From what I can see, Biblical literalists do not understand metaphors or accept that they are a useful rhetorical teaching tool. The contortions they go through to justify their iron-clad interpretations MUST have been inspired by Satan; I cannot believe that a merciful God would encourage them to fan-wank the Bible to that degree.
I think Thomas Aquinas came up with the “Satan was one of the Cherubim” theories, possibly based on Ezekiel 28:13-14:
However, Ezekiel 28:12 specifies that this line was to be directed at the King of Tyre, not Satan. However, given XXX19’s tendency towards literalism I suspect this isn’t a compelling rebuttal.
Satan was a cabbage?
Every true Scotsman believes that story.
Thank you for pointing this out.
Hardly a tendency towards literalism. More a tendency towards cherry-picking, hand waving and plastering over problems that don’t fit her answers. I’m assuming she’s a she, or a porn star, based on the Xs.
There are actually two prophecies in Ezekiel 28 aimed at Tyre. The first is aimed at the ruler, or prince, of Tyre, and condemns him for thinking himself a god. The second prophecy is aimed at the king of Tyre, and describes him as much closer to a cherub or higher order of being, that was cast out of heaven for pride.
A traditional interpretation is that the devil is behind what the ruler/prince of Tyre is up to. Thus the twofold prophecy and condemnation.
Regards,
Shodan
Jesus did.
What period was Ezekiel written?
I’m a bit confused. King of Tyros would place it before the Persian period, else he would be a satrap. Then Alexander destroyed the place and never had a king again.
And look at what happened to him!
You nailed that one.
:dubious: Don’t make me cross.
Stuff like this is why I am laughing. Thanks for your help.
nm.
found it. 'twas during the Babylonian exile. Shortly before the Persians arrived.
djeez if I had to wait for you guys to provide answers…
To the Jews, you’re right - my understanding is that they view this as a story about a talking snake, similar to the talking donkey later in the OT.
But for Christians, there are a couple of verses in Revelation that imply that the serpent was Satan.
And this thread got a lot more fun when XXX19 showed up. Keep it coming!
Going back to the OP, there are people known as Luciferians who (apparently) believe in the same theistic duality as Christians, but consider Lucifer/Satan to have done the right thing for humanity by getting Eve to eat the forbidden fruit (in serpent guise of course). They consider suffering necessary for growth, and value knowledge highly. Luciferians seem to take a revisionist view on most of the texts dealing with Satan. That’s maybe the closest thing we’ll ever see to actual worship of the Judeo-Christian devil, though of course they don’t go around eating infants and mutilating cattle or painting pentagrams on the walls in goat blood.
Most religions that have been around long enough to be argued about have an RHP (“Right-Hand path”), which is to say the traditional interpretation of that particular religion’s texts, and an LHP (“Left-Hand path”), which is a re-interpretation, revision or otherwise nontraditional interpretation of those same texts- often considered heresy by their RHP counterparts. Within the Christian tradition you have your run-of-the-mill Christians walking the RHP, and Luciferians walking the LHP. But it’s not a uniquely or even especially Judeo-Christian thing; you could be a LHP Norse Pagan if you think Loki was a hero and Odin was a dick, for example, though your RHP peers are less likely to call that blasphemy than a Christian in the same situation might be. Note that this doesn’t necessarily mean LHP people lean left politically, or that RHP people are on the political right.
Who was worshipping these gods you speak of?
I have known Biblical literalists who claim that any statement not literally true is sinful. Specifically I am thinking of a friend of my father’s, whom I heard, when I was a boy, deliver a passionate sermon on why it was wrong for church’s to put on Christmas pageants, because when the leads said, “I am Joseph!” and “I am Mary!” they were lying.
If we’re going to start acting like Revelation is scripture then it’s all down hill from here.
In all seriousness, the bits in Revelation seem very ex post facto to me.
Dinosaurs, man. Very pious people. Not many people know that.
Wait, what ? Didn’t The Jesus teach almost entirely in metaphors ?
I know ministers who say no, that all the parables were actual incidents which Christ knew about because of his omniscience.