Thus far, all the evidence indicates that there is no Devil. But I want to look at one last title or name for the Devil before I decide - the Tempter. 1Thessalonians 3:5 KJV states, ‘For this cause, when I could no longer forbear, I sent to know your faith, lest by some means the tempter have tempted you, and our labor be in vain.’ This verse says that it is the Tempter/Devil/Satan who leads us to sin. But James 1:14-15 states that ‘14… every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. 15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.’ Meaning that we sin when we conspire to get what we want and then act on it, even when it is wrong. These verses say explicitly that it is not the Devil that leads us to sin but rather that we sin of our own free will. Eve, in the Garden, acts out the script of James 1:14-15 in Genesis KJV 3:6 (3-6s) ’And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.’ So, first, there is no physical proof that the Devil exists. And second, the Bible is not describing the influence that some otherworld, evil being has on people. It describes people rebelling against what is they understand to be right to partake in what they know is wrong, which is sin. Therefore, I must conclude based on what I know that the Devil does not exist. The question now becomes; if there is no Devil, then why do we sin?
To understand why people sin we must first understand how we are made. First, we and the physical world in total are dualistic. Everything including us has a body and is connected to an intelligence that created and sustains it. We are in a macro micro relationship with the world outside of us. That is, our mind and our body exist within a greater Mind and Body. We completely depend on the Mind and Body outside of us for both our physical and intellectual needs. Which begs the question, why are people destroying the body/earth that supports them? Because instead of seeing the earth as a living organism, to which we are connected for life support, people see it as an inanimate object, a thing. Disney’s Pocahontas says it best – ‘You think you own whatever land you land on. The earth is just a dead thing you can claim. But I know every rock and tree and creature. Has a life, has a spirit and a name.’ While it is true that the earth/body is a dead thing. A machine with a CPU/brain that wears out and needs fuel and maintenance to function. However, even though it seems our body is self contained and sufficient it still needs an outside power source to function. That comes from the world of the invisible.