There are 2 words in particular in New Testament Greek that are translated by the English words “accuse” or “accuser.”
The first is “diaballo” meaning to throw against, a form of which is used of Satan as the diabolos, the accuser. He throws accusations against us.
The second is “kategereo“ translated as accuse. It is the basis of our English word category, which is to divide things or people into different groups, classes or areas.
Though this latter Greek word does not appear in the Greek Old Testament, the Septuagint [LXX], the concept does appear. And it appears very early.
Categories Can BeUsed To Deceive People
Just consider the temptation of Eve by the serpent or the Devil or Satan in Genesis chapter 3. Gen 3:1 “Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” 2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.'” 4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.”
We notice what the serpent was doing. He was accusing God as being not truthful. He suggested that God had lied to Eve about the forbidden fruit and tempted her to partake of that fruit to become wise and be like God, knowing good and evil.
In other words, the serpent was putting God into the category of being a liar, not to be trusted. But he was also putting Eve into the category of being a victim, of being a victim of God’s lying statements which would prevent her from reaching a greater fulfilment in life.
Victim Mentality, A Result Of The Fall Of Humankind
We can see how victim mentality became part of the experience of the human race so early. First of all, we see it being adopted by Adam. When he was confronted by God in the garden and asked how he knew he had sinned [by eating of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil] he immediately went into the victim mode and accused Eve of being the source of the problem by tempting him to eat of the fruit. In other words, ”Hey, I’m the victim here! Eve is to blame, not me!” Humans have been projecting their sins onto other people ever since.
How about Eve? She also immediately goes into victim mentality. She projects her sin onto the serpent. Gen 3:13 Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” Genesis 3:13. Or in similar words to Adam, “Hey, I’m the victim here. The serpent is to blame, not me!”
Victim mentality has become part of the world’s way of dealing with situations that arise in life. Millions of people throughout history have deliberately or even unconsciously seen themselves as victims of the shortcomings or evils of other people. They accuse those other people of sinning against them. As we have seen, accusing others is the meaning of the Greek word [katagoreo] which is used 22 times in the Greek New Testament. Perhaps we could see this process as deriving from the tendency to put people into categories, often where they by no means belong. The problem with categories is that they do not accurately contain the characteristics we think they should contain.
Perhaps one of the greatest groups who saw themselves as victims were the Jewish leaders in Jesus’ day. They saw themselves and their fellow Jews as being the victims of false teaching, by Jesus. He didn’t fit their category of being a true prophet. Thus He had to be got rid of. However, when one of their leaders, Saul of Tarsus met the risen Christ on his way to Damascus, he realised that his categorising of Jesus was a wrong classification and that Jesus was indeed all He claimed to be. From that point on he was totally committed to Jesus and His kingdom.
In fact, St Paul [as Saul became known] was able to recognise that Jesus had broken down all categories in uniting all people to oneness in Himself. As he reminded the Galatian church, “For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Gal 3:27-28. For those of us who have had the opportunity to fellowship with believers from all nations, that truth is real. We really are one in Christ, focused on Him and on His love and grace.
The Problem Of Seeing Ourselves As Victims In Today’s World
It is so easy to see ourselves as the victims of other people. We may see ourselves as suffering from bad government because the cost of living is much higher now than in previous years. Or there are more restrictions on free speech. But those authorities whom God has allowed to govern must do so, looking to the Lord for His guidance and blessing. Otherwise, they will not be fulfilling His purpose for His people.
We can so easily use categorising in the church. We can put individuals into the category of some church movement we dislike or believe they will follow implicitly every doctrine that that church upholds.
We can do it in politics as well. Though I didn’t notice it in the brief time I spent living in the USA it seems that people have to declare their allegiance to either the Democratic party or the Republican party and that there is not a lot of cooperation between the 2 groups. Hopefully, their unity in Christ may eventually overrule to their benefit and to the glory of God.
Or the native people of more primitive lands may have a victim mentality towards those peoples who later settled in their lands. But many of them got rid of seeing themselves as victims and took hold of the opportunities offered to them. They realised that God could help them and enable them to prosper and make positive contributions to all the people of their lands. Some outstanding leaders have emerged in many lands as they transitioned from a “victim” mentality to a “Christ-centred” mentality.
As we look at our own lives as individuals, we need to see to what extent we see ourselves as having a victim mentality regarding other people or groups. St Paul reminded us as believers that we don’t have to see ourselves as victims of other people’s accusations, but we can realise that have become more than conquerors through Him who loved us, “Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” Romans 8:33-37.
No longer victims but now MORE THAN CONQUERORS!
Blog No.565 posted on Tuesday 28 January 2025.
holbeck 
565. The Danger Of Putting People Into “Categories.”
There are 2 words in particular in New Testament Greek that are translated by the English words “accuse” or “accuser.”
The first is “diaballo” meaning to throw against, a form of which is used of Satan as the diabolos, the accuser. He throws accusations against us.
The second is “kategereo“ translated as accuse. It is the basis of our English word category, which is to divide things or people into different groups, classes or areas.
Though this latter Greek word does not appear in the Greek Old Testament, the Septuagint [LXX], the concept does appear. And it appears very early.
Categories Can BeUsed To Deceive People
Just consider the temptation of Eve by the serpent or the Devil or Satan in Genesis chapter 3. Gen 3:1 “Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” 2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.'” 4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.”
We notice what the serpent was doing. He was accusing God as being not truthful. He suggested that God had lied to Eve about the forbidden fruit and tempted her to partake of that fruit to become wise and be like God, knowing good and evil.
In other words, the serpent was putting God into the category of being a liar, not to be trusted. But he was also putting Eve into the category of being a victim, of being a victim of God’s lying statements which would prevent her from reaching a greater fulfilment in life.
Victim Mentality, A Result Of The Fall Of Humankind
We can see how victim mentality became part of the experience of the human race so early. First of all, we see it being adopted by Adam. When he was confronted by God in the garden and asked how he knew he had sinned [by eating of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil] he immediately went into the victim mode and accused Eve of being the source of the problem by tempting him to eat of the fruit. In other words, ”Hey, I’m the victim here! Eve is to blame, not me!” Humans have been projecting their sins onto other people ever since.
How about Eve? She also immediately goes into victim mentality. She projects her sin onto the serpent. Gen 3:13 Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” Genesis 3:13. Or in similar words to Adam, “Hey, I’m the victim here. The serpent is to blame, not me!”
Victim mentality has become part of the world’s way of dealing with situations that arise in life. Millions of people throughout history have deliberately or even unconsciously seen themselves as victims of the shortcomings or evils of other people. They accuse those other people of sinning against them. As we have seen, accusing others is the meaning of the Greek word [katagoreo] which is used 22 times in the Greek New Testament. Perhaps we could see this process as deriving from the tendency to put people into categories, often where they by no means belong. The problem with categories is that they do not accurately contain the characteristics we think they should contain.
Perhaps one of the greatest groups who saw themselves as victims were the Jewish leaders in Jesus’ day. They saw themselves and their fellow Jews as being the victims of false teaching, by Jesus. He didn’t fit their category of being a true prophet. Thus He had to be got rid of. However, when one of their leaders, Saul of Tarsus met the risen Christ on his way to Damascus, he realised that his categorising of Jesus was a wrong classification and that Jesus was indeed all He claimed to be. From that point on he was totally committed to Jesus and His kingdom.
In fact, St Paul [as Saul became known] was able to recognise that Jesus had broken down all categories in uniting all people to oneness in Himself. As he reminded the Galatian church, “For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Gal 3:27-28. For those of us who have had the opportunity to fellowship with believers from all nations, that truth is real. We really are one in Christ, focused on Him and on His love and grace.
The Problem Of Seeing Ourselves As Victims In Today’s World
It is so easy to see ourselves as the victims of other people. We may see ourselves as suffering from bad government because the cost of living is much higher now than in previous years. Or there are more restrictions on free speech. But those authorities whom God has allowed to govern must do so, looking to the Lord for His guidance and blessing. Otherwise, they will not be fulfilling His purpose for His people.
We can so easily use categorising in the church. We can put individuals into the category of some church movement we dislike or believe they will follow implicitly every doctrine that that church upholds.
We can do it in politics as well. Though I didn’t notice it in the brief time I spent living in the USA it seems that people have to declare their allegiance to either the Democratic party or the Republican party and that there is not a lot of cooperation between the 2 groups. Hopefully, their unity in Christ may eventually overrule to their benefit and to the glory of God.
Or the native people of more primitive lands may have a victim mentality towards those peoples who later settled in their lands. But many of them got rid of seeing themselves as victims and took hold of the opportunities offered to them. They realised that God could help them and enable them to prosper and make positive contributions to all the people of their lands. Some outstanding leaders have emerged in many lands as they transitioned from a “victim” mentality to a “Christ-centred” mentality.
As we look at our own lives as individuals, we need to see to what extent we see ourselves as having a victim mentality regarding other people or groups. St Paul reminded us as believers that we don’t have to see ourselves as victims of other people’s accusations, but we can realise that have become more than conquerors through Him who loved us, “Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” Romans 8:33-37.
No longer victims but now MORE THAN CONQUERORS!
Blog No.565 posted on Tuesday 28 January 2025.
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About Jim Holbeck
Once an Industrial Chemist working for the Queensland Government but later an Anglican minister in Brisbane, Armidale and Sydney. Last position for eighteen years before retirement in 2006 was as the Leader of the Healing Ministry at St Andrew's Cathedral Sydney.