if the devil didn't exist man would create him

If you're just joining us, my guest is Bart Ehrman, who is the author of the new book "Heaven And Hell: A History Of The Afterlife." Ehrman is a distinguished professor of religious studies at The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and is one of America's most widely read scholars of early Christianity and the New Testament. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. A writing: The Three Impostors was written by an anonymous author. When people need to find life pleasant and hopeful and they need to be helpful to other people, they need to enjoy life, if all you're looking forward to is what's going to happen after you die, you can't really fully enjoy life now because this is just a dress rehearsal. This kind of thinking, though, really came to prominence at the end of the 19th and into the 20th century and hit big prominence in 1945, when we actually had the means of destroying ourselves off the planet, which we still have, by the way. 66 Articles, By His mother was a noblewoman from Poitou. More insights from your Bible study - Get Started with Logos Bible Software for Free! That way when you criticize them, you are a mile away from them and you have their shoes." Jack Handey r/quotes Soaking there detestable hands in our blood; The Wages of Fear - The Seven Deadly Sins and American Pathology, One Man's God Is Another Man's Devil - The Pragmatics Behind The Golden Compass Controversy, God Crushes The Evil Doers And Worshipers Of False Gods. GROSS: FRESH AIR's executive producer is Danny Miller. And that's how you start getting the development of the idea of hell, that it's a place where souls go to be punished in - as the opposite of the people who go to heaven to be rewarded. He was a Greek-speaking Jew. Nevermind then taking the hideous character to signify evil pesonified; further contradicting what is known as 'Order' in the heavens'. We have to self-isolate. This is FRESH AIR. Surely, if there are gods in the world or God in the world, there has to be justice. I'll talk with David Nott, who's been a trauma surgeon in conflict zones, including Syria, Afghanistan, Yemen and Iraq, and trains doctors in conflict and natural disaster zones. In 1732, Voltaire worked as a secretary for the French ambassador in Holland. And then if you want even more background on Satan's fall or some people . Well, if we're being rewarded, they're going to be punished. And so in our various Gospels, you have Jesus saying all sorts of things that are contradictory because different people are putting their own ideas onto his lips. EHRMAN: Yeah, no, it's a good question. Paul was not a follower of Jesus during his lifetime, during Jesus' lifetime. He's a distinguished professor of religious studies at The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. So there again is confirmation that serpent in the beginning with Satan. 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. When we originally scheduled the interview we're about to hear, we didn't realize how weirdly timely it would be. Op, have you got a thread where you defined what devil is? Will your children be more obedient to your voice? Demon inhabitation is real. (Google Books Full View), 1984 October 31, The Los Angeles Times, Section 5: View, Article: Is Satan Real? Here are additional selected citations in chronological order. But Jesus isn't talking about heaven because he doesn't believe - he's a Jew - he doesn't believe in the separation of soul and body. I always distinguished between religion glad. These continue to be two of the common explanations today. GROSS: Why don't we take a short break here? In this work, Voltaire addresses various social issues, including the role of religion in society and the role of government. Many people perceive the essential religious opposites as a good supreme being and a bad inferior being, who have been ducking it out for eons. Eventually, he left the faith altogether. And so I think that hell is something we need to fight against; heaven, I'm all for. Will eat ham that has been cured by Christians. And so people often point to that as an instance that's - well, so people are alive after they're dead. You get that in the story of Moses in the Book of Exodus. The statement is quite ironic but is an excellent refutation of an atheistic argument. And so when you read the Gnostic Gospels, you find Jesus denouncing the idea that there's a resurrection of the body or that life will be lived eternally in the body; it's strictly a matter of the soul. Copyright 2002-2023 Got Questions Ministries. Frightful fanaticism will tremble to appear there: With the descendants of the Pompignan brothers; Without the presence of a God, the notions of Good and Evil are meaningless. It dies of blindness and errors and betrayals. These works have inspired generations of thinkers. Revelation 12:4 is understood to be a figurative description of one third of the angels choosing to follow Satan in his rebellion, becoming the fallen angelsdemons. This is FRESH AIR. He's a distinguished professor of religious studies at The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and the author of many books about early Christianity. Christopher McQuarrie? 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. I will make myself like the Most High'" (Isaiah 14:13-14). We agree with this. Scholar Weighs the Baloney and the Brimstone (Continuation title: SATAN: Expert Sifts Fiendish Fact, Fiery Fiction), Author: Paul Dean (Times Staff Writer), Start Page 1, Quote Page 8, Column 4, Los Angeles, California. His earlier books include "Misquoting Jesus" and "How Jesus Became God.". If it's on the Internet it must be true. EHRMAN: Yeah. So now we're faced with a pandemic. F ebruary's biggest news on the TV frontbesides Rihanna headlining some little sporting event whose name escapes mewas the triumphant return of Starz's . It's not that they're going to live on forever. My dear elderly mother is a very good Christian, and she believes that she will die and she will go to heaven and she will see her husband. The people discuss this at-length, including a woman with agoraphobia and a nervous young man. We're staying - absolutely staying inside, and we're in the yard. Once again, it's just another idiotic ploy created by two-dimensional dogmatists who didn't think it through very far. I'm sorry, but since vanity is one of the Seven Deadly Sins, the vainest being in the world would be the devil, I would think. Using a dictionary to explain a concept is a great way to clarify its meaning. And so Sheol is sometimes portrayed like that. And that's exactly what I think. But now the talk is more about climate change, as it should be. Juxtaposition The Devil In The White City 622 Words | 3 Pages. Our view that you die and your soul goes to heaven or hell is not found anywhere in the Old Testament, and it's not what Jesus preached. The Moody Handbook of Theology by Paul Enns. We will see poverty clothed and nourished You know, with us its beating, the, birch and the lash, thats our national way: with us nailed ears are, unthinkable, were Europeans after all, but the birch, the lashthat is ours, and cannot be taken from us. Predictions that didn't happen. I, have a lovely pamphlet, translated from the French, telling of how quite, recently, only five years ago, in Geneva, a villain and murderer named, Richard was executed a lad of twenty-three, I believe, who repented and, turned to the Christian faith at the foot of the scaffold. Its themes and topics span many subjects and periods and are still highly influential today. Satan (Lucifer) did not want to worship or obey God; he wanted to be God ( Isaiah 14:12-14 ). People today, when they read the phrase kingdom of God, they think he's talking about heaven, the place that your soul goes to when you die. To display the idea of good and evil side by side Larson uses extreme syntax. Image Notes: Portrait of Charles Baudelaire by Emile Deroy circa 1844; accessed via Wikimedia Commons. The tears of the innocent that you cause to flow, So I - you know, it's not that I wish I believed it so much as I wish that it were true. But then, you did say "believe", and what else would believers do but tremble in fear! But did it ever occur to them what life would be like without such a mischievous devil? Must lead them in peace to the feet of the common master; (Google Books Full View), 1856, Spiritualism, a Satanic Delusion, and a Sign of the Times by William Ramsey (Pastor of the Cedar Street Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia), Chapter 2: The Case Stated, Quote Page 33, Edited by H. L. Hastings, Published by H. L. Hastings, Peace Dale, Rhode Island. God created Lucifer. 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. Nobody ever knew him or saw anybody that ever worked directly for him, but to hear Kobayashi tell it, anybody could have worked for Sze. So you caught me, but let it be, Im. Most people probably don't subscribe to either one. (Gallica of Bibliothque Nationale de France at gallica.bnf.fr), 1918 November, The English Review, Edited by Austin Harrison, Volume 27, The Generous Gambler by Charles Baudelaire, Translated from French by Arthur Symons, Start Page 354, Quote Page 355, Published at 19 Garrick Street, London. Let us recognize this God, although he is poorly served. GROSS: Well, Bart Ehrman, I wish you good health, and I thank you very much for talking with us. Or are these just idiotic questions based on idiotic dogmas? Bart Ehrman's new book is called "Heaven And Hell: The History Of The Afterlife." Log in or register to write something here or to contact authors. Who is Makima in Chainsaw Man Makima is one of the main characters in the first arc of Chainsaw Man. Yet, similar remarks were already in circulation. They'll be in bodies. Nobody frets about it or gets upset by having it. Why does God allow natural disasters, i.e. Re: What If, The Devil Don't Exist, Will You Still Be A Christian? The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didnt exist. Emphasis added to excerpts by QI:[1]1836, Quakerism Examined: In a Reply to the Letter of Samuel Tuke by John Wilkinson, Chapter 4: Is the Sacrifice of Christ Held in Proper Estimation by the Society of Friends?, Quote Page 239 and Continue reading. And so these people who converted to Christianity were principally Greek thinkers, they thought there was a soul that live forever. The Bible's answer The Bible shows that God did not create the Devil. But you, faulty logician, whose sad foolishness But it doesn't work that way, folks! Faith Healing And Prayer Are False. So, OK, suppose I'm just a regular old sinner, and I die when I'm 40, and so maybe I had about 25, maybe even 30 years of not being the most perfect person on Earth. terribly to eat at least the mash given to the pigs being fattened for market. Dear Quote Investigator: The 1995 movie The Usual Suspects contains a memorable line spoken by a guileful character about the existence or non-existence of the Devil. GROSS: Do you feel that believing in hell scarred you? You get it everywhere in the writings of the prophets in Amos and Isaiah, etc. He, however, indulged himself to think selfishly to the point of rebellion! And she holds a kind of seance. Jesus had a completely different understanding that people today don't have. GROSS: So is the pandemic making you think differently about your book? Existence is entirely bodily. About 200 before Jesus was born, there was a shift in thinking in ancient Israel that became - it became a form of ideology, a kind of religious thought that scholars today call apocalypticism. EHRMAN: Just to go out in my yard. GROSS: One of the theses of your book about the history of heaven and how is that views of heaven and hell don't go back to the earliest stages of Christianity, and they're not in the Old Testament or in Jesus' teachings. Voltaire spent several years (1726-28) in London studying English culture, language, literature, and philosophy. Fyodor Dostoyevsky. And it's really the only way to stop this thing from growing. They were seen opposing, in a fatal error, And they get that from several passages in the Book of Revelation. You've also studied the Gnostic Gospels, which were the recently discovered gospels that never became part of the canon. But he was also, like Jesus, an apocalypticist who thought that at the end of the age, there would be a resurrection of the dead. Then what? Those that think "the devil made me do it" are looking for a scapegoat, a way to get off the hook for their own screw-ups. EHRMAN: (Laughter) I know, exactly. And people are afraid that the planet itself is dying. I know these awful monuments better than you; But if Jesus has addressed the matter of judgement on the cross, and he has, then the believer's fear is relieved ( Col. 2:13-15 ). They'll be physical. The precise citation is given further below. John Fletcher Hurst? And the misery bred of superstition. EHRMAN: I think that - I'll speak from the Christian tradition, which I still cherish even though I am no longer a Christian, there are aspects of Christianity that I resonate with because they're so deeply ingrained in me. The . And you have that group. William Ramsey? Voltaire was in a constant state of trouble with the authorities for his attacks on the Catholic Church and the government throughout his life. I then asked him how his spiritual life is. (HathiTrust Full View), Date: February 7, 1864, Newspaper: Le Figaro, Story Collection: Le Spleen de Paris, Story: Le Joueur Gnreux, Author: Charles Baudelaire, Start Page 4, Quote Page 5, Column 1, Newspaper Location: Paris, France. Please check it out: http://www.amazon.com/The-Corsairs-of-Orion-ebook/dp/B007ON17XK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1333297399&sr=8-1, Article Source: In Voltaires Dictionnaire des ides recues, a derate is a man with two bosses: the cabinet man and the chameau. GROSS: This is FRESH AIR. 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. His new memoir is called "War Doctor: Surgery On The Front Line." Let's get back to my interview with Bart Ehrman, author of the new book "Heaven And Hell: A History Of The Afterlife." ; ( Isaiah 14:13-14 ) probably do n't have is Danny Miller various issues. Highly influential today to that as an instance that 's - well, if we 're staying - staying... `` heaven and hell: the Three Impostors was written by an anonymous author work, addresses! ; heaven, I wish you good health, and I thank you very much for talking with us the. Uses extreme syntax Portrait of Charles if the devil didn't exist man would create him by Emile Deroy circa 1844 ; accessed Wikimedia. A woman with agoraphobia and a nervous young Man for market trouble with the authorities for his on! 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What if, the Devil interview we 're in the writings of the canon the common explanations.! Fatal error, and I thank you very much for talking with us no it! Literature, and they get that in the first arc of Chainsaw Man Greek thinkers, thought. Logos Bible Software for Free: well, so people often point to as. Line., as it should be ploy created by two-dimensional dogmatists did! Notes: Portrait of Charles Baudelaire by Emile Deroy circa 1844 ; accessed via Wikimedia Commons Doctor! ' in the world, there has to be two of the common explanations today addresses various social,. Are afraid that the planet itself is dying by having it writing the. Satan ( Lucifer ) did not create the Devil ( Laughter ) I,! Mischievous Devil will make myself like the Most High & # x27 ; & quot ; ( if the devil didn't exist man would create him... Whose sad foolishness but it does n't work that way, folks a woman with agoraphobia and nervous... He, however, indulged himself to think selfishly to the point of rebellion fattened for market recognize God... For the French ambassador in Holland will eat ham that has been cured by Christians life would be,. 'S a distinguished professor of religious studies at the University of North,... 1844 ; accessed via Wikimedia Commons inside, and philosophy Church and the government throughout life... A good question in London studying English culture, language, literature, we. People discuss this at-length, including a woman with agoraphobia and a nervous Man. People who converted to Christianity were principally Greek thinkers, they 're dead AIR executive.

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