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Chapter 22 - Seeing in History Evidence of Satanic Influence

Our modern world is a complex tapestry of thousands of threads woven by Satan over centuries. Some of these threads can be seen by examining five historical events. We can see how deeply we have been imprinted by Satan in that some of these events are held in cherished esteem. It may be difficult to consider that Satan had a hand in them. The degree of difficulty reflects some of the need for a 'radical' application of truth to our lives and our understanding of the world.

1. Homosexuality. Today many who claim Christ want to 'support' homosexuality. They see it as an act of Christian love. They have come to misunderstand Christian love as what is felt rather than what is chosen and wish to make others 'feel good'. Just as someone encouraging a teenage girl who is compelled to mutilate her flesh with cutting is not showing 'love', encouraging homosexuals to 'feel good' about their situation is also harmful and not loving.

Homosexuality is largely a judicial punishment for those who refuse to even retain a knowledge of God.

Considering the increasingly rapid and widespread rejection of Christianity and God in the Western world, one might expect a huge increase in homosexuality. One could surmise that Satan had to scramble to get homosexuality considered acceptable in order to receive the large increase resulting from so many repudiating God.

The radical Christian seeks truth. As such, homosexuality is less seen as an inherent evil than a measure of the degree to which people have rejected God. The radical Christian is not angered by homosexuality so much as saddened. He is driven to prayer that some might be given the grace to see the truth and repent and turn to God who loves them and wants them to be saved.

2. Abortion. Going back a little further in social history, Dr. Benjamin Spock's Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care was published in time for the start of the US baby boom in 1946. This book was seen as expert advice by many suburban mothers in the 1950s. With an appeal to the maternal inclination to show love and affection and the reluctance to show discipline and correction, it contributed to the development of widespread self-indulgence for an entire generation.

Today we have the statistical information that shows fatherless homes result in children less disciplined and more inclined to suffer the consequences of a life given over to self-indulgence. The suburban culture of the 1950s was a strong step in reducing paternal influence in the home. The growing pursuit of 'drugs, sex, and rock and roll' in the 1960s had consequences that in part led to the establishment of abortion as a legal right in the 1970s. In a way, self-indulgence became institutionalized.

The view that an unwanted pregnancy is a problem that can be fixed by killing the child, even today sounds harsh. The idea of preventing the 'problem' by abstaining from fornication is not even consider worthy of discussion by most. Here, we have an example of where the discomfort of truth (killing children) can be resolved by delusion (they are not really humans).

3. Evolution. In the 1880s in the US there was a rapid expansion of both the number of colleges as well as those desiring to attend. These institutions were staffed by an elite almost all of whom subscribed to modernist enlightened views (atheist, agnostic, or at best Unitarian). The theory of evolution was made ready at just the right time to be promulgated by this new elite (priests in temples of the new religion). In essence it became one of the core doctrines of the new 'religion' of secularism (the worship of man in general and self in particular).

The rapid acceptance and spread of evolution shows how effective Satan was already by the 1800s in using many so-called 'scientific' discoveries to bully people into accepting alternatives to the truth in the bible (evolution exchanged for creation, psychology for sin, sociology for charity, and relativity for truth). These assertions, declarations, and pronouncements carried with them the power of 'expert' authentication. However, most people did not look into the 'scientific' support for these claims and took on faith what was said by these new 'priests' as gospel.

'Scientific" pronouncements were passed down as gospel into the emerging factory school system with industrial efficiency so that, because of reduced parental influence, children could be programmed with new Satanic values as if they were products on an assembly line. Once these ideas were taken in, they were able to achieve the rapid conversion of the general population such that each successive generation more and more based how they thought on this new 'religion'.

It was clever to include relativism with the new ideas. It grew to replace the very concept of absolute and truth. In its wake, one was left unable to argue against the deceptions of the new values, because now nothing could be called 'wrong' anymore. Once entrenched, evolution could not be dislodged.

Satan was able to entice intelligent people to act as his agents of authority with an appeal to vanity, prestige, and position. As intelligent people were taken away from God (who is truth), they also lost connection to the source of wisdom (wisdom is from God).

As Satan was advancing his followers to assume positions of leadership, he had the extra advantage of crippling the faith of Christians because they allowed themselves to be bullied into thinking that the bible (particularly the creation account) was not true.

4. Democracy. Just as Satan had drawn in wealthy slave owners in ancient Greece to experiment with the democratic administration of the polis (city), he was able to appeal to the landed gentry of colonial America. These socially prominent men had often read the Greek classics and fancied themselves inheritors of their intellectual legacy.

Satan guided these men to react to poor British administration and taxation in such a way as to embrace these philosophies and constitute a new country based on these principles. In reality, democracy only appeared to work in America because of the high percentage of Christians and because of the preoccupation of many men of ambition with westward expansion which distracted them from applying their talents to exploiting their neighbors.

The many instances of applying democracy to non-Christians (particularly in Africa and the Mid-East) were tragic failures. The brutal nature of man was seen as early as the French revolution. Satan had attributed to the political philosophy of democracy the prosperity of the United States which in large part was due to the moderating influence of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of Christians. Even many Christians would come to have a sentimental view of democracy such that they would encourage other people to adopt it not fully appreciating the damage loosed upon people who are not Christian. It is sad that those Christians who owe their salvation to the love of Jesus would give the glory to democracy that was rightly due Christ.

5. Reformation. Satan often promotes one thing that is corrupt to make his alternative seem attractive.

The first of Luther’s 95 thesis was in regard to Jerome’s mistranslation of the Greek metanoia (change of mind) to the Latin poenitentiam agite (do penance). As a result, the thousand year old Catholic doctrine of penance was found to be in error. The idea to 'reform' Christianity had the best of intentions. However, the reformers missed the fundamental problem,.while error in doctrine and practice were often obvious (like the shakedown racket of indulgences), the very structure of priests (now pastors) doing the work of Christianity while everyone else went along for the ride still kept people from living real Christianity (each becoming more like Christ).

The social structure of an organized system with people as specialized components had been well established in the church by the time of the reformation. Afterwards, as denominations multiplied, this way of thinking would be carried to every aspect of human endeavor. After a hundred years of religious wars (during which a bad taste for religion of any flavor flourished) this organizational and systems orientation of the churches would easily expand with the Industrial Revolution into almost every aspect of life.

Every major historical event of Western Civilization was to advance the plans of Satan to bring us to the point we are. The religious wars of the 1600s provided fertile ground for the growth of the new religion of secularism (the worship of man in general and self in particular). This brought forth the so-called age of enlightenment. People who had turned their backs on God because of the foolishness of Christians began to see in themselves the ability to reason how the world should be structured. It is this view that has been in ascendancy as Christianity had at first been marginalized and then rejected over the centuries. Man has been led to believe that every step of history has been an advancement of human progress. Most of this 'progress' has been in the area of comfort such as indoor plumbing, air conditioning, sanitation, and entertainment. Modern life can be seen as a sort of exchange. One way is to think that the uncomfortable and primitive has been exchanged for the luxurious and prosperous. Seldom considered is that also exchanged was the richness and depth of family life for the more sterile and anemic life in society.

It is impossible to catalog all of the interventions Satan has made in human history, but they all work together to lead us not into the utopian age he has often presented, but into slavery where even our ability to buy or sell is controlled by him.

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