.webp?h=10 "Top Hat (uncle sam) - THIS HAT WAS FACT-CHECKED BY TRUE AMERICAN PATRIOTS")
https://old.reddit.com/r/witchcraft/comments/17eqj3q/masturbation_as_an_offering
OP is both not a train and has an absolutely fascinating post history.
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In more developed times yes, that did happen. But in the early days it wasn't all weird and eccentric like it became later.
Also, "gnosticism" was mostly a derogatory term for any denomination someone didn't like. It basically meant protestant in the church fathers' usage, at least in the old days.
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You said that a demiurge is the dominant assumption in the New Testament, which is not correct. The demiurge and gnosis are not at all congruent with the New Testament, even in the context of the early Church.
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Then why do the devil and demons have absolute power over the world, and the only way to get us out of their grip was with a payment? It doesn't matter that the term "demiurge" isn't used, it's obviously the same concept.
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In Christian belief the devil and demons don't have absolute power over the world and the way to get out of their grip is through prayer and sincere submission to God. Furthermore, Christian belief holds humans to be imperfect, so evil in the world isn't necessarily the work of demonic forces. It can also be the "absence of good" in mankind.
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Yes they do. If they didn't God could simply make them stop this operation. But in fact he had to go to great lengths just to make people able to leave, and even then only when they aren't currently living a life. And if demons don't control the world, explain Matthew 4:8-9.
There are also two times in the New Testament where the devil is referred to as "the god of this age". It seems clear to me. But it's hard to deny instincts, and it's also an uncomfortable truth about our condition, so people would rather ignore this and revere nature instead.
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Problem of Evil
What?
Well, first of all, Satan can lie. That aside, Satan and demons being able to affect the world does not mean they control the world. The concept of a "demiurge" posits that an evil deity created the world.
This is a commentary on the state of unbelief/sin in the world. In Christian belief, lack of belief in God or love of God opens one up to Satan's influence. At no point is Satan considered a deity in Christian theology. He operates within the bounds of God's creation.
If you want to expound on your own pet theology then be my guest. However, these are just your personal opinions. There is a plethora of Christian literature and thought on these subjects, pretty much 2000 years of it. Furthermore, Christianity does not "revere nature". Humans are considered imperfect by their nature. This is a product of "The Fall", Adam's choice to partake in the fruit of knowledge, thus imparting Original Sin on humankind.
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Demons are not considered deities because only one being is considered a deity. However, in polytheistic religions, deities are nowhere near as divine, so demons can certainly be polytheistic false gods. You are also taking the Old Testament way too literally. Even under a literal reading, we have no way of knowing whether we're actually in the "real" world vs. some counterfeit simulation, and whether or not the devil was in control initially makes little difference to us today.
Nearly all of the 2000 years of literature that survived is what the Roman-influenced church wanted to keep. Everything else is long-lost. You can't act like that's a fair selection of sources. Even Paul was only tolerated because the orthodox fathers edited everything he wrote, and dampened it further with three fake letters to Timothy and Titus which are basically anti-everything Paul thought, along with Acts and a bunch of fake letters from other famous figures, including James, John, Peter, and Jude. These counterfeit documents always revere nature and clearly have an agenda against differing denominations in the second century, when "the Church" as we understand it wasn't even a thing in the lifetime of any of Jesus's original followers. They're also big on Romanization, trying to make Christian "doctrine" conform to Roman culture and customs.
This is similar to the situation today. The reason most Christians are suddenly obsessed with nature and following the "natural order" is because their biggest concern right now is putting homosexuals and
s in a special class of extra-darned reprobates. They want to argue not only that those are "sins", but that they are the most henious ones of all, and the only ones that cannot be forgiven and must be completely overcome before God is willing to help you. I have no fricking idea where this comes from, but the fact is it's MUCH easier to argue this through a "natural law" worldview than one that sees the world as an enemy. So now anything even remotely anti-flesh or anti-nature gets condemned as "gnosticism", you're only allowed to believe in eternity on earth in resurrected flesh, and even suggesting that animated creatures have anything like a soul is wrongthink (the real reason being that could be used to argue in favor of trans validity). There's also the recent rise in sexism (which is probably the trans movement's fault, but I can't be 100% sure) and the fertility & nuclear family cult, and "nature" is the only argument for gender roles (other than trans ideology) and having as many kids as possible (despite the advice from both Jesus and Paul to not even get married, let alone have kids; there's always some lame excuse to wave that away and make marriage and children a requirement). It's ironic, how the same people who used to go on crusades against evolution are now the most staunch Darwinists.
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I need to be tied up, not just confined. 'Cause you know, that's harder to escape from. And you could gag me if I get too loud.
If your basement doesn't have a pole just use a chair.
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I've known more coherent downies.
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