Copyright 2002-2023 Got Questions Ministries. I probably would have subscribed - I would have subscribed to either the view that God was upset and we needed to repent so that he would relent, or that the devil - it was the devil doing it, and we needed to pray to God for mercy and for him to intervene on our behalf. One is they based their predictions on the Book of Revelation. The Turk, without asking whether the imam will pardon him, We're not going out. I think that if the devil does not exist, and man has therefore created, him, he has created him in his own image and likeness., Youre a remarkably good implorator of unholy suits, as Polonius, Ivan laughed. Would you please explore this saying? For having cut short the course of my life. When we originally scheduled the interview we're about to hear, we didn't realize how weirdly timely it would be. What fruit do you expect to reap from your fine arguments? Otherwise, would the whole world be thrown off kilter - if not the whole universe? When Jesus was alive, he thought the end of days would be soon. Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people? GROSS: This is FRESH AIR. That also is the view of Paul, that people would be destroyed if - when Jesus returns. But the main thing is that I think that, in fact, it imposes emotional damage. Sometimes Sheol is translated by the word hell, and it absolutely is not what people think of as hell. In this poem, Voltaire develops the idea that the existence of God (or the belief therein) helps establish social order. Does God create situations? https://EzineArticles.com/expert/R._R._Stark/79832, http://ezinearticles.com/?What-If-the-Devil-Didnt-Exist?-Part-I&id=7380994. God is punishing us. This was an idea that he thought was very important for society. Again, Beam declaring Denji to be "Lord Chainsaw" as opposed to "Lord Denji" supports this allegory. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. And if you're thinking, but what about this passage in the Old Testament or what about that passage in the New Testament, let me just say we only had time to touch on a few of the points in Bart Ehrman's book, so if you want to know more about what he has to say about the history of the afterlife, I refer you to his book. Voltaire spent several years (1726-28) in London studying English culture, language, literature, and philosophy. What can you do after Valentines Day to make your sweetheart happy? Your wife more honest? Europe has thanked me; twenty crowned heads And the graphic imagery in the book has really contributed to all of these interpretations of Revelation. The devil wanted to make himself "like the Most High" (Isaiah 42:14b). In 1732, Voltaire worked as a secretary for the French ambassador in Holland. A Huguenot lover will be able to marry The book is all about the terrible destruction that is going to take place on Earth when God destroys everything that is opposed to him, before bringing in a good kingdom. Our engineer today is Adam Staniszewski. So you write that starting in the sixth century, Hebrew prophets began to proclaim, you know, that the nation had been destroyed and would be restored back to life by God. And stop biting one another for absurd chimeras." For your favorite quotes. If they aren't brought into the new Jerusalem, the city of God that descends from heaven, they will be destroyed. Some of our partners may process your data as a part of their legitimate business interest without asking for consent. When earlier I was saying that Jesus was an apocalypticist who thought that the world was going to come to an end, that God was going to destroy the forces of evil to bring in a good kingdom, that is precisely what the author of the Book of Revelation thinks, that - and the book is a description of how it's going to happen. The cynicism he displays should be read in context with the depressing religious climate of eighteenth-century France. But the architect exists, and anyone who denies it And now we have the pandemic. There is hope in moments of complete despair. That's when Christianity will be the sweetest. The angel Lucifer had a free will and made his own choices. And so I don't try to talk people out of their view of heaven, but I think, actually, it's better off, you know, not living for what's going to happen after you die; it's better off living for what you can do now. We aren't using our cars. When philosophy, enlightening humanity, You asked me what I was driving at: you see, Im an amateur and, collector of certain little facts; I copy them down from newspapers and, stories, from wherever, and save themwould you believe it?certain, kinds of little anecdotes. EHRMAN: When I talk with somebody, especially somebody who's close to me who is a firm believer in heaven and hell, I have no reason to disabuse them of that, unless they're using that belief to hurt somebody or to advocate social policies that are harmful to people. Our interviews and reviews are produced and edited by Amy Salit, Phyllis Myers, Sam Briger, Lauren Krenzel, Heidi Saman, Therese Madden, Mooj Zadie, Thea Chaloner and Seth Kelley. It'll be exponential. You get that in the story of Moses in the Book of Exodus. I mean, when you die, you stop breathing. It made me a rather obnoxious fundamentalist Christian because I thought that everybody else was going to go to hell, and so I had to go out of my way to convert them all (laughter). I think the devil doesn't exist, but man has created him, he has created him in his own image and likeness. And if it's not that, he said it would be like a deep sleep. Everybody loves a deep, dreamless sleep. Satan fell because of his pride and disobedience to the Lord. Satan was needed to provoke Adam and Eve into Sin as they were not taking the bait. Eventually, he left the faith altogether. (SOUNDBITE OF MICHAEL NYMAN'S "HOW DO I KNOW YOU KNOW?". My nephews will dine gaily and with no ill will Voltaires comment was so well-known that it was included in Flauberts Dictionnaire des ides reues, and it is still quoted today. Fyodor Dostoyevsky. (HathiTrust Full View), 1919, Baudelaire: His Prose and Poetry by Charles Baudelaire, Edited by T. R. Smith, Series: The Modern Library of the Worlds Best Books, Story: The Generous Player, Translated by Joseph T. Shipley, Start Page 80, Quote Page 82, Boni and Liveright, New York. They're not? It's going to come very soon. He was a Greek-speaking Jew. And so they ended up shifting the thinking away from the idea that there'd be a kingdom here on Earth that was soon to come to thinking that the kingdom, in fact, is up with God above in heaven. He is not the cause of sin. EHRMAN: Right. This information should not be considered complete, up to date, and is not intended to be used in place of a visit, consultation, or advice of a legal, medical, or any other professional. Voltaires Dictionnaire des ides, published in 1758, is an enduring classic of French philosophy. And so all of the imagery of death and destruction and disease and war in the Book of Revelation is used to show what terrible measures God has to take in order to destroy the forces of evil that are completely - have completely infiltrated the human world, before he brings in a new world. Ivan, not Dostoyevsky. And in fact, it's not right. You get both of those explanations. earning money as a day laborer in Geneva, spent his earnings on drink. Op you are already immediately mistaken for you know not that devil is simply, the evil, D' evil! John Wilkinson? Of these Caesars tainted by their usurped grandeur; Similarly, the word illisible is a useful concept to grasp. To testify to his beliefs; rather they will swear to his good conduct. It just isn't going to happen. In short, the Choir of Angels has been following the Archangel because he is God's chosen vessel. If the heavens, stripped of his noble imprint, In trying to understand why God created Satan, knowing he would rebel, we should also consider the following facts: 1) Lucifer had a good and perfect purpose before his fall. So I wasn't always a pleasant person to be around because I was right and they were wrong, and since they were wrong, they were going to hell. Most people just say, well, look - you know, it's a pandemic, and we better pay attention to our scientists, which is, obviously, the more socially satisfying answer to the question. In the book of James, the Holy Spirit says, But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. (Newspapers_com), YouTube video, Title: The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was to convince the world he didnt exist, Uploaded on April 30, 2009, Uploaded by: iPhilR, (Quotation starts at 0 minute 4 seconds of 3 minutes 2 seconds) (Video excerpt from the 1995 movie The Usual Suspects Phrase spoken by Kevin Spacey as Verbal) (Accessed on youtube.com on March 19, 2018). And that was the ancient understanding, the ancient Hebrew understanding of the soul, is that it didn't go anywhere because it was simply the thing that made the body alive. Ezekiel 28:15 states the devil (originally named Lucifer) was created perfect from day one. So I - you know, it's not that I wish I believed it so much as I wish that it were true. GROSS: So how do you mediate between your beliefs and their beliefs in how you talk to them about what will happen and how you talk to yourself? The angels were created as servants of God, and they were supposed to serve God in obedience. And so I really believe that, and I'll probably always believe it. So, this stupid theory is full of too many holes - that people gullibly fall into. Paper_1-_Role_of_cloud_computing_and_platforms_for_end_to_end_delivery_of_water_utilities-sa_v2 (2). Involvement in society is vital for our survival and civilization. EHRMAN: That is fair to say (laughter). This is the big surprise of the book, and it's the one thing people probably wouldn't expect because, you know, when I was growing up, I just assumed. Press J to jump to the feed. "I think the devil doesn't exist, but man has created him, he has created him in his own image and likeness." Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov Read more quotes from Fyodor Dostoevsky Share this quote: Like Quote Recommend to friends Friends Who Liked This Quote To see what your friends thought of this quote, please sign up! He also claimed that the Bible had been preserved without changes to prevent it from being altered. But who will ever be able to bear dining with Frron? Then what? When the breath leaves the body, the body no longer lives, but the breath doesn't exist. God created him, but he was an angel first, he went against God and got cast him down from heaven. And it's probably not a place that people go to, per se. Voltaires essay on inventing a god if God did not exist teaches us that we need a higher power to maintain civilization. . ocps non . As a product of human imagination, this idea appeals to people and has been passed down through culture. What If, The Devil Don't Exist, Will You Still Be A Christian? 3 Tamponet was, in fact, a doctor at the Sorbonne. In the new book, "Heaven And Hell: A History Of The Afterlife," my guest Bart Ehrman writes about where the ideas of heaven and hell came from. It were true he went against God and got cast him down from heaven we! Be thrown off kilter - if not the whole universe not exist teaches us that we need a power... 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