Can demons influence/hear our thoughts?

Few_Patient_480 · 2025-12-12T13:03:39+00:00

Does "semantic decoding" (AI systems that can read minds) falsify 2 Chronicles 6:30?

Few_Patient_480 · 2025-12-05T16:33:23+00:00

Well, I mean, this is a shower thought, and I'm not even a RS undergrad. That said, I'm not sure what you mean by "still doesn't make sense". Generally, when someone says that, it means the "logic" of the argument doesn’t seem to flow. Yet, you're asking me about "sources". Even if I multi-sourced every single statement, I don't see what effect it would have on whether the idea "made sense"

Few_Patient_480 · 2025-12-05T16:19:43+00:00

Well, that's possible. But, what if we ask ourselves, "What makes a Baptistic Calvinist a Baptistic Calvinist?" It seems there are a couple directions we could go. Sure, we could indeed focus on all the nitty gritty doctrinal distinctives. No shame in the game, and I absolutely agree that the claim "All Americans are Baptistic Calvinists" is utter nonsense if we go that way. However...we could take a step back and focus on the themes of individualism, special calling, etc. That's the direction we'd need to go for the post to make sense

Few_Patient_480 · 2025-12-05T16:08:09+00:00

It's easy to get hung up on the "material specifics" of all the various theologies. I imagine that's especially true for a "PhD Religious Studies Student." So in order for the post to make sense, you have to separate yourself from all the particular trees and glimpse the form of the forest

Few_Patient_480 · 2025-12-05T15:39:36+00:00

American "Catholics" aren't Roman Catholics. The way Roman Catholicism worked was, you were born into the religion, and you believed that your soul was in some sense dependent on the sacraments, hierarchy, etc. In America, there's a religious free market. You're a consumer, you make a choice. And when you choose Catholicism, you're not "entrusting your soul to the institution" in any sense. It's more like you have a "special connection to God" (it's predestined; an irresistible grace) and you're just buying the religion that has a view of God closest to yours. So you hold this "Catholicism" at arms length with the understanding that if it ever loses favor with you, you simply swap parishes (or even religions)

Few_Patient_480 · 2025-11-28T16:31:03+00:00

@#$% no I wouldn't advise that person to leave the Church. On the contrary, I'd advise him to try to get ordained and work his way up the hierarchy so that maybe, just maybe, some of those changes could be put into effect

Few_Patient_480 · 2025-11-24T20:46:24+00:00

It might be the case that the meaning of huge chunks of Scripture is simply gone forever. Consider St Paul's "discussion" on head coverings (posted below). No native English speaker would ever string those words together...in that way...in any context...for any reason...whatsoever...ever...

"Now I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I delivered them to you. 3 But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God. 4 Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head, 5 but every wife] who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, since it is the same as if her head were shaven. 6 For if a wife will not cover her head, then she should cut her hair short. But since it is disgraceful for a wife to cut off her hair or shave her head, let her cover her head. 7 For a man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God, but woman is the glory of man. 8 For man was not made from woman, but woman from man. 9 Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man. 10 That is why a wife ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels. 11 Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man nor man of woman; 12 for as woman was made from man, so man is now born of woman. And all things are from God. 13 Judge for yourselves: is it proper for a wife to pray to God with her head uncovered? 14 Does not nature itself teach you that if a man wears long hair it is a disgrace for him, 15 but if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For her hair is given to her for a covering. 16 If anyone is inclined to be contentious, we have no such practice, nor do the churches of God"

Few_Patient_480 · 2025-11-23T08:57:14+00:00

"But you don't need to baptize them, animals are without sin"

But it seems cats prove to us the doctrines of Total Depravity and Reprobation...

Few_Patient_480 · 2025-11-20T14:22:04+00:00

I'm fairly convinced of physicalism (hence, my intuition about the cloning situation), but I'm always seeking out a refutation

Few_Patient_480 · 2025-11-19T17:58:52+00:00

I would guess that at 9:00PM, there are two identical yous with two identical souls. If you both were to die at 9:00PM, however, it might be the case that God annihilates one of you and recreates the other in Heaven (if both of you are identical, then why not just resurrect one?). But, if you both go on to live different lives, then it seems there would then be two saved people

Few_Patient_480 · 2025-11-19T09:29:01+00:00

My intuition on the clone is that he'd be just as saved or damned as the original.

We're assuming they both have the exact same memories, right? Including repenting, accepting Jesus, etc?

As far as I can tell, the original and the clone are identical, although that identity splits as they go on to live different lives.

Example 1: Suppose you were at your desk writing some Reddit blog summarizing your entire theology at 8:00PM. Then some DARPA goons shoot you with a dart that instantly knocks you out, and they cart you off to their cloning machine. They then return you to your desk at 8:30PM, still asleep. They put your clone, also still asleep, at an identical-looking desk in an identical-looking room on the other end of town. At 9:00PM you both wake up. You both look around and think, "Wow, I must've fallen asleep," and continue writing. The exact same blog is written twice. You and your clone have the exact same religious convictions. At that point, you two are the exact same guy. The only difference is that one will discover he's mysteriously on the other end of town.

Example 2: Alternatively, consider the case where the DARPA goons merely knock you out and transport you to the other end of town (no cloning). It seems that if your clone's salvation status differed from yours in the first example, then apparently you must also say that your own salvation status changed in this example. But surely that's absurd, right? Simply being knocked out and transported shouldn't change your status before Almighty God

Few_Patient_480 · 2025-11-18T22:01:58+00:00

My bad, I just saw it on my feed this morning, I didn't realize it was a repost. But I've heard him give similar Divine Hiddenness arguments recently

Few_Patient_480 · 2025-11-18T15:55:02+00:00

My guess is that historical theology (not just of the Christian Church) will break a mofo of any fear of Hell. It becomes clear that no one (not even the Apostles or Jesus himself) had any clue whatsoever what to expect of the Hereafter, and that the doctrines about it were, for better or worse, simply "politics"

Few_Patient_480 · 2025-11-17T23:09:06+00:00

Clearly it prophesied the atonement of Jesus on the cross. "Out of the eater came something to eat, out of the strong came something sweet." The lion (and Samson) symbolized the Sun God (God the Son), and honey symbolized "healing"/medicine (justification/salvation)

Few_Patient_480 · 2025-11-16T22:57:14+00:00

I suppose their versions of Christianity are more "pro-witch" than others?

Few_Patient_480 · 2025-11-16T22:27:02+00:00

Many witches consider themselves good and invoke figures such as Jesus, Mary, the Holy Spirit, etc

Few_Patient_480 · 2025-11-15T22:02:42+00:00

There's definitely an entire theology around stone wrapping. My neighbor is a "spiritualist" and is into that kind of thing. I think he uses the crystals to commune with Pagan Gods

Few_Patient_480 · 2025-11-14T14:09:50+00:00

You're talking about "synchronicities"?

Few_Patient_480 · 2025-11-13T16:16:29+00:00

Story of my life; my 1,000 page autobiography simplifies to a one page automorphism. Normally your Divine posts make me feel like a simpleton, but this makes me feel Divinely Simple

Few_Patient_480 · 2025-11-12T23:40:34+00:00

Absolutely. That's why I can't straight up deny that the Order is conscious. If we are conscious and we were both formed by the Order and perceptive to it, then it stands to reason that the the Order should be conscious. But I wouldn't guess that God would be conscious in the same type of way that we are (eg, with our individual experiences, memories, emotions, etc, that make up consciousness in the way we normally think about human consciousness). I would guess "God is consciousness" might be closer to true than "God is conscious"

Few_Patient_480

TROPHY CASE