Thursday, December 2, 2010

I have no idea if I am reaching with the idea I am about to present so I would greatly enjoy feedback from my classmates and their ideas. All right here I go. Today in class, one the my classmates (I can't remember who exactly) talked about the true forms of Satan as his presentation. During his presentation, this student drew on the board a type of chart which had God on the top and then two branches below it with Satan on one side and Jesus on the other side. While looking upon this drawing a random idea struck me. Could Satan be the prodigal son of God? As within Jesus' parable, the two sons are complete opposites of the other. Let me list the similarities between Satan and the Prodigal Son.
  • They both took part of their inheritance
    • the Son took money
    • Satan took 1/3 of God's angels
  • Both went and caused mayhem in a different place
    • The Son went to a far country and "there wasted his substance with riotous living"
    • Satan was cast to Earth where he influenced Eve to sin
  • Both became associated with looked down upon animals
    • The Son was forced to feed pigs
    • Satan is often compared to snakes
There are similarities too between Jesus and the other son.
  • Neither transgressed against their father
  • Both will receive a great inheritance from their father
  • Both are always with their father
Now this next part of my theory is an even bigger stretch than just imagining that the parable was based upon Jesus and Satan. Will Satan be like the Prodigal Son and come home to repent to God? This question is more towards the theological aspect of the Bible. The ironic part of this parable if this connection does actually exist is the it is the other son (Jesus) telling it as a lesson when he is the son that is shown in a poor light for not being forgiving. Does Jesus use his own foretelling of his faults to teach a lesson to his followers?
When I first started considering this aspect of the Prodigal Son Parable, I searched for more information on the Internet. I did not find any information linking Satan as the Prodigal Son but I did find articles and websites saying that humas are the Prodigal Son.  
I did find an interesting site that states that the character Pinocchio is based off of the Prodigal Son. It is amazing to me how much of the Bible shows up in everyday media. Here is a link to read the truly interesting ways the Pinocchio relates to the Bible specifically this famous parable. http://www.prescottumc.com/Sermons07/0715.htm.

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