didn't exist.
Thank you for correcting me on that Bahsen article. It was given to me after the fact and not something that was instrumental in forming my views. I completely forgot about it. I held these views long before.
I don't bother responding to you since I find you quite useless. I try to see if there is anything that is worth it and do so for the benefit of others.
I don't know how you ended up off of ignore... probably some report I had to review with staff, but back you go.
Last edited by Dee Dee Warren; April 19th 2012 at 07:16 AM.
This is perhaps the biggest issue I have with preterism. I have personally had experience with demons, and I have known many people who have had similar experiences. Also considering that Satan was referred to as "the god of this world" doesn't lend credence to the "spiritual kingdom" idea to me. I really would like some honest answers to this very nagging question. If this isn't noticed by anyone within the week, I plan on making another thread asking about this subject.
I already referenced the response I gave. Since I don't have any compulsion to convince people of my view, take it or leave it, its all the same to me.
PS: The insinuation that prior answers aren't "honest" isn't going to encourage anyone else to respond to you, and only highly insults those who have.
I already referenced the response I gave. Since I don't have any compulsion to convince people of my view, take it or leave it, its all the same to me.
PS: The insinuation that prior answers aren't "honest" isn't going to encourage anyone else to respond to you, and only highly insults those who have.
dizzle, I don't think you are dishonest at all, and I would not every try to insinuate that on purpose. The link you gave earlier is to a podcast, I have problems listening to them. Do you have a text document of your response(or someone who does have text that has an adequately similar response)? I have medical problems that make it very hard for me to listen to something like a podcast, so I am asking honestly for a response, but one that I can actually access. Perhaps I should have said that in my above post, but I had thought that I had told you about my problem with being able to listen to something like that, but my memory isn't that great either, and I could be mistaken.
My memory is awful too, so I apologize if I took offense when none was intended. There are several posters here, the one who started this thread in particular, who have no problems insinuating and outright stating the most awful things about people who disagree, so I was probably trigger happy. Please accept my apologies. I try to put such people on ignore so I don't take it out on others. I am getting crabby in my old age.
Yes you did tell me and I forgot.
No, I don't have anything in writing yet.... for me creating audio is easier. There is a link to a good Bahnsen article in the show notes though.
My memory is awful too, so I apologize if I took offense when none was intended. There are several posters here, the one who started this thread in particular, who have no problems insinuating and outright stating the most awful things about people who disagree, so I was probably trigger happy. Please accept my apologies. I try to put such people on ignore so I don't take it out on others. I am getting crabby in my old age.
Yes you did tell me and I forgot.
No, I don't have anything in writing yet.... for me creating audio is easier. There is a link to a good Bahnsen article in the show notes though.
I understand. I will look for that link, and see what it has to say. If I have more questions, I might try starting another thread, that way, it's not associated with Darfius, and it will be purely questions rather than debate. Does that sound good?
My memory is awful too, so I apologize if I took offense when none was intended. There are several posters here, the one who started this thread in particular, who have no problems insinuating and outright stating the most awful things about people who disagree, so I was probably trigger happy. Please accept my apologies. I try to put such people on ignore so I don't take it out on others. I am getting crabby in my old age.
Yes you did tell me and I forgot.
No, I don't have anything in writing yet.... for me creating audio is easier. There is a link to a good Bahnsen article in the show notes though.
I understand. I will look for that link, and see what it has to say. If I have more questions, I might try starting another thread, that way, it's not associated with Darfius, and it will be purely questions rather than debate. Does that sound good?
Based on what you guys are writing here it seems like the guys at Eidos Montreal are basically to gaming what fanfiction writers are to literature. :eww:
That's why they fired him? Are you kidding me? I thought the decision was stupid enough already, but now that know THAT'S why they did it....that makes it even more stupid!
When they fired the iconic voice actor of the franchise because they were requiring the voice actor of Garrett to do motion capture as well, I knew the game was doomed. That's like firing Mark...
What follows below are five questions that I believe advocates of the conventional view of final punishment as everlasting conscious torment (ECT) must seriously address before any headway can be...
Work Problems - Again
Today, 04:49 PM in Chaplain's Office