Because of your answers, I’m going to follow Satan
Question:
I'd like you to stay with me to the end, please.
I'd like to thank you for helping me make up my mind about something. After seeing how a man of faith such as yourself can be so unfeeling toward the plight of others, I have decided to follow Samael aka Lucifer or Satan. It was he who gave us our free will, who led us on the path to knowledge.
In the Bible, it says only God shall judge, and those without sin shall cast the first stone; yet, you continuously do both of these things. You cast stones and you judge by calling people out on their sins. A weak argument, I admit, but it still stands. You are not God. A pastor or preacher maybe, but not God.
Here is a stronger, more unavoidable point: Samael, as the serpent, told Eve the truth right from the beginning. The fruit opened them to knowledge. He claimed nothing more or less. Why would God wish to keep us from knowing right and wrong...? My last point, if you can call it that, stands like this. You say that those in power must be respected, their laws respected, and their laws followed. Yet you still condemn homosexuality when it has already been passed that gay marriage is legalized. All of these hypocritical and contradictory statements have caused me to see a broader picture. Jesus was a good man, I respect him and most of his teachings and parables. But the religion overall has been...what is the word? I think it would be called "pointless stress". Samael is not the monster people portray him as. The actual religion of Satanism has many good merits, one of the actual laws is "Harm not the children". Look it up if you don't believe me. It even follows the Golden Rule. In summary, I thank you and wish you a long prosperous life, and that the path of your position in your faith continues to serve you as you have served it, loyally no doubt.
All the best.
Answer:
So in your judgment, I'm wrong.
The argument that judgment is wrong doesn't hold water because you are giving yourself leave to make a judgment while condemning others for similar actions. "Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me remove the speck from your eye'; and look, a plank is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye" (Matthew 7:1-5).
Your claim that only God judges is false. Only God decides who goes to heaven or hell, but God commands his followers to make good or righteous judgments. "Don't judge according to appearance, but judge righteous judgment" (John 7:24). If the claim that only God can make judgments were true, then you could not decide (judge) that you would rather follow Satan than God.
Even disagreeing with my conclusions, which I only give to people who ask me to help them with their problems, it does not follow that what one Christian does would drive you to follow Satan. I agree with you, it is a poor line of argument. I doubt you want to give such an image of yourself.
The answer regarding Adam and Eve is that God desired that they remain innocent in regards to sin, just as we desire to keep children innocent for as long as possible. Yet, God also desired people that chose to follow Him of their own free will. Satan did not give mankind free will, he enslaved them to sin. "Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness? But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness" (Romans 6:16-18).
Government derives its authority from God (Romans 13:1-2); therefore, it is not supposed to make laws contradictory to God's laws. If a government does so, Christians continue to follow the higher authority. It doesn't matter how many laws men may pass, homosexuality remains a sin because God told us it is harmful.
"Samael" is a Jewish myth. If you want to make points about the Bible and Christianity, it would be better to stick to what the Bible actually says. Why you have more faith in a fable than in the evidence supported by the Bible is something I can't grasp. Faith is not about believing what you prefer, but trusting in what you are certain is true.
I'm sorry, but Satan did lie: "The serpent said to the woman, "You surely will not die! for God knows that in the day you eat it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil" " (Genesis 3:4-5). The most effective lie is to mix some truth in, so the lie is harder to see. Because of their disobedience, Adam and Eve both spiritually died and eventually physically died.
As I mentioned, the claim that Satan gave mankind free will is false. Prior to Eve's deception by Satan, God gave mankind several laws:
- Populate the earth (Genesis 1:28)
- Don't eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:16-17)
- The law of marriage (Genesis 2:24)
The existence of laws means mankind had the choice to obey or reject those laws. If people could not reject those laws, then there would be no reason to state them. Therefore, free will already exists. It is the result of men being made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27).
I suspect that want this note is really about is homosexuality. You have no argument to support it, but you decided to remain in it, so it is easier to blame someone else for your choice than to admit that you are making this choice of your own free will. It isn't what God desires for you. I don't wish it on you either, but it is your choice and not mine.
