Satan appears as an Angel of Light

[rmcdra]

2 Corinthians 11:12 And I will keep on doing what I am doing in order to cut the ground from under those who want an opportunity to be considered equal with us in the things they boast about. 13 For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. 15 It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.

This is a neglected and misused passage that many Christians use. Without the historical context of Paul, we will fail to see how wise this passage is. Very frequently this passage will be used to slam other Christians in meaning "if you don't believe the same things as me then you are not a 'true' Christian" all while encouraging beliefs that are those of an antichrist. These are the two faced individuals who will say that they are cutting funding for food stamps because they "don't want you to be dependent." The people who will curse a single mother because "she got what she deserved". The people who rape the defenseless because of the so called authority they wield. Anyone who has a shred of decency and basic comprehensions of what Christ represents knows that such stances are opposed to Christ.

This is Paul warning us to be on guard on the authority of one's claim because the accuser or god of this world, whichever view you take of Satan, presents itself as something good when it is really not. The Bible, Church authority, tradition can all be vehicles of the accuser. Just because its in the Bible, because a pastor/priest said it, or because its tradition; does not makes it righteous. This is why the neglected concept of wisdom and understand and knowing thyself is very important. Without wisdom and understanding, passages can be transformed to oppose the very thing it is in support of. This is why Paul says there is no salvation in the Law for the Law has no mind of its own, it has no understanding, no compassion. It is essentially a machine that if blindly followed, leads to ones own destruction. Christ freed us from the law not so that we can do whatever we like; but so that we do not destroy ourselves with the Law in whatever form it takes. Christ not only brings hope, faith, and love, but also knowledge. For with knowledge, we can recognize what is wrong with the Law in whatever form it takes whether it be tradition, a pastor/priest, or even the Bible.

Anyone who says they are Biblical obviously has either not read the Bible or does not have an understanding of it. Why would I make such an accusation because the Bible is not a magic book that fell from the sky? It is a collection of Christian and Jewish literature that early Christians believed to be important. They would recognize it for what it is, a tool. A tool that blatantly says that the law is useful but its not perfect and that the law is like filthy rags. That the law can be wrong. That Christ is not just Jesus but the image of God that dwells in each of us. They would also recognize the divinity of reason and how it frees us from mindlessly obeying anything that the accuser regurgitates out. There is not a Biblical way, for if there was, we would not have the multiple opinions that exist. Anyone is claiming to be Biblical is just looking to grab for authority and should not be trusted.

God is with us and within us. God is not confined to a book, church, or nation. When we turn our arrows at ourselves rather than at others we can finally crucify ourselves. It is through crucifixion of ourselves that we can find salvation for if we do not crucify ourselves, we cannot know ourselves and we will never receive the resurrection. It takes wisdom and understand to recognize that you do not need to point your arrows at others, that you are missing the mark if you do not aim that yourselves. The accuser wants you to aim your arrows at others because he wants you as his servant. That is the nature of the accuser, to accuse. If you aim your arrows at yourself, you have broken free of the accuser because rather than accusing others and looking outwardly; you are now looking inward and what do we find when we look inward? The kingdom of God for the Kingdom is within us. Do not neglect wisdom and understanding and knowing thyself. This is the Sophia that Christ rescues within us. Without saving this Sophia, we cannot be saved from ourselves nor the accuser/god of this world who wishes to keep us enslaved.  

[Victoria of Gallifrey]

heart You'd think this would make sense to people, but a lot of the time it doesn't. You get people that have been galvanized that Christ is the word, and the word is in the bible and the bible is of the church, and the church is of God, etc, etc. You have a fine point, folks will find every reason to point the finger outward and accuse to make right their stance.

It's often that when I tell people to look inward for Christ, they tell me that's how the devil deceives, because the devil is in our hearts. My reaction, is really? But anyway, they will often say that because the devil is in our hearts that we have to rely on scripture and faith in Jesus, but we can only trust what some figurehead in the church tells us we can trust, because honestly, the bible covers so many perspectives you have to choose which ones to follow and which ones to pass up to thrive on the stance of scripture alone, otherwise it becomes chaos.

So then people lapse into a life of rhetorical regurgitation to keep themselves aloft and it starts to feel like, what's the point?

Then you got those wonderful televangelists who soak up millions misleading people into paying their to Christ.

It almost hurts to witness, then again, I have a hard time feeling pity for stupid.

And I definitely in no position to preach myself. But I trust God's voice in my heart (which often tells me to do things differently) than the voice of any man or woman so hung up on themselves that they may not even be capable of listening to God anymore.  

[rmcdra]

Valkyrie Kara

It's often that when I tell people to look inward for Christ, they tell me that's how the devil deceives, because the devil is in our hearts. My reaction, is really? But anyway, they will often say that because the devil is in our hearts that we have to rely on scripture and faith in Jesus, but we can only trust what some figurehead in the church tells us we can trust, because honestly, the bible covers so many perspectives you have to choose which ones to follow and which ones to pass up to thrive on the stance of scripture alone, otherwise it becomes chaos.

Yeah that sounds like a power grab to me. You can trust us but you can't trust yourself? Honestly that's what an abuser would say.

The act of making the Bible into an idol is sadly something that I see very frequently (though I must admit that this is based on my personal experience, I could be wrong and I hope I am). They turn the Bible into a god and worship every word it says without comprehending what it means and with out question. And con artists prey on this, whether they be Christian or part of the New Age crowd, they prey on one's ignorance of the historical and cultural context of religious texts. The Bible is not the "Word", the Word is Christ and "logos" does not just mean "word" but also "reason" and "thought" and probably other words since I'm not fluent in ancient Greek.

I get the feeling that I'm preaching to the choir, but it flusters me because it was these problems and me others, that made me struggle with Christianity and I know they make others struggle as well and the saddest part is that it doesn't have to be that way.

Thank you. I'm glad you enjoyed the article.  

[Athelius]

this thread is old but i can't say thank you enough.. it really means a lot to me! i had been struggling with this for a long time now, why do christians hate so much. and they hate mainly because someone else higher up in the church has told them that there is no other way to christ unless they do. thanks so much! it's a lot clearer to me now.  

[rmcdra]

Athelius

this thread is old but i can't say thank you enough.. it really means a lot to me! i had been struggling with this for a long time now, why do christians hate so much. and they hate mainly because someone else higher up in the church has told them that there is no other way to christ unless they do. thanks so much! it's a lot clearer to me now.

No problem. I'm glad this helped.