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RE: When was evil created?
April 3, 2013 at 10:30 pm
(This post was last modified: April 3, 2013 at 10:36 pm by Neo-Scholastic.)
In Hebrew, the very first letter of Genesis is 'Bet', the second letter, as opposed to 'Aleph', the first letter. This has been interpreted to allude to a back-story. What the back-story actual tells can only be guessed at from later events recorded in the canonical Scriptures. I cannot remember exactly, but I think the creation of angels might be found in the Book of Enoch. That said, New Church doctrine states that angels come from the human race. My favorite Swedenborg quote is, "Anyone can see that God did not talk to a snake." The idea is that God literally talking to a snake is so ridiculous that it should prompt us to get below the surface of the text. For atheists, of course, that's a non-starter.
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RE: When was evil created?
April 3, 2013 at 10:41 pm
(April 3, 2013 at 10:30 pm)ChadWooters Wrote: In Hebrew, the very first letter of Genesis is 'Bet', the second letter, as opposed to 'Aleph', the first letter. This has been interpreted to allude to a back-story. What the back-story actual tells can only be guessed at from later events recorded in the canonical Scriptures. I cannot remember exactly, but I think the creation of angels might be found in the Book of Enoch. That said, New Church doctrine states that angels come from the human race. My favorite Swedenborg quote is, "Anyone can see that God did not talk to a snake." The idea is that God literally talking to a snake is so ridiculous that it should prompt us to get below the surface of the text. For atheists, of course, that's a non-starter.
What do you mean by "interpreted to allude to a backstory"? Do you mean Genesis is a backstory and perhaps there exists a backstory that has been lost?
Oddly enough, the Hebrew word in Genesis when they were commanded to be fruitful and multiply actually means "replenish".
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RE: When was evil created?
April 4, 2013 at 1:55 pm
(April 3, 2013 at 10:30 pm)ChadWooters Wrote: In Hebrew, the very first letter of Genesis is 'Bet', the second letter, as opposed to 'Aleph', the first letter. This has been interpreted to allude to a back-story. What the back-story actual tells can only be guessed at from later events recorded in the canonical Scriptures. I cannot remember exactly, but I think the creation of angels might be found in the Book of Enoch. That said, New Church doctrine states that angels come from the human race. My favorite Swedenborg quote is, "Anyone can see that God did not talk to a snake." The idea is that God literally talking to a snake is so ridiculous that it should prompt us to get below the surface of the text. For atheists, of course, that's a non-starter.
That is twice now that the xtians have mentioned other documentation than the bible.
It is well known that there are a number of "gospels" that didn't make it into the bible. To me, this is one of the fundamental facts that shows the bible CANNOT be the word of god. Why? Because it was assembled by man. Man chose which gospels to put in, which to leave out and did so based largely on how best to control poulations and gain as much power as possible. The bible is a political document, nothing more.
In any case, I think it is kind of odd that the xtians would have to go outside of their holy book to answer these questions. If angels did, indeed, come from man, then how is the evil (serpent) in the garden explained?
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RE: When was evil created?
April 4, 2013 at 1:57 pm
(This post was last modified: April 4, 2013 at 1:58 pm by The Grand Nudger.)
(April 3, 2013 at 10:30 pm)ChadWooters Wrote: In Hebrew, the very first letter of Genesis is 'Bet', the second letter, as opposed to 'Aleph', the first letter. This has been interpreted to allude to a back-story. What the back-story actual tells can only be guessed at from later events recorded in the canonical Scriptures. I cannot remember exactly, but I think the creation of angels might be found in the Book of Enoch. That said, New Church doctrine states that angels come from the human race. My favorite Swedenborg quote is, "Anyone can see that God did not talk to a snake." The idea is that God literally talking to a snake is so ridiculous that it should prompt us to get below the surface of the text. For atheists, of course, that's a non-starter. I don't understand what's ridiculous about that, I mean, we're already talking about superfairies as though they -weren't- ridiculous...... anything would seem to be game going forward.
I am the Infantry. I am my country’s strength in war, her deterrent in peace. I am the heart of the fight… wherever, whenever. I carry America’s faith and honor against her enemies. I am the Queen of Battle. I am what my country expects me to be, the best trained Soldier in the world. In the race for victory, I am swift, determined, and courageous, armed with a fierce will to win. Never will I fail my country’s trust. Always I fight on…through the foe, to the objective, to triumph overall. If necessary, I will fight to my death. By my steadfast courage, I have won more than 200 years of freedom. I yield not to weakness, to hunger, to cowardice, to fatigue, to superior odds, For I am mentally tough, physically strong, and morally straight. I forsake not, my country, my mission, my comrades, my sacred duty. I am relentless. I am always there, now and forever. I AM THE INFANTRY! FOLLOW ME!
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RE: When was evil created?
April 4, 2013 at 2:43 pm
(This post was last modified: April 4, 2013 at 2:44 pm by Neo-Scholastic.)
(April 4, 2013 at 1:55 pm)Baalzebutt Wrote: That is twice now that the xtians have mentioned other documentation than the bible. Both Jesus and Peter quote from sources not found in the canon. Much has been lost.
(April 4, 2013 at 1:55 pm)Baalzebutt Wrote: In any case, I think it is kind of odd that the xtians would have to go outside of their holy book to answer these questions. The canonical Bible contains all the essentials of the faith. I contend that even if the only surviving text was the Gospel according to John, it would contain everything needed for a saving faith. Everything else is gravy.
(April 4, 2013 at 1:55 pm)Baalzebutt Wrote: If angels did, indeed, come from man, then how is the evil (serpent) in the garden explained? The evil was not int the snake. It was in the original community of believers that relied on external knowledge of good and evil based on their own earthly senses. The serpent represents their own reasoning that that lead to the fall.
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RE: When was evil created?
April 4, 2013 at 2:47 pm
(April 4, 2013 at 2:43 pm)ChadWooters Wrote: The canonical Bible contains all the essentials of the faith. I contend that even if the only surviving text was the Gospel according to John, it would contain everything needed for a saving faith. Everything else is gravy.
But that would mean that there would be, in all likelyhood, bits of gods word that didn't make it into the bible.
Doesn't that seem weird?
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RE: When was evil created?
April 4, 2013 at 3:09 pm
(April 4, 2013 at 2:47 pm)Baalzebutt Wrote: ...that would mean that there would be, in all likelyhood, bits of gods word that didn't make it into the bible. Doesn't that seem weird? Not to me. The world is corrupted by sin and many things of value get destroyed, not just scriptures. Don't forget, the bible is a collection of books written over a long period of time. The ancient Hebrews didn't have access to the Gospel accounts. Revelation is progressive. If something gets lost, a later revelation can restore it. Many Christians think the canon is closed. Historically, yes. That doesn't mean we cannot find spiritual light in later materials.
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RE: When was evil created?
April 4, 2013 at 3:11 pm
I wonder how many more revelations we'll be privy to in a few thousand years.
I am the Infantry. I am my country’s strength in war, her deterrent in peace. I am the heart of the fight… wherever, whenever. I carry America’s faith and honor against her enemies. I am the Queen of Battle. I am what my country expects me to be, the best trained Soldier in the world. In the race for victory, I am swift, determined, and courageous, armed with a fierce will to win. Never will I fail my country’s trust. Always I fight on…through the foe, to the objective, to triumph overall. If necessary, I will fight to my death. By my steadfast courage, I have won more than 200 years of freedom. I yield not to weakness, to hunger, to cowardice, to fatigue, to superior odds, For I am mentally tough, physically strong, and morally straight. I forsake not, my country, my mission, my comrades, my sacred duty. I am relentless. I am always there, now and forever. I AM THE INFANTRY! FOLLOW ME!
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RE: When was evil created?
April 4, 2013 at 3:41 pm
(April 4, 2013 at 3:11 pm)Rhythm Wrote: I wonder how many more revelations we'll be privy to in a few thousand years. God knows. ;-)
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RE: When was evil created?
April 4, 2013 at 3:47 pm
(April 3, 2013 at 10:30 pm)ChadWooters Wrote: "Anyone can see that God did not talk to a snake." The idea is that God literally talking to a snake is so ridiculous that it should prompt us to get below the surface of the text. For atheists, of course, that's a non-starter.
Is a talking to a snake really any more ridiculous than a Jew coming back from the dead? Why is one self-evidently ridiculous while the other isn't?
Even if the open windows of science at first make us shiver after the cozy indoor warmth of traditional humanizing myths, in the end the fresh air brings vigor, and the great spaces have a splendor of their own - Bertrand Russell
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