The following excerpt is taken from What Every Christian Should Know About Satan. Order your copy in print, Kindle, or Audible versions here.

---

The apostle Paul makes at least two direct references to Satan’s authority over the world (2 Cor. 4:3-4; Eph. 2:1-2). In his second letter to the Corinthians, Paul notes: “But if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case, the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Cor. 4:3-4, emphasis added).

Throughout the church age, Bible interpreters have disagreed about the identity of the god of this age. Most of us are inclined immediately to understand this as a reference to Satan. After all, Paul writes about the evil one in other parts of this letter. For example, the apostle urges his readers to forgive and welcome back a believer under church discipline, noting that Satan’s schemes include unforgiveness, which enables him to take advantage of Christians (2 Cor. 2:11). Later, Paul warns that Satan disguises himself as an angel of light (11:14). And finally, Paul shares a personal experience in which a “messenger of Satan” is sent to keep him from sliding into the sin of self-exaltation (2 Cor. 12:7). So, it seems natural to understand the god of this age as Satan.

However, early church fathers Cyril of Jerusalem and Ambrosiaster believed Paul was writing about God. Their argument was simple: Only God is truly sovereign over this age (the Greek word is aion, which may be translated “age” or “era”). Cyril and Ambrosiaster argued that if Satan is called “god” (Greek theos) in 2 Corinthians 4, and Jesus is called “God” (theos) elsewhere in the New Testament (John 1:1-3, 17-18; Tit. 1:3-4), then the passages in John and Titus cannot refer to Jesus as the true God. In other words, if Satan is theos and Jesus is theos, there is nothing uniquely divine about the Son of God.

Continue reading →