One of the most critical things which encourages the popularity of a religion is signs.
Moses shows signs to the Pharaoh, personally, and brought the ten plagues. Jesus healed the sick, walked on water, turned water into wine, and ultimately resurrected himself from the dead. Muhammad split the moon in two, brought water forth from his fingers, and put forth many prophecies. Among other religions, Hindu Swamis, Gotama Buddha, and all kinds of mystics have been said to have performed miracles. Their acts, if true, are largely contributing factors to the popularity of thei religions.
One of the reasons I believe in science is because I can see it and touch it. Right now, I'm using a computer. It was developed by scientists and mathematicians, and it's ingenious. The world is dominated and run by science, not God. When men are sick, they turn to doctors and hospitals, not priests or churches. When one's car break down, all the prayer in the world amounts to nothing until you go to a mechanic.
I challenge religions because of their lack of hard evidence. If, in fact, Moses, Jesus, or Muhammad were alive today to perform their miracles, I would trust them, but as it stands, their supposed miracles are nothing but legends of dubious authenticity.
Being how clearly influential signs are -- the Jews demanded that Jesus provide signs before he was crucified -- why doesn't Satan provide signs?
It seems that Satan is as dead as God. There are no witches, magic probably doesn't work, and there are no mystical beasts -- no goblins or ogres -- running about, doing the devil's work.
Now, obviously, it wouldn't make much sense for Satan to come out, committing black magick and doing particularly evil things, because people would disregard him, immediately.
But imagine if Satan formed a religion of his own, claimed it supported peace, goodwill, and righteousness. This religion committed many noble acts, but its followers were bound by some code which would cost them their salvation, either the rejection of monotheism or the rejection of Jesus. If Satan is truly so powerful, he would simply have to fly around, healing millions of people the way Jesus did, and the whole world would worship him.
And yet he doesn't. Instead, he hides in the shadows, working "through" people, ha! Working through non-believers to harm believers' faith.
Isn't that sort of a silly plan? Satan doesn't seem too clever or powerful to me.
2007-09-05
14:22:59
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26 answers
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PRGfUSMC
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Religion & Spirituality