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This is as labyrinthine a rabbit hole as how El became Yahweh. There should be plenty of books, articles and videos on the subject. I suspect someone here has an answer, but I think you are on the right track. It seems to me, if I remember correctly, the contemporary Christian idea of Satan is an evolved amalgamation. The ha-satan of Job is not the god of this world Paul writes about, and different still from what people mean today when they say Satan. ———— I had never heard so much daily talk about the devil until I married into that Way family. The adversary received more credit than God - no joke, no hyperbole, no figger of speech. The power of God depended upon beleeef, but the power of the adversary depended on nothing and was an absolute factual certainty. According to them, the devil was everywhere, especially over your shoulder - Look out! God and Christ were absent in another realm. I had no idea how polytheistic Christianity was until I took “the class.”

I hope for her recovery.

Where did the idea of Satan come from in the bible? Apparently, there was no actual Satan in a human or earthly context nor in an otherworldly context in the OT until the 6th century BCE. When the Israelites were freed from Babylonian captivity by Cyrus in 539 BCE, the Judea people returned to Jerusalem and lived for the next 200 years as a Persian-client state. *Bill Zuersher argues that during this time, Judah was influenced by the Persian belief of Zoroastrianism. Under this belief, Ahura Mazda, the god of goodness and Ahriman, the god of evil, are in a struggle against each other. This played out as good vs evil in the lives of humans. It was taught that good will triumph soon and in the meantime, a lot of emphasis was placed on moral teachings. There is an afterlife and a supernatural opponent to the good god. The afterlife includes a resurrection and judgment followed by one going to either paradise or the pit. This mythology appears to show up in the NT where Satan appears as the god of this world (along with his devil spirits) and Jesus teaches in Matthew of "being in danger of hell fire" (chap 5) and being cast "into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth" (chap 13). Is this a mere coincidence? Is this doctrine necessary to explain the evil that is present in the world? *Video: Bill Zuersher - Seeing Through Christianity - A Critique of Beliefs and Evidence

Maybe you'll remember "Cecilia" from ~Simon & Garfunkel~ and they're album "Bridge Over Troubled Water". It did reach #1 on the top 100 for Cashbox in 1970. It did play on the radio. FREE POST

No. It's on the other side of the country.

Everyone give up? I'll just pick a more crossover song? Or give it to George, who got as close as he could while still having the wrong song

Definitely.

It really is cool

Right idea, wrong song. The titles are very close though. This one's a country song.

What a great video Rocky. It's funny and it's about atheism, the "miracle" of modern medicine and some good life lessons one of which is how donating blood saves lives. Were you interested in reading the book?

Carson City, NV? It's more or less a ghost town. George

Still not getting it. George

"Sure Gonna Miss Her" by Gary Lewis and the Playboys? George

Enough warnings had been given recently about how to respond to each others' posts. My reply simply overlooked the way he chose to address an issue he had with me so instead of dealing with it, I thanked him that his post helped me to remember to use "IMO I think"...instead of telling someone what they ought to do. And I meant it. He was upset that I didn't apologize and let me know this in such a way that required an apology from him. Thanks for the video - I'll watch it in the morning.

Well, it was a test. "How far will Abraham go? How deep is his commitment? I've got to find out. Hmmm... a test... a test... rock ridge... rock ridge..." "I've got it!! I'll tell him to make his precious Isaac a burnt offering to me. We don't want him to actually go through with it and slaughter the lad, we just need to see if he would. It's a test, remember? Tell you what, if it looks like he's going all the way, pop up at the last minute and stop him. I'll make sure an animal appears nearby, a goat or sheep or something. Keep your eyes peeled for movement in the thicket. Now, let's get to work..."

Thank you, and yes, she is.

I'm very sorry for the loss of your sister and brother. Is your other sister still battling cancer? I appreciate what you said about emotions Raf. But to make myself more clear, I let go of my belief in god that night because in my mind and heart he again proved to be untrustworthy. Like I said, later I did look at what the bible said about prayer to see what I was misunderstanding about it and from what I remember, answers to prayer came with conditions which I saw as convenient loopholes for a "promise" to become a "perhaps" or "maybe." There is no peace that passes understanding with BS like that.

Please refrain from personal attacks. If you can't address what a poster says without attacking his/her "ego," you are no longer addressing the topic but the poster. The poster is not the topic. Telling people to button their lip is bullying and won't be tolerated. Posts flagged for moderator review and possible reinstatement. Hidden but not deleted until such review is complete. [THIS post has been reported by me to trigger independent review]. [Update: The moderation was reviewed and upheld]

I can't say I knew what motivated you to do so, but I respect the end result of your thought process in forming the reply to chockful. [Moderator's note: this post originally quoted another post that is being hidden for moderator's review. The hidden post violated no rules but responds to another hidden post that did. The remainder of THIS post is of independent value]. Also, I've read at least one book by author Sebastian Junger and respect his insight on life individually and with other humans. I watched this (non-comedic) interview this evening and thought it might appropriately fit in this thread.

An atheist who does Gods work. Ok. With your lack of blame towards God for relatives sickness and realization there is no instantaneous healing on the way that is no different than how I view the world. I had a relative die of MS. Just saw his widow. He was supposedly healed of MS by someone praying years ago. Did that happen? Or did it just go into remission for 20 years? I don’t know. I don’t know why I never thought to blame God or pray for miracles. I’m mostly conditioned I guess to pray but keep your own gunpowder dry and your gun clean.

Okay it's me. One momento.

Liberty Stands Still Linda Fiorentino Unforgettable

What was the first U.S. state to designate Labor Day as a holiday? or. What is least populated capital city is the U.S.? I thought I had already posted last night? Apparently I forgot to hit submit reply.

Wow, maybe you were around in the late 60's George like I was. More lyrics are "making love in the afternoon with [song title], up in my bedroom", making love,' I got up to wash my face when I come back to bed someone's taken my place".

Correctomundo WordWolf.