Dispelling the Myth of the Devil - the discussion continues

Celsus was a Greek philosopher and opponent of Christianity. He is known to us mainly through the reputation of his literary work, The True Word (Account, Doctrine or Discourse), almost entirely reproduced in excerpts by Origen, an early church father.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celsus

Celsus quotes taken from:
The Jesus Mysteries
Was the "Original Jesus" a Pagan God? By Timothy Freke & Peter Gandy

Robert G. Ingersoll -- The Ghosts (1877)
"...It has always been believed that these ghosts could in some way be appeased; that they could be flattered by sacrifices, by prayer, by fasting, by the building of temples and cathedrals, by the blood of men and beasts, by forms and ceremonies, by chants, by kneeling and prostrations, by flagellations and maiming, by renouncing the joys of home, by living alone in the wide desert, by the practice of celibacy, by inventing instruments of torture, by destroying men, women and children, by covering the earth with dungeons, by burning unbelievers, by putting chains upon the thoughts and manacles upon the limbs of men, by believing things without evidence and against evidence, by disbelieving and denying demonstration, by despising facts, by hating reason, by denouncing liberty, by maligning heretics, by slandering the dead, by subscribing to senseless and cruel creeds, by discouraging investigation, by worshiping a book, by the cultivation of credulity, by observing certain times and days, by counting beads, by gazing at crosses, by hiring others to repeat verses and prayers, by burning candles and ringing bells, by enslaving each other and putting out the eyes of the soul. All this has been done to appease and flatter these monsters of the air."
To read the entire work:
http://www.infidels.org/library/historical/robert_ingersoll/ghosts.html

Catholic Encyclopedia (New Advent)
Information on the Devil:
... Although nothing definite can be known as to the precise nature of the probation of the angels and the manner in which many of them fell, many theologians have conjectured, with some show of probability, that the mystery of the Divine Incarnation was revealed to them, that they saw that a nature lower than their own was to be hypostatically united to the Person of God the Son, and that all the hierarchy of heaven must bow in adoration before the majesty of the Incarnate Word
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04764a.htm

I wanted to add this from Robert Ingersoll's works, because it is pertinent to this video. Please go and read the entire works. Ingersoll is magnificent!

The Devil (1899)
Robert Green Ingersoll
"...In every orthodox Sunday school children are taught to believe in devils. Every little brain becomes a menagerie, filled with wild beasts from hell. The imagination is polluted with the deformed, the monstrous and malicious. To fill the minds of children with leering fiends -- with mocking devils -- is one of the meanest and basest of crimes. In these pious prisons -- these divine dungeons -- these Protestant and Catholic inquisitions -- children are tortured with these cruel lies. Here they are taught that to really think is wicked; that to express your honest thought is blasphemy; and that to live a free and joyous life, depending on fact instead of faith, is the sin against the Holy Ghost.
Children thus taught -- thus corrupted and deformed become the enemies of investigation -- of progress. They are no longer true to themselves. They have lost the veracity of the soul. In the language of Prof. Clifford, "they are the enemies of the human race."
So I say to all fathers and mothers, keep your children away from priests; away from orthodox Sunday schools; away from the slaves of superstition.
They will teach them to believe in the Devil; in hell in the prison of God; in the eternal dungeon, where the souls of men are to suffer forever. These frightful things are a part of Christianity. Take these lies from the creed and the whole scheme falls into shapeless ruin. This dogma of hell is the infinite of savagery -- the dream of insane revenge. It makes God a wild beast -- an infinite hyena. It makes Christ as merciless as the fangs of a viper. Save poor children from the pollution of this horror. Protect them from this infinite lie...."
http://www.infidels.org/library/historical/robert_ingersoll/devil.html

Feel free to discuss this subject as much as you like. I won't be able to make comments as frequently.
Enjoy.

Category:

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Tags:

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• Celsus
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[Bogzy1989]

watch?v=FvVMea5TUXk

not quite a myth, if you see the video.pretty real

[Rhonda9]

Bogzy, 'pretty real' isn't reality.

[DavidRandallCurtis]

Wait! You can't dispell the Devil yet! My next poem/vid is called "Satan is saving a special place for me" - you have to take these down and repost them after that! :P

5 stars anyway. Brat.

[Rhonda9]

Hi David. I did go over to comment on that video. Great job.

[numberourdays]

You made a video about your boss, I see. True there are a lot of people profiting off God, and it is despicable. Many of them will be punished and end up with your boss. So you are one of those that believes that the universe created itself?? So you believe that evolution just happened to create a male and female of each species at exactly the same time so that they could procreate? Nice try church lady, but end time events are unfolding exactly like Bible said they will. Prophecy is proof.

[conn6m]

@Cootabux Why do you believe God does not exist if you can not prove it. Isn't that falling into the realms of religion. Thats like saying you don't believe the Electron exists because no one has ever seen them. We have simply interpeted data that makes us believe in a particle called an Electron. Therefore when I go into hospital and use there Electronic machines I act on the pure faith of science. I don't deny or reject science. I simply say the best science is down to Human imagination,

[julzabro]

Excellent!

[Cootabux]

conn6m

Science cant prove god exists bcuz he doesn't.

Since you think science is imagination, why are you using that computer?

nest time you get really sick, or come down with a life threatening disease or encounter, don't go to the ER for help, since science is the culprit behind our medical advancements. Just pry to god. He'll save you!

LOls

[jimmo42]

@lousten27 my suggestion is you read Ken Miller's "Finding Darwin's God". Miller is a well-known biologist, who is also a practicing Catholic. Note also that Archbishop Gianfranco Ravasi, head of the Pontifical Council for Culture said "One thing is sure. Evolution is not incompatible with faith."

In my opinion, your god is not powerful enough to create a universe where evolution is possible, thus your god cannot do everything and thus your god is not god.

[jimmo42]

@lousten27 The fact there are transitional species missing in the phylogenetic trees by no means disproves evolution. Fossilization is a rare event. However, based on the theory of evolution, species have been *predicted* and have been found with the expected charactistics. Even if evolution was wrong, it does not prove god.

What *facts* do you base the statement "nothing more than a cleverly invented story to deny the existance of God"? What *facts* do you have to say it is "flawed"?

[jimmo42]

@lousten27 "What are the odds of something out of nothing with no beginning mathamatically?"

That is a logically fallacy called "argument from incredulity". Simply because you cannot believe it, is not proof it isn't true. Further, "creation ex nihilo" has been demonstrated as a possibility for well over a decade. Quantum vacuum fluctuations can create particles for very short periods, which then creates gravitational energy which creates more particles.

[lousten27]

@ Conn6m... absolutely flawed! The evidence is all around us - Creation. Simple but genius... Creation cohesively offers the genesis of our race, unlike the flawed concept of evolution that, besides been full of missing links, is nothing more than a cleverly invented story to deny the existance of God - as with humanists, anything to stop a divine creator getting a foot in the door! What are the odds of something out of nothing with no beginning mathamatically?

[Cilence13]

Belief in Satan was around long before Christianity. The Jews believed in him. And their account of him mirrors the Christian account as far as I can tell.

The Christians did not invent him.