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Christianity is polytheistic
August 26, 2008 at 10:49 am
I had just posted something about bad stuff being the work of Satan when it occurred to me...
Aside from the Trinity thing, Christians attribute a load of power to Satan. I'm sure it can be argued that he has god-like status. Certainly he's at the level of many of the Greek, Roman, Indian or Norse gods.
According to the bible he messed about with Job something terrible, and when he met with God, God asked him where he'd been and what he'd been up to (What? God didn't know?)
Quote:One day the angels came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them. 7 The LORD said to Satan, "Where have you come from?"
Satan answered the LORD, "From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it." Job 1:6-7
Also, think of the temptation of Jesus:
Quote:8Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9"All this I will give you," he said, "if you will bow down and worship me." Matt 4:8-9
Jesus doesn't say "You can't do that, it's not withing your power". he says "Away from me, Satan!" ("get thee behind me, Satan" in the good old KJV)
Satan, according to the bible is pretty damn powerful, not at the same level as Jahweh the desert goblin, but definitely god-like.
'How can you say, "We are wise, for we have the law of the LORD," when actually the lying pen of the scribes has handled it falsely? Jer 8:8
A child of five would understand this. Send someone to fetch a child of five. Groucho Marx
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RE: Christianity is polytheistic
August 26, 2008 at 12:02 pm
The problem of Satan is a continual one for Christians since it makes absolutely no sense. If God truly did love each of us then what is the purpose of Satan? Surely Satan could just be destroyed by God?
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RE: Christianity is polytheistic
August 28, 2008 at 10:07 am
Satan is supposed to be an archangel, along with Jesus, Raphel, Gabriel ect. Satan tried to take over the kingdom of God in a big battle royal and lost. He and his followers were cast out of heaven, but Satan posed an important question, is Yahweh the ruler we want? This cast doubt in the other angels eyes hence God posed him a chalange; he would not interfere in day-to-day life on earth untill Armagedon and he wouldn't interfere with Satan directly untill then. Satan goded God. I always thought God's all-loving reputation was a bit over rated.
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RE: Christianity is polytheistic
August 31, 2008 at 1:01 am
(This post was last modified: August 31, 2008 at 1:03 am by Eilonnwy.)
Christianity is Polytheistic not for the Devil. Even if you buy the Trinity being 1 God instead of 3. (Um, whatever)
There are also the saints, which are prayed to and give them at least a demigod aspect. They even have things the are "gods of" in a sense. Add to that all the different types of angels. Even the Virgin Mary gets prayers and is attributed to miracles, therefore godly status.
Also about the Devil...who was an angel to begin with. Lucifer was his name...God created angels to have no free will. So technically, if the angels have no free will, they could not challenge God. So the war between God and Lucifer is silly.
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RE: Christianity is polytheistic
August 31, 2008 at 5:05 am
The Devil is not Lucifer. Satan and Lucifer are diffrent entities.
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RE: Christianity is polytheistic
August 31, 2008 at 7:09 am
Have you noticed that satan doesn't sound that bad. Satan challanged god, Who wanted to take his place. God sounds bloody evil.
It's like satan is mis-understood but is someone who posses great powers and attempted to use them against god.
Interesting!
Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence - Carl Sagan
Mankind's intelligence walks hand in hand with it's stupidity.
Being an atheist says nothing about your overall intelligence, it just means you don't believe in god. Atheists can be as bright as any scientist and as stupid as any creationist.
You never really know just how stupid someone is, until you've argued with them.
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RE: Christianity is polytheistic
August 31, 2008 at 7:35 pm
I agree, the more I'm reading of the Old Testament the more I come to the conclusion that God is an absolute arse hat. In fact, reading the Old Testament reminds me of an episode of Star Trek, where Kirk discovers an alien who has set himself up as a god/demigod on a backwater planet that has never encountered aliens or alien technology before. He's jealous, vengeful, petty, angry, bitter - you name it, and yet the local inhabitants see him as a God because he can do things they can't.
Along comes Kirk-Satan, tries and fails to depose Khan-God, and there you have it, God vs Satan.
Don't even get me started about Spock-Lucifer!
yeah ok, I'm a Trekkie :p
Atheism as a Religion
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A man also or woman that hath a Macintosh, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with used and abandoned Windows 3.1 floppy disks: their blood shall be upon them. Leviticus 20:27
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RE: Christianity is polytheistic
September 1, 2008 at 12:58 am
Honestly, I know like reading the bible is a good way to challenge religion and know exactly what you're not believing (and to use their own belief against them in an argument)...but I can't be bothered. If what I was taught of the bible in Catholic school was enough for me to know to take Confirmation than it's enough to also deny it completely. I don't want to waste my time on a book that will bore me to tears. I've heard enough of it as is.
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RE: Christianity is polytheistic
September 1, 2008 at 12:11 pm
(August 26, 2008 at 10:49 am)StewartP Wrote: Aside from the Trinity thing, Christians attribute a load of power to Satan. I'm sure it can be argued that he has god-like status. Certainly he's at the level of many of the Greek, Roman, Indian or Norse gods. The Trinity refers to one God and is thus monotheistic. While Satan has powers it doesn’t make him God. Although the Bible doesn’t actually define the term “God” its reasonable to assume that most Jews and Christians understand the term “God” (capital G) to mean “The creator of Heaven and Earth”. The term “god” (small g) is used in the Bible to refer both to things like rulers as well as to entities that are worshiped besides God. Merely having certain powers doesn’t make Satan God or a god. Thus Jews and Christians view them as monotheists.
By the way, “Yahweh” is not actually a name. If comes from an English translation of the usage of certain letters which act as a placeholder for where God’s name would have gone if it wasn’t too holy to write down. It reminds the reader where to pronounce “Lord” in place of God’s name.
’Eilonnwy’ Wrote:Christianity is Polytheistic not for the Devil … There are also the saints, which are prayed to Even the Virgin Mary gets prayers and is attributed to miracles.. Only Catholics do that. This notion is what started the Protestant church, i.e. the protestants protest that kind of thing. Hence the term protestant.
’dagna’ Wrote:The Devil is not Lucifer. Satan and Lucifer are diffrent entities. The term Lucifer is Latin for “Light-Bringer.” It originated from certain English translations of the Bible, e.g. the King James version, of Isaiah 14:12 when it referred to the morning star as an entity which fell from Heaven. I;e.
“How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning.”
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RE: Christianity is polytheistic
September 1, 2008 at 11:33 pm
(September 1, 2008 at 12:11 pm)Pete Wrote: ’Eilonnwy’ Wrote:Christianity is Polytheistic not for the Devil … There are also the saints, which are prayed to Even the Virgin Mary gets prayers and is attributed to miracles.. Only Catholics do that. This notion is what started the Protestant church, i.e. the protestants protest that kind of thing. Hence the term protestant.
I was raised Roman Catholic, so I tend to forget that while all Catholics are Christian, not all Christians are Catholic.
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