The Devil Made Them Do It? Trivia Quiz

Answer: True

Genesis 3:13 states that when God questioned Eve, she replied by saying that the serpent deceived​ her, so she ate the fruit. It's important to remember, however, that even though Eve basically used the excuse "the devil made me do it", she STILL had a choice in the matter.

Her husband, Adam, blamed Eve and (ultimately) God for his sin! Adam told God that it was the "woman" HE gave him who caused Adam to eat the fruit. Neither Adam nor Eve wanted to take responsibility for their actions, so they blamed others.

The book of Revelation calls Satan (also known as the devil) the ancient serpent or the serpent of old, which suggests a connection between Satan and the serpent of the beginning. Since the Lord cursed a physical animal and its physical offspring (Genesis 3:14-15), it is probable that Satan somehow influenced the serpent to perform the evil angel's will. Lions and lambs are often symbols for Jesus Christ, and likewise, snakes and dragons are common symbols for the devil.

Answer: Take a census

The verse, from my favorite translation, the New American Standard Bible, states, "Then Satan stood up against Israel and moved David to number Israel." A few other translations use the exact word, census.

It might seem odd that Satan wanted David to number Israel rather than do something seemingly more sinister. What exactly is wrong about taking a census? Enduring word.com suggests that God didn't want David to take a census because Israel didn't belong to David or any man. Israel belonged to the Lord.

Answer: Simon Peter

Jesus certainly spoke these words to Simon Peter, but there are a few possible reasons as to why exactly He did. Was Jesus comparing Peter to the evil angel, or was there some other reason why He called him that?

Matthew 16:21-22 from the NASB
"From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day.
Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, 'God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.'"

The above verses provide Christ's prophesy of His death and Peter's response, which then provoked Jesus to say, "Get behind Me, Satan!"

I think there are three possible explanations why Jesus called Peter Satan:
1) Satan temporarily possessed Peter, so Satan forced him to say that to Jesus.
2) Peter was somehow influenced by Satan, but not exactly possessed
3) Peter meant no harm by his comment, but because it went against God's plan for salvation, Jesus rebuked those thoughts and called Peter His adversary. The word "Satan" means adversary in Hebrew. In this case, it would seem more appropriate to say that Peter was a satan (lowercase), but not THE Satan.

Answer: They caused him to scream night and day and hit himself with stones.

This man was tormented by many demons (evil angels), night and day, and they caused him to behave violently and insanely. Luke 8:27-40 tells the same story, with slightly different details. Luke adds that the man never wore any clothes. Neither Gospel reveals the number of demons that he had. They just say that he had "many".

According to Luke 8:2, Jesus delivered Mary Magdalene from the possession of seven demons. The Bible doesn't record how the demons made her act, but I wonder if she could have behaved like this man.

Answer: Speak

Matthew 9:32-34 claim that Jesus cast out a demon from a mute man. After the man was delivered, he was able to speak again. Many of the people who witnessed the event were amazed and they said that they never saw a miracle like that (in Israel).

According to verse 34, however, the Pharisees accused Jesus of casting the demon out by the power of the demons' ruler, which is the devil. Another name for the devil is Beelzebul.

Answer: A group of Jews

Some people believe that the New Testament is anti-Semitic, but I personally don't see it that way. I guess it is anti-Judaism (it is also anti-Islam, Hinduism, etc.), but that doesn't mean that it promotes hatred of the Jewish people. If Christians hate Jews, they are violating Christ's command to love neighbors. Also, Jesus and the first Christians were Jews themselves. Before they broke away and formed a new religion, Christians were called Nazarenes and were considered a form of Judaism (see Acts 24:5).

According to John 8:44-59, Jesus argued that a group of Jews were hypocrites, because they claimed to be children of God, but they wanted to murder Christ. Jesus reminded them that "thou shall not murder" was one of the commandments.

Answer: He said that the boy often fell into the fire and water.

See Matthew 17:15 for the exact quote. I have yet to find a translation online that doesn't mention something about fire and water (although a couple specify the water as a river or a pond). It seems like this boy was demon-possessed, but the demons tormented him with seizures.

Verse 20 includes Jesus telling His disciples that they couldn't heal the boy because they didn't have enough faith.

Answer: She couldn't stand up straight.

She apparently couldn't stand up straight, thus she had a physical disability. While not all illnesses or disabilities are caused by demons or Satan, this woman's evidently was.

Jesus was teaching in a synagogue when He saw the woman and told her to come to Him. The synagogue's official criticized Christ for healing on the Sabbath.

Answer: He was lustful of human women.

Many Christians have believed that "Lucifer" was the original name of Satan before his fall. The word appears in several translations of Isaiah 14:12, including the King James and the King James 21st Century version. In case anyone is interested, the New American Standard uses "star of the morning", which is pretty much what "Lucifer" means.

Lucifer was a cherub and he was the most beautiful angel that the Lord God created. Ezekiel 28:16-17 discuss how he became violent and prideful of his beauty, so God kicked him out of Heaven. In addition, Isaiah 14:14 includes Lucifer saying that he wanted to be like the Most High. This, too, led to his downfall, because he, a created being, could never be like the Creator!

I got the idea for the incorrect reason from Genesis 6, which states that some angels had sexual relations with human women.

Answer: Judas Iscariot

Luke 22:3 from the NASB
"And Satan entered into Judas who was called Iscariot, belonging to the number of the twelve."

John says it like this:
John 13:2
"During supper, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray Him . . ."

It seems like Satan possessed Judas to use him for that sinful act. Satan thought that he defeated Jesus by having Him executed; the devil didn't know that Jesus would rise again. If Judas Iscariot was controlled by the master of evil, then perhaps he could truly say that the devil made him do it. On the other hand, some readers argue that Satan didn't actually possess Judas; they argue that he merely put the idea into his mind. The difference between temptation and possession is free will.

At any rate, some Christians believe that certain people can open themselves up to demonic or satanic possession, sometimes without realizing it, because of constant sins. In the case of Judas, John 12:6 states that he was often stealing money from the disciples' money bag, which means that he stole from Jesus! Despite having guilt after betraying his rabbi, Judas never gave Jesus a chance to be his Savior. Jesus said that it would have been better for His betrayer if he was never born (Matthew 26:24).