What is the Truth?

What is the truth?

About the time I think I know

what I am talking about,

someone comes along and

shares their version

of reality

from their unique perspective.

While listening,

I hold my tongue,

keeping my version

of reality in abeyance.

I try on the new idea,

silent through the presentation

I hear their words

I try on the ideas.

Do they fit?

Some of this

I have heard before.

Much of it is already

“on the shelf,”

the storage place

within my mind

piled high,

even cluttered

with thoughts and ideas

mandating further investigation,

consideration and meditation.

The presenter always

shares the perspective

as though it were true,

being convinced he is right.

I, challenging my perspective,

walk away doubting, troubled,

wondering whether the truth

of anything

can be known.

We live in a confusing world

replete with

facades, 

delusions,

deception

and avarice.

On top of all this,

we now have the Internet,

where plenty of support can be found

in an instant

for any idea embraced

and championed.

As for me,

I know this is true:

I know I am sitting here typing.

I can only presume

I am not in a dream,

some sort of matrix

from which I may one day awaken.

It seems to me

entirely possible

even probable,

that I may be

asleep,

unaware;

and that whoever I am,

and whatever I am really doing,

will one day be clear to me,

when I finally awaken,

to be fully aware.

Oh how I long to be there,

which I know

instinctively

is really here!

Of this I am also sure:

when I finally arrive

to be fully present here,

I will finally be there,

at the place
I am born

to be.

Refuting Hell

Since this writer is dismissing

the concept of Satan

as I understand it is generally

accepted by Christendom,

it would necessarily follow

That the concern of Hell

should be dealt with also.

as well.

After many years

of being fully apprised

of the various perspectives on the subject

and after very careful and deliberate consideration

of the subject,

I can confidently conclude

that the dogma

of Hell, i.e. burning

for eternity under

the oversight of Satan,

is completely pagan

in its origin,

and wholly

unsubstantiated

by the Bible.

Like many other damnable heresies

it was introduced and assimilated

into Christianity

by the Roman Church.

The modern English word

“Hell”

is derived from Old English

hel, helle

(about 725 AD to refer to

a nether world of the dead)

reaching into the

Anglo-Saxon pagan period,

and ultimately from

Proto-Germanic *halja,

meaning

"one who covers up

or hides something".

The word has cognates in related

Germanic languages

such as

Old Frisian :helle, hille,

Old Saxon :hellja,

Middle Dutch : helle (modern Dutch hel),

Old High German : helle (Modern German Holle), Norwegian and Swedish : helvete

(hel + Old Norse vitti, "punishment"),

and Gothic : halja.

Subsequently, the word was used

to transfer a pagan concept

to Christian theology

and its vocabulary..."

(Barnhart, Robert K. (1995)

The Barnhart Concise Dictionary

of Etymology, page 348.

Harper Collins ISBN 0062700847,).

As I understand it,

The word Hebrew translated into hell

Is the word sheol,

Which means: “pit” or “grave.”

I hold with

the Jehovah’s witnesses’

on this one.

Satanic Adversary

Ever notice that

whenever someone,

anyone,

takes a stand

for something,

anything,

no matter what

that stand is,

someone will always

stand against that stand,

and oppose?

This adversary,

this opposition,

is the spirit,

the principle,

of the Hebrew word

 “satan.”

When

the will of the Spirit

who is our Father,

the Creator,

who is

Love, Light and Truth,

is opposed,

it is an adversarial

 spirit,

the satan principle,

that opposes.

Whenever one religion

is opposed by another,

each within the context

of the opposition,

each religion

looks at the other

as relatively
satanic.

Denominations within

religious sects, or

religious sects

within religions,

who oppose

each other,

consider satan

to be the spirit at work

causing the division.

Whenever my ego

opposes me,

the spirit of satan

possesses my ego.

When illness

takes my body down,

whether that illness be

mental or physical,

my mind or body is possessed

by a satanic spirit

opposing and antagonistic to

my normal function.

Is this the essence

of demon possession?

The Satanic Ego

What about this

Satan thing?

Is it possible that Satan,

a spirit,

Is really nothing more than

our ever present ego?

Is the spirit that is created,

even empowered by

our collective egos

that spirit known as

“public opinion,”

the beast that was,

is not

and yet is?

Revelations 17.8

Is that why it is believed

That “he” is omni-present?

Why do we assume Satan is a guy?

No matter what we do,

we can’t separate ourself

from our ego?

It is always there

opposing us,

tempting us,

deceiving us,

enticing us.

It is my observation that

that the devil

and Satan

are one and the same;

But the term “devil”

does not appear

in the Old Testament!

The term “Satan”

does appear in

the Old Testament,

but only fifteen times:

once at 1 Chronicles 21:1,

And Satan stood up against Israel,

and provoked David to number Israel.
(was this David's ego?)

once at Psalms 109:6
Set thou a wicked man over him:

and let Satan stand at his right hand.
(what evil man
is not controlled by his ego?)

thrice at Zechariah 3:1-2:

And he shewed me Joshua the high priest

standing before the angel of the LORD,

and Satan

standing at his right hand

to resist him.

And the LORD said

unto Satan,

The LORD rebuke thee,

O Satan;

even the LORD

that hath chosen Jerusalem

rebuke thee:

is not this a brand

plucked out of the fire?
(better spend more time
with the full context of this one)

And ten times

in the story about Job:

Now there was a day

when the sons of God

came to present themselves

before the LORD,

and Satan came also among them.

And the LORD said unto Satan,

Whence comest thou?

Then Satan answered the LORD,

and said, From going to and fro in the earth,

and from walking up and down in it.

And the LORD said unto Satan,

Hast thou considered my servant Job,

that there is none like him in the earth,

a perfect and an upright man,

one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?

Then Satan answered the LORD,

and said, Doth Job fear God for nought?

Hast not thou made an hedge about him,

and about his house,

and about all that he hath on every side?

thou hast blessed the work of his hands,

and his substance is increased in the land.

But put forth thine hand now,

and touch all that he hath,

and he will curse thee to thy face.

And the LORD said unto Satan,

Behold, all that he hath is in thy power;

only upon himself put not forth thine hand.

So Satan went forth

from the presence of the LORD.

(Job 1:6-12)

Again there was a day when

the sons of God

came to present themselves

before the LORD,

and Satan came also among them

to present himself before the LORD.

And the LORD said unto Satan,

From whence comest thou?

And Satan answered the LORD,

and said, From going to and fro in the earth,

and from walking up and down in it.

And the LORD said unto Satan,

Hast thou considered my servant Job,

that there is none like him in the earth,

a perfect and an upright man,

one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?

and still he holdeth fast his integrity,

although thou movedst me against him,

to destroy him without cause.

And Satan answered the LORD,

and said, Skin for skin,

yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life.

But put forth thine hand now,

and touch his bone and his flesh,

and he will curse thee to thy face.

And the LORD said unto Satan,

Behold, he is in thine hand;

but save his life.

So went Satan forth

from the presence of the LORD,

and smote Job with sore boils

from the sole of his foot

unto his crown.

(Job 2:1-7)

Who are these Sons of God,

And who invited

Satan?

Note that “Satan"
which is an interpretation
of the Hebrew "satan"
meaning adversary,

is always an antagonistic,

oppositional,

adversarial character,

and always in a context

relative to the mind

and the body.

Sound like the ego?

Do sons of God

have egos?

Is the Book of Job
a parable?

Circumstances

In the grand scheme of things,

what is important?

Is the future important?

Is it more important than the present?

Lest we forget,

the future is but the culmination

of all the events and circumstances

thoughts and ideas

and stories 

leading up to it.

Future circumstances

are determined

by what we do now,

in the present.

Outside this moment,

nothing happens,

as there is nothing that happens

outside the present.

If the future is important

the present is

more important,

as who I am now,

what I think now,

and what I do now,

has a direct effect

on who I will be,

what I will think,

and what I will do

and the resulting

circumstances

surrounding me.

No Satan

What of the

purported

“fallen angel”

Satan,

also known as the devil?

Since the term

“Satan”

literally means

opponent or adversary,

could it not then be said

that in all circumstances

in which there are

conflicting parties

the adverse parties

are relatively satanic

to each other?

During the days of the inquisition

the Catholic church

was adept at demonizing,

torturing

and murdering

their adversaries,

accusing them of being

agents of Satan.

The leaders of Israel

were also adept

at demonizing,

torturing

and murdering

those who challenged

their leadership.

The Israeli hierarchy

accused Yahshua of being

an agent of Satan.

Matthew 12.24

Yahshua turned the accusation

against the leaders of Israel

who opposed him,

calling them sons of Satan.

John 8.44

Yahshua considered

His apostle Judas

To be a devil.

John 6.70-71

Is it possible that

There is no literal devil;

no fallen angel

named Satan?

Is it possible that

Satan is merely the spirit

in which someone

is operating

when they

take or hold

an opposing position?

Someone will, no doubt, object,

dismissing this idea

as pure nonsense;

but I say

it is entirely possible,

even probable

that this is true.

Taking this position

makes me Satan,

in a relative sense,

to status quo religion,

and because few, if any,

want to be accused of this,

few, if any, are willing stand here,

to consider the possibility.

He that answereth a matter

before he heareth it,

it is folly and shame unto him.

Proverbs 18:13

Adversary

When I use the term “satan”

in the context that the

modern Christian church

is a “cesspool of Satan,”

I am not using the term flippantly,

nor am I referring to

Satan

as the omni-present being,

the horned

arch-enemy of God,

a red-skinned,

mythological

fallen angel

with a pitchfork,

assigned to preside over

the eternal outpost of hell,

whose mission is to tempt

individuals into sinning.

Rather,

The term is used

in the same sense that Yahshua

used the term

when, on the way

to his capture and death,

he rebuked Peter, saying

“Get behind me Satan,

you do not have in mind

the concerns of God,

but the concerns of man.”

Matthew 16.23; Mark 8.33

Yahshua was about to enter

Jerusalem for the final time,

not to be inagurated

as the King

he was born to be,

the messiah

Peter knew him to be,

but rather to be murdered,

martyred,

and he well knew it.

When he shared this

then startling revelation

with his apostles,

Peter,

who was chief among the apostles,

and to whom Yahshua

had just given

the keys to the Kingdom,

(Matthew 16.18-16.19)

strenuously objected,

opposing this fact

that the King of Israel,

the prophesied chosen one

they had been waiting centuries for,

was going to be killed.

By opposing Yahshua,

Peter positioned himself

against the King,

and thereby became

his adversary.

The term “satan”

literally means

“adversary.”

Hence the rebuke,

the admonition

against Peter's person.

America's Christian pulpits

who define the nature

of the modern church,

do not embody the Spirit of Christ,

but rather the spirit of Peter,

not having in mind

the concerns of God

but their own concerns.

What audacity

they have

to pass themselves off

to the people of the world

as the representatives

of the King.