An interesting theological question for discussion:

In the Bible, a lot of the opposition people face can be divided into three categories: the world, the flesh, and the devil. It is a very standard theological idea, and I think it is interesting to consider it along with how conflict is described in literature settings.  In English classrooms, a lot of the conflict that drives stories is described as either being man vs. man, man vs himself, or man vs. nature.  

What I am wondering is if all of these categories refer to the same things in life and in what ways they can overlap or not overlap.  Would it mean that “the world” is part of nature, no matter how technological it gets? Would it mean something about the origin of demons? Some people refer to family members as flesh.  Well what would that mean if flesh and the devil could be combined, and flesh can also refer to oneself? It’s really pretty horrifying.

Probably these ideas are very obvious to some people, but I think considering all of it at the same time is actually an opportunity sometimes lost because of efforts to keep religion completely separate from things like public education.  I am sure that most teachers and students manage to have great discussions about anything, but it could be good to be aware of what gets lost in the shuffle of priorities that usually do start with a purpose of protecting people from society and other monsters.