tca@houxa.UUCP (T.ADDISON) (04/18/84)
<To cast out the news devil>
A recent submission suggested that Satan "created" numerous false
prophets/messiahs around the time of Christ in attempt to confuse the issue.
Clever little devil.
Actually he may have been much more clever than Christians give him
credit for. Consider the following scenario:
Satan brings into the world yet one more "messiah," endows him with
god-like power and influence, causes him to perform miracles, even to
be killed and resurrected, all of which convince a following that he
is indeed the prophesied messiah, even a deity. All for the purpose of
luring unwitting souls away from the true "God" as known by the people.
This ploy has obviously achieved outstanding success, as attested to by
the millions of this messiah's followers (Christians), even to this day.
Why, Christians eat unclean meat, don't circumcise their males (at least
not for religious reasons), and most don't even worship on Saturday.
To make this messiah appear even more like the true one, of course, Satan
created some obvious false ones, so that people could see the devil's work
and thereby conclude that Christ had to be on God's side.
Not bad.
Satan must be laughing his ass off in anticipation of all those souls that
think they are saved but have been tricked by his false prophets.
----------------------
The point is --
*** ANY ARGUMENT ABOUT GOD AND SATAN IS NULL AND VOID ***
(including this one), given the Judeo-Christian concepts of these entities.
Tom Addison
Bell Communications Research
..houxa!tca
Newsgroups: net.religion
Subject: Re: False Messiahs
<To cast out the news devil>
A recent submission suggested that Satan "created" numerous false
prophets/messiahs around the time of Christ in attempt to confuse the issue.
Clever little devil.
Actually he may have been much more clever than Christians give him
credit for. Consider the following scenario:
Satan brings into the world yet one more "messiah," endows him with
god-like power and influence, causes him to perform miracles, even to
be killed and resurrected, all of which convince a following that he
is indeed the prophesied messiah, even a deity. All for the purpose of
luring unwitting souls away from the true "God" as known by the people.
This ploy has obviously achieved outstanding success, as attested to by
the millions of this messiah's followers (Christians), even to this day.
Why, Christians eat unclean meat, don't circumcise their males (at least
not for religious reasons), and most don't even worship on Saturday.
To make this messiah appear even more like the true one, of course, Satan
created some obvious false ones, so that people could see the devil's work
and thereby conclude that Christ had to be on God's side.
Not bad.
Satan must be laughing his ass off in anticipation of all those souls that
think they are saved but have been tricked by his false prophets.
----------------------
The point is --
*** ANY ARGUMENT ABOUT GOD AND SATAN IS NULL AND VOID ***
(including this one), given the Judeo-Christian concepts of these entities.
Tom Addison
Bell Communications Research
..houxa!tcarlr@pyuxn.UUCP (Rich Rosen) (04/19/84)
> Consider the following scenario: > Satan brings into the world yet one more "messiah," endows him with > god-like power and influence, causes him to perform miracles, even to > be killed and resurrected, all of which convince a following that he > is indeed the prophesied messiah, even a deity. All for the purpose of > luring unwitting souls away from the true "God" as known by the people. > This ploy has obviously achieved outstanding success, as attested to by > the millions of this messiah's followers (Christians), even to this day. > Why, Christians eat unclean meat, don't circumcise their males (at least > not for religious reasons), and most don't even worship on Saturday. > Satan must be laughing his ass off in anticipation of all those souls that > think they are saved but have been tricked by his false prophets. ----- Actually this all fits in with one line of Christian thought (not necessary the "party line", but I have heard it employed a number of times). It has been said that during the millenium (or two?) following Jesus' death (until the second coming), it is Satan who will have control of the realm of the earth, sort of an attempt by god to let Satan have his chance (his day in the sun??). Though this line is often used to explain why there is so much evil in the modern world ("It's *his* fault!"), it neatly fits in with the notion that Tom Addison (houxa!tca) puts forth, in that the whole concept of Satan in control, in conjunction with the prominence of Christianity in the western world, somehow ties it all together... :-)? Of course, it need not have been a "Satan" that did the deceiving. There are human beings who have done a pretty good job of it themselves. And the notion of a "Satan" could actually refer to actions like theirs. But that's another story... -- You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. Rich Rosen pyuxn!rlr
liberte@uiucdcs.UUCP (04/23/84)
#R:houxa:-39100:uiucdcs:33000041:000:663
uiucdcs!liberte Apr 22 21:59:00 1984
The obvious answer to the delema of false prophets vs. the real thing is that
the proof is in the pudding. You, individually, have to look at the works of
the prospective prophet and decide for yourself whether it rings true. The
same goes for messiahs.
At the same time, if you like what the speaker/doer
says/does, what does it matter if they were sponsered by good or evil forces?
No matter how much rings true, you have to examine it all anyways, if you
choose to.
BTW, I dont believe in any "believe and you will be saved" magic.
Daniel LaLiberte, U of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Computer Science
{moderation in all things - including moderation}