toward Serena. “Did you know that? That is why He fashioned the angels, not merely to be laborers and messengers, not even to be His companions, to deliver Him from loneliness. No, He needed sentient beings who would proclaim His greatness. He created me to lead the other angels in that praise. Though, in time, I came to question why we did this thing, I did my job with consummate perfection. Day and night, we fed an ego as big as the universe itself, but that wasn’t enough, He needed more. After a time, He decided that our worship wasn’t what He wanted at all. Understand this; we were created with all of the knowledge God saw fit to give us, and we worshiped Him because He created us to do just that. It was our function. We did it because we were commanded to.”
Again, satan paused to consider how best to express himself, before this human female. “The people of your time might say we were preprogrammed with a set of instructions. But God wanted a race of beings who would worship him because they made the conscious choice to do so. He desired a people whose minds were virtually a blank slate at their birth. They would experience His universe most intimately and through that intimate contact come to love Him. Their praise and worship would proceed naturally and willfully from their lips, and thus He created humanity.”
The intensity in the dark lord’s face grew. “I had never questioned God’s motives, no angel questioned God, not until that moment. We loved Him, all of us, even I loved Him. But it seemed as if He had become weary of us, in much the same way as a child grows weary of playing with an old toy. He needed a new distraction. It was then when I confronted Him; never had I done such a thing. I spoke of our concerns. Had we somehow displeased Him? He assured me that this was not the case. He in no way loved us less; He simply desired the creation of a new sort of being, one created in His own image, His own likeness. He had already selected a world upon which He would bring humanity into existence. I pleaded with Him to reconsider, but His mind was made up.”
Satan abruptly turned from Serena and looked to the others in the great room. “Many of you remember that fateful day, I’m sure. I was the visionary, and you shared in that vision. We saw then the threat humankind represented. The ascent of man had to be prevented. The time for change was at hand, and you turned to me as the instrument of that change. God’s plan, His rule, had to be brought to an end. And who better to bring about that end than I? Our rule, my rule, would have been the beginning of a new age, the age of an enlightened angelic empire. We would have brought stability to the universe, it was our birthright.”
Satan pirouetted slowly, his hands raised to the sky. Serena watched in stunned amazement.
“But our brethren would not listen, their minds had been dulled by God’s promises, they refused to see the truth. So we alone took up arms against the creator. You all fought bravely, all of you, but we were too few. In the end, our defeat was inevitable. But even then, God showed weakness. Even when we were brought before Him for judgment, He could not bring himself to destroy us utterly. Instead, He cast us out into this place, beyond His precious universe. Perhaps He thought that this would be a far greater punishment than bringing us to utter destruction.
“But He was wrong, we not only survived, we thrived. It was difficult at first, but slowly we established a new order, a new universe. And from that universe, we struck out against the upstart, man and woman. We have brought low God’s great experiment. And one day soon, very soon, when we have grown strong, we shall return to God’s universe, not just as spirits, but in physical form. On that day, we shall depose God and His angels, and a new order shall be brought forth.”
A loud cheer rose from the multitude throughout the room. It grew in intensity and
Again, satan paused to consider how best to express himself, before this human female. “The people of your time might say we were preprogrammed with a set of instructions. But God wanted a race of beings who would worship him because they made the conscious choice to do so. He desired a people whose minds were virtually a blank slate at their birth. They would experience His universe most intimately and through that intimate contact come to love Him. Their praise and worship would proceed naturally and willfully from their lips, and thus He created humanity.”
The intensity in the dark lord’s face grew. “I had never questioned God’s motives, no angel questioned God, not until that moment. We loved Him, all of us, even I loved Him. But it seemed as if He had become weary of us, in much the same way as a child grows weary of playing with an old toy. He needed a new distraction. It was then when I confronted Him; never had I done such a thing. I spoke of our concerns. Had we somehow displeased Him? He assured me that this was not the case. He in no way loved us less; He simply desired the creation of a new sort of being, one created in His own image, His own likeness. He had already selected a world upon which He would bring humanity into existence. I pleaded with Him to reconsider, but His mind was made up.”
Satan abruptly turned from Serena and looked to the others in the great room. “Many of you remember that fateful day, I’m sure. I was the visionary, and you shared in that vision. We saw then the threat humankind represented. The ascent of man had to be prevented. The time for change was at hand, and you turned to me as the instrument of that change. God’s plan, His rule, had to be brought to an end. And who better to bring about that end than I? Our rule, my rule, would have been the beginning of a new age, the age of an enlightened angelic empire. We would have brought stability to the universe, it was our birthright.”
Satan pirouetted slowly, his hands raised to the sky. Serena watched in stunned amazement.
“But our brethren would not listen, their minds had been dulled by God’s promises, they refused to see the truth. So we alone took up arms against the creator. You all fought bravely, all of you, but we were too few. In the end, our defeat was inevitable. But even then, God showed weakness. Even when we were brought before Him for judgment, He could not bring himself to destroy us utterly. Instead, He cast us out into this place, beyond His precious universe. Perhaps He thought that this would be a far greater punishment than bringing us to utter destruction.
“But He was wrong, we not only survived, we thrived. It was difficult at first, but slowly we established a new order, a new universe. And from that universe, we struck out against the upstart, man and woman. We have brought low God’s great experiment. And one day soon, very soon, when we have grown strong, we shall return to God’s universe, not just as spirits, but in physical form. On that day, we shall depose God and His angels, and a new order shall be brought forth.”
A loud cheer rose from the multitude throughout the room. It grew in intensity and
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