[~ot] why is programming so fun?

[Aarti_pl]

Don pisze:
>> the word שטן (the devil) has two meanings one of which is "obstacle" and
>> the other refers to one of god's angels which of course never "fall from
>> the sky" or anything like that. Satan represents in the bible the role
>> of the prosecutor. God is the judge and he put Satan on the job of
>> pointing our faults since god is merciful and cares for his creations,
>> and didn't want to do it himself.
> 
>> Btw, angels are _not_ people with wings. מלאך is the word in the bible
>> and it literally means "a messenger". they can take a form of a human
>> just like they can be elements of nature like wind.
> 
> This sounds mostly correct to me. I'm surprised John disagreed with it.
> BTW, Another similar bizarre belief is that 'Lucifer' is Satan. Lucifer 
> = Latin for the planet Venus, also known as the morning star. The Bible 
> is very explicit that 'Lucifer' is Jesus, not Satan (see the second last 
> verse of the New Testament, for example!). It's a good example of how 
> common these types of misconceptions are.

Well, I can not check original right now, but I would rather say that 
using 'Venus' name in Bible text can mean different things depending on 
context. Other meaning is in Is 14,12. Passage from Isaiah is often 
interpreted as description of devil's fall, although directly it is 
about king of Babylon.

This symbol is similar to symbol of 'lion': it refers sometimes to 
Jesus("Lion of Judah"), and sometimes devil eg.:
1 Peter 5:8
Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a 
roaring lion looking for someone to devour.


> (Another classic: the Bible never says that Jesus was born in a stable.
> Hasn't anyone ever heard of Middle Eastern hospitality??).
> 
> Please don't assume that Christianity is based on blind faith. Those of 
> us who are evangelicals are constantly trying to find the places where 
> we've made mistakes, places we've ended up believing all kinds of 
> rubbish. Which is why I like talking to atheists, since you can 
> potentially learn the most from people you disagree with.

I agree with above. Additionally IMHO commonly existing misconceptions 
about Christianity are unfortunately very important factors, which keeps 
people away from it.

BR
Marcin Kuszczak