Posted on 02/10/2007 4:24:02 PM PST by NYer
It's more Manicheanism than traditional Christianity.
You're repeating "higher critical" nonsense.
Chr*stians believe Satan is Lucifer, son of the morning, who rebelled against G-d and fell from Heaven.
Thought you might have some insight into this.
A creature IS NOT GOD. Your claim that Christianity is "dualistic", pitting a "good gxd" (whatever a 'gxd' might be) against an "evil gxd" is false.
Please cease and desist from bearing false witness.
P.S. to ZC, We do not know the specifics of why Lucifer refused to serve God, but theologians have speculated that the reason is that the angels were given a vision of the Incarnation. Lucifer in his pride as the highest angel created by God, could not fathom why God would incarnate Himself, become man, join Himself to lowly matter, and disgusted by this he refused to serve Jesus.
Michael, of a much lower order of angel was first to respond to Lucifer by saying, "who is like unto God?", and with the other obedient angels proceeded to cast Lucifer and his followers into hell.
The famous verse in Isaiah 'Eikh nafalta miShamayim, Helel Ben Shachar (from a triliteral root meaning "to shine") was addressed not to a rebellious angel but to the evil king of Babylon who was puffed up with pride and wore a splendid, shining garment. For this reason the prophet addressed him as "Helel Ben Shachar," the planet v*nus (the morning star).
The name of the angel who acts as the Satan is Sama'el (meaning, if I interpret correctly, something like "the left of G-d"). As the Yeitzer HaRa` (the evil inclination) he tries to destroy us with temptation. As Satan HaMashchit (the destroying adversary) he accuses us before G-d. As Mal'akh HaMavet (the Angel of Death) he is G-d's agent for killing us. I believe he is also the guardian angel of the nation of 'Edom, and as such wrestled with Jacob in Genesis 32.
Evil is not the result of a rebellion in the spiritual realms but because G-d brought something other than Himself into existence. This in and of itself made sin and evil possible. Satan merely does the job(s) he was assigned by G-d. There has never been an angel named "Lucifer" who rebelled against G-d at the beginning of time and became Satan. Sorry.
And to Arrogant Bustard, until the idea of G-d as the Creator had been absorbed by the nations of the world "gxds" were not necessarily considered creators.
PS: Qabbalah goes into greater detail about the origin of evil with such concepts as Shevirat HaKelim (the shattering of the vessels), but I am totally unqualified to say anything about that subject, so I limit my explanation to the peshat (the simple text).
You make God out to be the author of evil. I don't know why anyone would embrace that belief.
I disagree.
Abraham, the first Jew, was not a henotheist.
The Biblical account of Abraham describes a man who (1) entirely rejects the religious tradition of his nation (the Chaldaeans of Ur) and (2) worships a single deity who claims power over the entire earth and over all peoples.
The putative henotheist of 1800 BC was a man who believed in the same deity that his family had traditionally believed in and viewed that deity as being a deity whose authority was limited to his own people and whose authority was limited to one geographic area or area of expertise (say fish for a people consisting of fishermen, etc.)
Abraham made a radical break from that milieu. And, unlike henotheists, he refused to follow the ways of other deities or worship other deities when visiting or dwelling among the henotheists of the ancient Near East.
A better way to look at it would be to say that the deity of Biblical Judaism was henogenic - there were many people besides the descendants of Abraham, but God chose that specific people as his own.
Sort of the inverse of henotheism - the Bible portrays one God choosing one of many peoples, not a people choosing one of many gods.
Sermon on Angels by Fr. Joseph Pfeiffer
It's a fairly long sermon, but it provides an excellent explanation. The instruction on the angels begins about 3 1/2 minutes into the link.
The Problem of Evil: Exonerating God - Part I Prefacing the Problem
The Problem of Evil: Exonerating God -Part II -The Problem Summarized
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