This is the part which confuses me:

If Satan so badly wants humans to sin and go against God's will then if/when the Sinners come to hell why does he punish them? Is it possible that God is Satan and if testing people to see if they are worthy of heaven?

I love your question.

Didn't 'Satan' ask God before 'testing' Job. Didn't 'Satan' ask God to sift Peter? So then, this 'Satan' is incapable of acting outside of God's power. Otherwise 'Satan' would be equal to or more powerful than God, would he not?

As a side-note, you might want to check out Swedenborg's writings about his visions of heaven and hell. If I remember correctly, Emanuel Swedenborg wrote in his book 'Heaven & Hell' that 'Hell is not without its pleasures for those who are there'[paraphrased]. Think about it...



However, I still believe they are symbolic images of a state of being. Yet, I am not committed to any line of thought, it being just that...a thought. If I were, I don't believe that growth would be possible.

---

Worthy of Heaven...what does that mean? Don't they teach that 'all have fallen short'? If so...then none are 'worthy'.



[This message has been edited by outcast (edited 11-10-2004).]

again i have to ask who this Satan bloke is supposed to be...?

quote:Originally posted by jackketch:

again i have to ask who this Satan bloke is supposed to be...?

Well, number one...'he's' not a 'bloke'...

Supposedly, the story goes...Satan [or however you want to call him]...is an adversarial angel sent by God...I'm unsure if it is the same angel, however.

It has been suggested to me by a friend, that the Satan figure is the left covering cherub and Jesus is the right covering cherub on the throne of God. Twin brothers...the meaning behind the prodigal son. Interesting idea, just an idea nonetheless.

Don't you know, we never do anything of our own accord...it's always somebody else's fault.

We are powerless until we know that: I am in him...he is in me...we are but one.



-or maybe-



I am Spartacus http://www.totse.com/bbs/wink.gif (http://www.totse.com/bbs/wink.gif)

quote:It has been suggested to me by a friend, that the Satan figure is the left covering cherub and Jesus is the right covering cherub on the throne of God. Twin brothers...the meaning behind the prodigal son. Interesting idea, just an idea nonetheless.



just as jesus is supposed to have had a twin brother (thomas didymus)....

Satan is an allegory for evil, people. Anyone who believes that he’s an actual being is confused, that is not what the ancients were trying to convey.

I agree, allegory...myth...whatever you want to call it...

Literal interpretations, IMO are completely missing the point and the beauty that can be found in scripture....

But...when in Rome....

quote:Originally posted by jackketch:

again i have to ask who this Satan bloke is supposed to be...?

Read Josef McCabes: A History Of Satanism.

Satan Is ("Is" with a capitol "I") the personafication of evil. The first records of such a being are of the all evil all the time Persian demi goddess called Angra something (I know, specific aren't I? Read the book.). But, it wasn't until long after Christianity was established that Lucifer somehow managed to get the title basically King-Of-Satans.

It's kind of funny how they managed to turn the Angel Of Light into the Prince Of Darkness so out of the blue and so completely.

Cheers,

Lost

I think religeon is a large lie implanted in our minds by a superior alien race to keep us focused on something other than them while they watch us evolve on this planet as nothing more then an experiment.

*Cough* but thats just me.

quote:Originally posted by Social Junker:

Satan is an allegory for evil, people. Anyone who believes that he’s an actual being is confused, that is not what the ancients were trying to convey.

how do you know what they were trying to convey?

quote:Originally posted by jackketch:

again i have to ask who this Satan bloke is supposed to be...?



i'm starting to think that he might be you.

^^^ and i meant that literally, not metaphorically

Jung said that Satan is the fourth part of the Holy Trinity; the bottom end of the cross. Oddly enough, this would, as far as numerology is concerned, transform the gender of the whole entourage (3 = masculine, 4 = feminine).

quote:Originally posted by xtreem5150ahm:

^^^ and i meant that literally, not metaphorically



and what brings you to that conclusion?

quote:Originally posted by jackketch:

Originally posted by xtreem5150ahm:

^^^ and i meant that literally, not metaphorically

and what brings you to that conclusion?

the conclusion is from the way that i meant it...

i meant it literally, so i conclude it to mean literal http://www.totse.com/bbs/wink.gif (http://www.totse.com/bbs/wink.gif)

quote:Originally posted by Social Junker:

Satan is an allegory for evil, people. Anyone who believes that he’s an actual being is confused, that is not what the ancients were trying to convey.

Oh thank you for asking them. I had thought that we were going to have to actually maybe figure it out, but now that we know, with 100% certainty what the ancients wanted, I guess I can sleep well.

From what we know about their systems of thought, it would be logical (at least I think it would be) to deduce that the ancients believed that many of the beliefs we take so literally today were actually just metaphorical in nature.

PS-This is just my opinion, I should add that this time.

[This message has been edited by Social Junker (edited 11-12-2004).]

quote:Originally posted by xtreem5150ahm:

the conclusion is from the way that i meant it...

i meant it literally, so i conclude it to mean literal http://www.totse.com/bbs/wink.gif (http://www.totse.com/bbs/wink.gif)



ah right i thought you might be refering to yoyo's post in S&A where she describes me as truly evil http://www.totse.com/bbs/smile.gif (http://www.totse.com/bbs/smile.gif)

linky? here http://www.totse.com/bbs/Forum4/HTML/010556.html



[This message has been edited by jackketch (edited 11-12-2004).]