#we need biblical accuracy

[oldmama]

Just wanted to post this here because… you know… we are all studying anatomy it seems 👩🏻‍💻

[takeme-totheworld]

Aziraphale and Forgiveness, Pt. 2: The Source of Salvation

This series is now complete! Here's where you can find the other parts.

Part 1 here. Part 3 here. Part 4 here.

(This post ended up being way longer than I intended, oopsie! And no fun GIFs to break it up this time. Hope you like reading lots of words!)

So why would Aziraphale, an angel who has not fallen despite bending/breaking the rules many times, have so much emotional baggage around the topic of forgiveness?

Some disclaimers:

Disclaimer 1: I've seen enough of tumblr already to know that "does Aziraphale really have religious trauma?/how much does it motivate his actions?" is the subject of Discourse around these parts. I don't want to have that argument here. Aziraphale's experience with Heaven has strong parallels to my personal religious history, and those specific parallels are what I'm here to talk about.

Disclaimer 2: I am not a bible scholar or religious historian, if I mention specific church doctrines or bible verses it's only to illustrate the experience of growing up in my church. My actual biblical/theological accuracy may be sloppy.

Disclaimer 3: I haven't read Good Omens the book. I know there are differences, but I'm not addressing them. All my thoughts are about show!Aziraphale and show!Heaven only.

Okay. Here goes.

The next point I want to make is that Aziraphale has spent his life inside a system that has weaponized the concept of forgiveness. Because Heaven, in the Good Omens universe, operates a lot like a particular flavor of toxic Christianity that I happen to be very familiar with.

In the version of Christianity I was raised with:

Your only purpose is to serve God's will. Our own needs, wants, goals, etc, were all understood to be secondary to that purpose.

The specter of eternal punishment is always present. Like any self-respecting Evangelical church, we believed that if you weren't "saved" before you died, you would go to Hell and be punished forever. How do you make sure you're saved? Well...

The rules are not clear or consistent, so you're always left guessing. We were a Protestant denomination, so a foundational doctrine was "sola scriptura." (We weren't fancy enough for the Latin, though, we just called ourselves "bible-based.") The basic idea is that the bible is the word of God, it's infallible, and it's the only authority we need to follow. But the bible is a cobbling-together of texts written thousands of years ago, that have been translated multiple times. It's not self-evident to a modern reader what any given passage means. It contains internal contradictions all over the place. So...the bible is the only authority we need to follow, but it's confusing and needs interpretation. Enter pastors and other church leaders to help us interpret. Only...they each have their own pre-existing biases and preferred scholarly interpretations, so even within the same church, different pastors might have different ideas about things.

So, to summarize: Follow what the bible says! Don't understand what it's telling you? Ask your pastor! Different pastors give different answers? Ugh, you're thinking about this too hard. Go pray about it or something. Just figure it out.

New ideas and experiences are, at best, begrudgingly tolerated. Because doing God's will is your only purpose, remember? And the Bible (and your pastor) are the source of the only wisdom you need to fulfill the only purpose you have. So really, you don't need anything outside what the church has to offer you and it's all a distraction anyway. (...okay, if you really must, here's a watered-down, church-approved version of the thing, now shut up.)

This isn't just the church being a buzzkill. It keeps you dependent on them and ignorant of the outside world to whatever extent they monitor and censor outside influences. My church was not even that extreme about this, relatively speaking, but it was still enough to profoundly impact me and leave me confused and floundering in the larger world after I left.

No matter how hard you try to measure up, you're ultimately at God's mercy. So you spend your life trying to follow a bunch of confusing, opaque rules in the hopes that you can be "saved" and avoid eternal punishment. But here's kicker: none of it truly matters anyway, because we were also taught that everyone falls short in the end and that the only real salvation comes from God forgiving you for your sins. All you really have to do to be saved is accept his free gift of forgiveness...by...believing the right things in the right way and praying the right prayers about it. And then spending the rest of your life still trying to follow all the convoluted rules, because doing so is proof that you were sincere...in your acceptance of God's forgiveness...which you accepted by following even more instructions regarding what to believe and how to pray to ensure that you were accepting it correctly.

How do you know if you've done any of this right? You never can, truly, until you die and find out. Because God's not actually talking to anyone. So in the end, no matter what you do, you end up in the same place: at the mercy of God, who decides whether you're forgiven or not.

If you're thinking that sounds like an incredibly confusing and exhausting way to grow up, you are correct! It also has a lot of parallels in Good Omens.

If you are an angel working for Heaven in the world of Good Omens:

Your only purpose is to serve God's will. This one is obvious. If you're an angel, it's literally the only thing you were created for.

The specter of eternal punishment is always present. The eternal punishment that can happen to an angel is falling. We know it's a punishment, because we know Crowley's fall was painful and because we can see that Hell is a miserable environment for the demons. This isn't The Good Place, where demons gleefully sit around eating snacks in conference rooms and brainstorming new fun ways to torture humans. Hell in Good Omens sucks for everyone there. And we can assume falling is meant to be permanent, because if it wasn't Crowley and Aziraphale wouldn't have been so gobsmacked by the Metatron's offer to restore Crowley to angelic status. Because there's no precedent for that. Crowley himself says that being a demon has automatically rendered him unforgivable. As far as anyone in this universe knows, "fallen" is a permanent state.

So how does an angel avoid eternal punishment? How do angels make sure they don't fall? Well...

The rules are not clear or consistent, so you're always left guessing. Was falling a one-and-done mass exile of everyone who rebelled, right after the war? The way both Heaven and Hell talk about the fall and the "casting out" of the demons would seem to suggest so. But fear of falling is obviously ever-present among the angels, so they clearly don't know for sure one way or the other. And what would cause an angel who wasn't part of the original rebellion to fall? Aziraphale thought he would fall for lying about Job's children. The archangels threatened Aziraphale with falling for "consorting" with Crowley in S1. Gabriel expected to fall for saying no to Armageddon the Sequel in S2. But none of those falls actually happened. Clearly even the angels in the highest positions of authority don't know exactly what the rules are about falling. And who decides who falls? Gabriel says the demons were "cast out" after the war, but who did the casting out? Did God handle that directly? Was it the Metatron? Did the transformation just sort of...happen, leaving everyone unsure about the details? And what about present day? The Metatron said that Gabriel would have his memory wiped instead of falling, but does that mean the Metatron gets to decide if an angel falls, or was he covering for the fact that he doesn't know how it works either?

We, the viewers, don't know the answers to any of these questions. But it's fairly clear that the angels also don't know.

New ideas and experiences are, at best, begrudgingly tolerated. The angels know little to nothing about the world or humanity and are disdainful or outright suspicious of earthly experiences. In the case of the ones who have never been sent to Earth, this makes sense, although it begs the question of why there are so many angels who have never once been sent to Earth, the planet that is supposed to be central to the Great Plan.

It's obviously, at its core, about control and keeping the angels ignorant of anything that would broaden their perspective. But listen to how the angels themselves talk about it. When Gabriel sees Aziraphale eating sushi, he asks, "Why do you consume that? You're an angel." (Subtext: You don't need to eat, so what's the purpose of indulging in this experience?) When Aziraphale suggests he try the food himself, Gabriel starts talking about sullying the temple of his body or whatever. (Subtext: It's not technically forbidden but it would be a deviation from my function as an angel so I'm suspicious of it.) And look at Aziraphale himself. He lives on Earth for many hundreds of years before he can be persuaded to even try human food, and Crowley has to work at convincing him it's okay. He seems to know it's not forbidden but he's deeply distrustful of it anyway. (I have a theory that a holdover of this mindset is why he's so set in his ways, behind the times, and still more ignorant of humans that you'd expect in the present day, but this post is already too long.) The attitude cultivated among the angels is These things are not meant for us, we don't need them, and they are a distraction from our higher purpose, so it's better if we don't.

No matter how hard you try to measure up, you're ultimately at God's mercy. So, if you're an angel, you're meant to be doing God's will, and if you fail badly enough you can be punished forever by falling. But the rules are unclear, the way falling works is unclear, in most cases you're kept ignorant of everything but the bare minimum you need to know to do your job, God isn't talking to anyone, and the (seemingly) officially appointed Voice of God is also pretty remote and mysterious most of the time.

So the only time you'll ever know for certain that you've crossed the line is once you've already crossed it, when it's too late to do anything about it. At that point, the only thing that could save you from falling would be if God just...decided to be merciful, to grant you a pardon (i.e. to forgive you) and not do the casting out thing.

Believe it or not, I had to work really hard to keep this as short as it is. If you've read this far, I salute you. Now, what's the point?

Aziraphale and the other angels are part of a system where they understand very little, they have no real power, the stakes are eternal, and their only hope of escaping endless punishment if they fail is the possibility that God will decide to show mercy and forgive them.

Yes, in the real world this is all just bullshit spread by religious leaders to scare and confuse and manipulate people into compliance and in the world of Good Omens it's actually real. But the emotional impact of feeling that confused and powerless and at the mercy of a higher authority is going to be the same. Of course Aziraphale has some Big Feelings about the subject of forgiveness. Of course it's one of his favorite things. It's not just a nice thing you do for people. It's powerful enough to rescue someone from eternal punishment when nothing else can. Powerful enough to wield as a devastating weapon by withholding it. It's a tool of control in Heaven, but it's also the source of salvation.

I was going to segue from here into what I think the specifics of Aziraphale's mindset are, but it took me so many more words than I expected just to lay out the parallels between GO Heaven and (my experience of) real-world toxic Christianity so I'm gonna stop here. Next time I'm going to dig into what I think is happening in Aziraphale's head when he forgives Crowley, and also when he does things like shelter Jimbriel (a very forgiving action, even if the words "I forgive you" don't accompany it).

[cosmic--dandelion]

I really like your Beelzebub post! All of the info was super neat read! All of the different depictions of them are so interesting

Honestly i don't get why ppl are upset with heluva boss depiction of bee not matching the most well known version. Shouldn't we encourage artists to get creative? to not be afraid of being unique? Isnt it the joy of art to create your own personal interpretation?

Ah to have peace in the art community...a dream for sure

Yeah, I don't really care that much about "Biblical accuracy," considering that quite a lot of "demons" are actually the gods of pagan cultures whose followers were converted by the sword. Not to mention the fact that most demonology texts were based on local folklore or worse, the false confessions of innocent people, most of whom weren't even heretics, being tortured by religious zealots.

I kind of like the idea that Bee still remembers her life as an ancient Canaanite fertility god worshipped in Mesopotamia three thousand years ago, and she's been continuously reinventing herself throughout the centuries. Some ancient Hebrew prophets thought that Beelzebub, Baal, and Bacchus (aka Dionysus), the Greek god of wine, feasts, and revelry, were all the same entity, so her being being a hard-drinking party animal kind of makes sense!

Ultimely, this design is very fun and everyone needs to unclench a little.

[officialyourdailyinspiration]

Take one look around our world and at the church. A need for a new reformation is evident in the church, which then has consequences on the culture as a whole. We must return to the Bible as our absolute authority.

Whether it’s liberalism, evolutionism, Gnosticism, Mormonism, Islam, New Age, moral issues (e.g., abortion and gay marriage), or the age of the earth, these are all ultimately battles over the same issue.

In 2 Corinthians 11:3, the Apostle Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, warns us about this ever-present danger: “But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.”

Paul in essence is warning Christians that Satan will continue to use the same method on us as he did on Eve: Satan will try to seduce people away from a simple devotion to Christ and his Word.

To understand this better, we need to go back to Genesis 3:1: “Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, ‘Did God really say . . . ?’”

From the beginning, the battle has been over the authority of the Word of God. The first woman, Eve, followed by her husband, Adam, gave in to the temptation not to take God at his Word. Instead, he relied on his human reason to determine truth.

Because Adam was the head of the human race, his rebellion plunged the entire human race into sin. All his descendants inherited a sin nature that refused to take God at his Word and instead made human reason their supreme authority.

This battle against God’s Word has manifested itself in every era of history.

Paul faced skeptics on every side, who questioned the clear proclamation of God’s Word. In its early centuries, Christianity fought several challenges to the authority of the Scriptures, including Gnosticism, which taught that man was his own god. Modern issues like the age of dinosaurs or carbon dating are merely new manifestations of age-old attacks on God’s Word.

Human reason has replaced God’s Word, and compromise has crept into the church. This is now reflected in an increasing number of church leaders becoming soft on gay “marriage,” etc.

A reformation is needed again to call the church to take God at his Word from the beginning—starting in Genesis.

In the sixteenth century, the sale of indulgences by the church, for forgiveness of sin and release from the pains of Purgatory, marked a climax in the elevation of human thinking above God’s Word. The monk Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of the Wittenberg Church, challenging indulgences. This act sparked a debate about the ultimate authority of the Bible above the church, and it essentially began the Reformation.

Others joined this reform movement. The Western world was dramatically changed, as Bibles and tracts were printed on the new presses and thus biblical truths were disseminated widely. In fact, until recent decades, much of the West was still heavily influenced by the Reformation and its call to take God at his Word.

The battle against God’s Word never ceased, however, as a series of men and events sought to undo the positive effects of the Reformation. Behind these attacks was an effort to make human reason supreme and steer people away from the authority of the Word of God. It was another manifestation of Genesis 3:1.

In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the attack against the Bible intensified. New speculation about the age of the earth and the evolution of life raised questions about the accuracy of the Bible. The core issues can be seen in the Scopes trial—said to be the most famous and culture-shaping trial in history (other than the trial of Jesus).

The Scopes trial of 1925 was not really about the teaching of evolution, as is commonly believed, but a deliberate ploy by the American Civil Liberties Union to put Christianity as a whole on trial. Even though the prosecution lawyer William Jennings Bryan was a great Christian statesman, he let the Christian faith down by not standing on God’s Word concerning the book of Genesis. For example, he was unable to give an answer about Cain’s wife, allowed the possibility that the earth is millions of years old, and didn’t accept the days of creation as literal days.

The trial marked a symbolic turning point in Christendom and American society which impacted the church everywhere. The world’s media reported that Christians were not taking God at his Word (in Genesis), and also that they could not adequately defend it.

The failure of the church to stand on God’s Word has brought devastation to countless lives. Just one example is the once-prominent evangelist Charles Templeton. While in seminary, he was taught to believe in an evolutionary timetable, including millions of years, which eventually led him to reject God’s Word and write a book called “Farewell to God.”

Compromise about biblical authority in Genesis 1–11 has made the church so weak that the Bible no longer impacts the culture as it once did. This has largely occurred because human reason was allowed to invade the church and push aside God’s Word.

A new reformation is needed. It’s time for a new generation of reformers to stand up and call the church back to trust in God’s Word where it is most under attack—the history of Genesis 1–11. We need to call people to turn away from the opinions of fallible mankind and stand firmly on the entire Bible.

It’s time that believers made their voices heard, nailing Genesis 1–11 on church doors and secular buildings across the world! We need to take God at his Word and return to the “simplicity that is in Christ.” Then we can watch the power of God’s Word transform lives and influence the culture. – Ken Ham

[lloke]

I mentioned this before but like after my brother died I read through his journals and stuff and found myself relating to a lot of the stuff he said about Christianity and his anger and frustration with it (but simultaneous fear to abandon it), and like.... a part of me still feels mad that I never tried to talk to him about any of that stuff and missed out on a chance to offer him some kind of support or just bond with him a little over some things we had in common because I was too busy "respecting religion" and "the importance of faith" and how he totally needed it to be happy or whatever and I shouldn't damage his mental health further by infecting him with my dirty atheism -- and then all that shit turned out to be completely useless garbage that didn't help him at all anyway!!

Of course I realize realistically that if I had made any attempt to have this kind of conversation with him he almost certainly would have still killed himself and then I would have had to blame myself for not keeping my distance, so there really wasn't any way to win there. But what's really frustrating is that now I feel like I'm in a very similar position with respect to my OTHER brother (who I will call A).

A also has bad anxiety and OCD that he's been struggling a lot with lately, and a while ago when I was over at my parents' house he had this kinda breakdown but felt better after Mom reassured him with a lot of "God is looking out for you" stuff, because (according to Mom) it's his faith in God that really gets him through everything... and like I'm glad he has something that helps him, but hearing that made me feel kinda awkward/guilty about the discussion/polite debate Dad and I somehow got into subsequently about Biblical source criticism shit. Like once again I feel like I can't express my real views on things because it might threaten the terribly delicate and fragile belief system that my brother absolutely needs to cope with his mental illness and could not possibly live without.

And I feel like Dad also isn't helping this situation at all... like for Christmas he gave A this "Rational Bible" book which like... I haven't read but I can guess the kind of stuff that's probably in it (defense of the Bible's historical accuracy etc). And I know his intention is to help strengthen A's faith, but I feel like this is just such a bad move on Dad's part. Like if A really needs his Christian faith for comfort and to cope with his anxiety and shit, I think the LAST thing you should be telling him is "Your faith in a loving God should definitely hinge on the historical accuracy of the number of chariots King David took to war in 1 Chronicles 18 -- and by the way, there happens to be A LOT of controversy over that very topic, and you should definitely spend a lot of time dwelling on this controversy and reading about all the arguments over it, that'll be sure to ease your anxieties!"

argh

[merkerlerspeaks]

This past long while it's been hard for me to determine what is "This upsets you because it's an upsetting truth" and "This upsets you because it is wrong and unbiblical" and only in regards to the things my brother & sister in law say. I used to be much more confident in my being able to say what was right and wrong, biblical and unbiblical. But at some point I started questioning myself. Questioning my ability to interpret things correctly. And I could feel confident about it in my head but the moment I go to talk about it, even things I am sure I know the accuracy of, I falter. I pause. I wonder 'is this actually right?' even if it's something I have directly read from the Bible multiple times.

Throughout my life with everything I have just always had a general knowledge of stuff I accumulate over time without actually having knowledge on directly how to source the things I know. So I can know if something is Biblical or not and have zero idea where to cite it in scripture.

And the thing is that reading the Bible never makes me angry. There are things I question the how's and whys on. Why was it made this way? Why does it work this way? Why would an Almighty All-powerful God design something Like This? Why is this specifically what Is Good? A variety of things like that, but it is almost never out of anger. It's out of curiosity. There are things that I misinterpret and have to read a few times to comprehend and understand. But it never makes me angry.

Hearing the Gospel has never in my life made me angry. It's never confused me to the point I'd doubt God overall. So why does it specifically when Im hearing things from them that is, supposedly, Biblical?

I've done a lot of growing over the years, some beliefs have changed, and I am open to being wrong because I am a human being and sometimes we do and say things that are just incorrect. But I have to wonder what would be going wrong with the message and delivery of something truly Gospel, when I have never reacted to the Gospel in anger before? I've been exposed too it my entire life.

My overall conclusion is that I need to delve back into reading my Bible more again, because I have always thrived on independent study (no this is not me rejecting fellowship), need to rebuild my confidence in Gospel knowledge, and determine if I am just being a Big Baby not Hearing What I Want To Hear or if what I have been hearing lately is legitimately WRONG (I suspect it is and if it isn't then the delivery from the messengers could use a lot of work)

[aboutanancientenquiry]

My thoughts on the Bible as historical document and source (III)

In my last post I said nothing about the question of the historicity of the New Testament. Concerning this important topic, I will only refer to what I have written some weeks ago in an exchange on this subject (https://aboutanancientenquiry.tumblr.com/post/702658047788662784/they-understood-the-difference-between-fact-and ).

Now, the Bible is a literary monument of immense importance. It is a testimony on the first emergence in history of a monotheistic religion (with the only exception of the historically very brief Amarna period in Akhenaten’s Egypt), it is a reflection on the historical adventures and disasters of the Hebrew people in Antiquity, and it contains some of the greatest masterpieces of religious literature ever written.

However, the Bible is not a historical work, because whatever history is contained in it is submitted to and transformed by the overarching theological purposes of its authors. This does not mean of course that the Bible is nothing more than a bunch of lies and manipulations. I don’t follow such an unsympathetic approach to the Bible as historical source, because its authors were struggling with real and poignant questions concerning the collective identity of the Jews, the meaning of their history, and the hopes for their future, in a period of political and military disasters, loss of independence,  captivity, and exile. Moreover, tradition had already largely transfomed the historical memory to sacred history and, therefore, what the authors of the Bible as we know it today wrote was not a pure invention of theirs (although of course it is sure that they played a decisive role in the definitive shaping of this tradition). 

But I think that the important is to remember that the Bible is not a historical work and historical accuracy and objectivity as we understand them today were not among the main preoccupations of its authors (who, moreover, I remind again, worked on traditions which had already transfigured the historical memories on the basis of theological needs and conceptions). The Bible’s main aim is to highlight the omnipotence of the God of Israel, his special relation with his people and his demands from them, as well as to explain the historical disasters of Israel as results of disobedience to God and to show that obedience to the divine will and law is the only way toward restoration of the fortunes of the Jewish people. These aims and nature of the Bible restrict its value as historical source and document in the proper sense of these terms. Whatever historical reality is reflected and preserved in the Bible must be disentangled from a narrative which is mostly mythohistory and sacred history. And whatever information is provided by the Bible and is not confirmed by other sources must be seen with suspicion, especially if it is of deficient plausibility and it is obvious that it serves the theological agenda of the authors.

As I say, the Bible is a literary monument of immense importance. However, I am not at all sympathetic to the various movements of Biblical literalism and fundamentalism which spread in our days, movements mostly politically and socially reactionary and potentially dangerous. To cite only some examples, we see what is the role of the Evangelical Right in the USA, how politically and socially reactionary is the religious Right in this country, and how far to the right the Christian fundamentalists managed to lead the conservatism there, we see the role of the Protestant Biblical fundamentalists in the support of the far righter clown Bolsonaro in Brazil, we see how extremist is the Israeli religious far right. Common basis of these movements is the consideration of the Bible as unquestionable authority and provider of historical truth and the use of this authority and supposed historical reliability of the Bible to support right wing or far right policies today. I believe that the criticism of the Bible as historical source is necessary among other reasons also in order to counter this dangerous influence of the Biblical literalism and fundamentalism.

[platonically-loving-alastor]

Screenshot Overanalysis Time!

I've actually spent so much time thinking about this image because no one else talks about it, and it's led to headcanons that range in realism from 'this is possible ig' to 'this definitely isn't true but it's still fun to think about'. So being sure to keep that in mind, I'm gonna describe said headcanons.

So, based on google searches for archangels, there are multiple ideas for how many there are, and one of those ideas is 7 (disregarding Lucifer ofc). Those 7 are Michael, Raphael, Gabriel, Uriel, Camael (also spelled Chamuel), Jophiel, and Zadkiel. This is the idea that I'm going to run with to say that the 6 figures in the screenshot are the other archangels. "Oh but how would they be the 7 archangels if there's only 6 of them-?" Well that's what I thought at first, but I'm also persistent. So I started thinking that maybe one of the archangels didn't exist until after Lucifer fell, possibly replacing him (I'll be using Zadkiel to fill this role throughout the post). Of course I don't know much about the system in this universe's Heaven, along with if they'd even feel the need to replace him to begin with, so it was originally just a random fun idea to me more than a genuine possibility.

However, something has since been brought to my attention that makes my idea make more sense. The 7 Heavenly Virtues. Though lesser acknowledged, there is one for each of the Deadly Sins, who we already know exist in the Hazbin Universe, including Lucifer representing Pride; Which is exactly what interested me about it. If the Virtues do exist in Hazbin Hotel's Heaven, that could mean that Lucifer used to be the Virtue of Humility, before unintentionally creating and becoming Hell's parallel to that, the Sin of Pride. With this idea in mind, I think this would make it much more likely for Heaven to actively need a replacement after he fell, they would've needed a new Virtue of Humility. So when Lucifer fell, there would have only been 6 archangels left, the same number we see in this scene, before they had the chance to create Zadkiel.

Also, just to cover my bases and mention the possible argument of Lucifer being a seraphim, I don't think that's technically been confirmed (or if it has, hey it's not like I thought this idea would turn out fully canon anyway lol). Yes, he has 3 sets of wings, which traditionally indicates a Seraphim (from what I've heard in this fandom at least, I have not studied the Bible myself). But we also know that Vivienne doesn't necessarily adhere to biblical accuracy, so this may just be how she's chosen to depict archangels. The main reason I would believe that were the case is the fact that all 6 figures behind him also have 3 sets of wings. These technically could also be Seraphim, but I feel like story-wise it would make more sense to me for them to have been archangels than more seraphim. this is partially because none of the halos look like the one we see on Sera, and I think it would be safe to assume if they were Seraphim in that moment, Sera would have been there with them.

Before I post this, I'm just gonna reiterate in case people wanna take this too seriously; This is mostly a fun and interesting idea that I know won't be true. Just let me do a bit of theorizing without the pressure of realism in this show that isn't exactly the perfect model of realism itself.

In conclusion, I wanna see archangels in the show so bad you don't understand- I've made picrew designs for them at this point, maybe I should post them, for the fun of it 👀

[narrowroadblog]

Answering Common Objections to Christianity

Christianity, like any belief system, faces its share of objections and skepticism. Addressing these concerns is not just about defending the faith, but also about inviting others to understand its perspective. In this blog post, we'll explore some common objections to Christianity and provide thoughtful responses based on biblical principles and reasoned arguments. Objection 1: The Problem of Evil One of the most common objections to Christianity is the problem of evil. Critics ask, "If God is all-powerful and all-loving, why does He allow suffering and evil in the world?" Response: The presence of evil and suffering is a complex issue, but it is important to understand that Christianity acknowledges the reality of evil. The Bible teaches that evil entered the world through human disobedience (Genesis 3). However, God's response to evil is one of redemption and restoration. The cross of Christ is the ultimate demonstration of God's love, where He takes the consequences of evil upon Himself to offer hope and healing. As Romans 5:8 states, "But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Objection 2: The Exclusivity of Christianity Another objection is the exclusivity of Christianity. Critics argue, "How can Christians claim that Jesus is the only way to God?" Response: Christianity does claim exclusivity, but this is based on the teachings of Jesus Himself. In John 14:6, Jesus says, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." This statement is not about excluding people but about the unique role of Jesus in salvation. Christianity holds that because of Jesus' death and resurrection, He is the only one who can bridge the gap between a holy God and sinful humanity. Objection 3: The Reliability of the Bible Critics often question the reliability of the Bible, asking, "How can we trust a book that was written thousands of years ago?" Response: The reliability of the Bible is supported by extensive manuscript evidence, archaeological discoveries, and historical validation. The Bible has been meticulously preserved and transmitted through generations. Additionally, its historical and prophetic accuracy provides a strong foundation for its trustworthiness. Christians believe that the Bible is not just a historical document, but the inspired Word of God (2 Timothy 3:16), which has stood the test of time. Objection 4: Science and Faith The perceived conflict between science and faith is a common objection, with critics asking, "How can Christians reject scientific evidence?" Response: Christianity is not anti-science. Many Christians are scientists who see their work as exploring the intricacies of God's creation. The Bible does not contradict science; rather, it offers a different lens through which to understand the world. The Genesis creation account, for example, is not a scientific textbook but a theological statement about God's role as creator. Faith and science can coexist and complement each other in understanding the complexities of the universe. Objection 5: Hypocrisy and Failings of Christians Finally, critics often point to the hypocrisy and failings of Christians, asking, "How can Christianity be true when its followers are flawed?" Response: Christianity does not claim that Christians are perfect. In fact, it acknowledges human imperfection and the need for grace. The failings of Christians are not a reflection of the truth of Christianity but a reminder of the need for redemption through Jesus. As Romans 3:23-24 says, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." Answering common objections to Christianity requires a balance of faith and reason. By addressing these concerns thoughtfully and respectfully, Christians can engage in meaningful dialogue and share the hope and truth of their faith. Ultimately, Christianity offers a message of love, redemption, and transformation that resonates with the deepest needs of the human heart. Shop now Shop now Read the full article

[bredforloyalty]

for someone who has never really listened to oasis before, what are the most incesty songs?

i feel like i'm not the expert i'm just one of the disciples hxdgy but thank you for asking me <33 i hope i can offer something while demonstrating that i got my wits about me. for the most part. it's kind of an inherently contradictory pair of goals but i'll have a go at it anyway lmao 💪

i mean, it's just not easy to say because i've low-key been BAMBOOZLING you all and oasis is a band with very normal music and very normal members*. and for example that post that goes something like, noel writes songs and says they're about his wife and then the song is like 'brother our love is so forbidden run away with me' is, while really funny, a huge exaggeration obviously (💀🩷) but as i said tumblrinas have a god given right to delusions and to biased interpretation and all that!!! it's funny and good for the ecology of this site and i have that god given right and i do it too. so that's where i stand, take this with a grain of salt etc. also sometimes it comes alive with the context and not without it, you won't find an inbred by ethel cain here HXSGCY

now that i got my disclaimers out of the way; the obvious one and the one that i must have conditioned myself to have a funny painful visceral reaction to (because i didn't use to) is guess god thinks i'm abel, written by liam. i couldn't find an archived version of the 2005 mojo issue that this was in, but:

"It’s biblical innit,” explains Liam. “Cain and Abel… it’s me and our kid. Or me and you. Two people who are the opposite, who become one."

Are you holding an olive branch out to Noel?

“It’s nice to put a band aid on it for a bit, knowwhatimean? I love him, I adore him, more than anyone else in the fuckin’ whole wide world. But we also don’t speak that much. We don’t have to speak. But that song is basically for him. It’s like, shut the fuck up, give respect and you’ll get respect back. Life, brothers and sisters, that’s what we all want isn’t it, respect?”

i had already been listening to this since before uhh a few weeks ago or whenever it was that i got these worms, because. you would not believe which of my playlists had it. and by that i mean you could guess with great accuracy (i think i've been vocal about my beautiful journey with claustrophobic familial relationships and about what kick-started me in that regard). come on. and i'm an older sister i've always liked the abels of the world

oh and i should mention my sister lover! it's my sister lover

and then there's if we shadows, honestly might be my favorite.. just favorite, period. definitely is out of the more uh acoustic and less rock and roll ones. "nobody knows what's wrong except me and my brother"

+ acquiesce. i find this one funny because people assumed it was about the two of them, with "we need each other" and "we believe in one another" in the chorus, because noel sings that and liam sings the verses on it (and it's not often they share songs like that and it's like they're singing to each other). noel called this "total fucking bullshit" and said it's about friendship lol and another time he said liam assumed it was written to him but it's actually to his girlfriend

i'm outta time. another one by liam, i just wouldn't rule it out that he wrote it with someone in mind. and i'm sure he wasn't completely oblivious to the problems they were having before the break-up sooooo.. you know

live forever. i mean that was their career i would say, the high points must have been like that (about 9 minutes in: "on stage, i just want him. and it's only me and him. when he turns to me and i turn to him at, like, one guitar break or whatever and, like, we just both look at each other, and that's what it's about for us. [...] not like i'm fucking dissing the rest of the band or anything like that but it's only me and him"), looking over at your brother who is the other half of the band in a way the other half of you as well and knowing you've created something permanent and in that very moment too you're creating it together and you're on top of the world. sorry if that sounds insane ,, as i said , contextual, it's live forever well it's just live forever

*: gaze upon any insane mutual's (or my own) oasis tag and make your own judgment on this lol

[wolint]

FRESH MANNA

SPIRITUAL EDUCATION

2 Timothy 2:15

The world at large values some form of education or another and a vast amount of money is poured into all kinds of educational schemes to support this idea. We go to academic institutions to better ourselves in all sorts of learning for personal, professional, or vocational purposes but how often do we apply the same zeal, time, resources and determination to educating ourselves in the word of God?

Yet, the most important and needed education is spiritual education. Solomon wrote, “Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body” in Ecclesiastes 12:12. And any student who has pulled an all-nighter, crammed for a test, memorized an equation, or pored over a textbook can verify the truth of that statement. Solomon’s point was that though education is important, knowing and fearing God was more important than simply amassing knowledge.

The Lord admonishes us to study His word carefully. Job 22:21 says we need to acquaint ourselves with the Lord and be at peace. A lot of Christians today can repeat what their pastors, prophets and “man of God” have said but can’t string two scriptures together or make meaning of the message of the cross.

Spiritual education is particularly important to have a powerful Christian journey, It’s much more than bible study, it is striving, diligence and zealous persistence in accomplishing a goal, the goal of knowing God intimately.

Precision and accuracy born of studios striving are required in biblical interpretation, beyond all other enterprises, because the interpreter is handling God’s Word.

Acts 17:11 tells us of the Bereans whose examples we are encouraged to emulate. They pursued spiritual education.

They heard the doctrine of the Gospel attentively, as we do daily, probably more than they did. They received this doctrine with a ready mind and the evidence of its truth.

Then they searched the Scriptures, to confirm the content and know if the promises corresponded with the alleged fulfilment in the person, works, and sufferings of Jesus Christ. In effect, they studied, not just taking the prophets’ word as final, they wanted to know and understand for themselves.

They continued to apply themselves to the daily study of the word, and their zeal, and diligence were seen in their knowledge and accuracy of the scriptures.

Like King Solomon in Ecclesiastics 7:25, we too should apply ourselves to explore knowledge and gain wisdom, not leave it to chance that we may come across someone one day who may know and inform or teach us things we need to search out ourselves.

“Be diligent to present yourself to God…” Present yourself before the Lord, allow Him to speak and open Scriptures so your heart burns with the revelation of His word as seen in Luke 24:32. This is the Living Word, that comes through the Holy Spirit, that impacts our hearts and minds and transforms us.

We need a listening heart to learn from the scriptures and from the Holy Spirit who teaches and guides us in all things according to John 14:26. Solomon had such a heart; he was able to receive great revelation and wisdom from the Lord. In 1 Kings 3:12, God said He had given Solomon a wise and discerning heart. This wisdom is a supernatural gift from God in 1 Kings 3:11. God wants us to have supernatural wisdom and so commands us to study His word.

The Bible is the inspired Word of God, it is His written instruction manual to mankind that answers every important question in life, explaining how we should live and reveals the way to salvation.

Academic education is good but spiritual education is greater and essential.

Let’s learn how to study the scriptures faithfully and not parrot men of God or self-help books, the Holy Spirit is our teacher who will teach and educate us on all things, including revealing the scriptures for our consumption.

PRAYER: Lord, as I study Your word, make me more equipped for your work, grow in the knowledge of your Son and increase in my service for you in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Shalom

WOMEN OF LIGHT INT. PRAYER MIN.

[geminiagentgreen]

I cant-- actually I can believe I did; the discourse for "The Chosen" is normally not something I'd ever choose to look into as I'm not even watching the show, but sure enough I caught an episode.

I liked what I saw, but one episode is not the whole series. Frankly the real concerns have to do with its biblical accuracy and whether or not it's blasphemous as opposed to well-intentioned.

I am not in the interest to go further than I already have, I'm already getting grumpy dealing with what I read from Presbyterian sources regarding depictions of God, Jesus, and idolatry AND the issue of depicting God and the events of scripture in any media, so the last thing I need is to start a show.

Ultimately, we (christians) all don't live up to God's standard, but God doesn't love us by any standard than His own and He loves us despite ourselves. We all ought to seek to please the Lord in all we do and don't do - Him above all else and nothing we want to hold onto is more important than he, even our beloved media - and trust the Lord to do with man and man's intentions for His glory and purpose.

With that said, Lord help us to mortify our sins and to seek to honor you first and foremost.

[wisdomfish]

When unwanted thoughts linger

When unwanted thoughts linger, we need a variety of approaches that draw on a range of biblically faithful strategies. One such strategy is described in Scripture as the process of examining ourselves (see Lam. 3:40; 2 Cor. 13:5). Examination is one way for us to “keep a close watch” on our lives and our doctrine (1 Tim. 4:16). It is how we discern the accuracy and helpfulness of the thoughts that cross our minds.

We often think of examination as a process of searching our hearts for sin. But the goal of discerning our thoughts “is not to simply avoid the evil in this life; it is to learn what is good so that we might embrace and enjoy it.” Yes, one of our goals is to take sinful thoughts captive. But the larger goal of examination is for us to cultivate still and quiet minds filled with enjoyable thoughts that are pleasing to God.

~ Esther Smith 

[officialyourdailyinspiration]

Delighted to present the insightful elements from this editorial, "Faith tested" by Dr Don Batten. Our faith journey often confronts trials, and this article emphasizes the need for an informed understanding of Creation to bolster faith.

Testimonies often reflect periods of wilderness experiences in new Christians, mainly fueled by doubts arising from the prevalent evolution/long-ages mindset. Creationist literature can help overcome these doubts.

Here are just a few highlights of faith-building articles in our next upcoming issue of Creation Magazine:

   📌 Studies on creatures such as robins and roadrunners demonstrate how mutations, natural selection, and even 'speciation' do not equate to evolution. These observations align better with God's creation adapting within set boundaries.    📌 Articles highlighting divine intelligent design, such as dogs' olfactory abilities and the complex nests of masked weavers, further testify to the ingenuity of our Creator.    📌 Long-age thinking is not just about biology; it deeply impacts the Biblical salvation history by introducing death and bloodshed before sin.    📌 The Bible's historical accuracy is frequently affirmed by archaeology. For example, inscriptions in King Hezekiah's tunnel and the marvel of Roman concrete affirm human innovation since Adam and Eve.    📌 The introduction of a series on logical fallacies aims to equip readers in addressing objections to faith effectively.    📌 A comprehensive article on Artificial Intelligence (AI) guides our understanding of its potential benefits and how we should approach it. Enjoy the enriching read and share with others to help spread the Word!

https://creation.com/faith-tested

[barbourlindahl2]

Replica Jewelry Market To See Gorgeous Growth

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[bookwyrmbaneoftheplothole]

Okay I absolutely hate posting hot takes online these days but this is just my impossible idea of the minute here and I need to chime in on this particular pet peeve of mine; I wish that at the very least bare minimum, people would stop calling angels “eldritch horrors” and use the much more appropriate term “eldritch wonders,” and here’s why.

I could talk forever and bring up a million points about actual scriptural accuracy when it comes to so-called “biblically accurate angels” that are the rage to talk about these days, but to spare you all a literal Great Wall of Text, I’m not talking about any of the actual nuances of angel related Biblical doctrine. I don’t need to be the fiftieth person to point out that Ezekiel is one book. If you want that kind of thing I’ve reblogged plenty of other posts from other people with good insights on this topic you can find in my tags. I realize that the vast majority of people talking about “biblically accurate angels” are not looking to talk theology, they’re just looking to use the idea of angels as an archetype in their content in the same way that you would use any sort of otherworldly being in any fantasy setting or what have you, which I realize is a completely separate thing from trying to depict an actually accurate angel. I can even give people the benefit of the doubt if they want to use the descriptor “Eldritch” to describe the types of angels people like to talk about in Ezekiel, because the whole idea of eldritch being hard to visually comprehend and abstract compared to our own human perspective is definitely true with angels, even the ones that don’t have a prodigious quantity of eyes, and people who just see the popular depictions are drawn to that sort of motif, because people like weird abstract stuff. I too like weird abstract stuff, I wouldn’t be into cosmic horror if I didn’t, so again, I get it guys. But lumping angels into the blanket category of “Cosmic Horror” is fundamentally missing the point, and you’re at the very least missing an opportunity to introduce something to your setting that fills a different role than just “Lovecraft with a vaguely Abrahamic coat of paint.”

Angels conceptually speaking have that similar sort of effect associated with Lovecraftian beings where merely being in their presence is enough to viscerally make humans aware of their place in the cosmos, the difference I never see anyone actually make the distinction of is that everyone’s favorite angel related catchphrase that gets memed into the ground, “be not afraid,” is the polar opposite of the things associated with cosmic horror! Cthulhu doesn’t give a measly fart if you’re afraid of him, his apathy towards you is the thing that unravels your gray matter in the end, the inevitability of your own insignificance in the universe. Angels are the complete opposite of this, their entire point any time they appear in biblical stories is for the purpose of God communicating directly to humanity. It doesn’t matter if we’re talking about angels bringing good news to shepherds about Jesus’s birth in the New Testament, angels destroying entire armies in the Old Testament, or everyone’s favorite scene of the Seraphim appearing to Ezekiel in a vision with all of his wings and eyes, in every single instance we see angels in the Bible the entire point of them being seen at all is as a reminder that God has an active interest in humanity and he’s being completely to the point about what he is saying to them. It’s completely antithetical to Cosmic Horror in every sense, because when they say “don’t be afraid” they actually mean it, the burning nine-foot angel is showing up from thin air and blasting you in the face with the glory of God full force and overwhelming you to a point where you might not fully comprehend, but it isn’t overwhelming you with horror, it’s overwhelming you with wonder! It’s here to let you know that you matter enough for God to send a being from the Heavens to convey good news to you, so don’t be afraid, the impossibly and infinitely vast unfathomable cosmic being responsible for your existence knows this is a lot to handle at once but just wants to remind you He loves you, son. That’s not only totally different from Cosmic Horror, it’s also a theme I almost never see get used except I guess in C. S. Lewis’ Space Trilogy. Long story short, if you want your so called “biblically accurate angels” to be actually biblically accurate, stop thinking about them in terms of “Cosmic Horror” and “Eldritch horrors,” think instead of “Heavenly Wonder;” angels are better archetypally understood as “eldritch wonders,” as their entire purpose is to convey the wonder of God to humanity, which stands totally opposed to the indifference of the cosmic gods in the Lovecraft mythos. They’re fundamentally different worldviews if you get any deeper from the surface than “look, both have lots of eyes!” Thank you for coming to my TED talk, I promise not to say any more hot takes for another year after this.