flowperson
Oannes
Cav:
All you really have to do is to be thankful.
flow....
All you really have to do is to be thankful.
flow....
because god gave us a little bit of himself, therefore we are in control of the environment, the animals, and our fellow man. so we have a god given responsibility and in that we have a purpose. it can be as simple as loving your family.Maybe we go wrong when we start thinking about purpose, why do we believe everyone and everything has a self-determined purpose, or even any purpose at all.
Maybe we go wrong when we start thinking about purpose, why do we believe everyone and everything has a self-determined purpose, or even any purpose at all.
Not often you find wisdom in a Brad Pitt movie, but in Troy when Briseis asks him why he chose to be a warrior, he answers something like, I chose nothing, I was born and this is what I am.
I wonder, has Satan made any choice?
Satan isn't going to die from being a corrupt agent in the spiritual realms. He can never die. What's the point of stopping if you've got nothing to lose? What's the point of changing?
But then Satan has an opportunity -- a chance to form an army and overthrow God's Divine Monarchy.
OK, a possible purpose, but not exactly a self-determined one. We do these things because we were created to do them.because god gave us a little bit of himself, therefore we are in control of the environment, the animals, and our fellow man. so we have a god given responsibility and in that we have a purpose. it can be as simple as loving your family.
I think I know what you mean, and part of me agrees. Another part thinks it might even go further than this, to a point where the cycle is inevitable, where its viciousness is irrelevant.Self-determined behaviour? Methinks it's possible that it's a vicious cycle. Satan just can't help himself. It's not exactly driven by Fate, but the kind of character Satan has developed and continues to develop have ever-more malevolent agendas.
i think we were given the ability to do them, but we have to choose to want to do them, its a choice.We do these things because we were created to do them.
I don't disagree, but wouldn't go as far as to agree either. Depending on what exactly you mean by "want", I defrinitely see this as possible.i think we were given the ability to do them, but we have to choose to want to do them, its a choice.
Nothing to loose? Anyone who believes that Satan exists, also belives that he WILL lose in the end.
Even Satan would know that he CAN'T overthrow God, unless us Abrahamics have gotten it ALL WRONG about God and Satan.
Governments and their leaders must be accountable. If Satan can force God to do something that violates His own conscience then Satan would ultimately win. Satan doesn't need to be more powerful than God, he simply has to defeat God morally. God would never do anything that violated His scruples. Likewise, God can't get rid of Satan after he had established his moral authority as the "New God." God would have ceased to function as God.
In theory it should be possible for Satan to win a moral victory against God, but the idea is that he won't.
aburaees said:I'm trying to understand you here, but what exactly is a "moral victory"? From and Abrahamic POV doesn't God have the final say when it comes to morality?
I'm finding it difficult to conceive of a way in which Satan can have a moral victory over the author of morality... and surely Satan, who is wiser than I am, would find this difficult too?
The way I see it, Satan can have a victory over mankind, but never over God...
That's what we've been taught -- that God has already written the rules down -- that God already has authority to judge.
Here's my theory.
God, for sure, is in power at the moment, but His authority is being challenged. So God is going to have to prove Himself. The onus is on God to prove that He's indeed worthy of being "God."
All Satan really has to prove is that "God is no better than the rest of us." All Satan needs to prove is that nobody is absolutely pure and nobody deserves the title of "Absolute God" or "Ideal God." Divine Government is there for the taking. Any angel powerful enough to rule deserves the highest place in the universe -- the position, rank and office of God Himself.
The idea is that Satan won't succeed, but at least for now he's been given the opportunity to discredit God . . .
If Satan succeeds, we will no longer be obliged to be God's people, we can choose instead to be the children of angels of our choosing. Whatever angel we choose is "our god." That's what an angel is -- a potential god. That's the theology so far as Christianity, Gnosticism and Judaism are concerned -- that angels are "potential gods." Not sure about Islam.
So we're talking about parallels with the Sumerian Igigi/Annunaki, Interesting!
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The cultural foundations of much of what is believed in the Abrahamic Religions originated in the religious practices and beliefs of ancient Sumer. There are also Egyptian and Persian influences, but mostly Sumerian and Babylonian. And now we sit here and wonder what all the fighting in Iraq is really about ?
In fact there were several articles published a few years ago at about the time that hostilities began which identified Mosul in Northern Iraq as the home territory of Satan.
flow....
Mosul was Ninevah...the town that Jonah didn't want to go to and ended up in the belly for three days...In fact there were several articles published a few years ago at about the time that hostilities began which identified Mosul in Northern Iraq as the home territory of Satan.
So we're talking about parallels with the Sumerian Igigi/Annunaki, Interesting!