Jesus and evil

Its another night at home on the computer...after work..and as I check the EvC forum and come across this thread, I realize that I feel more inclined to read my Bible and to understand. I have no quick post just yet. Maybe in a day or two. I thought that I knew. I will have to get back to you on this. I agree with Mike.So we get into the discussion on spiritual reality.

I would tend to speculate that Hitlers passionate hatred of the Jewish people would point to a satanic influence. I am not dismissing the very real psychological problems that he had, but the Nazi brass dabbled in the occult, thought themselves to be gods, and showed no lack of a proof that the devil was in the details. That is, if such activity can be proven. No argument, here. If Satan and evil exist, what better place to set up shop than in church folk with high positions of influence. To participate in the human condition, thus negating any potential accusations that God "did not understand" us. Also, its akin to why a person can't just take a test to get a college degree. You have to do the work. God did the work.

Yes, sidelined. There is a whole other topic, but as much of a case can be made that God was Christ and Christ is alive as can be made otherwise. We have already discussed that in other threads, but my position is that Jesus is God incarnate.
What does it mean to give up your son? What does a son mean to you? A future? How would God give up a future? This is a mystery....John 3:16 is deeper than it appears.This message has been edited by Phatboy, 09-06-2004 01:39 PM

Jesus was modeling the behavior that He expects us to exhibit. If, today, a man ran into a church and said "Brother Benny Hinn, heal me!"
Benny should as a teacher show this man that it is not Benny who can help him. It is God and it is Gods Spirit. Jesus did not want the man to deify the human character. Today, many people deify human ministers and you can almost see the deception. Hinn is claimed to be a fraud by many, but we can discuss that later. The point is Jesus and His role. By being subordinate to His own Father, Jesus did for us what we as humans were unable to do. Again, this is a whole other topic, but let me ask you why it is a problem to equate Jesus with God?
1)Polytheism? Nope. One Spirit, One God.
2)Is it Christian? Most Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Protestant teaching ascribes to it.
So....do you have a problem with it? Or do you want to go through the scrips one at a time? There is a case on either side, sidelined. I believe in One God manifested in three ways. I know that this was for Mike, but I want to add 2 cents....The awareness of personal responsibility is different for a believer and a non believer, for a believer has allowed the Spirit of Truth into their consciousness and are thus responsible for obedience. Satan as a spirit cannot make you do anything, but he can entice you into deciding to follow your senses. I know it sounds ridiculous in some ways! People down South will eat a piece of pie and exclaim how that devil made them do it! Sadly, some murder defenses say the same thing. There is a fine line between spiritual oppression, mental health, and common sense. Psychologists and Psychiatrists do not understand the spiritual dynamics, nor do theologians understand the mental health issues...So I would say that to understand the difference is done on a case by case basis and is at best an educated guess on both sides.This message has been edited by Phatboy, 09-06-2004 05:55 PM

Jesus pointed out that He was only a man and that the source of goodness was God. Jesus is equal to the Father in terms of His divine nature, yet subordinate in His role in redemption. An early heresy that the church rejected was the monophysite heresy. This heresy argued that Jesus did not have two natures but one. Jesus was fully human and fully divine.
Copts and Orthodoxy Today, the three main branches of Christianity reject this heresy, with only the gnostic and coptic offshoots embracing it. But it appears that the man was asking what he was doing wrong since he saw himself as good,also. The answer was that it does not matter how "good" an individual is, it matters how good God is. We must lose our life in order to find it. We must lay down our ego and allow His Spirit in to us. Jesus is not God in an idolatrous sense...we worship no man. Jesus is God in the sense that relationship with Jesus is the key to understanding God. You cannot understand God through mere philosophy. You can only understand God through acceptance of how God found a way to accept us by substituting His Son.This message has been edited by Phatboy, 09-07-2004 10:55 AM

I guess that the issue boils down to how we are to interpret Jesus Christ. I am in agreement with Trinitarian doctorine. The Westminister Confession is in line with what I believe. The Nicene Creed is also. Of course, old chap, we COULD go into a verse by verse Bible study....it may be interesting as to how each verse is interpreted by us. Will we agree?