Now that nothing I post here is seen by anyone [friend or foe], I can do like Koko the Clown on the old movie The Groove Tube and take off my red rubber nose and start reading Fanny Hill to children (after telling them to make sure mommy and daddy are out of the room).
Instead of erotica, I will tell you about Scripture [as always].
Back in the day when I was new to Episcopalianism and my successful wife was attempting to give everything material up, in her decision to serve God, as a priest in the Episcopal Church, I enrolled in a program they have called "Education for Ministry" [EfM]. I longed mightily to have someone educated in Biblical matters to confirm what I had been seeing, which came from insight I had [I say divinely inspired insight] about the meaning of Holy Scripture. My wife entered that program also, but because she was a very successful businesswoman, she took the Internet version, whereas I went to an Episcopal church every Wednesday for two hours, over some thirty-something weeks.
The course was designed to be three or four years long, before one could be deemed "educated for ministry," with each of the years designed to teach three ways of being so educated: Bible readings; presentations of prayers and meditative practices; and, theological reflection. Theological reflection is defined as "knowing God and knowing about God through experience." Over the whole length of that first (and my only) year in the program, nobody caught on to how theological reflection was a normal part of life; and, when the Bible readings turned into hour-long discussions about one or two verses, the mentors told us, "This is not a Bible Studies course, so we will limit the Biblical readings to fifteen minutes, with little discussion."
The first year was when the Old Testament was to be read. Before it came to the point that we were told we could not study Scripture [because theological reflection was what EfM was all about], we read Genesis and the Adam and Eve story. In our discussion, it seemed clear to me that Adam and Eve were set up to fail, so they could enter the world as God's priests. Someone asked, "How could God allow that to happen?" I said, as a matter of fact, "God knew they would sin."
A professional woman (a neurological nurse for a neurological group in town), who was raised Roman Catholic but converted to Episcopalianism because she once opened the large Bible the family kept on a stand by the front door and her mother slapped her hand, saying "That is to be looked at, not read," she had explained that Genesis was all news to her, because she had not been allowed to read the Bible. When I said that God knew Adam and Eve would sin, she loudly exclaimed, "How could he know that?!?"
I calmly said, as a rhetorical question, "Because he is omniscient?"
The entire class became quiet. It seems I was the only one who had come to that conclusion.
I mention this because that class is a reflection on the vast majority of people who call themselves Christians. Few have ever read the Holy Bible, and fewer have ever put much thought into what they have had read to them in church (which is just some number of Sundays, not all). Most Christians have placed their souls in the hands of people who have become trained mentors of something like an Education for Ministry program. In the Episcopal Church, every ordained priest is qualified to mentor such a program, but most leave it up to course graduates to lead a group of students (if their church has enough interested to form such a group - must have twelve). This is because most Episcopal priests don't really know that much about the program, nor do they care to teach anything beyond a sermon orated.
So, here is one of those opinions of mine that will make all the Catholic girls leap up and scream, "How can you say that!!!"
Satan is a creation of God.
Let me give you more background, before you click the "x" button and run away.
In that EfM course, one of the first things they had us read (we had to pay over $350 for this literature and the binders to put the pages in) an introduction to theory that would remain a cornerstone in this educational process, throughout all years of study. For that reason (alone), it was important that us newbie students 'get with the program' and buy into this theory. In the literature it clearly stated, "This is a theory and cannot be proved." Then, they demanded adherence to this theory: There is only one God, so when you read "elohim" in the Old Testament, you should recognize that as meaning "God," even though the Hebrew says "gods." Thus, when Genesis says, "In the beginning gods created the heavens and the earth" [and every reference to "God" in Genesis 1 says "elohim"], you should read that as "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."
Their theory, which the literature said many scholars supported [therefore that makes it believable] the concept that the original oral account of the Torah was not written down for quite a while, so when it was written down, some guy [they call him the "E writer"] wrote "elohim" all the time, rather than "el." In addition to the "E writer," there was a "J writer" [he liked to write "Yahweh," which the Germans write as "Jehovah"], a "D writer" [he wrote the Book of Deuteronomy], and a "P writer" [he wrote the Psalms]. I laughed out loud when I read that, because it all is hooey.
I refused to accept that theory and argued my point from the first discussion on the matter. I became as outcast in that group as I am here on this blog now. I tried to explain that refusing to believe that God led every writer of the Holy Bible [Old and New Testaments] is sacrilege. Thus "elohim" has to means "gods," because to think otherwise is what makes one an atheist. I said it was akin to taking a course in Greek Mythology and on the first day of class being told there is only Zeus, as all the other gods do not count. The reasoning being, the Greeks must have had A writers (for Ares, Aphrodite, Apollo, Artemis and Athena), H writers (for Hera, Hermes, and Hephaistos), a P writer (for Poseidon), and a D writer for Dionysus; but all gods really mean Zeus (like the Z writer wrote).
I was ridiculed because I was outspoken against stupidity being called education.
By the time I was halfway into this course that would take most of a year, I absolutely hated going to each class. I offered little-to-no opinion when I went. I made my disgust with the mentors and the students in the class be shown in my demeanor, which matched their having shunned everything I had said, equating my insight as that of a nobody, incapable of offering anything of value. Then, after at least twenty-five meetings, the lead mentor [due to some group conversation that I was merely present for, but not paying attention to] said to me, directly, "I'm beginning to see what you meant about there being other gods."
I remember him saying that but I did not respond anymore than the tar baby responded to Br'er Rabbit.
I finished the first year course [because they had $350 non-refundable U.S. dollars for my membership], only missing one class [on purpose, because one particular bitch was leading the prayer that Wednesday], but I certainly did not sign up for the second year. The program is run by Big Braiwashers who have not one iota of divine inspiration. It is much like the peek-a-boo readers here, on this free WordPress blog. I am not put on this earth to appease atheists, by telling atheists what they want to hear people be taught about Scripture. I am here to make atheists run away, in fear of God. All others must be seekers of the truth or be gone.
There are way too many statements in Scripture that confirm what I say about Satan being a creation of God. Satan is one of the "elohim," along with angels like Michael and Gabriel. The "elohim" are as dead as are the "sciences" and courses in "mathematics," which most certainly exist as the principles that assisted God in His Creation. Just as God created the equivalent of 'Santa's little helpers,' God created gods.
God commanded His gods to do His work. This means God is a manager, not a laborer; and, look at the parables told by Jesus [of the landowner and vineyard owner who hired laborers] to confirm this. Satan is thus one of God's employees, not an equal to God; and, the story told in apocrypha (the Book of Enoch) is this god [an angel not named Satan, but Azazel] fell from grace, along with other angels that followed him.
That story should be seen in the same light that one sees Greek mythology (or other mythology), such that human brains can understand greater topics when those topics are presented in simple human terms. Humans can grasp the concept of a god being humanlike. When God created the universe by using gods He created - principles of physics and laws of mathematics - it is easier for simple minds to grasp angels that look like humans, with wings. So, when God created everything that is part of a human world, they included light and darkness - visible representations of life and death; good and evil. This means everything created by God was deemed good, because included in the good plan was to the the tests of souls placed into His universe.
A test is something human beings love to avoid as much as possible. Still, God created tests because they were good, regardless of the scores those test would generate.
The Roman Catholic Church has figured out these good and bad angels of God, when they present the "seven deadly sins" and the "seven heavenly virtues." Those are:
Deadly (dark. evil) - Pride; Envy; Gluttony; Lust; Anger; Greed; and, Sloth.
Virtues (light; good) - Faith; Hope; Charity; Fortitude; Justice; Temperance; and, Prudence.
Satan then becomes the supervisor of all those deadly tests of human beings. This makes Satan one of the MANY 'lower-g' gods [the "elohim"] God created, in the beginning, with His All-knowing foresight, because God's plan for creating a material universe was to have a place to send souls, all of which are extensions of God, given the freedom to experience the material world. The caveat of such a 'vacation' from being required to absolutely serve only God in His natural abode [heaven is the absence of all material things, which human brains cannot fathom] comes with the expectation that the soul must return and be one with God, which means passing some tests that ensure a squeaky clean soul in the beginning is a squeaky clean soul in the return.
Possibly [I cannot remember, due to lack of interest at that time], the mentor of my EfM group leaned over and said to me, "I'm beginning to see what you meant about many gods" because we had reached the point in the Old Testament readings when Elijah challenged the priests of Ba'al to have their god light a fire [and Ba'al could not].
I am not sure if that was why he had some sudden epiphany and felt moved to finally give me credit for having seen the many references in the Old Testament that speaks of many gods that human beings worshiped. Refusing to accept all that as truth in words, simply because one is reading Genesis 1 and that means one cannot jump ahead in the 'story' is idiocy. Human beings bow down and pray to many gods, which is the entire reason God knew in the beginning that He would eventually have to send Himself in human form [Jesus] to show all the failed souls how to get squeaky clean again and return to heaven.
In this menagerie of gods on earth ["elohim"] is the greatest of all time, which is your own ego. Because you [and all like you] have a Big Brain, you bow down and worship yourself as an equal to God Almighty. If you call yourself Christian [but do only a few miniscule things like Jesus], then you are breaking the Law that says "Thou shall not bear false witness against your neighbor," by making it appear that you have been filled with God's Holy Spirit and been reborn in the name of Jesus Christ [the truth of being Christian]. The reason a human being would make such a false claim is that one is influenced by the deadly sins: Pride; Envy; Gluttony; Lust; Anger; Greed; and, Sloth. That means one listens to Satan [a god not God, by whatever name] and obeys his suggestions, hints, and influences.
When the time finally comes for you to reach the point of darkness in your human flesh's ability to sustain life with a soul [death], you will be challenged, just like Elijah challenged the priests of Ba'al, to have Satan come down and give you the fire of eternal life. You will find the same result. You worshiped so many 'lower-g' gods in your lifetime, the greatest being the god of Big Brain [yourself], that for all the things you thought those gods brought into your life, none of them had actually done anything. Everything you gained in life [even everything you lost in life] was Godsent; but you always failed to give God any credit, while always giving full credit to the "elohim" you worship.
That is what God created Satan [or Azazel, or Lucifer, or you name him] to do. Satan serves God foremost. God ordered all of His angels ["elohim" or gods] to serve Him foremost, but when God created Man [male and female He ordered His gods to have them made] He ordered His angels to serve Man too. That order was because Man [in all genders] is an extension of God, thus God on earth, just free to enjoy the material plane without realizing he or she is actually God incarnate. Satan's job, along with all his little helpers, is to keep Man's brain focused on not being God on earth.
Now, in Genesis 4 one finds the story of Cain and Abel.
Because mentors with diplomas from EfM were never told to think about what that story represents, few people in the world today can see how Cain and Abel were sons of the first priest on earth [not the first Man], thus they were the sons that were taught to maintain the legacy of priesthood. Abel was a priest who sacrificed from his flock, such that he released a soul [in an animal] to return to God the Father. Cain was a priest who sacrificed of the earth, which had no soul to be released to return to God the Father [albeit Mother Earth - a goddess, was pleased]. When God asked Cain why his face was so long, as he lay on the ground where serpents slither, God advised this priestly son of Adam, "If you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.”
Cain had the power - as a priest of Man - to command Satan to get out of his face and get behind him, as a servant of God who obeys that order of the foremost importance. Cain - as one of Man - had the freedom to choose what he would do, based on worldly influences.
Cain listened to the influence of Satan. He murdered and was punished to forever become the priest on earth that misleads human beings, sending them away from God the Father and towards the influence of Satan. Whereas Abel was doing good, as all human beings must be taught to do - as each being a priest like Abel - Cain was doing evil by teaching others there were gods that would allow people to sin and not be destroyed. This has become the poisonous mushrooms that are religions in the world [founded by Cain], which are those religions that pretend to be doing the Lord's work, when the only lord they bow down before is the "elohim" of self-benefit. There are no pastors, preachers, priests, ministers, rabbis or EfM mentors that teach the flocks like Abel, saying "YOU must be sacrificed to God."
While some mushroom are edible and not poisonous, meaning some religions - some individual churches are led by individual pastors that are like Abel - teach self-sacrifice to God, most are incapable of lighting the fire of God under their flocks, who are not expected to sacrifice themselves, but their things. They are then like Cain at his altar that burns the produce of the fields. That means it is so easy today to think one is feeding off good religion, when one is ingesting the poison of deadly sins. Those religions, as representations of Cain, lay on the ground and listen to the whispers of Satan, rather than realizing Satan is an angel created by God, ordered to serve Man as God on earth.
If you are walking behind anyone as a disciple, rather than being yourself a priest filled with God's Holy Spirit and helping God as did Elijah, then you are placing all your trust in a god ["elohim"] not God. It is good to walk behind the teachings of Jesus, as did his disciples; but the measure of that goodness is seen in one's transformation from disciple to Saint, who then becomes a model of Jesus, leading your own disciples to become Saints also. The problem, however, is walking behind a Pied Piper, who plays a tune you love to dance to, because it releases you from all responsibilities to serve God the Father as His Son. The moral of the fable of the Pied Piper is he walks the children down the road to death [darkness, evil].
R. T. Tippett