4 ms·

Veering entirely off topic, but between the two fictional characters of god and Satan, god is far more evil: deaths attributable to god in the bible - 2,000,000

by Fezzik 4y ago

Veering entirely off topic, but between the two fictional characters of god and Satan, god is far more evil: deaths attributable to god in the bible - 2,000,000+; deaths attributable to Satan in the bible - 10. And don’t forget all the women and children god sanctioned in to bondage. Satan was also apparently the talking snake that encouraged Eve to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, freeing humanity from the mental stupor god had endowed us with. Satan seems a rather decent fellow compared to god, and Elon seems much more like the petty, vindictive, thin-skinned god than the calculating Satan. But I digress. Edit: spelling

zpeti 4y ago
Old or New Testament?
mensetmanusman 4y ago
This take is a relatively new and common one that arises from internalizing theology from ‘The Simpsons’, God is actually not considered a being in Christianity: https://thecatholicspirit.com/featured/father-barron-with-false-conception-of-god-atheists-attacking-straw-man/ https://thecatholicspirit.com/featured/father-barron-with-fa... The root word for devil is ~~ the spirit of division. Ie human tendency to divide, form tribes, and kill each other.
- rsynnott 4y ago
  It’s not all _that_ new; in particular the idea that Old Testament God is evil has been a recurrent form of Christian heresy basically since Christianity was invented (arguably _before_ it was invented; Marcionism was _really_ early). Often these heresies have the God who sent Jesus as a separate entity. The idea that Satan is the good God is probably more recent, granted.
yakubin 4y ago
Yeah, the serpent always seemed to me reminiscent of Prometheus.
krapp 4y ago
Except Satan tempting Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden was the catalyst to introduce original sin and death into the world to begin with, so technically Satan's body count is the sum of all humanity. Except Enoch and Elijah and maybe Moses, for some reason.
- Fezzik 4y ago
  I mean, the whole fable is a logical disaster. If you really believe the story then death is a great thing because you get eternal life in heaven; under the biblical schematic death is effectively irrelevant because you persist forever regardless. So eating of the tree was a good thing, really, because heaven is the best place ever and if you could not die you could not get to heaven. Therefore, Satan is really the first savior.
  - krapp 4y ago
    Well yes, the whole thing is ridiculous. I'm just saying that if your metric for good and evil is body count, the entity who basically tricked humans into dying to begin with still comes off worse. Also (according to Christian doctrine,) the default destination for human souls is Hell, not Heaven, because original sin is immutable. The vast, vast majority of humanity will wind up burning in Hell for eternity, including many Christians. Again, except for a few people God just decided to let in because he liked them.
  - locustous 4y ago
    [flagged]
- Drakim 4y ago
  But who created Satan, and the forbidden fruit? If Satan is responsible for the later consequences of his earlier actions, then surely we should apply the standard equally?
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
woodruffw 4y ago
My understanding is that the Christian god is also omnifacient, meaning that he's also to blame for any deaths attributable to the devil (being the creator of the devil and all). Edit: Except, of course, in the sense that the Christian god is also said to be omnibenevolent. It's left to the reader to determine how these qualities consistently combine.

by Fezzik 4y ago

zpeti 4y ago

Old or New Testament?

mensetmanusman 4y ago

This take is a relatively new and common one that arises from internalizing theology from ‘The Simpsons’, God is actually not considered a being in Christianity: https://thecatholicspirit.com/featured/father-barron-with-false-conception-of-god-atheists-attacking-straw-man/ https://thecatholicspirit.com/featured/father-barron-with-fa... The root word for devil is ~~ the spirit of division. Ie human tendency to divide, form tribes, and kill each other.

rsynnott 4y ago
It’s not all _that_ new; in particular the idea that Old Testament God is evil has been a recurrent form of Christian heresy basically since Christianity was invented (arguably _before_ it was invented; Marcionism was _really_ early). Often these heresies have the God who sent Jesus as a separate entity. The idea that Satan is the good God is probably more recent, granted.

yakubin 4y ago

Yeah, the serpent always seemed to me reminiscent of Prometheus.

krapp 4y ago

Except Satan tempting Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden was the catalyst to introduce original sin and death into the world to begin with, so technically Satan's body count is the sum of all humanity. Except Enoch and Elijah and maybe Moses, for some reason.

Fezzik 4y ago
I mean, the whole fable is a logical disaster. If you really believe the story then death is a great thing because you get eternal life in heaven; under the biblical schematic death is effectively irrelevant because you persist forever regardless. So eating of the tree was a good thing, really, because heaven is the best place ever and if you could not die you could not get to heaven. Therefore, Satan is really the first savior.
- krapp 4y ago
  Well yes, the whole thing is ridiculous. I'm just saying that if your metric for good and evil is body count, the entity who basically tricked humans into dying to begin with still comes off worse. Also (according to Christian doctrine,) the default destination for human souls is Hell, not Heaven, because original sin is immutable. The vast, vast majority of humanity will wind up burning in Hell for eternity, including many Christians. Again, except for a few people God just decided to let in because he liked them.
- locustous 4y ago
  [flagged]
Drakim 4y ago
But who created Satan, and the forbidden fruit? If Satan is responsible for the later consequences of his earlier actions, then surely we should apply the standard equally?

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

woodruffw 4y ago

My understanding is that the Christian god is also omnifacient, meaning that he's also to blame for any deaths attributable to the devil (being the creator of the devil and all). Edit: Except, of course, in the sense that the Christian god is also said to be omnibenevolent. It's left to the reader to determine how these qualities consistently combine.