BAPTISM IN GOD'S PLAN FOR THE BELIEVER
          God's plan for the believer is to join a local assembly of believers and there fellowship, worship, show his thankfulness to the Lord in giving tithes and offering, and work with other believers in carrying on the Lord's work in that area. Baptism is the symbol of our common bond and shows our commitment to the Lord first and to each other.



SHOULD A TRUE BIBLE BELIEVING BAPTIST CHURCH
ACCEPT THE BAPTISM OF A CHURCH IN DOCTRINAL ERROR?
          Through baptism a new convert joins and become a member of a church. By baptism the he further identifies himself with the beliefs of the assembly he is joins. If the beliefs of the assembly that baptizes the new convert are in error, then the person being baptized is identified with that error and his baptism does not picture biblical truth. The baptism of a false or doctrinally unsound church is improper and not biblical believer's baptism.

          Ephesians 4:5 says there is "One Lord, one faith, one baptism." Through Paul God commanded the Corinthian church saying, "Now I praise you, brethren, that ye remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances, as I delivered them to you." (1 Corinthians 11:2) An assembly (church) of believers is not at liberty to change or alter the clear commands of God's word. Jesus Christ is the head of the believer and the local assembly. (Eph. 5:23) Pastors and churches are to be stewards of the Lord teaching and practices without compromise or error His inerrant word. All the true assembly of Jesus Christ does it to be as He has left it to us.

          Often Christians coming from other assemblies present themselves for membership in a Bible believing Baptist church. The question first must be answered is are they truly saved and have biblically believed and received Jesus Christ as their Savior? If the person presenting themselves for membership has as clear testimony that they have believed and are trusting in Jesus Christ and His shed blood alone for their salvation, then the next question is to determine if they received a true scriptural baptism.

           The validity of their baptism rests on the validity of the assembly that baptized them. If the church that baptized them is in doctrine error in teaching or practice then their baptism was not scriptural. Some people are saved when they hear the Gospel and join church that are in error in their teaching and practice. Their baptism then identified them with the teaching of that assembly. They then should submit to baptism in the Bible believing New Testament church to identify themselves with God's truth this new church is upholding.

          For something this presents a problem because they do not understand the importance of baptism nor in the need to identify with God's uncompromised truth. Being baptized in the new church is a testimony of their agreement with the teachings of that church. It furthers shows one's desire to always stand for truth. Paul said "And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him." (Colossians 3:17)

          In Jude the Lord instructs the child of God stating, "Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints." (Jude 3)

           No true child of God should be offended at an assembly who wishes to uphold God's truth to the lost and dying world. This is the kind of church a Christian should want to be a part of and should willing honor the Lord in submitting to being baptized into the membership and fellowship with these fellow believers.(For an article on Alien Baptist go tohttp://bible-truth.org/AlienBaptism.html )

HOW DOES A PERSON RECEIVE SALVATION?
1. First recognize ourselves as the sinners we are. Rom. 3:10, 23; Isa. 64:6
2. The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life. Rom. 6:23.
3. Ephesians 2:8-9, tell us that the grace of God that saves, because we believe.
4. Romans 10:9-10, Tell us confession of your faith is made with our mouths that we believe Christ's death burial and resurrection. It is with the heart that we believe. If we are ashamed of the Lord He will be ashamed of us.
5. John 3:16. "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life".
6. Romans 5:8, "For God commenth His love towards us, in that, while we were yet sinners Christ died for us."
7. 2 Peter 3:9 "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance."
8. Revelation 22:17 "And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.

Steal Kill And Destroy

Jesus warns us about Satan.... "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep." (John 10:10-11)

Satan (the thief) works in a very specific way. He has a set plan--and he works it very effectively. If we look thoughtfully, I believe we will see his wicked plans at work all around us.

His first tactic is to steal. What would he like to steal? Anything and everything that will lead you to Jesus--to Gods love. Satan steals love from people. If we will open our eyes we will see it everywhere around us. Broken families, abuse, hatred, cruelty, murder. The Enemy would like us to think that there is no love in the world. He would like to steal from us even the ability to love and be loved. There are so many hurting people in the world. So many who don't understand how to give or receive love. The devil will make you feel worthless as a human being--undeserving of love--incapable of receiving love. Why? For one reason--to separate us from God--after all, "God is love..."

"He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love." (1John 4:8) "And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him."(1John 4:16)

If the devil can incapacitate someone's love--they won't be able to know God...."He that loveth not knoweth not God;"

We can't know God unless we know and believe love--so if Satan can steal our love--or our ability to feel love, we won't be able to receive God, since God is love. The devil sets up abuse in our lives--he sets up pain, loneliness, rejection, abandonment. He has a multitude of ways that he will abuse us--but all with one goal in mind--to separate us from our ability to love and receive love--and therefore receive God. Every one of us has a broken heart. But there is someone who came to heal the broken hearted! To show us a greater love.....

"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:13)

"In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." (1John 4:9-10)

Jesus is the manifestation of God's love. He is the way to be healed. Jesus can heal our heart--restore our love. Jesus can give us back everything the devil has stolen. Listen. The biggest lie that the devil will tell you is that you suffered alone. This is not true! No matter where you were, no matter what happened to you. No matter how difficult things were. No matter how painful or lonely it was. No matter how great the abuse, the abandonment, the fear, or the violence was. No matter...... YOU WERE NOT ALONE! Jesus was with you! He stood with you, He suffered with you! He was touched with the feeling of your difficulties..the feeling--He knows what you went through because He felt it Himself--for you and with you....

"For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin." (Hebrews 4:15)

He was in all points tempted like as we are...The Greek word in this instance is one of the few times in scripture where the word all literally means to all people individually--that means everyone! Jesus is touched with the feelings of all the difficulties of all people--individually!! This means you! He was there specifically for you and with you at every place where you were hurt. He saw it--He felt it--He cried for His creation--But He took it to the cross for one reason--to heal it! Allow Jesus to restore your love--to restore your joy--to restore to you everything that the thief has stolen from you.

Jesus loves you.

Your First Name of: Deborah
Why Names Matter. Watch:




Below is a brief analysis of the first name only. For an analysis of your full name and destiny, see our full free Name and Birth Date Report service for further details.

Your first name of Deborah has given you the vision and foresight to be able to organize others and to hold positions of responsibility with poise and self-confidence.

This name creates an optimistic outlook on life and favourable conditions in your personal affairs.

You have the ability to express your thoughts and ideas, and you are friendly, likeable, and generous.
The name Deborah creates the urge to be self-expressive and responsible, but it can cause an argumentative, impulsive, and extravagant nature if it is not combined with a balanced last name.

This name, when combined with the last name, can frustrate happiness, contentment, and success, as well as cause health weaknesses in the liver, bloodstream, and reproductive organs.

Seven deadly sins
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other uses, see Seven Deadly Sins (disambiguation).


Hieronymus Bosch's The Seven Deadly Sins and the Four Last Things


"Avarice" (2012), by Jesus Solana
The Seven Deadly Sins, also known as the Capital Vices or Cardinal Sins, is a classification of objectionable vices (part of Christian ethics) that have been used since early Christian times to educate and instruct Christians concerning fallen humanity's tendency to sin. The currently recognized version of the sins are usually given as wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy, and gluttony.
The Catholic Church divides sin into two categories: venial sins, in which guilt is relatively minor, and the more severe mortal sins. Theologically, a mortal or deadly sin is believed to destroy the life of grace and charity within a person and thus creates the threat of eternal damnation. "Mortal sin, by attacking the vital principle within us - that is, charity - necessitates a new initiative of God's mercy and a conversion of heart which is normally accomplished [for Catholics] within the setting of the sacrament of reconciliation."[1]
To Catholics the seven deadly sins do not belong to an additional category of sin. Rather, they are the sins that are seen as the origin ("capital" comes from the Latin caput, head) of the other sins. A "deadly sin" can be either venial or mortal, depending on the situation; but "they are called 'capital' because they engender other sins, other vices."[2]
Beginning in the early 14th century, the popularity of the seven deadly sins as a theme among European artists of the time eventually helped to ingrain them in many areas of Catholic culture and Catholic consciousness in general throughout the world. One means of such ingraining was the creation of the mnemonic "SALIGIA" based on the first letters in Latin of the seven deadly sins: superbia, avaritia, luxuria, invidia, gula, ira, acedia.[3]
Contents  [hide]
1 Biblical lists
2 Development of the traditional Seven Sins
3 Historical and modern definitions of the seven deadly sins
3.1 Lust
3.2 Gluttony
3.3 Greed
3.4 Sloth
3.5 Wrath
3.6 Envy
3.7 Pride
4 Historical sins
4.1 Acedia
4.2 Vainglory
5 Catholic Seven Virtues
6 Associations with demons
7 Patterns
8 Cultural references
8.1 Menninger on the Deadly Sins
8.2 Culbertson on the Deadly Sins
9 See also
10 References
11 Further reading
12 External links
[edit]Biblical lists

In the Book of Proverbs (Mishlai), King Solomon stated that the Lord specifically regards "six things the Lord hateth, and the seventh His soul detesteth." namely:[4]
A proud look.
A lying tongue.
Hands that shed innocent blood.
A heart that devises wicked plots.
Feet that are swift to run into mischief.
A deceitful witness that uttereth lies.
Him that soweth discord among brethren.
While there are seven of them, this list is considerably different from the traditional one, with only pride clearly being in both lists.
Another list, given this time by the Epistle to the Galatians (Galatians 5:19-21), includes more of the traditional seven sins, although the list is substantially longer: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, "and such like".[5] Since Saint Paul goes on to say that the persons who commit these sins "shall not inherit the Kingdom of God", they are usually listed as (possible) mortal sins rather than Capital Vices.
[edit]Development of the traditional Seven Sins



An allegorical image depicting the human heart subject to the seven deadly sins, each represented by an animal (clockwise: toad = avarice; snake = envy; lion = wrath; snail = sloth; pig = gluttony; goat = lust; peacock = pride).
The modern concept of the Seven Deadly Sins is linked to the works of the 4th century monk Evagrius Ponticus, who listed eight evil thoughts in Greek as follows:[6]
Gast??µa???a (gastrimargia) gluttony.
????e?a (porneia) prostitution, fornication.
F??a?????a (philargyria) avarice.
?pe??fa??a (hyperephania) hubris - in the Philokalia, this term is rendered as self-esteem.
??p? (lype) sadness - in the Philokalia, this term is rendered as envy, sadness at another's good fortune.
???? (orge) wrath.
?e??d???a (kenodoxia) boasting.
???d?a (akedia) acedia - in the Philokalia, this term is rendered as dejection.
They were translated into the Latin of Western Christianity (largely due to the writings of John Cassian[7]), thus becoming part of the Western tradition's spiritual pietas (or Catholic devotions), as follows:[8]
Gula (gluttony)
Fornicatio (fornication, lust)
Avaritia (avarice/greed)
Superbia (hubris, pride)
Tristitia (sorrow/despair/despondency)
Ira (wrath)
Vanagloria (vainglory)
Acedia (acedia/shay/sloth)
These "evil thoughts" can be collected into three groups:[8]
lustful appetite (Gluttony, Fornication, and Avarice)
irascibility (Wrath)
intellect (Vainglory, sorrow, Pride, and Discouragement)
In AD 590, a little over two centuries after Evagrius wrote his list, Pope Gregory I revised this list to form the more common Seven Deadly Sins, by folding (sorrow/despair/despondency) into acedia, vainglory into pride, and adding envy.[9] In the order used by both Pope Gregory and by Dante Alighieri in his epic poem The Divine Comedy, the seven deadly sins are as follows:
luxuria (lechery/lust)[10][11][12]
gula (gluttony)
avaritia (avarice/greed)
acedia (acedia/discouragement/sloth)
ira (wrath)
invidia (envy)
superbia (pride)
The identification and definition of the seven deadly sins over their history has been a fluid process and the idea of what each of the seven actually encompasses has evolved over time. Additionally, as a result of semantic change:
socordia sloth was substituted for acedia
It is this revised list that Dante uses. The process of semantic change has been aided by the fact that the personality traits are not collectively referred to, in either a cohesive or codified manner, by the Bible itself; other literary and ecclesiastical works were instead consulted, as sources from which definitions might be drawn.[citation needed] Part II of Dante's Divine Comedy, Purgatorio, has almost certainly been the best known source since the Renaissance.[citation needed]
The modern Roman Catholic Catechism lists the sins in Latin as "superbia, avaritia, invidia, ira, luxuria, gula, pigritia seu acedia", with an English translation of "pride, avarice, envy, wrath, lust, gluttony, and sloth/acedia".[13] Each of the seven deadly sins now also has an opposite among corresponding seven holy virtues (sometimes also referred to as the contrary virtues). In parallel order to the sins they oppose, the seven holy virtues are humility, charity, kindness, patience, chastity, temperance, and diligence.
[edit]Historical and modern definitions of the seven deadly sins

[edit]Lust


Lust
Sankt Bartholomäus church (Reichenthal), pulpit (1894)
Main article: Lust
Lust or lechery (carnal "luxuria") is an intense desire. It is usually thought of as excessive sexual wants, however the word was originally a general term for desire. Therefore lust could involve the intense desire of money, fame, or power as well.
In Dante's Purgatorio, the penitent walks within flames to purge himself of lustful/sexual thoughts and feelings. In Dante's Inferno, unforgiven souls of the sin of lust are blown about in restless hurricane-like winds symbolic of their own lack of self control to their lustful passions in earthly life.
[edit]Gluttony
Main article: Gluttony


Excess
(Albert Anker, 1896)
Derived from the Latin gluttire, meaning to gulp down or swallow, gluttony (Latin, gula) is the over-indulgence and over-consumption of anything to the point of waste.
In Christian religions, it is considered a sin because of the excessive desire for food, and its withholding from the needy.[14]
Because of these scripts, gluttony can be interpreted as selfishness; essentially placing concern with one's own interests above the well-being or interests of others.
Medieval church leaders (e.g., Thomas Aquinas) took a more expansive view of gluttony,[14] arguing that it could also include an obsessive anticipation of meals, and the constant eating of delicacies and excessively costly foods.[15] Aquinas went so far as to prepare a list of six ways to commit gluttony, including:
Praepropere - eating too soon.
Laute - eating too expensively.
Nimis - eating too much.
Ardenter - eating too eagerly (burningly).
Studiose - eating too daintily (keenly).
Forente - eating wildly (boringly).

[edit]Greed
Main article: Greed


1909 painting The Worship of Mammon by Evelyn De Morgan.
Greed (Latin, avaritia), also known as avarice or covetousness, is, like lust and gluttony, a sin of excess. However, greed (as seen by the church) is applied to a very excessive or rapacious desire and pursuit of material possessions. St. Thomas Aquinas wrote that greed was "a sin against God, just as all mortal sins." In Dante's Purgatory, the penitents were bound and laid face down on the ground for having concentrated too much on earthly thoughts. "Avarice" is more of a blanket term that can describe many other examples of greedy behavior. These include disloyalty, deliberate betrayal, or treason,[citation needed] especially for personal gain, for example through bribery. Scavenging[citation needed] and hoarding of materials or objects, theft and robbery, especially by means of violence, trickery, or manipulation of authority are all actions that may be inspired by greed. Such misdeeds can include simony, where one attempts to purchase or sell sacraments, including Holy Orders and, therefore, positions of authority in the Church hierarchy.
As defined outside of Christian writings, greed is an inordinate desire to acquire or possess more than one needs, especially with respect to material wealth.[16]
[edit]Sloth
Main article: Sloth (deadly sin)


Sloth
Parable of the Wheat and the Tares by Abraham Bloemaert, Walters Art Museum
Sloth (Latin, Socordia) can entail different vices. While sloth is sometimes defined as physical laziness, spiritual laziness is emphasized. Failing to develop spiritually is key to becoming guilty of sloth. In Christian faith, sloth rejects grace and God.
Sloth has also been defined as a failure to do things that one should do. By this definition, evil exists when good men fail to act.
Over time, the "acedia" in Pope Gregory's order has come to be closer in meaning to sloth. The focus came to be on the consequences of acedia rather than the cause, and so, by the 17th century, the exact deadly sin referred to was believed to be the failure to utilize one's talents and gifts.[citation needed] Even in Dante's time there were signs of this change; in his Purgatorio he had portrayed the penance for acedia as running continuously at top speed.

[edit]Wrath
Main article: Wrath


Wrath,
by Jacob Matham
Wrath (Latin, ira), also known as "rage", may be described as inordinate and uncontrolled feelings of hatred and anger. Wrath, in its purest form, presents with self-destructiveness, violence, and hate that may provoke feuds that can go on for centuries. Wrath may persist long after the person who did another a grievous wrong is dead. Feelings of anger can manifest in different ways, including impatience, revenge, and vigilantism.
Wrath is the only sin not necessarily associated with selfishness or self-interest, although one can of course be wrathful for selfish reasons, such as jealousy, (closely related to the sin of envy). Dante described vengeance as "love of justice perverted to revenge and spite". In its original form, the sin of anger also encompassed anger pointed internally rather than externally. Thus suicide was deemed as the ultimate, albeit tragic, expression of hatred directed inwardly, a final rejection of God's gifts.[citation needed]
[edit]Envy
Main article: Envy


Envy
Arch in the naive with a gothic fresco from 1511 of a man with a dog-head, which symbolizes envy (Dalbyneder Church, Denmark)
Like greed and lust, Envy (Latin, invidia) is characterized by an insatiable desire. Envy is similar to jealousy in that they both feel discontent towards someones traits, status, abilities, or rewards. The difference is the envious also desire that entity and covet it.
Envy can be directly related to the Ten Commandments, specifically "Neither shall you desire... anything that belongs to your neighbour". Dante defined this as "a desire to deprive other men of theirs." In Dante's Purgatory, the punishment for the envious is to have their eyes sewn shut with wire because they have gained sinful pleasure from seeing others brought low. Aquinas described envy as "sorrow for another's good".[17]
[edit]Pride
Main article: Pride


Building the Tower of Babel was, for Dante, an example of pride. Painting by Pieter Brueghel the Elder
In almost every list, pride (Latin, superbia), or hubris (Greek), is considered the original and most serious of the seven deadly sins, and the source of the others. It is identified as a desire to be more important or attractive than others, failing to acknowledge the good work of others, and excessive love of self (especially holding self out of proper position toward God). Dante's definition was "love of self perverted to hatred and contempt for one's neighbour." In Jacob Bidermann's medieval miracle play, Cenodoxus, pride is the deadliest of all the sins and leads directly to the damnation of the titulary famed Parisian doctor. In perhaps the best-known example, the story of Lucifer, pride (his desire to compete with God) was what caused his fall from Heaven, and his resultant transformation into Satan. In Dante's Divine Comedy, the penitents were forced to walk with stone slabs bearing down on their backs to induce feelings of humility.
[edit]Historical sins

[edit]Acedia
Main article: Acedia


Acedia
mosaic, Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière
Acedia (Latin, acedia) (from Greek a??d?a) is the neglect to take care of something that one should do. It is translated to apathetic listlessness; depression without joy. It is related to melancholy: acedia describes the behaviour and melancholy suggests the emotion producing it. In early Christian thought, the lack of joy was regarded as a willful refusal to enjoy the goodness of God and the world God created; by contrast, apathy was considered a refusal to help others in time of need.
When Thomas Aquinas described acedia in his interpretation of the list, he described it as an uneasiness of the mind, being a progenitor for lesser sins such as restlessness and instability. Dante refined this definition further, describing acedia as the failure to love God with all one's heart, all one's mind and all one's soul; to him it was the middle sin, the only one characterised by an absence or insufficiency of love. Some scholars[who?] have said that the ultimate form of acedia was despair which leads to suicide.
[edit]Vainglory
Main article: Vanity
Vainglory (Latin, vanagloria) is unjustified boasting. Pope Gregory viewed it as a form of pride, so he folded vainglory into pride for his listing of sins.[citation needed]
The Latin term gloria roughly means boasting, although its English cognate - glory - has come to have an exclusively positive meaning; historically, vain roughly meant futile, but by the 14th century had come to have the strong narcissistic undertones, of irrelevant accuracy, that it retains today.[18] As a result of these semantic changes, vainglory has become a rarely used word in itself, and is now commonly interpreted as referring to vanity (in its modern narcissistic sense).
[edit]Catholic Seven Virtues

The Roman Catholic Church also recognizes seven virtues, which correspond inversely to each of the seven deadly sins.
Vice Latin Virtue Latin
Lust Luxuria Chastity Castitas
Gluttony Gula Temperance Temperantia
Greed Avaritia Charity Caritas
Sloth Acedia Diligence Industria
Wrath Ira Patience Patientia
Envy Invidia Kindness Humanitas
Pride Superbia Humility Humilitas
[edit]Associations with demons

In 1589, Peter Binsfeld paired each of the deadly sins with a demon, who tempted people by means of the associated sin. According to Binsfeld's classification of demons, the pairings are as follows:
Lucifer: Pride (superbia)
Mammon: Greed (avaritia)
Asmodeus: Lust (luxuria)
Leviathan: Envy (invidia)
Beelzebub: Gluttony (gula or gullia)
Satan: Wrath (ira)
Belphegor: Sloth (acedia)
This contrasts slightly with an earlier series of pairings found in the fifteenth century English Lollard tract Lanterne of Light, which differs in pairing Beelzebub with Envy, Abadon with Sloth, Belphegor with Gluttony and matching Lucifer with Pride, Satan with Wrath, Asmodeus with Lust and Mammon with Avarice.[19]
In Doctor Faustus, there is a "parade" of the seven deadly sins that is conducted by Mephistopheles, Satan, and Beelzebub suggesting that the demons do not match with each deadly sin, but the demons are in command of the seven deadly sins.
[edit]Patterns

According to a 2009 study by a Jesuit scholar, the most common deadly sin confessed by men is lust, and for women, pride.[20] It was unclear whether these differences were due to different rates of commission, or different views on what "counts" or should be confessed.[21]
[edit]Cultural references

The seven deadly sins have long been a source of inspiration for writers and artists, from morality tales of the Middle Ages to modern manga series and video games.
[edit]Menninger on the Deadly Sins
In his 1973 book, Whatever Became of Sin?, Karl Menninger argued that the traditional list of the seven deadly sins was incomplete; that most modern ethicists would include cruelty and dishonesty and probably would rate these as more serious than some of the more traditional sins such as gluttony or sloth.
[edit]Culbertson on the Deadly Sins
In his 1908 book, How one is not to be, Andrew Culbertson argues that two further vices should be added to the deadly sins: fear and superstition. Fear, in Culbertson's description, amounts to the modern psychiatric condition called Delusional disorder, while superstition is, "Belief in things that one does not understand, to the point of giving money to frauds and spiritual confidence men."

Lucifer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the biblical figure. For other uses, see Lucifer (disambiguation).


William Blake's illustration of Lucifer as presented in John Milton's Paradise Lost
Lucifer ( /'lu?s?f?r/ or /lju?s?f?r/) is the King James Version rendering of the Hebrew word ?????? in Isaiah 14:12. This word, transliterated hêlel or heylel, occurs only once in the Hebrew Bible and according to Strong's Concordance means "shining one, morning star, Lucifer". [1] The word Lucifer is taken from the Latin Vulgate,[2] which translates ?????? as lucifer,[3][4] meaning "the morning star, the planet Venus" (or, as an adjective, "light-bringing"),[5] The Septuagint renders ?????? in Greek as ??sf????[6][7] (heosphoros)[8][9][10] meaning "morning star".[11] Kaufmann Kohler says that the Greek Septuagint translation is "Phosphoros".[2]
Before the rise of Christianity, the pseudepigrapha of Enochic Judaism, which enjoyed much popularity during the Second Temple period,[12] gave Satan an expanded role. They interpreted Isaiah 14:12-15 as applicable to Satan, and presented him as a fallen angel cast out of Heaven.[13] Christian tradition, influenced by this presentation,[13] came to use the Latin word for "morning star", lucifer, as a proper name ("Lucifer") for Satan as he was before his fall. As a result, "Lucifer has become a by-word for Satan in the Church and in popular literature",[2] as in Dante Alighieri's Inferno and John Milton's Paradise Lost.
Contents  [hide]
1 Lucifer or morning star
2 Mythology
3 Belief systems
3.1 Judaism
3.2 Christianity
3.3 Islam
3.4 Occultism
4 Taxil's hoax
5 Gallery
6 See also
7 Footnotes
8 References
9 Further reading
10 External links
[edit]Lucifer or morning star

Translation of ?????? as "Lucifer", as in the King James Version, has been abandoned in modern English translations of Isaiah 14:12. Present-day translations have "morning star" (New International Version, New Century Version, New American Standard Bible, Good News Translation, Holman Christian Standard Bible, Contemporary English Version, Common English Bible, Complete Jewish Bible), "daystar" (New Jerusalem Bible, English Standard Version, The Message), "shining one" (New Life Version) or "shining star" (New Living Translation).
This development has been decried not only by adherents of the King James Only movement, but also by others, who hold that the King James Version is correct and that Isaiah 14:12 refers to Satan under the name of "Lucifer",[14][15] or who hold that the reference to Satan is preeminent.[16]
The term appears in the context of an oracle against a dead king of Babylon,[17] who is addressed as ???? ?? ??? (hêlêl ben ša?ar),[18][19][20][need quotation to verify] [21][need quotation to verify] rendered by the King James Version as "Lucifer, son of the dawn" and by others as "morning star, son of the dawn".
In a modern translation from the original Hebrew, the passage in which the phrase "Lucifer" or "morning star" occurs begins with the statement: "On the day the Lord gives you relief from your suffering and turmoil and from the harsh labour forced on you, you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon: How the oppressor has come to an end! How his fury has ended!"[22] After describing the death of the king, the taunt continues: "How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart, 'I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.' But you are brought down to the realm of the dead, to the depths of the pit. Those who see you stare at you, they ponder your fate: 'Is this the man who shook the earth and made kingdoms tremble, the man who made the world a wilderness, who overthrew its cities and would not let his captives go home?'"[23]
J. Carl Laney has pointed out that in the final verses here quoted, the king of Babylon is described not as a god or an angel but as a man.[24][25]
For the unnamed[26] "king of Babylon" a wide range of identifications have been proposed.[27]They include a Babylonian ruler of the prophet Isaiah's own time[27] the later Nebuchadnezzar II, under whom the Babylonian captivity of the Jews began, or Nabonidus,[27][28] and the Assyrian kings Tiglath-Pileser, Sargon II and Sennacherib,[24][27][29] Herbert Wolf held that the "king of Babylon" was not a specific ruler but a generic representation of the whole line of rulers.[30]
[edit]Mythology

In ancient Canaanite mythology, the morning star is pictured as a god, Attar, who attempted to occupy the throne of Ba'al and, finding he was unable to do so, descended and ruled the underworld.[31][32] The original myth may have been about a lesser god Helel trying to dethrone the Canaanite high god El who lived on a mountain to the north.[33][34] Similarities have been noted also with the story of Ishtar's or Inanna's descent into the underworld,[34] Ishtar and Inanna being associated with the planet Venus.[35] The Babylonian myth of Etana has also been seen as connected.[36]
The Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible points out that no evidence has been found of any Canaanite myth of a god being thrown from heaven, as in Isaiah 14:12. It concludes that the closest parallels with Isaiah's description of the king of Babylon as a fallen morning star cast down from heaven are to be found not in any lost Canaanite and other myths but in traditional ideas of the Jewish people themselves, echoed in the Biblical account of the fall of Adam and Eve, cast out of God's presence for wishing to be as God, and the picture in Psalm 82 of the "gods" and "sons of the Most High" destined to die and fall.[37] This Jewish tradition has echoes also in Jewish pseudepigrapha such as 2 Enoch and the Life of Adam and Eve.[36][37][38]
[edit]Belief systems

[edit]Judaism
See also: Satan#Judaism
The Hebrew term ?????? (heylel)[1] in Isaiah 14:12, became a dominant conception of a fallen angel motif[39] in Enochic Judaism, when Jewish pseudepigrapha flourished during the Second Temple period,[12] particularly with the apocalypses.[13] Later Rabbis, in Medieval Judaism, rejected these Enochic literary works from the Biblical canon, making every attempt to root them out.[12] Traditionalist Rabbis often rejected any belief in rebel or fallen angels, having a view that evil is abstract.[40] However, in the 11th century, the Pirqe de-Rabbi Eliezer, drawing on ancient legends of the fallen angel or angels, brought back to the mainstream of rabbinic thought the personification of evil and the corresponding myth.[41] Jewish exegesis of Isaiah 14:12–15 took a more humanistic approach by identifying the king of Babylon as Nebuchadnezzar II.[42]
[edit]Christianity
Main article: Devil in Christianity
Early Christians were influenced by the association of Isaiah 14:12-15 with the Devil, which had developed in the period between the writing of the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament[43], also called the Intertestamental Period when the Deuterocanonical Books were written. Even in the New Testament itself, Sigve K Tonstad argues, the War in Heaven theme of Revelation 12:7-9, in which the dragon "who is called the devil and Satan … was thrown down to the earth", derives from the passage in Isaiah 14.[44] Origen (184/185 – 253/254) interpreted such Old Testament passages as being about manifestations of the Devil; but of course, writing in Greek, not Latin, he did not identify the Devil with the name "Lucifer".[45] Tertullian (c. 160 – c. 225), who wrote in Latin, also understood Isaiah 14:14 ("I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High") as spoken by the Devil,[46] but "Lucifer" is not among the numerous names and phrases he used to describe the Devil.[47] Even at the time of the Latin writer Augustine of Hippo (354 – 430), "Lucifer" had not yet become a common name for the Devil.[45] But some time later, the metaphor of the morning star that Isaiah 14:12 applied to a king of Babylon gave rise to the general use of the Latin word for "morning star", capitalized, as the original name of the Devil before his fall from grace, linking Isaiah 14:12 with Luke 10:18 ("I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven") and interpreting the passage in Isaiah as an allegory of Satan's fall from heaven.[48][49]
However, Christians have continued to understand the mention of the morning star in Isaiah 14:12 as a metaphor referring to a king of Babylon. Theodoret of Cyrus (c. 393 – c. 457) wrote that Isaiah calls the king "morning star", not as being the star, but as having had the illusion of being it.[50] The same understanding is shown in Christian translations of the passage, which in English generally use "morning star" rather than treating the word as a proper name, "Lucifer". So too in other languages, such as French,[51] German,[52] Portuguese,[53] and Spanish.[54] Even the Vulgate text in Latin is printed with lower-case lucifer (morning star), not upper-case Lucifer (proper name).[55]
[edit]Islam
In the Quran[56] Najmu thaqibu (Ar. "blazing star") may correspond to the morning star (He. heylel) of Isaiah 14:12.[57]
In Islam, the account of Iblis follows the Lucifer motif. Iblis is banished from heaven and becomes Satan by refusing to prostrate before Adam. Thus, he sins after the creation of man. Satan then swears an oath of revenge by tempting human beings and turning them away from God.[58]
[edit]Occultism


The Sigil of Lucifer ("Seal of Satan") a magical sigil[59] used occasionally as an emblem by Satanists
Luciferianism is a belief system that venerates the essential characteristics that are affixed to Lucifer. The tradition, influenced by Gnosticism, usually reveres Lucifer not as the Devil, but as a liberator or guiding spirit[60] or even the true god as opposed to Jehovah.[61]
In Anton LaVey's The Satanic Bible, Lucifer is acknowledged as one of the Four Crown Princes of Hell, particularly that of the East. Lord of the Air, Lucifer has been named "Bringer of Light, the Morning Star, Intellectualism, Enlightenment."[citation needed]
In the modern occultism of Madeline Montalban,[62] Lucifer's identification as the Morning Star (Venus) equates him with Lumiel, whom she regarded as the Archangel of Light, and among Satanists he is seen as the "Torch of Baphomet" and Azazel.
Author Michael W. Ford has written on Lucifer as a "mask" of the Adversary, a motivator and illuminating force of the mind and subconscious.[63]
[edit]Taxil's hoax

Léo Taxil (1854–1907) claimed that Freemasonry is associated with worshipping Lucifer. In what is known as the Taxil hoax, he claimed that supposedly leading Freemason Albert Pike had addressed "The 23 Supreme Confederated Councils of the world" (an invention of Taxil), instructing them that Lucifer was God, and was in opposition to the evil god Adonai. Apologists of Freemasonry contend that, when Albert Pike and other Masonic scholars spoke about the "Luciferian path," or the "energies of Lucifer," they were referring to the Morning Star, the light bearer,[64] the search for light; the very antithesis of dark, satanic evil. Taxil promoted a book by Diana Vaughan (actually written by himself, as he later confessed publicly)[65] that purported to reveal a highly secret ruling body called the Palladium, which controlled the organization and had a satanic agenda. As described by Freemasonry Disclosed in 1897:
With frightening cynicism, the miserable person we shall not name here [Taxil] declared before an assembly especially convened for him that for twelve years he had prepared and carried out to the end the most sacrilegious of hoaxes. We have always been careful to publish special articles concerning Palladism and Diana Vaughan. We are now giving in this issue a complete list of these articles, which can now be considered as not having existed.[66]
Taxil's work and Pike's address continue to be quoted by anti-masonic groups.[67]
In Devil-Worship in France, Arthur Edward Waite compared Taxil's work to what today we would call a tabloid story, replete with logical and factual inconsistencies.

Satan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the concept of Satan. For the concept of "devil", see Devil. For other uses, see Satan (disambiguation).
"Satanas" redirects here. For the Colombian film, see Satanás (film).



Gustave Doré, Depiction of Satan, the antagonist of John Milton's Paradise Lost c.1866.
Satan (Hebrew: ????????? ha-Satan, "the opposer",[1]) is the supreme evil spirit and adversary to God and humanity, particularly in Abrahamic religions.[2] It is the title of various entities, both human and divine, who challenge the faith of humans in the Hebrew Bible.[3] In Christianity, the title became a personal name, and "Satan" changed from an accuser appointed by God to test men's faith to the chief of the rebellious fallen angels ("the devil" in Christianity, "Shaitan" in Arabic, the term used by Arab Christians and Muslims).[4] In Islam, a shay?an is any evil creature, whether human, animal or spirit. With the definite article, the Shay?an is Iblis, the Devil.
Contents  [hide]
1 Hebrew Bible
1.1 Book of Job
2 Apocrypha
2.1 Mythology
3 Religious beliefs
3.1 Judaism
3.2 Christianity
3.3 Islam
3.4 Yazidism
3.5 Bahá'í Faith
3.6 Satanism
4 See also
5 Notes
6 References
7 External links
Hebrew Bible

The original Hebrew term, satan, is a noun from a verb meaning primarily to, “obstruct, oppose,” as it is found in Numbers 22:22, 1 Samuel 29:4, Psalms 109:6.[5] Ha-Satan is traditionally translated as “the accuser,” or “the adversary.” The definite article “ha-”, English “the”, is used to show that this is a title bestowed on a being, versus the name of a being. Thus this being would be referred to as “the satan”.[6]
Ha-Satan with the definite article occurs 13 times in the Masoretic Text, in two books of the Hebrew Bible:
Job ch.1–2 (10x),[7]
Zechariah 3:1–2 (3x).[8]
Satan without the definite article is used in 10 instances, of which two are translated diabolos in the Septuagint and "Satan" in the King James Version:
1 Chronicles 21:1, "Satan stood up against Israel" (KJV) or "And there standeth up an adversary against Israel" (Young's Literal Translation)[9]
Psalm 109:6b "and let Satan stand at his right hand" (KJV)[10] or "let an accuser stand at his right hand." (ESV, etc.)
The other eight instances of satan without the definite article are traditionally translated (in Greek, Latin and English) as "an adversary", etc., and taken to be humans or obedient angels:
Numbers 22:22,32 "and the angel of the LORD stood in the way for an adversary against him."
32 "behold, I went out to withstand thee,"
1 Samuel 29:4 The Philistines say: "lest he [David] be an adversary against us"
2 Samuel 19:22 David says: "[you sons of Zeruaiah] should this day be adversaries (plural) unto me?"
1 Kings 5:4 Solomon writes to Hiram: "there is neither adversary nor evil occurrent.
1 Kings 11:14 "And the LORD stirred up an adversary unto Solomon, Hadad the Edomite"[11]
1 Kings 11:23 "And God stirred him up an adversary, Rezon the son of Eliadah"
25 "And he [Rezon] was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon"
Book of Job
In the Book of Job, ha-Satan is a member of the Divine Council, "the sons of God" who are subservient to God. Ha-Satan, in this capacity, is many times translated as "the prosecutor", and is charged by God to tempt humans and to report back to God all who go against His decrees. At the beginning of the book, Job is a good person "who feared God and turned away from evil" (Job 1:1), and has therefore been rewarded by God. When the Divine Council meets, God informs ha-Satan about Job's blameless, morally upright character. Between Job 1:9–10 and 2:4–5, ha-Satan merely points out that God has given Job everything that a man could want, so of course Job would be loyal to God; if all Job has been given, even his health, were to be taken away from him, however, his faith would collapse. God therefore grants ha-Satan the chance to test Job.[12] Due to this, it has been interpreted that ha-Satan is under God's control and cannot act without God's permission. This is further shown in the epilogue of Job in which God is speaking to Job, ha-Satan is absent from these dialogues. "For Job, for [Job's] friends, and for the narrator, it is ultimately Yahweh himself who is responsible for Job's suffering; as Yahweh says to the 'satan', 'You have incited me against him, to destroy him for no reason.'" (Job 2:3) [8]
In the Septuagint the Hebrew ha-Satan in Job and Zechariah is translated by the Greek word diabolos (slanderer), the same word in the Greek New Testament from which the English word devil is derived. Where satan is used of human enemies in the Hebrew Bible, such as Hadad the Edomite and Rezon the Syrian, the word is left untranslated but transliterated in the Greek as satan, a neologism in Greek.[13] In Zechariah 3 this changes the vision of the conflict over Joshua the High Priest in the Septuagint into a conflict between "Jesus and the devil", identical with the Greek text of Matthew.
Apocrypha

The Book of Enoch contains references to Satariel, thought also to be Sataniel and Satan'el (etymology dating back to Babylonian origins). The similar spellings mirror that of his angelic brethren Michael, Raphael, Uriel and Gabriel, previous to the fall from Heaven.
The Second Book of Enoch, also called the Slavonic Book of Enoch, contains references to a Watcher (Grigori) called Satanael.[14] It is a pseudepigraphic text of an uncertain date and unknown authorship. The text describes Satanael as being the prince of the Grigori who was cast out of heaven[15] and an evil spirit who knew the difference between what was "righteous" and "sinful".[16] A similar story is found in the book of 1 Enoch; however, in that book, the leader of the Grigori is called Semjâzâ.
In the Book of Wisdom, the devil is represented as the being who brought death into the world.[17]
In the Ascension of Isaiah and the Life of Adam and Eve, Satan rules over a host of angels.[18]
Mastema, in the Book of Jubilees, induces God to test Abraham through the sacrifice of Isaac. He is identical to Satan in both name and nature.[19]
Mythology
Satan as a "deceiver" parallels to the evil spirit in Zoroastrianism, known as the Lie, who directs forces of darkness.[20]
Religious beliefs

Judaism
In Judaism, Satan is a term used since its earliest biblical contexts, to refer to a human opponent.[21] Occasionally, the term has been used to suggest evil influence opposing human beings, as in the Jewish exegesis of 1 Kings 22:22. Thus, Satan is personified as a character in three different places of the Tenakh, serving as an accuser (Zechariah 3:1-2), a seducer (1 Chronicles 21:1), or as a heavenly persecutor who is "among the sons of God" (Job 2:1). In any case, Satan is always subordinate to the power of God, having a role in the divine plan. Satan is rarely mentioned in Tannaitic literature.[22]
In Enochic Judaism, the concept of Satan being an opponent of God and a chief evil figure in among demons, seems to have taken root in Jewish pseudepigrapha during the Second Temple period,[23] particularly in the apocalypses.[22] In Medieval Judaism, the Rabbis rejected these Enochic literary works into the Biblical canon, making every attempt to root them out.[23] Traditionalists and philosophers in medieval Judaism, adhered to rational theology, rejecting any belief in rebel or fallen angels, and viewing evil as abstract.[24]
In Hasidic Judaism, the Kabbalah presents Satan as an agent of God whose function is to tempt one into sin, then turn around and accuse the sinner on high.
The Chasidic Jews of the 18th century, associated ha-Satan with Baal Davar.[25]
Christianity


The coat of arms of Arkhangelsk (Russia) depicts archangel Michael fighting against Satan.
Main article: Christian teaching about the Devil
See also: War in Heaven
In Christianity, terms that are synonymous with "Satan" include:
The most common English synonym for "Satan" is "Devil", which descends from Middle English devel, from Old English deofol, that in turn represents an early Germanic borrowing of Latin diabolus (also the source of "diabolical"). This in turn was borrowed from Greek diabolos "slanderer", from diaballein "to slander": dia- "across, through" + ballein "to hurl".[26] In the New Testament, "Satan" occurs more than 30 times in passages alongside Diabolos (Greek for "the devil"), referring to the same person or thing as Satan.[27]
Beelzebub, meaning "Lord of Flies", is the contemptuous name given in the Hebrew Bible and New Testament to a Philistine god whose original name has been reconstructed as most probably "Ba'al Zabul", meaning "Baal the Prince".[28]
Satan is traditionally identified as the serpent who convinced Eve to eat the forbidden fruit; thus, Satan has often been depicted as a serpent.
The Book of Revelation twice refers to "the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan," (12:9, 20:2). The Book of Revelation also refers to "the deceiver," from which is derived the common epithet "the great deceiver."[29]
Other terms identified with Satan include "the prince of this world" in the Book of John 12:31, 14:30; "the prince of the power of the air" also called Meririm, and "the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience" in the Book of Ephesians 2:2; and "the god of this world" in 2 Corinthians 4:4.[30]
From the fourth Century Lucifer is sometimes used in Christian theology to refer to Satan, as a result of identifying the fallen "son of the dawn" of Isaiah 14:12 with the "accuser" of other passages in the Old Testament.


Satan as depicted in the Ninth Circle of Hell in Dante Alighieri's Inferno, illustrated by Gustave Doré.
In traditional Christian understanding of the holy Hebrew scriptures, the Torah, Satan is a synonym for the Devil. For most Christians, he is believed to be an angel who rebelled against God—and also the one who spoke through the serpent and seduced Eve into disobeying God's command. His ultimate goal is to lead people away from the love of God—to lead them to fallacies which God opposes. Satan is also identified as the accuser of Job, the tempter in the Gospels, the secret power of lawlessness in 2 Thessalonians 2:7, and the dragon in the Book of Revelation. Before his insurrection, Satan was among the highest of all angels and the "brightest in the sky". His pride is considered a reason why he would not bow to God as all other angels did, but sought to rule heaven himself. The popularly held beliefs that Satan was once a prideful angel who eventually rebels against God, however, are not portrayed explicitly in the Bible and are mostly based on inference (e.g., Ezekiel 28 and Isaiah 14:12–17). In mainstream Christianity he is called "the ruler of the demons" (Matt. 12:24), "the ruler of the world" and "the god of this world". (2 Cor. 4:4). The Book of Revelation describes how Satan will be cast out of Heaven, down to the earth, having "great anger" and waging war against "those who obey God's commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus". Ultimately, Satan is thrown into the "Lake of fire", not as ruler, but as one among many, being tormented day and night forever and ever.[31]
In other Christian beliefs (e.g. the beliefs of the Christadelphians) the word "satan" in the Bible is not regarded as referring to a supernatural, personal being but to any "adversary" and figuratively refers to human sin and temptation.[32]
Islam
Main article: Devil (Islam)
Shaitan (?????) is the equivalent of Satan in Islam. While Shaitan (?????, from the root š?n ????) is an adjective (meaning "astray" or "distant", sometimes translated as "devil") that can be applied to both man ("al-ins", ?????) and Jinn, Iblis (Arabic pronunciation: ['ibli?s]) is the personal name of the Devil who is mentioned in the Qur'anic account of Genesis.[33] According to the Qur'an, Iblis (the Arabic name used) disobeyed an order from Allah to bow to Adam and as a result was forced out of heaven and given respite until the day of judgment from further punishment.
When Allah commanded all of the angels to bow down before Adam (the first Human), Iblis, full of hubris and jealousy, refused to obey God's command (he could do so because he had free will), seeing Adam as being inferior in creation due to his being created from clay as compared to him (created of fire).[34]
It is We Who created you and gave you shape; then We bade the angels prostrate to Adam, and they prostrate; not so Iblis (Lucifer); He refused to be of those who prostrate."
(Allah) said: "What prevented thee from prostrating when I commanded thee?" He said: "I am better than he: Thou didst create me from fire, and him from clay.
Qur'an 7:11–12
It was after this that the title of "Shaitan" was given, which can be roughly translated as "Enemy," "Rebel," "Evil" or "Devil". Shaitan then claims that if the punishment for his act of disobedience is to be delayed until the Day of Judgment, that he will divert many of Adam's own descendants from the straight path during his period of respite.[35] God accepts the claims of Iblis and guarantees recompense to Iblis and his followers in the form of Hellfire. In order to test mankind and jinn alike, Allah allowed Iblis to roam the earth to attempt to convert others away from his path.[36] He was sent to earth along with Adam and Eve, after eventually luring them into eating the fruit from the forbidden tree.[37]
Yazidism
An alternate name for the main deity in the tentatively Indo-European pantheon of the Yazidi, Malek Taus, is Shaitan.[38] Rather than Satanic, however, Yazidism is better understood as a remnant of a pre-Islamic Middle Eastern Indo-European religion, and/or a ghulat Sufi movement founded by Shaykh Adi. The connection with Satan, originally made by Muslim outsiders, attracted the interest of 19th century European travelers and esoteric writers.
Bahá'í Faith
In the Bahá'í Faith, Satan is not regarded as an independent evil power as he is in some faiths, but signifies the lower nature of humans. `Abdu'l-Bahá explains: "This lower nature in man is symbolized as Satan — the evil ego within us, not an evil personality outside."[39][40] All other evil spirits described in various faith traditions such as fallen angels, demons and jinns are also metaphors for the base character traits a human being may acquire and manifest when he turns away from God.[41]
Satanism
Main article: Satanism
Satanic groups have various opinions about Satan, ranging from the conviction that he exists and ought to be worshipped (theistic Satanism), to Anton Szandor LaVey's symbolic interpretation, which emphasizes individual will and pleasure-seeking.
Much "Satanic" lore does not originate from actual Satanists, but from Christians. Best-known is the medieval folklore and theology surrounding demons and witches. A more recent example is the so-called Satanic ritual abuse scare of the 1980s — beginning with the memoir Michelle Remembers — which depicts Satanism as a vast (and unproven) conspiracy of elites with a predilection for child abuse and human sacrifice. This genre regularly describes Satan as actually appearing in person in order to receive worship.

3 You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. 4 So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way. 5 If you don't know what you're doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You'll get his help, and won't be condescended to when you ask for it. 6 Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought. People who "worry their prayers" are like wind-whipped waves. 7 Don't think you're going to get anything from the Master that way, 8 adrift at sea, keeping all your options open. 9 When down-and-outers get a break, cheer! 10 And when the arrogant rich are brought down to size, cheer! Prosperity is as short-lived as a wildflower, so don't ever count on it. 11 You know that as soon as the sun rises, pouring down its scorching heat, the flower withers. Its petals wilt and, before you know it, that beautiful face is a barren stem. Well, that's a picture of the "prosperous life." At the very moment everyone is looking on in admiration, it fades away to nothing. 12 Anyone who meets a testing challenge head-on and manages to stick it out is mighty fortunate. For such persons loyally in love with God, the reward is life and more life. 13 Don't let anyone under pressure to give in to evil say, "God is trying to trip me up." God is impervious to evil, and puts evil in no one's way.

(in Christian theology) A state of eternal punishment and damnation into which a sinful and unpenitent person passes after death.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polymorphous_perversity
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleopatra_VII
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_Church
http://www.christianbiblereference.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Jerusalem
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Throne_of_God
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_Hand_of_God
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crucifixion_of_Jesus
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Session_of_Christ
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautama_Buddha
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_paralysis
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganges#Pollution
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_of_Troy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Darwin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demonic_possession
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_Church
http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/exchange/node/1740
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judas_Iscariot
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archangel
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hell
http://listverse.com/2007/07/03/top-10-worst-living-dictators/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temptation_of_Christ
http://listverse.com/2007/07/15/top-10-incredible-recordings/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Panther_Party
http://bible.cc/genesis/1-27.htm
http://bible.cc/genesis/1-1.htm
http://listverse.com/2009/10/09/top-10-eerie-recordings/
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http://www.squidoo.com/jesus-is-the-light-of-the-world

Lady Diana "....an insane society"