Christians are fallen angels -- WHAT????

[*Light*]

I got into an informal debate on a Christian website with someone with bizarre notions about Satan being a human being, or a demon-possessed man . . . Really? And the most ridiculous statement this persons said was that angels who fell are actually "Christians" who left their first estate. This is by far the most unbiblical doctrine that I have ever heard from anyone. So why Did Jesus call Peter, Satan? And why did Satan ENTER Judas?

If Satan were a human being, it would be impossible for him to have been in the garden of Eden tempting Eve, then thousands of years later possessing Judas, then at the end of history inciting Gog and Magog to rebel from the Messiah. If Satan were a human being, how would he enter human beings? If he were not an fallen angel or a beast or creature such as a Cherub (cf.  Ezek. 28:14; Rev. 4:6–8), then why has the lake of fire been prepared for him "and [his] angels"? And if angels did not fall by following Satan, then why are they going to be cast into the lake of fire? I told him (or her?) that arguments like this being made are hardly worth pursuing. They are the sort of thing that people write when they follow "the imagination of their own heart". The problem with attempting to refute them in detail, point by point, is that such an activity is a bit like crawling into a rabbit-burrow: it's dark, dangerous, there's no way out and no REAL POINT to the exercise, and, by the time you get down in there, the rabbits are long gone. From perusing these responses, he/she seems to know that scripture exists, but this person seems perfectly content to substitute their own authority and opinions whenever and wherever they please. It is hard to have any sort of meaningful discussion with people who don't accept the ultimate authority of the Bible, because even when you "prove something" to them, they easily reject it inasmuch as their opinions carry more weight (in their own minds). If we were to apply the same symbolic latitude evident here, we could reinterpret any doctrine or passage we wanted, and make it mean whatever we pleased. 

This person even used the argument that angels and demons were merely Jewish concepts that biblical theologians have failed to understand. Calling these misinterpretations"Jewish concepts" is just a smoke screen. All writers of scripture were Jewish therefore all biblical literature is Jewish; that doesn't mean that it is not open to common sense hermeneutic principles. Saying "it's Judaic" is not an argument. The Bible is very clear when it is being symbolic or using allegory. It is a long-standing mistaken approach common to many groups, Jewish, Christian, pagan, etc., to introduce symbolism and allegory where they are not called for and not appropriate. One has to have evidence to do so. That is singularly lacking here. I shall address a few of the more egregious points in brief. Angels do, of course, exist. They are not Angels do, of course, exist human beings. Christians cannot "leave their first estate": Jude 1:6 is speaking of angels [as it says]. The serpent in Genesis 3 is most likely an actual snake, possessed by Satan (which is why he is called "that old serpent" (Rev.12:9; 20:2); there were no other human beings around at that point! God does not "create evil". The word in Isaiah 45:7 is the Hebrew adjective /ra'/, the generic word for anything bad. It can mean evil, or just bad, or, as here, "something bad", namely "disaster" . . . as the context shows.

"From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men." (Matthew 16:21-23)

Calling Peter "Satan" makes perfect sense since Peter was essentially furthering the devil's desires by attempting to dissuade Jesus from going to the cross. To me, that just shows that the devil's influence is great and supernatural -- so that he couldn't be a mere human being.  In Isaiah 14:6, someone like this person and their delusional beliefs is demonstrating their ignorance of the very thing he/she bandies about: one has to understand the canons of Hebrew prophetic literature to interpret it correctly. In Hebrew prophecy and poetry, the identification of two very close events or like-minded individuals is very common (it's called "Prophetic Foreshortening"). Isaiah 14 is primarily about Satan and his fall, using the king of Babylon as a type for the devil; the "man" referred to later in the chapter (from v.14 to v.23) is antichrist, the devil's son. This is a very appropriate comparison since antichrist will indeed be the ruler of eschatological Babylon. As is often the case in Old Testament prophecy, a near term individual/situation is explained by comparison to its eschatological antitype (the most common example of this is "the Day of the Lord Paradigm" Put succinctly, the "correct" interpretation of Old Testament prophecy is not for BEGINNERS; conversely, it is a very fertile ground for those whose only interest is building up a personal system of theology based only on their own imagination with the purpose of leading others astray.

He/she has also accused Christians as being "polytheists" because of their belief in the Trinity. This person's attack on alleged Christian "polytheism", while ridiculous, seems to me, when taken in context with their statements about monotheism, to reveal his/her true agenda lurking below the surface. This person probably doesn't even believe in the divinity of Jesus Christ. Unbelievable!!!!

But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not. (2 Peter 2:1-3). 

God Bless!