Is There Really a Devil?

[Elderman]

Is there basis for believing that a wicked "spirit" creature exists? Or is this belief unfounded?

[Elderman]

lazygun ........Yes,through the influence of you and many others, systematic doubt has become an article of faith of higher learning. Universities in all countries have thus produced a generation of doubters, for whom “everything is relative.”

[LazyGun]

@Elderman Better the uncertainty of knowledge and learning than the unthinking certainty offered by books of stone age morality tales. You know, the kind of certainty that disavows fact when it gets in the way of the narrative.

Blinkered thinking, irrational belief characterise your every post.

[Elderman]

Yes, Speaking of the bad effects of such systematic uncertainty, one authority states that a “consequence of the attitude of relativism and scepticism in our own age is quite simply a lack of reverence for truth as such.” It goes on to say:
Reverence for truth is not simply the pseudo-cynicism of our own age which tries to “unmask” everything, in the belief that no one and nothing can genuinely lay claim to truth. It is the attitude which combines joyful confidence that truth can indeed be found, with a humble submission to truth whenever and wherever it emerges. Such openness to truth is required of those who worship the true God of truth.

[LazyGun]

@Elderman - Once again, you cite "an authority" - without attribution.An anonymous contributor hardly constitutes an authority, as you are so fond of claiming.

To summarise the quote - take joy in being humble, worship god, who is truth. See, thats where it all falls down. No empirical evidence, no god, no truth with a capital T. Morality and culture is all relative, and no "authority" figure you quote from ( without attribution, I might add - I wonder how the author might view that? ) will change that.

[Elderman]

lazygun ....... Once again, you cite "an authority" - without attribution.An anonymous contributor hardly constitutes an authority, as you are so fond of claiming.
Those who give way to doubt are like waves that are tossed about by “every wind of teaching by means of the trickery of men.” (Ephesians 4:14) In contrast, those who find satisfying answers to their questions are able to “stand firm in the faith.”—1 Corinthians 16:13

[lcg]

in answer to the op...i hope so. he sounds like a fun chap (and you ask rubbish questions, btw).

[naomi24]

Elderman, do you ever think of anything to say that is actually all your own work?

[LazyGun]

@Elderman - Yep, dyed in the wool obstinacy characterises the religious. Intolerant of new evidence, unwilling to listen or to countenance another point of view,failure to recognise the change in moral tone and cultural mores, and so the cycle of indoctrination continues, from generation to generation.

Its worth repeating, because its true - You have a closed mind, Elderman, and that voice in your head that you think is from god? Its your own.

You have no ability to deal with uncertainty or complexity, which probably goes some way towards explaining your antiscientific views.

[Elderman]

NO,Regrettably, I cannot avoid seeing but worthless things in this wicked world to say, my dedication to God includes a solemn promise to turn away from what is worthless. In vowing to do God’s will, I join the psalmist in stating: “From every bad path I have restrained my feet, for the purpose that I may keep your word.” (Ps. 119:101)
So I do not say what I think? No, This fact is made plain in that when Satan came to tempt him into going contrary to God’s word Jesus repelled each wrong suggestion of the Tempter, saying, “It is written,” and then quoting what was written concerning God’s will for him.—Matt. 4:1-11.So you can say what you like.

[LazyGun]

@Elderman - Well, thats jolly nice of you to state that I can say what I like. I say this. - You choose to view the siren call of the modern world, and modern cultural values, and the verities of science, and all the doubts and complexities that constitutes the grown up world - you choose to view all this as the temptation of satan, and in your own mind I think you have cast yourself in the role of jesus.

Closed mind, cast iron certainty with no evidence, sanctimonious preaching - Yep, all the attributes of a zealot.

[Elderman]

It would be logical to expect that the true God would not forever tolerate the bad conditions that have marred his earthly creations. And it would also be logical to believe that he would keep his worshipers informed as to what he will do and what he wants them to do before he executes his judgments. (Amos 3:7) How does he communicate with truth seekers? He uses willing humans as his spokesmen. “‘You are my witnesses,’ is the utterance of ................................(Isaiah 43:10, 11) But how can a people identify those whom the true God uses as his witnesses? How do they, and their message, contrast with worshipers of other gods?

[mickrog]

i have told you already yes.....the devil exists in the form of Baroness Thatcher and god appeared in the form of John Lennon so forget the Grimms book known as the Bible.

[sandyRoe]

On the day you hear the leathery rustle of his wings and sense the Mephistophelean stench of his breath, you'll know this isn't a rhetorical question.

[jake-the-peg]

//He uses willing humans as his spokesmen. “‘You are my witnesses,’//

Then these witnesses spoke of his words telling people of the end of the word in 1925

and then in 1932 and in 1941

and in 1975

I personally had a friend who was a child of Witness and vividly remembers the "end of the world" in 1975


So Elderman - what does this experience tell us of those who claim to be his "Witnesses"

It tells me they're full of cr@p

[Elderman]

Nobody knows when or how the world will end, though it is speculated that life on earth would not be sustainable after our sun 'goes out' in 4-5 billion years.

A popular doomsday belief is that the world will end on December 21 or December 23, 2012, based on this being the year the Mayan Long Count calendar system ends. There is no reliable evidence, however, that ancient Mayans held any association between this date and a major cataclysmic event.

Well the same with all the others is not what the Bible teaches

[beso]

You also know SFA about the future of the planet if you think the sun "going out" is the issue. Before then it will swell up and engulf the Earth before it shrinks down to a dwarf star.

However, long before that (less than a billion years) the increasing radiation from the Sun as it ages will boil away all the water. Life is already eighty percent of the way through its run.

[Elderman]

Beso.......birdie...... There is none so blind as those who do not want to see!
There is one sign today that is of the highest importance to every person on earth. For us to see it, to understand it correctly and to act in accord with it promptly will spell the difference between life and death for you, it is your choice.
But do have a laugh is might be your last.