A look at pre-Babylonian exilic magic
Though our Christian society has created a sometimes-exaggerated appeal to the Bible for its disapproval and suspicions of magic, it has marked this search by the overriding principal that deemed magic as being unavoidably coupled with Satanism. The truth however is much less dramatic, and it begins with a simple fact. There is no distinction made between so-called “white: and “black” magic. Instead magic is a kind of wonder working, almost totally devoid of any real regular for “religion”. It is rather, something that simply exists. What’s more, this fact is never explicitly denied in the bible, but rather the contrary is true as the power of magic is upheld. (In addition to this period one might suggest that magic powers are never denied within the bible or even the early church as they held to numerous Christian incantations. This is however far beyond the scope of this article.)
Prominent members of ancient cultic societies preformed neither distinctively “black” nor “white” magic. Though it was generally assumed that these acts of enchantment were meant for the good of society, they were simply the actions of “magicians” and nothing more. It should be noted that no censorious statements are made concerning their intent. (Is. 19:3; Dan 2:2) More to the point, for Israel, there is no connection between magic and demonology as many might commonly presuppose. Magicians preformed their word independently of apparitions.
When Moses and Aaron encounter the Egyptian magicians it is not portrayed as a contest between opposing divinities. No god is invoked; no deals are made, no evil is called upon. Instead when these sorcerers are incapable of replication they do not profess, “Surely your God is more powerful than ours” They are in fact heard to remark, “This is the finger f God” (Ex. 8:15). For the sorcerers, it seems that God exists (perhaps many gods) and yet no god had anything to do with his or her work. Magic and gods seem to be completely independent of each other. The story of Balaam supports this as well. Just as seen before, the powers of the sorcerer seem to be both real and independently preformed without outside aid. Balaam performs his curses in Num. 22:18 without the assistance of any supernatural being and pays homage to no deity or devil. We do not read anywhere in this text whereby Balaam calls upon the name of any God, demon or anything at all for that matter. Indeed Balaam, were he to call upon a gad, would almost certainly have chosen UHWH to call upon.
The reality is that the Bible does not deny the power of magic, nor does it seek to impugn evil spirits for the conjuring that clearly exists within even our own present day reality. To the contrary, the power of magic is assuredly stated as the magicians of Pharaoh Do work marvelous wonders’ wonders that should not and need not be seen as trickery. To the contrary, the curse of Balaam is real. In fact, the curse is so real and so strong that UHWH must counteract the curse with a blessing. Surely God didn’t find it necessary to counteract something that did not / does not exist?
Still if magic is real and it is not based on evil as the terms “black magic” and “white magic” suggest, then why does God ban magic under penalty of death? (Ex. 22:17) It is my opinion that this is done for one simple reason: Magic is repeatedly linked with human wisdom” (Is 47:10; Ps 58:6; Dan 2:13). The clash between God and magic is seen as these acts drive an even deeper wedge between Godly and finite wisdom. The magic reformed is a magic of arrogance. It is a form of idol worship that blinds humanity to the ultimate power of YHWH. When magic is forbade, God’s wisdom is finally revealed, whereby humanity is left with nothing by the capacity to emulate the men of Pharaoh and acknowledge the “finger of God”.
By Brad Childs
____________________________________________
Whoroscope
Aries – Keep trying. If at first you don’t succeed try stalking!
Taurus – The warning light is on – on no further you loon! Conan says “she‘s about to call you an older brother man… abort the mission!
Gemini – An award show nobody watches (It’s Canadian”
Cancer – Have you checked my pants?
Leo – A possessive freak that spent 18 years painting a woman.
Virgo – You suck Virgo’s
Libra – I looked it up in the dictionary. This is the no no touch place.
Scorpio – It is time to come out of the closet. Jesus will still love you.
Sagittarius – If you cannot get rid of those 10lbs, recent studies have proven that cocaine diets do wonders for weight loss, but it can get quite expensive. Apply for larger loans now.
Capricorn – This is what ends up in the toilet after you eat corn.
Aquarius – Dud my fish is getting huge in the backyard pool.
Pisces – You don’t believe in horoscopes.
By Cutty Sark
================================================
Denominations: The Modern Equivalent to "I am of Paul" and "I am of Apollos" (1Cor 3:4)
What is with the Chrisitan church these days? I look around and see more and more divisions each time I ipen my eyes! Don't think I'm just talking about Calvinists or lutherans. Baptists spilt more often then they use the bathroom. Are we so differnt. Are we so hard-lined that we couldn't worship God simply because we happened to be standing next to someone with a differnt view. The truth is that Christians beleive in ONE GOD, and One Church. Grow Up!
This weeks How The Hell Old Are You award goes to EVERYONE BUT THE CATHOLICS
-Loft
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Prayer on behalf of the dead: Why not?
Last week I had a friend go in for ordination interviews. The interviews were to be help on Monday and he had asked me to pray for him precisely at 2:00, as he would be beginning the process at that time. I of course, agreed to pray for him and so I did.
It was shortly after 2:00 when I began to think about what had been asked of me. What I began to think was – why pray right at that moment? As Christians we believe that God is not bound by time or space. He is outside our reality. Why then does it matter when I pray? Technically could I not pray for the interview next year? God will hear it, or already have heard it long ago because he knows all. To deny this is to say that God is then than perfect and less than all-powerful. It seems to me that I could presumably pray for anyone at any time and God would honor that prayer no more or less than he would any other at any other time. Because this is true… why then can we not pray on behalf of the dead? If I were to sit down right now and pray for the salvation of my best friend from High School, would that not have an effect on an all knowing God? Would God not have known of this prayer long before I even came to be?
Now I am not suggesting that God will hear our prayers and suddenly throw open the gates to heaven. What I am saying though, is that God could have already taken into account the prayers that we have not yet uttered. He could have already taken into account prayers for John the Baptist delivered to Him just today. Perhaps the more you pray today the more God acted in the past upon your requests. Prayer on behalf of the dead… why not?
-Ha Kohen
__________________________________________________
A Catholic view on the Baptist Movement
The Baptist church is constantly splitting. It is the wrinkly foreskin of the Body of Christ. If you keep acting like you are an infection, you may just find yourself circumcised.
-Cutty Sark
==========================================
Japuti is our resident engraved idol mask. Ask him all your question and wait for his responses. (The first question comes from an e-mail sent to the old Realist site)
Dear Japuti,
Hey Japuti! A friend of mine always uses the artice "the" when addressing Jesus as if it were a proper title. For example: he often says things like, "Did the Jesus tell youto say that?" What do you think of this?
Dear Follower,
Bow before the awsome power and infinite might of Japuti!!! Your friend most likely speaks with malicious intent but he is right. Often the Greek uses the definite article "the" before the name of Jesus. Even though your friend is attempting to insult you, he is actually closer to the truth than you are!
Bow Bow BOW!!!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A Short Tuition Rant
Schools and government often treat tuition loans like an oppuntinity to plunder from a whole new generation. We are raising an entire generatin of people that hold more debt before graduation than most people had for their mortgage just 20 years ago. The more the schools raise tutition the fewer students they will get and so the more they will carge the following year. This is an endless cirle and we are all trapped in it. As a minister I have nearly 100,000 in student loans. Yet despite having a higher level of education than most I will recieve about 1/3 the average salary for someone with comparable schooling.
I'm not saying churches need to pay more (though some should). I'm saying education should be cheaper or refelct future wages.
-Anonymouns
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Questions to ask your teacher or pastor?
Do you consume alcohol?
Do you believe it's wrong to dance?
Do you beleive in Evolution?
Do you beleive that women are allowed to Pastor churches?
Do you Swear?
Should people who were baptized as babies be re-baptiszed?
Do you beleive that the story of Noah's ark is a historical event?
Did Moses write the 5 books of Moses (Even where he says he's humble or where he dies)?
Is Samson a real guy? (fox tails seriously)
Is the story of Sodom and Gomorrah about homosexuality>
Are people born gay?
Why do you work here?
By Loft G.
--------------------------------------
Buddha's Corner
If we have a positive mental attitude, then even when surrounded by positivity we shall not lack inner peace. On the other hand, if our mental attitude is more negative, influenced by fear, suspicion, helplessness, or self-loathing, then even when surounded by our best friends, in a nice atmosphere and comfortable surroundings, we shall not be happy. So, mental attitude is very important: it makes a real difference to our state of happindess. For those of you who seem to dislike this, just remember all truth is Gods truth: So shut up!
__________________________________________________
No comments:
Post a Comment