posted on Mar, 16 2006 @ 11:56 PM
This whole thread strikes a chord of Luciferianism. This sect postulates - among other things - that Lucifer's redemption shall be bought by
redeeming man. That God has seperated Himself from man. Following this tenuous train of 'logic', Christ would then have been sent by Lucifer.
As a Catholic, I find this repugnant. Intellectually, I have confidence in the teachings of the church. Has there been evil within the church? I am
sure of it. Is there now? Unfortunately, there are far too many articles that deal with individual MEN who have done heinous acts - either through
commission of these acts or by obfuscating the crimes of others. I don't see a mass conspiracy or deeply rooted evil within the fabric of the church,
however.
Finally, the Book of Revelations as prophecy is suspect on many levels. Christ Himself said that He would return as a "thief in the night". He said
that there would be no more prophets as He was the fufillment of all prophecies. Many historians - myself included - believe that Revelations was
written as an elaborate allegory for the trials of Christians at the time of it's writing. The connections between historical events and the imagery
of Revelations is apparent with little effort. The struggle?
We have Free Will. Part of the price of this freedom is the constant stuggle between good and evil - or sometimes, Good and Evil. Revelation is a
constant in our lives. We struggle against the demons within and without. Is there great evil in the world? You bet. Does is seek to subvert us? I
believe it does. Is Christ a shill for Satan? Nonsense. If this were true, than He ended the struggle for men's souls. After all, The Roman Catholic
church alone has about 1/6 of the world's population as adherents. Factor in all the other Christian denominations, this is a big chunk of the world.
What's evil waiting for? 100%?