Javaman

Sorry to add more to this tangential discussion but I was reminded of this thread from a couple of months ago about the name Lucifer. It didn't really go anywhere, unfortunately.

The Naked Mage

I'm going on hearsay on this...

Wasn't Lucifer the Morning Star a rival tribal god whose adherents were wiped out by the Hebews? And as I understand it, neither Lucifer nor the entity called Satan ("The Opposer", roughly) had any Biblically-established connection with the Devil. (If I'm wrong, someone speak up.)

Majestyk

My thought in the OP was; If, we were created with the ability to understand the world in which we live, conceive of things beyond our experience, and create methods to verify or dismiss those conceptions, it would not seem reasonable that such a creator would intend that we did not exercise that to which we were so well suited. So if, we were created, we were obviously created with the intent to understand creation and in so doing, become closer to the creator. For how else can the creator be known if, not by the understanding of the creations?

With that premise, we can see, the "God" of The Bible, punishing Adam for eating of the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge. Clearly the intent is to keep Adam ignorant of the world around him and, in turn, the creator.

The Deceiver masks his deceit when, his written word contradicts itself, with claims that we cannot fathom his intent.

The Deceiver relishes the conflict created by different factions battling over which interpretation of his ambiguous and misleading words is "true".

The Deceiver’s greatest trick was not convincing the world that he didn't exist. It was convincing the world that he was "God" and The Bible is his written word of deception.

Burn your Bible and embrace the capacity for Reason and Critical Thinking bestowed upon you by your creator!