The Book of Job

William Blake’s illustration of Satan Smiting Job with Boils via Wikipedia

The Book of Job is part of the wisdom literature of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its main character is Job, a suffering and blameless servant of God.

Christian apologists say that Job’s suffering points to the mysterious ways of God and highlights the need for faithful obedience in the absence of human understanding. Critics say that it depicts God as an immature, cruel tyrant. For instance, the Swiss psychiatrist C. G. Jung and some Jungians say that God “makes a bet” with Satan. In the story, Satan contends that Job will not remain faithful if God allows Satan to torment him.

In Jung’s Answer to Job, a short commentary about the Job’s plight,  Jung says the Biblical story reveals a dark, non-integrated aspect of God. Why would a perfect God, Jung argues, allow a blameless servant to be persecuted by the devil? When Job challenges God, asking why he suffers, God answers not on Job’s terms but by completely overwhelming him. God asks if Job is able to create the stars, the oceans and a sea monster.

Deutsch: Carl Gustav Jung (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Jung sees this as indicating God’s immaturity. For Jung, God projects his own dark side onto Job. While this dynamic may occur in many people, to Jewish and Christian believers it’s misguided to suggest that God would behave this way (See Isaiah 55:8-9). As God implies to Job, could an allegedly immature consciousness create all of creation?

Biblical scholars debate whether the story of Job refers to an actual person or if it’s just a folktale outlining the general human problem of why do bad things happen to good people? The author of the book is not mentioned. Some traditional rabbis and early Christian theologians believed the author was Moses. Today, some scholars believe that parts of Job were written by at least one additional author.

But to return to Jung, he seems to overlook the folktale aspect by treating Job as a real person. Jung’s writings about Job have also been criticized by Fr. Victor White. White says that Jung confuses a narrative image of God with the actual God. In Jungian terms, White says Jung confuses the God-image (archetypal image) with God (archetype).

Indeed, it seems that Jung analyzes God from the perspective of his own, man-made psychological theories. In reducing God to Jung’s all too human ideas, might Jung, himself, exhibit the psychological mechanism of projection? Theological critics of Jung would certainly say that his commentary on Job suffers from presumption—that is, intellectual arrogance.

William Blake’s illustration of Job’s Sons and Daughters Overwhelmed by Satan via Wikipedia

Regarding the problem of evil, many theologians would maintain that God’s ways are usually way over our heads. Along these lines, we could hypothesize that God permits evil to torment Job for a greater good which, Job, Satan and Jung couldn’t hope to understand.

Jung’s (questionable) analysis aside, the story of Job has parallels in other cultures, most notably the ancient Egyptian Protests of the Eloquent Peasant.

Related articles

• Lessons from Job. (katherineannesmith.wordpress.com)
• Jung-jung (knittedart.wordpress.com)
• “Why Do the Righteous Suffer?”: Wisdom From the Book of Job (thomaslovesjesus.wordpress.com)
• Putting Satan in his place (reassuringquotes.wordpress.com)
• Nuanced Media is Proud to Present the Southern Arizona Friends of Jung Website (prweb.com)
• Murray Stein and Brigitte Egger Discuss the Power of Water and the Vital Impact it has on Earth. The Asheville Jung Center will host “Elixir of Life” on April 4th (prweb.com)
• A Love Affair With Carl Jung (jeanraffa.wordpress.com)
• Do you relate to the greatest story of suffering yet, faith? His name was job…Read on (pastormikesays.wordpress.com)
• When I was back there in seminary school… (mclark.wordpress.com)

Fallen Angels

fallen angel by Bùi Linh Ngân via Flickr

In the popular sense of the term, the idea of the fallen angel denotes something  gone wrong with a person or with a purely spiritual being who freely chooses to reject and, therefore, oppose God’s will.

Myths, stories and artistic representations about fallen angels abound. John Milton (1608 – 1674)  in Paradise Lost  imagines legions of Satanic angels who rebel against God. Massive wars break out, and St. Michael leads the Lord’s Angels, who must overcome ingenious contraptions built by Satan and his fallen army. While St. Michael is prominent in the battle, the final victory is reserved for Christ. So St. Michael stands aside as Jesus defeats the evil army.

Traditionally, we find the notion of the fallen angel in Jewish and Christian lore, and some  argue that a very similar idea is found in Hinduism. For in Hinduism the asuras are described as benevolent spiritual beings in the Vedas that devolve in subsequent Hindu scripture to become demons.

In Islam the personification of evil is Shaytan. In the Koran God commands Iblis to bow down before Adam and serve mankind but through his pride Iblis refuses. God allows Iblis to tempt mankind until Judgement Day, at which time he will be cast into hell. In Islamic thought Iblis is often seen as the master jinn, the head of demons allowed to torment humanity. But there is no concept of the “fallen angel” in the Islamic tradition.

To this coolguymuslim adds:

There is no such thing as a fallen angel in Islam. No doubt, in Islam, Iblis a.k.a. Satan is a jinn and he is most evil. However at the same time, he never is nor was an angel. Angels in Islam do not have free will and they cannot disobey God. In terms of Iblis, he used to be a rightous slave of God so much so that he was elevated to the level of angels before he refused to bow down, however, he was never an angel. Jinn, on the other hand, do possess free will and there are good and evil jinn just as there are good and evil humans.¹

El Ángel Caído (Ricardo Bellver) photo by Luis García via Flickr

Some believe that the powerful “Sons of Man” mentioned in the Old Testament are Fallen Angels. And some contemporary writers believe that aliens are really fallen angels (while others say they are not).

In the fictional Star Wars films, fallen Jedi - like Darth Vader – could be taken as a rough parallel to the idea of fallen angels, mostly because both good and “dark side” Jedi possess paranormal powers and psychic abilities.

—

¹ http://earthpages.wordpress.com/2012/03/07/fallen-angels/#comment-2902

Related Posts » Aurobindo (Sri)

Related articles

• Radio IV, side B, track 12: “Fallen Angel” by Poison (mixedtapemasterpiece.wordpress.com)
• Fringe Paranormal Research Guide: Part V Angels (fringeparanormal.wordpress.com)
• The Mayan Conspiracy (disclose.tv)
• What are Demons – Evil Spirits – And Ghosts ? (epages.wordpress.com)
• Frantic as a cardiograph scratching out the lines, Day 13: Fallen Angel #14 (goodcomics.comicbookresources.com)
• Ballad of Fallen Angels (cjreye.wordpress.com)
• Cindy Trimm and the Fallen Angel Ashtar (settingcaptivesfree.wordpress.com)
• The Fallen Angel Ashtar Is Behind “Slain In the Spirit!” (pamsheppard.wordpress.com)

Milton, John

Title page of the first edition of John Milton’s “Paradise lost” from 1668 via Wikipedia

John Milton (1608-74) was one of the great English poets, surpassed in acclaim only by William Shakespeare.

Unlike Shakespeare, who was not affiliated with a university, Milton was educated at Cambridge and went on to become a prominent European gentleman and man of letters.

His Aeropagata on Education argues for freedom of the press and reveals his many friendly contacts with European notables-that is, persons of societal rank and so-called culture.

A Puritan, Milton became entirely blind in 1651 but later in 1667 wrote his well-known classic, Paradise Lost.

Paradise Lost includes Milton’s imaginative view of the events precipitating the original sin of Adam and Eve. The first part of the epic deals with Satan’s estrangement from God. The second portrays Satan’s arrival on Earth with legions of bellicose minions. The final portion deals with the temptation in the Garden of Eden.

Milton gave a great deal of thought to the work, considering various classical and even Arthurian texts before setting on the finished version. His general rule in writing was to use universally understood motifs. But the considerable erudition embedded within his verse demands explanatory notes for most readers.

Search Think Free » Fallen Angels, Numinous

Related Articles

• John Milton as an old flame (telegraph.co.uk)
• John Milton’s bawdy poem questioned (telegraph.co.uk)
• Oxford academics discover “bawdy” Milton poem (reuters.com)
• Did John Milton write filthy, innuendo-laden rhyme? (guardian.co.uk)
• Bawdy verse said to be Milton’s raises eyebrows (bbc.co.uk)
• Alex Proyas Hired to Direct PARADISE LOST (geektyrant.com)
• 100 Days of Fantasy, Day 19: Paradise Lost (bookstove.com)
• Alex Proyas to Direct Adaptation of PARADISE LOST (collider.com)
• Stephen Carter’s Palace Council Dredges Up Memories of Paradise Lost (bigthink.com)
• Alex Proyas Directing ‘Paradise Lost’ (screenrant.com)

Add more, report errors or voice your opinion by posting a comment

St. Michael

Image by Lawrence OP via Flickr

St. Michael is one of the four archangels in the Jewish, Christian and Islamic religions. He’s generally regarded as a militant leader for God’s heavenly army against Satan and the spiritual powers of evil.

A popular Catholic prayer, the St. Michael Prayer, is addressed to him for protection from darkness and deception:

St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle; Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and do thou O Prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God, cast into hell Satan and all the other evil spirits who prowl through the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.

The prayer is said to have been written by Pope Leo XIII who, falling into a swoon while in a conference with the Cardinals, had a vision of the (Catholic) Church besieged by demons but victoriously defended by Michael and the heavenly host.

Search Think Free » Angels, Archangel, Fallen Angels, Gabriel, George (St.), Jehovah’s Witnesses, Raphael, Spiritual Attack, Uriel

Related Articles

• Why the archangels have men’s names (newtheologicalmovement.blogspot.com)
• Michael (strategicsorcery.blogspot.com)
• September 29th is Michaelmas (thesinglerider.com)
• Diocese to consolidate 5 Gloucester County parishes into 2 (philly.com)
• Angels are Awesome. But Please, Let’s Have a More Biblical Understanding of the Them (adw.org)
• The Shakeup of Parishes in the Camden Diocese Continues (gloucestercitynews.net)
• Camden To See 5 More Catholic Church Mergers (newyork.cbslocal.com)
• Gloucester County churches to consolidate into new parishes (nj.com)
• Hi the angel draw today is…. (angel38readings.wordpress.com)
• Origin of the Saint Michael Prayer (Pope Leo XIII) (cantuar.blogspot.com)

Add more, report errors or voice your opinion by posting a comment

Abyss

The Abyss

Originally uploaded by imagical

Abyss (Greek, abyssos, Latin abyssus). Myths about an abyss or bottomless pit are found in most cultures.

In Judaism the abyss lies deep within the earth, a place where evil spirits of the dead are banished (Job 32:22, Psalm 6:5, 143:7).

In ancient Greece the majority of the dead retire to a gloomy underworld, an abyss of “shades” where they endure punishment for worldly sins.

The ancient Greek idea of heaven is not well developed. In fact, only a few heroes pass on to the favorable Blessed Isles. After the 5th century BCE the belief that the dead reside among the stars appears. But this still radically differs from the concept of heaven as forwarded by Jesus Christ.

In Hindu lore, a popular version of the Ramayana epic portrays the heroine Sita being consumed by a great opening in the earth.

The Druidic tradition tells of evil foes falling down into bottomless caverns.

The biblical Satan is bound by an angel and cast into a bottomless pit (Rev. 20:3).

Mircea Eliade notes that myths about “binding” evil beings are quite plentiful.

New Testament (NT) accounts of an abyss refer to a hellish region from which a wild beast emerges to temporarily destroy prophets after they have completed their mission.

The Abyss in the NT is likewise described as a prison for evil spirits (Luke 8:31; Rev 9:1-2; 11; 11:7-8).

Interestingly, Victorian Fairy imagery is replete with watery underworlds inhabited by ghoulish beings, amidst which fairies are protected from harm by dwelling, often sleepily, within a sort of magical cocoon.

In the Beowulf myth, an evil water-troll is slain in her underwater lair by use of a magical sword discovered by the hero, deep under the water’s surface.

More recently, the invention of the bathysphere and the submarine opened the door for pulp fiction and numerous Hollywood “B” movies about underwater horrors.

An underwater abyss is also found in the science fiction film, The Abyss.

Sci-fi also depicts the abyss motif in outer space. In several episodes, Star Trek Voyager’s Captain Janeway stands perilously above an almost bottomless cylinder within a Borg ship.

Likewise, Star Wars‘ Luke Skywalker perches on a ledge over an abyss in the evil Emperor’s Death Star. And the more recent Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace is replete with strange subterranean beings.

In psychoanalytic terms, Freudians see the abyss as a symbol of the mother’s womb or the tumultuous forces of the instinctual id.

Jungians tend to regard the abyss as an archetypal image of the collective unconscious.

Regardless of which school one subscribes to, in the most general sense a fear of total destruction seems to coexist with a potential for victory over, and order arising from, the dark chaos of the abyss.

As Rod Serling put it in the close of the 1961 Twilight Zone episode “The Shelter” (pictured above), in which apparently normal American neighbors go beserk during an atomic bomb scare:

For civilization to survive the human race has to remain civilized.

Add to this, report errors, suggest edits or voice your opinion by posting a comment

Aliens and Extraterrestrials (ETs)

Classical Martian

Originally uploaded by matsuyuki

Aliens and Extraterrestrials (ETs)

The belief in aliens from other planets dates back for centuries, as does their alleged sightings.

47,000 year-old rock carvings in the Hunan province of China could be interpreted as evidence for UFOs.

Airborne “fire circles” were reported to the Egyptian Pharaoh Thutmose III (1504-1450 BCE).

In the Middle Ages an English abbot and several monks were alarmed when they saw

‘…a flat, round, shining silver discus’ soar over their abbey. And in 1733 a certain ‘Mr. Cracker’ and ‘another gentleman…about 15 miles north of where I saw it’ spied a UFO with color like ‘burnished, or new washed silver.’ It sped ‘like a star falling…but it had a body much larger.’”

Source: Mysteries of the Unexplained (Readers Digest, 1992, p. 209).

Some speculate that the burning force emanating from the Hindu god Siva’s third eye could be an ancient depiction of an alien death-ray, not unlike the lightning bolts of Zeus and Jupiter.

Biblical accounts of the “pillar of light” in the sky that lead Moses out of Egypt are sometimes taken as evidence of alien visitation.

Others maintain that religious miracles stem from an entirely different source than our physical universe and are qualitatively different than ET phenomena.

Along these lines, Keith Thompson in Angels and Aliens (Fawcett: 1991) asks whether angels and aliens belong within the same ontological category.

Today, media coverage on aliens has reached a new level. New theories and claims are appearing on TV and the internet. And ETs are a significant part of pop culture.

ET theorists variously envision aliens as saviors or destroyers of humanity.

Omnec Onec says she is a 246 year-old extraterrestrial raised on Venus who in 1955 traveled to Earth to spread the message of brotherhood and love. Meanwhile some Biblical fundamentalists see all aliens in terms of demonic deception.

It’s been suggested that psi abilities† increase with exposure to aliens. If so, the question remains as to whether such abilities would be used for good or ill. » Alien, Angels, “ET’s, UFO’s and the Psychology of Belief,” Heaven, Possession

—

† Along with phenomena such as ‘missing time,’ the apparent forgetting of whole series’ of events and returning to lucidity as if no time had passed.

Add to this, report errors, suggest edits or voice your opinion
by posting a comment

Astrology

Astrology [Greek: astron (star) + logos (discourse) = "discussion on stars"]

Ancient method of divination and forecasting originally developed in Mesopotamia (Babylonia and Assyria) for the benefit of ruling kings.

In ancient Hellenistic culture astrology became popularized and individualistic.

In English translations of the Old Testament astrologers appear to be condemned quite often. But only in one instance is the translation definite (Isaiah 47:13-14).

Contemporary astrologers often point out that the three wise men who came to honor Jesus were watchers of the stars.

The ancient Chinese and Indians practiced both astrology and astronomy, which from classical to medieval times were usually practiced together.

Early Muslims practiced astrology and astronomy in a holistic manner without any clear-cut distinction between the two approaches but by medieval times a sharp distinction was made between astrology and astronomy. The latter is denounced in the Koran as sorcery, a practice that apparently renders prayers ineffective for 40 days.

The prominent Muslim scholar, Sheikh Uthaymeen, said that astrology dealt with illusions instead of fact.

Astrology is a kind of sorcery and fortune-telling. It is forbidden because it is based on illusions, not on concrete facts. There is no relation between the movements of celestial bodies and what takes place on the Earth.

Source: Islamonline.com cited at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_astrology

Indian astrological writings first appeared around 100 CE, presumably from the influence of Greek astrology.

Ptolemy and Kepler both studied astrology.

Although frowned on by the Catholic Church, astrology persisted during the Renaissance.

In 1549 the Protestant John Calvin wrote a “Warning Against So-Called Judicial Astrology” and in 1586 Pope Sixtus V officially condemned all forms of divination.

Astrology continued, however, until about the 17^th-century, at which time it was effectively marginalized.

Never to fully vanish, it reappeared in postwar North America in various forms of mass media, such as the daily newspaper.

In contemporary Hindu marriages, astrologers are often summoned to determine the most auspicious hour for the performance of the matrimonial ceremony.

21^st century online astrologers like Jonathan Cainer combine proven business methods with astrology to increase traffic to their websites (see http://pcbcroxon.com/misc.htm).

Image Source:

• Resized from original by Liquid Lucidity, http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidrn/81238979/sizes/o/, Creative Commons No-Derivative License

» Zodiac

Add to this, report errors, suggest edits or voice your opinion by posting a comment

Augustine of Hippo, St.

Augustine of Hippo, St. (354-430) St. Augustine is one of the most influential figures in Christian history and one of the four Latin Doctors of the Catholic Church. Another theological luminary, St. Thomas Aquinas, often refers to Augustine.

In his Confessions Augustine says that prior to his conversion he was a libertine, flatterer, hedonist and dabbler in just about every philosophy in existence during the early years of Christianity.

Before converting he was a leading scholar and teacher. He had read Plato and Cicero, and became especially fond of Manichaeism.

In 372 he had a son, Adeonatus, out of wedlock.

After years of intervening prayer from his mother, St. Monica, Augustine allegedly “saw the light.”

A passage from the New Testament utterly changed him and he quickly embraced his new-found faith. Adeonatus followed.

Augustine was ordained in 391 and leveled an attack on the non-Christian religions of his day, especially Roman paganism.

In The City of God (413-426) he asks: If the Roman gods are so powerful, why did they allow Rome to fall?

He writes of two cities: one ruled by God and inhabited by the chosen people, the other ruled by the Devil and inhabited by those lost to darkness.

Augustine also refuted the Christian heresies of Donatism and Pelegianism.

His understanding of time is sometimes likened to that of Albert Einstein and Carl Jung‘s but this is a mistake. Augustine’s view of time is rooted within primitive, old-world thinking.

For Augustine God exists above and beyond creation in an eternal present but this does not mean that the past and the future always exist within creation, as some New Age and New Physics thinkers believe.

Rather, time for Augustine is a subjective experience discerned through motion and change.

If the past and future do exist…they are not there as future of past, but as present.” He continues “…it is only possible to see something which exists. So when we speak of foreseeing the future, we do not see things which are not yet in being, that is, things which are future, but it may be that we see their causes or signs, which are already in being.” From this he concludes, “…it is abundantly clear that neither the future nor the past exist, and therefore it is not strictly correct to say that there are three times, past, present, and future. It might be correct to say that there a that there are three times, a present of past things, a present of present things, and a present of future things.

Saint Augustine Of Hippo, Confessions. Trans. R.S. Pine-Coffin. Harmondsworth, UK: Penguin, 1961. pp. 267-269.

For Augustine, God knows every event that has happened, is and will happen, not because God is all events and all time but because God creates and exists above and beyond all events and time. God, therefore, has perfect knowledge of past, present and future or, as some writers put it, such knowledge exists “in the mind of God.”†

Thus Augustine’s view of God differs from theorists who tend to associate God with a so-called “world soul” (anima mundi) and from pantheistic philosophers claiming that Creator and Creation are identical or two interconnected phases of one unified process.

For many Christians and other monotheists, God is above and beyond but also immanent within creation–this being a very different conceptualization (with equally different ethical and perhaps experiential implications) that merely saying God is “All That Is.”

On the issue of Free Will vs. Determinism, Augustine essentially says that we are free to make personal choices but God knows in advance how we will choose.

Atheists find this standpoint unsatisfactory, while those who have taken a leap of faith do not. The former tend to want to understand everything with their intellects first. The latter believe that they will be taught by God what they need to know when the time is right.

It seems the two positions (atheism vs. faith-based) represent qualitatively different approaches-that is, different modes of being, experiencing and understanding. Although this claim is complicated by the fact that many say that atheism is founded on belief and furthermore, that the word “faith” has a variety of connotations among believers.

Augustine is also known for articulating the idea of the Just War, a view which some Christians find appalling, regarding it as a Satanic distortion of Jesus’ message, perpetuated by various man-made religious doctrines purporting to be divinely inspired.

—

†This may seem a trivial distinction to some but it has important implications for discourse on memory, intuition, insight, premonition and precognition and, in particular, the hypothesized mechanisms which would enable these faculties.

Add to this, report errors, suggest edits or voice your opinion by posting a comment

Brown, Michael H.

Brown, Michael H. (19??- ) Catholic writer and former columnist for the New York Times.

In his book Prayer of the Warrior Brown says that he left his post at the newspaper because of an increased perception of spiritual pollution in the bustling world of business.

From his perspective he saw Satan lurking practically everywhere–in downtown streets, during business lunches and in the popular media.

In Prayer of the Warrior he writes about the alleged influence of Satan in popular culture:

Instead of Yoruba drums, we had movies, the stereo, the television. One of the hit TV shows was called Bewitched (Milford, OH: Faith Publishing Co., 1993, p. 103).

If perhaps a bit overzealous at times, Prayer of the Warrior illustrates a popular belief in the importance of humility and prayer in overcoming what many religious traditions see as “attacks” from evil spiritual beings, forces or powers.

In Catholicism this theme is generally understood to fall within the realm of “Spiritual Warfare.” » Spiritual Attack

On the World Wide Web:

• “When You Are Obsessed Or Blocked, Kick Out Evil And Watch God Take Its Place” by Michael Brown.

Image Information:

• Saint Michael vanquishing Satan. No copyright symbol was seen at this web site » http://mrsnancybrown.blogspot.com/2005_05_01_archive.html  If you own the copyright to this image and would like it removed contact us and we’ll do so immediately.

Add to this, report errors, suggest edits or voice your opinion by posting a comment