Q: When Was Satan Cast Out Of Heaven?

Written by Dalton McGee in Opinion at April 16, 2010

I came across this website while I was doing a little research on the biblical account of Satan defying God and being cast into Hell because I wasn’t sure if it was actually in there, and remember at some point in my education as an English major that Milton had made the events up for Paradise Lost (though I could be wrong, someone please educate me on this).

So anyway this question, “When was Satan cast out of Heaven?”

…Seriously?

I can accept that people believe in God because they want reasonings for unexplainable phenomenon, but my mind warps into some LHC produced black hole when I am reminded that people believe The Devil—in his most literal sense—exists.

In this article they posit whether the Devil was thrown from heaven in 1914 at the beginning of World War I as apparently the Jehova’s Witnesses believe or not; this is highly confusing the questioner because why would God allow the Devil to stay “in heaven after he deceived Adam and Eve and so many others and only decide to throw him out in 1914?”

This is answered quite matter-of-factly by quoting Isaiah 14:13 which says something about The Devil wanting to dethrone the Lord. And with that they answer the question by saying

Lucifer… was transferred to the earth while still obedient. While on earth, ruling over it, he (and one third of the other angels) decided to rebel against God. As he rose up to attack heaven, he was cast down to earth, as Jesus had seen.

They use Ezekiel 28:14 to justify this passage, but it just doesn’t say anything about the Devil being thrown from Heaven initially, which is why this whole search started. Then they pull another biblical quote from Revelation and explain to the questioner that at some ambiguous point in the future the Devil is planning to make a second attempt at the Holy Throne.

A couple thoughts here:

1. People believe the bible as literal truth, but I can’t explain it as well as Sam Harris, so without further adieu:

Sam Harris on Miracles

2. So, people believe these stories about men who lived and died, and whatever, that’s fine, but they believe a story written by man who had been banished to a Greek island notorious for “magic mushrooms” is also the truth and bar-none going to happen despite the fact that it is mere prophesying by an exile.

I can’t wrap my mind around believing in a 2000 year old book written by illiterate shepherds, revised millions of times by millions of people and translated into every conceivable language.

I’m going to leave you with this little gem from the end of the article:

So Satan will be thrown down to the earth again, but this hasn’t happened yet.The year 1914 was too long ago for this second attack on heaven by Satan and the demons. I think it will occur during the Great Tribulation just before the Second Coming of Christ. If Jehovah’s Witnesses teach it happened in 1914 they are wrong. Jesus did not return secretly that year, which is what I believe they teach about what happened then.