Rhea

From the ad absurdum thread, I am reminded of a curiosity of mine. Any case agianst this would be welcome for me to hear. I'm just curious. Christian or non - for the sake of argument, what's your theory?

If Satan wrote the Bible and set you on the path of actually disobeying God by following what "his" Bible instructs...


HOW WOULD YOU KNOW?


What evidence would be there to show that the Christian Bible was NOT God's word? Many people claim proof of God by the existance of the bible - or at least the information therein.

Now, if I was Satan - The Prince of deceit - how would I lure God's children? By making them worship something that was not God. How to accomplish that? By setting up a false belief system to lure them in.

HOW WOULD THEY KNOW IT WAS ME?



Anyone?

Jack the Bodiless

I think the Cristian response to this will be "because God is more powerful than Satan and wouldn't allow it".

And yet God allows many false religions to exist.

And what is the basis for assuming that God is more powerful than Satan anyhow? "Well, it says in the Bible..."

Amos

How about: inspired minds are required to read the bible?

According to Plato we have hyletic vision which makes learning possible (which is obvious). Plato called this "the Cave." From hyletic vision we can penetrate lyric vision and poets do this to write lyric poetry. So as Cavedwellers we try to let some rays of light fall into the Cave. Jesus called the hilltops (sermon on the mount; the hill whereon Moses's stood when inspiration turned his hair white etc.).

Opposite hyletic vision is noetic vision and this is outside the Cave. It is from this insight that the bible was written or cavedwellers could read it and inspiration, or learning, would not be possible.

Rhea

What is the evidence to you that Satan is not capable of doing this to fool you?

"How would you know?"

You say, "inspired minds are required to read the bible?"

But how do you know that it is not Satan inspiring you to read "his" Bible? Much like he inspired Eve to eat the fruit?

How can you detect whether it is God's word or the word of The Great Deceiver? Satan's pretty clever, they say, way cleverer than us.

Wouldn't a Bible and a religion be a GREAT way to deceive humans? Can you think of anything better for Satan to do

Amos

Because if we are inspired to read the bible we don't have to read it anymore because we could write it ourselves. To be inspired is to read the words now posterior to your own knowledge. For example, Rhea, if you have never baked a cake and you don't even know what flower is it will be difficult for you to do this for the first time. If you are a proffesional cake-baker you will know how and find soon find recipe books boring.

From this follows that bible readers are not inspired because they are reading it with curious eyes. So religions that encourage bible reading are the works of satan and that is maybe what you mean. With this I agree, but you can't find fault with the bible for this.

Rhea

I'm confused.

Have you answered how you would know it if the bible had actually been written by Satan to deceive you and make you defy God by following this false stuff written by Satan?


Suppose for a moment that the bible is false and was written by Satan.

How would you know?

I don't understand what you mean about inspired, and how that would weed the true followers from the deceived... It _sounds_ like you are _assuming_ that the Bible is written by God. I'm saying, how do you know God instructed a Bible to be written? Maybe he didn't. Maybe the Bible was Satan's idea.

And maybe it worked really, really well.


How would you know? What criteria do you have to be sure that the Bible is _not_ Satan's?

So if I had never baked a cake before, then my only evidence that flour was a necessary ingredient would be the successful production of a cake. I might do that on someone's say-so, but if they said "use Masa Harina" and I did, and didn't get a good cake, then I would have to conclude that their recipe (the bible) was no good. Right? But if the chef was a deceiver and told me to use Masa Harina, and ALSO told me in the recipe that the "cake" was supposed to be hard to eat, then if I were deceived I would believe that cakes are supposed to be hard to eat and I would not try anything different. And if the Deceiver Chef had a reason for not wanting me to try wheat flour (because his nemesis was the owner of the wheat coop), then he would have won by deceiving me into not trying any other recipes.

So again,

How would you know if the Bible was the work of Satan? How do you know - outside of the bible - that there is supposed to BE a bible? And wouldn't a bible be exactly the perfect thing for the Satan of the Bible to create? What, indeed, could be more perfect than to lead people astray by deceit rather than the clumsy "temptation"? You steal the ones God _wants_! (**sound of pealing laughter from the depths**)

Shake

Of course, if God were so powerful, he wouldn't allow evil to exist, either. Unless he's not so benevolent after all.

Exactly! If God's so powerful, how come he doesn't just force Satan to see the error his ways and stop it?

Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller? Bueller?

Aerik Von

A jewish angel of accusation wants us to follow the wrong path in the first place? Of course! But YHWH would never go for that in the big picture right? According to Job he always wins in the end and those who have faith don't turn do to trickery. Right?

Rhea

....according to the bible, yeah.

Aerik Von

QOUTE - THATS IS WHY ITS CALLED FAITH - UNQOUTE