Even if he was, what of his followers who actually carried out his orders? Saying he was possessed by a demon, or a serial killer was is a way of letting that person off the hook and denying the fact that we on our own are capable of doing horrible things.
Demons and Evil
- Thread starter Twila
- Start date
Even if he was, what of his followers who actually carried out his orders? Saying he was possessed by a demon, or a serial killer was is a way of letting that person off the hook and denying the fact that we on our own are capable of doing horrible things.
The first recorded demonic reference in the Old Testament occurs in Genesis:
"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’?” (Genesis 3:1 NIV) Another Bible version states: "The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?” (Genesis 3:1 NLT)
"The text implies that it (the serpent) was one of God's creatures. As the narrative progresses, it becomes obvious that behind it is an antagonistic power, one at war with God. It contradicts God's statements, ascribes to God evil intent, and leads the woman into rebellion. Because snakes 'are commonly associated with selected deities and demons and with magic and incantations in the ancient Near East,' it's pretty clear that, under the symbol of the serpent, Genesis 3 depicts a demonic power. This evil being does not belong to the animal kingdom; it can talk and reason. Thus, in that respect, it is closer to the level of humans. Yet it is more than human in that it alleges to have a knowledge not available to humans, and it's here that the demonic element reveals itself."
https://www.ministrymagazine.org/archive/1998/06/old-testament-demonology
The link at the end of the citation above is a comprehensive look at Hebrew demonology as recorded in the Old Testament, Twila. The span of time and writing, number of human co-authors and evolution of thought makes it impossible to list all of the OT references to demons in a discussion forum such as this : )
Jesus Christ is the proof, Twila. Too many details to list here.
Read through the gospels and answer this question: What demon or other god would voluntarily incarnate and willingly submit to the earthly life and death of Jesus Christ in order to rescue/restore creation?
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The serpent in Genesis is good.
o the Necessity that whirls life through its cycles tempted matter, the woman, first and she in turn tempted man, and together they were driven down out of the celestial Paradise - to toil on earth. But why the symbol of temptation? Again a misguided theology has worked ruin with a hidden symbolism. Both in the Old Testament and in Jesus’ life the myth of temptation has been involved in grossly unwarranted morally evil connotations, as if forsooth God aimed deliberately to trap man and cause his "fall". The Good Law of life has no intent to "tempt" man, but it does have the very definite intent to "try" him out against resistance, in this case furnished by the inertia of matter. He does intend to pit unevolved powers of consciousness against opposition which is exactly calculated to arouse latent capacity to function. "Temptation" should really be thought of in the form of "tentation" as from the Latin "tento", to try, try out, test. We are sent here to meet enough opposition to make us grow.
And how does the Serpent of Life tempt man to incarnate? Through the proffered gift of the juice of the fruit of the Tree of Life and Knowledge held in the hand of the Woman. Here again is a symbolic rock over which theology has stumbled most outrageously and been tossed into next to loutish stupidity. And all because it was not known that Jehovah, as feminine, represented the natural forces into which the soul is represented as being lured, as a bit of poetic imagery. Now for the first time it becomes clear why these Jehovah powers, non-sentient, non-intelligent, purely material energies, balk at forming man as a spiritual being, and refuse to sanction his drinking of the juice of the fruit of the forbidden Tree which the Woman, physical life, holds out to lure him. The reason is obvious and clear. They could not! They could not endow man with the intellectual faculties or capacities which they themselves did not possess! Their recalcitrancy in undertaking to frame spiritual man is unmistakably shown by their statement of disinclination to make man capable of becoming equal to the gods. They disclaimed responsibility for the venture.New Lectures on the Ancient Wisdom--No 7.
o the Necessity that whirls life through its cycles tempted matter, the woman, first and she in turn tempted man, and together they were driven down out of the celestial Paradise - to toil on earth. But why the symbol of temptation? Again a misguided theology has worked ruin with a hidden symbolism. Both in the Old Testament and in Jesus’ life the myth of temptation has been involved in grossly unwarranted morally evil connotations, as if forsooth God aimed deliberately to trap man and cause his "fall". The Good Law of life has no intent to "tempt" man, but it does have the very definite intent to "try" him out against resistance, in this case furnished by the inertia of matter. He does intend to pit unevolved powers of consciousness against opposition which is exactly calculated to arouse latent capacity to function. "Temptation" should really be thought of in the form of "tentation" as from the Latin "tento", to try, try out, test. We are sent here to meet enough opposition to make us grow.
And how does the Serpent of Life tempt man to incarnate? Through the proffered gift of the juice of the fruit of the Tree of Life and Knowledge held in the hand of the Woman. Here again is a symbolic rock over which theology has stumbled most outrageously and been tossed into next to loutish stupidity. And all because it was not known that Jehovah, as feminine, represented the natural forces into which the soul is represented as being lured, as a bit of poetic imagery. Now for the first time it becomes clear why these Jehovah powers, non-sentient, non-intelligent, purely material energies, balk at forming man as a spiritual being, and refuse to sanction his drinking of the juice of the fruit of the forbidden Tree which the Woman, physical life, holds out to lure him. The reason is obvious and clear. They could not! They could not endow man with the intellectual faculties or capacities which they themselves did not possess! Their recalcitrancy in undertaking to frame spiritual man is unmistakably shown by their statement of disinclination to make man capable of becoming equal to the gods. They disclaimed responsibility for the venture.New Lectures on the Ancient Wisdom--No 7.
I forgive you your trespass because you are like a little child all full of puff and blow for modern Christianism. There is another tribe that loves to smear their adversaries with feces. I wonder if you might not be one of them. Ignorance will bend you soon enough.
Are you saying that id a bad thing? If you would bother to look into the Gnostic Gospels you would see that the other 8 apostles were Gnostics too. And if you looked alittle farther, you might find that so was Jesus. But I haven't got time for hell to freeze over.
Not a bad thing, Cliffy - a different thing. A Gnostic claims a specialized, enlightened knowledge of God. A Christian acknowledges God's specialized, personal knowledge of him/her:
"She (Hagar) gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.” (Genesis 16:13 NIV)
Then, leaving her water jar, the (Samaritan) woman went back to the town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” (John 4:28-29 NIV)
Forget it, a small thing. I too had much the same opinion of ancient philosophy and natural science but I got stubborn and persisted in reading the ancients and found to my delight the fuller explanations of the purpose and components of life in the genius of the ancient texts. If you really want to be closer to god do not miss the opportunity to explore the beginnings and do not fear the test of faith which you cannot now avoid, knock on the doors, ask and you shall receive, don't let your pride lead your fall etc etc, get off the beaten path and take the narrow road built for you alone, forget hollow consumer religion, walk in the shadow of the valley of death.
I've had a few dreams (actually nightmares) in which I was confronted by a demon. One time I was awakened by a demon who cursed me loudly - I swung my fist in his direction and he ran away. My bed is next to the wall of my bedroom - had I hit the wall, I would have broken my hand. Another time I dreamed the evil trickster Chango' was knocking on my door (you know the old story of Death knocking on one's door - appropriate for me since I am terminally ill) - but I woke up kicking in the air and he ran away.
Too bad I've never had a dream or two about Holy Angels doing me some good - imagine a scenario in which one finds me a wealthy heiress before I finally croak. Wouldn't that be nice?
We are all terminal dude. Some give up and die and others go out kicking and fighting. You seem to be one of the latter.I've had a few dreams (actually nightmares) in which I was confronted by a demon. One time I was awakened by a demon who cursed me loudly - I swung my fist in his direction and he ran away. My bed is next to the wall of my bedroom - had I hit the wall, I would have broken my hand. Another time I dreamed the evil trickster Chango' was knocking on my door (you know the old story of Death knocking on one's door - appropriate for me since I am terminally ill) - but I woke up kicking in the air and he ran away.
Too bad I've never had a dream or two about Holy Angels doing me some good - imagine a scenario in which one finds me a wealthy heiress before I finally croak. Wouldn't that be nice?
I had a dream once where a demon was attacking me - hideous creature it was to. I calmly looked it in the eyes and said, "you are not real. Go away." and it got this look on his face like I had found him out and he slowly faded away into nothing.
Thanx - I'll take that as a compliment.
Evidently, you're a fighter as well. And I mean that as a compliment!
I've had a few dreams (actually nightmares) in which I was confronted by a demon. One time I was awakened by a demon who cursed me loudly - I swung my fist in his direction and he ran away. My bed is next to the wall of my bedroom - had I hit the wall, I would have broken my hand. Another time I dreamed the evil trickster Chango' was knocking on my door (you know the old story of Death knocking on one's door - appropriate for me since I am terminally ill) - but I woke up kicking in the air and he ran away.
Too bad I've never had a dream or two about Holy Angels doing me some good - imagine a scenario in which one finds me a wealthy heiress before I finally croak. Wouldn't that be nice?
I'm sorry to read about your illness. What are your beliefs / thoughts about dreams?
Thank you for your concern. I do take good care of myself - that fer darn sure!
As for dreams, I believe they are a book or a mirror of what we really are like. They sure tell me a lot about myself and my desires. Years ago I spoke to my brother about a series of dreams I had in which the building we grew up in was a neat, well structured, and very clean place. This in contrast to what it was - a mouse and roach infested dump in the worse ghetto in Brooklyn. I told him my interpretation of those dreams was it showed I am the type who needs order and stability in life. He told me that, yes, I am the type to set things in order and that the interpretation was a genuine reflection of the type of person I am in real life.
Dreams can do that for you by revealing much of what you need to know about yourself.
There are lots of good books on dream interpretation and I always suggest that people read up on the subject. It is very interesting reading!
I think we have demons because people invent them and why?
Human nature cannot grasp just how evil some people can be.
People invent demons and give them an image because it is fear
and ignorance driven. Often the evil among us look so ordinary
we can't grasp the evil within them. these are not evil spirits they
are just evil without caring about anything often without fearing the
consequences of their actions. Mentally defective yes possessed
by evil spirits no.
Human nature cannot grasp just how evil some people can be.
People invent demons and give them an image because it is fear
and ignorance driven. Often the evil among us look so ordinary
we can't grasp the evil within them. these are not evil spirits they
are just evil without caring about anything often without fearing the
consequences of their actions. Mentally defective yes possessed
by evil spirits no.
Well put. Another layer of ignorance is bliss. Too fully know how evil some people are could ruin someone. I can't and don't want to imagine.
Seriel killers...m6 brain can not even begin to fathom the depths of evil