I asked you first. Is that what YOU think the quote means? But you seem reluctant to answer. Please just get it over with and answer Yes or No, so we can move on.

It should not take more than 3 posts, including this one, to settle it. Say Yes, and we're done with it. Say No, and I ask the opposite to confirm, and you confirm.

Let's try it again:

Arnold, I would answer your question by saying, Yes. Satan is insane. He truly thinks he will win the great controversy. He truly thinks God is wrong and that he is right.

The law of God is the focus of the GC. If Satan can discredit the law he can exonerate himself.

God's character is the focus of the GC.



Satan deceived man and angels by misrepresenting God's character. His arguments regarding the law were a means to this end. There are important arguments regarding the law, but we shouldn't be distracted from the true focus of the GC, which is God Himself.

I beg to differ, Mike. Ellen White says clearly that before his final decision he understood that God was right and that he was in the wrong. He knows he is wrong, but he has no option now except to go ahead with the great controversy.

I disagree. There is more to it than that.

"'Thou shalt have no other gods before me.' Lucifer disputed the justice of this requirement in heaven, and thought its existence altogether unnecessary. ... He who knows the end from the beginning, had his laws and commandments before the world was created, and Satan chose to question his claims before the angels of heaven, because the law set forth the Omnipotent as the only true and living God, and forbade the worship of any other being. The authority of God was backed up by the requirements of his law, which was to hold jurisdiction over all created intelligences. The will of God was to be recognized in his requirements and acknowledged as supreme in the heavenly universe. {ST, September 24, 1894 par. 1-3}

"His rebellion caused him [Satan] to be expelled from heaven. After he rebelled, in order to save himself, he wished God to change his law; but God told Satan, before the whole heavenly host, that his law was unalterable. Satan knows that if he can cause others to violate God's law he is sure of them; for every transgressor of his law must die." {1SG 110.1}

Lucifer wished to be exalted to equality with God, but the first commandment prohibited this. So he rebelled against God by transgressing the first commandment. Then, in order to save himself (for every transgressor of God's law must die), he wished God to change His law.

So the law is at the heart of the great controversy.

I didn't say there wasn't more to it that this, but said we shouldn't be distracted from the true focus of the GC.



The "whole purpose" of Christ's mission was the revelation of God.

If we look at Scripture, we can see this same theme. For example, from John:



Throughout the Gospel of John we see the theme of God's being revealed by Jesus Christ appears over and over. For example:



In the Synoptic Gospel, the same theme appears, although couched in a different way, under the theme of the Kingdom of God.



If we consider Scripture, we can see the theme of Christ revealing God throughout. And even if we consider the accusations of Satan in regards to the law, it is the revelation of God's character which refutes these charges, so we are once again led to the true focus of the GC, which is God's character:

Satan's first problem was with the law, because it prohibited him from doing what he wanted. Because of his hatred for the law, he hated God, Who had created the law and wasn't willing to change it. Now, as a a revenge, he attacks the law, for in this way he is not only seeking to depreciate the law itself but its Author. Those who don't see the importance of the law, like Boyd, cannot see this. His view is incomplete.

Satan was envious of Christ and hated Him before he even knew the law existed.

That came afterwards. He began with a selfishness/vanity/pride problem. This led to envy. And yes, the angels knew the law, although it was not the object of their thoughts often as something they must fulfill.