On 2/20/2003 9:25:28 PM, Nathan Snyder wrote:
>I wanted to comment on the
>last bit of the handout. The
>part about how "either God or
>Satan has the reigns and the
>slave goes in the direction of
>his master" was a
>preponderance for me. My
>naturally inquisitive mind
>asks the question that if God
>made and controls Satan and
>Satan is allowed to control
>souls in it's direction.. then
>is that a God worth
>believing/trusting in?
My take on this (whether it comes from previous religious teachings as a LDS -Mormon - or whether I have created this all in my fantasy headspace is that God had two sons one was Jesus who chose to live his life according to God's will and the other (Satan) chose the darker side of things and was banished to hell. Choices were made, roles were cast.


>Furthermore, if that God
>controls souls and holds those
>souls responsible for either
>direction they take while it
>ultimately controls the
>reigns, how is that any
>different than any villain we
>have on earth?

I don't think it really is any different. As a person you make a choice be it good or bad and you are held accountable. If you choose to kill someone, then the jury finds you guilty and you are punished. Then when you are standing before God on judgement day he says you sinned by killing this person, you never asked for his forgiveness; therefore your soul is punished. Jesus died so that our sins could be forgiven but you have to ask for forgiveness. You can't ask a jury to forgive you and not sentence you to jail.

That seems to be unfair to hold one liable
>for something they cannot
>control and to exert pressure
>to "do the right thing" while
>knowing the outcome- I think
>it's madness. It's one thing
>to control a henchman (Satan)
>to make you look good in the
>long run, but to control his
>actions and then punish people
>for the actions of the
>henchman and their own
>personal actions is
>irresponsible.

I think you bring up a good point and you have an interesting way of looking at things but I think that people make choices. It isn't like the henchman Satan is at a person's back twisting their arm when they decide to kill someone. They are choosing to follow the ways or influence of Satan. Therefore, they also are choosing to accept the punishment of God. It's a choice thing but there are definitely forces that influence people to choose good (God) or evil (Satan).