The Religion Thread

[O Really]

"Just wondering - why is it that both God and Satan are portrayed as males, even though neither is an actual earthly physical being?"

Would it have made any difference if either of them had been portrayed as females? Satan still has mankind convinced that neither exist.
.

Not really, because portraying them as either earthy physical gender is inherently wrong. These are powerful beings, living in infinite time, infinite space. Capable of creating the world and controlling everything in in - as well as each other, to some degree. An oversimplification of human-like form and behaviour shows only that the person has no concept of what "God" (in either upper or lower case) is.

[O Really]

Well, I can go along with Anselm's Ontological Argument for the existence of god, which is (oversimplified) a power greater than any you can know or imagine. So when you run out of knowledge, you can say what's left is god. It's scalable, but still allows for some point at which a human can say, "I may think it's the Big Bang, but I don't know what happened before..." What I disassociate with is not god in the abstract nor god as a reality, but with God as a person. Looking at good (represented by "God") and evil (represented by "Satan") one has to see them not as separate entities, but as interrelated parts of a greater whole. Dark is simply a lack of light - not something different. Heat and cold are the same (although it might not seem so in Winnipeg). The idea the God is a person, having a continuous Wiley Coyote-Roadrunner relationship with Satan is as primitive as the belief that thunder is the sound of an angry god. Or the sound of God bowling for that matter.

[neoplacebo]

As the good book says, 'Man (literally, not "humans") created God in his image' . . . or something like that.

I still say that was written or transcribed backward; man created god in his image. And in his image created he him. They could have been drinking that day. Back then water was unsafe; beer and wine was the safer choice. I was watching a show on History Channel this morning about power and god and kings and philosophers and they had this guy Bruce Buena deMesquida I think his name is.....anyway, this guy has come up with some sort of algorithm that pretty well predicts events in the future. The CIA gave him a grant to explore his theory and he was proven right 90% of the time in this study but the CIA analysts were only right about half the time, which is pretty lame. One of his postulations is that Israel and some other Mideast nation will ignite a conflagration that will result in the end of civilization as we know it. But I've thought that for more than a few years myself.

[neoplacebo]

As the good book says, 'Man (literally, not "humans") created God in his image' . . . or something like that.

I still say that was written or transcribed backward; man created god in his image. And in his image created he him. They could have been drinking that day....

That's what I posted. Are you drinking today?

After I read that, I thought it would be taken the wrong way.....what I meant was that what "the good book" says was transcribed backward. I thought of clarifying it but wanted to see what would happen. And yes, I am on my second beer at the moment. The "good book" has it the other way round.

[neoplacebo]

Ah, great minds . . . and beer bellies.

Man created beer, too.

[Mr.B]

"As the good book says, 'Man (literally, not "humans") created God in his image' . . . or something like that."

What "good book" would that be? Not familiar with that one.

[rstrong]

"As the good book says, 'Man (literally, not "humans") created God in his image' . . . or something like that."

What "good book" would that be? Not familiar with that one.

Point scored for consistency. Mr.B has stated that the Old Testament has no place in his religion.

[neoplacebo]

"As the good book says, 'Man (literally, not "humans") created God in his image' . . . or something like that."

What "good book" would that be? Not familiar with that one.

The "good book" is how the Christian Bible has been referred to throughout most of American history. However, to Bill Cosby, the good book is a little one that fits in his jacket pocket and is filled with the names of former disciples.

[rstrong]

Beer is just liquid bread - lasts longer without rotting, a great way to preserve grain for future consumption.

[rstrong]

"The 12 Days of Christmas" is old-school Christianity. The main gifts are gold, animals and people.

[O Really]

Beer is just liquid bread - lasts longer without rotting, a great way to preserve grain for future consumption.

The Vikings who invaded my Mum's old home town of York in 800-something apparently lived mostly on bread and fish and beer. Not bad. I'd say that's better than the average American diet now. I could do that.

[rstrong]

In some areas of England *most* people - including the children - drank beer. The water could kill you.

[O Really]

In some areas of England *most* people - including the children - drank beer. The water could kill you.

And in the US, the "beer" could kill you if it's Bud Light or some similar swill.

[Guest]

"The 12 Days of Christmas" is old-school Christianity. The main gifts are gold, animals and people.

Let's not forget frankincense and myhrr. We should not question wise men bearing gifts; only their wisdom.

[O Really]

You do know the "wise men" were probably Iranian astrologers (Persians), right?

[neoplacebo]

In some areas of England *most* people - including the children - drank beer. The water could kill you.

I handed out cans of beer on Halloween with no repurcussions. I also advised the kids to determine themselves if it were a trick or a treat.

[neoplacebo]

"The 12 Days of Christmas" is old-school Christianity. The main gifts are gold, animals and people.

Let's not forget about frankinscence and mhyrr. I've been wanting to get my hands on some mhyrr for quite a while; that stuff kicks ass.

[neoplacebo]

"The 12 Days of Christmas" is old-school Christianity. The main gifts are gold, animals and people.

Let's not forget frankincense and myhrr. We should not question wise men bearing gifts; only their wisdom.

neoplacebo, right? Not sure why it shows as "Guest".

Yeah, I posted that thinking I was logged in.....an error not attributable to drinking water

[neoplacebo]

You do know the "wise men" were probably Iranian astrologers (Persians), right?

I often look at the online version of my hometown newspaper in Kingsport TN which is maybe ten miles from the southwest VA state line. There's a small town in VA named Wise and pretty often there's a story in my paper with a headline like "Wise man dies after being caught in bear trap" or "Wise man pulled over for DUI twice in same day." It always cracks me up to consider all the wise men who do stupid shit.

[Mr.B]

"As the good book says, 'Man (literally, not "humans") created God in his image' . . . or something like that."

"What "good book" would that be? Not familiar with that one."

"Point scored for consistency. Mr.B has stated that the Old Testament has no place in his religion."

You're saying the OT is the "good book" Vrede referred to? If that's the case, where in the OT does it say 'man created God in his own image' ?