If I Were the Devil

http://www.newstalk1130.com/onair/common-sense-central-37717/if-i-were-the-devil-12266455/ ^ | 4/18/2014 | Dan O'Donnell

[Mygirlsmom]

If I were the devil…If I were the Prince of Darkness, I’d want to engulf the whole world in darkness, and I would know in the darkest recesses of my blackened heart that I have succeeded.

I’ve subverted the churches, first with a campaign of whispers, then with an outright assault, using the crimes of a few to impugn the many, until I had convinced the masses that religion was corrupt, that its teachings were outdated, that its message was one of hatred and bigotry.

With the wisdom of a serpent, I whispered to you as I whispered to Eve: “Do as you please, and feel safe knowing that the doctrine of moral relativism has replaced any notion of absolute right and wrong.

The bearing of false witness is good politics, covetousness is encouraged every commercial break, adultery is a way of life, and even murder is a woman’s choice.

Read more: http://www.newstalk1130.com/onair/common-sense-central-37717/if-i-were-the-devil-12266455/#ixzz2zFDRkqeY

[Mygirlsmom]

Milwaukee Talk Show host Dan O'Donnell excels at media presentations - here he provides a "sequel" to Paul Harvey's "If I Were the Devil" (Harvey's original is also at the link)

[Common Sense 101]

If I recall correctly, Paul harvey’s version was essentially a laundry list of the policies, actions, and beliefs of the vile Demonic Party and its minions.

[Mygirlsmom]

At the time, I think Harvey was referencing Communism.

Same thing, IMHO

[Mygirlsmom]

Or, to channel someone else Herself,

"The fact is we have a different American Culture. Whether it was because of Marxist ideology or a couple of incompetent Democrats decided to go wreck the country, at this point, what difference does it make?"

[cloudmountain]

Or, to channel someone else Herself,
"The fact is we have a different American Culture. Whether it was because of Marxist ideology or a couple of incompetent Democrats decided to go wreck the country, at this point, what difference does it make?"

So true.
Human action and behavior haven't changed ONE IOTA since there were humans.

Abraham Lincoln: Human action can be modified to some extent, but human nature cannot be changed.

We aren't any better or worse but there are a WHOLE lot more of us. There were 1 billion people on earth in 1800. Now we have 7.046 billion (2012)(Google).

YIKES!

[rjsimmon]

We aren't any better or worse but there are a WHOLE lot more of us. There were 1 billion people on earth in 1800. Now we have 7.046 billion (2012)(Google).

In just a bit over 200 years we have added 6 billion people to this island Earth. One can easily imagine how many people were on the Earth when Noah and his family were rescued from the flood. The savagery that man descends to in such short time is remarkable and so telling of our sin nature. How we rebel against the one who loves us so.

[cloudmountain]

In just a bit over 200 years we have added 6 billion people to this island Earth. One can easily imagine how many people were on the Earth when Noah and his family were rescued from the flood. The savagery that man descends to in such short time is remarkable and so telling of our sin nature. How we rebel against the one who loves us so.

True enough.

Imagine if the Chinese allowed all the children that the one billion Chinese people wanted. Massive famine, I would guess. Imagine if they hadn't aborted all their female fetuses. Oh well.

As for rebellion, it began with pride, the beginning of sin. God did give us free will. I wonder why it's so hard for people to choose God. Also, we are so spoiled, lucky and often ungrateful.

Tell me, do non-Catholics believe in purgatory? It's the place where we are purged of all the sin and its effects. THEN we get to go to heaven, purged of all but grace.

[rjsimmon]

Tell me, do non-Catholics believe in purgatory? It's the place where we are purged of all the sin and its effects.

Nope. Christ took our sins to the cross. If we put something like Purgatory in the mix we are telling Christ his sacrifice was insufficient. You wanna be the one to tell him that?

THEN we get to go to heaven, purged of all but grace.

We receive the full measure of grace when we accept Christ. It never diminishes. To say otherwise is tantamount to heresy.

[St_Thomas_Aquinas]

If we put something like Purgatory in the mix we are telling Christ his sacrifice was insufficient.

Purgatory ___________________________________________________________

"Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come." -Jesus (Mat 12:32)

___________________________________________________________

And making a gathering, he sent twelve thousand drachms of silver to Jerusalem for sacrifice to be offered for the sins of the dead, thinking well and religiously concerning the resurrection,

(For if he had not hoped that they that were slain should rise again, it would have seemed superfluous and vain to pray for the dead,)

And because he considered that they who had fallen asleep with godliness, had great grace laid up for them.

It is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins. (2 Maccabees 12:43-46)

[rjsimmon]

Maccabees is apocryphal, not scripture (at least not in the Protestant Bible) and is not considered divinely inspired. Adding anything to what we do is still telling Christ that his sacrifice was insufficient. Heresy. May as well join the LDS church cause they do the same thing.

[St_Thomas_Aquinas]

Maccabees is apocryphal, not scripture (at least not in the Protestant Bible)

Who considers it apocryphal, and by what authority?

Even if you accept Luther's canon, the passage in Maccabees reflects the ancient Jewish practice of praying for the dead, a practice that continues to this day.

Have mercy upon him; pardon all his transgressions . . . Shelter his soul in the shadow of Thy wings. Make known to him the path of life.

(Jewish prayer for the dead)

And what about the words of Jesus that imply the possibility of the forgiveness of (at least some) sins after death?

“And I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.”

If no sins could be forgiven after death, why would Jesus make this statement?

[rjsimmon]

Who considers it apocryphal, and by what authority?

The entirety of the Protestant faith. Here are a couple of reasons why the apocrypha are to be disregarded:

1.The Roman Catholic Church did not officially canonize the Apocrypha until the Council of Trent (1546 AD). This was in part because the Apocrypha contained material which supported certain Catholic doctrines, such as purgatory, praying for the dead, and the treasury of merit.
2.Not one of them is in the Hebrew language, which was alone used by the inspired historians and poets of the Old Testament.
3.Not one of the writers lays any claim to inspiration.
4.These books were never acknowledged as sacred Scriptures by the Jewish Church, and therefore were never sanctioned by our Lord.
5.They were not allowed a place among the sacred books, during the first four centuries of the Christian Church.
6.They contain fabulous statements, and statements which contradict not only the canonical Scriptures, but themselves; as when, in the two Books of Maccabees, Antiochus Epiphanes is made to die three different deaths in as many different places.

If no sins could be forgiven after death, why would Jesus make this statement?

The 'age' Christ is speaking of is the Millennial reign (Rev 20) where we shall dwell with Jesus for 1000 years on this Earth.

Ask yourself, why does the Catholic church insist on keeping man separate from Christ's grace? They bishopric has always heaped 'works' on the lay people and insisted on fiscal or laborious methods to obtain penitence. Why is that? Jesus never spoke of this and Paul considered it abhorrent.

[Cvengr]

Good points. The fundamental problem with the concept of Purgatory is that it is fails to recognize it is the New Man in us which is saved, not the old sin nature. Before our first death, God provides a mechanism through faith in Christ, for God the Holy Spirit to continually sanctify us, removing the scars in our souls from the old sin nature.

For Purgatory to have any value, it can only work to cleanse the Old Sin Nature, not the New Man.

[Cvengr]

The posted article makes one unnecessary leap.

With the wisdom of a serpent, I whispered to you as I whispered to Eve: “Do as you please, and feel safe knowing that the doctrine of moral relativism has replaced any notion of absolute right and wrong.

The Adversary went a step further with a more simple technique.

He encouraged Eve to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. This implies all humans today possess that knowledge.

It also is something which God has warned us that will surely cause us to die, to become separated from our fellowship with God.

Moral relativism is simply one of many logical consequences for those who continue to rebel from God's Providence, insisting to account for their environment independently of God. It's a miserably dead philosophy causing a very painful demise.

[onedoug]

So O'Donnell doesn't believe that human beings can make such messes out of their own minds by themselves, eh?

There is an abundance of evidence for God in existence, but none whatsoever for the existence of Satan before Man abstracts him from his own mind. 'Tends to undermines monotheism, IMHO.