#chrstianity

[mikhailruinstheinternet]

My mother does not want me to watch Good Omens because it “mocks religion”, to the point where I literally am not allowed to buy any Good Omens merch. The whole “mocks religion” excuse is stupid because a) it’s really not that bad b) she knows I have nothing against any religion, and c) she hates Muslims and gets mad at me when I say anything pro Muslim at all, but that’s fine that she straight up hates a religion but I’m not allowed to like a satire on Christianity.

[thearcalian]

[anastpaul]

(via Quote/s of the Day – 4 March – “Watch” over your life. …)

[sweetandsaltypress]

Hello!

My name is Brooklyn, and I'm the creator of Sweet & Salty Press! I made this press because I wanted to create God-glorying fiction that didn't fit the typical "clean" mold. It's basically Christian fiction without the sugarcoating because when God's truth is sugary, so is His Word and His redeeming power. 💞 Releases So Far 💞 (All of these are free to read on KU, btw!)

✨Wondering ✨ Nadia Crowell is determined to use the powers God gifted her to be the best undercover fairy godmother she can be, but there’s one major problem: life isn’t a fairy tale. With a little faith, trust, and wonder, Nadia has to make this work or she'll go down in history as the worst fairy godmother ever. Can she succeed when her ever-complicated love and work life keeps getting in the way? 🎁Dear Santa, Send Me a Man 🎁 Grace Adams wants a lot of things: a stable job, a working car, a drama-free life—but more than anything, she wants her Mr. Right. She’s been asking God for ages, but He’s been holding back. So, she gets a bright idea: write a letter to Santa. Sure, it’s a long shot (considering Santa's not real), but she sends it anyway.

A few days later, someone shows up at her door—not Mr. Right, Mr. Kind of Santa—and he wants to marry her. But that doesn't matter because her heart will always be on Mr. Right—or so she says.

Want a free taste of what I mean by not sugarcoated? Check out Prove It, a free short story you get when you sign up for our monthly newsletter!

[inspofromancientworld]

Legendary Creatures: Angels and Demons

By This file was donated to Wikimedia Commons as part of a project by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. See the Image and Data Resources Open Access Policy, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=60913896

Angels and demons are creatures that are subservient to monotheistic gods and likely came the spirits and daemons (evil spirits) assigned to various natural phenomena by polytheistic and animistic belief systems becoming subservient to the deity that became supreme.

By Sculptor Albano; photo by Billy Hathorn - Salvatore Albano in Brooklyn Museum, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18344231

Demons go farther back, possibly to the Paleolithic, being manifestations of fear of the unknown or strange or horrific. They were malevolent and may cause anything from ill luck to illness to untimely death. In monotheistic religions, they became subservient to the supreme evil, the subservient antagonist to the supreme god, moving from Zoroastrianism to Judaism to Christianity and Islam.

Zoroastrianism is one of the oldest monotheistic religions still practiced, and thus one of the oldest religions that has angels (holy deities called 𐬀𐬨𐬆𐬱𐬀⸱𐬯𐬞𐬆𐬧𐬙𐬀 Aməša Spəṇta) that are emanations of the Wise Lord (𐬀𐬵𐬎𐬭𐬀 𐬨𐬀𐬰𐬛𐬁 Ahura Mazdā, God), as well as demons (𐬛𐬀𐬉𐬎𐬎𐬀 daēuua, 'gods that are (to be) rejected') that promote chaos and disorder.

By Unknown Calligrapher - Library of Congress, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4173727

Daēuua is linguistically interesting as it is related to the Proto-Indo-European word that became 'deus' (god) in Latin and 'Zeus' in Greek and 'deva' (divine being) in Hinduism. In the Gathas, the oldest writings of Zoroastrianism, daēuas aren't yet the malevolent spirits they'd become later, though they are mentioned as a group of 'quite genuine gods, who had, however, been rejected' because they can't distinguish between truth and lies. By the writing of the Younger Avesta (about the 3rd century CE), the daēuas are hostile and texts are given to protect against them.

By mehdi hosseini, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=54176133

Yazata (𐬫𐬀𐬰𐬀𐬙𐬀) means 'worthy of worship or veneration', which can be applied to many things, including healing plants, and Ahura Mazdā (who is 'the greatest of the yazatas'). In the Gathas, it's also applied to the 'divine sparks' that become the Aməša Spəṇta who were what the daēuas were not. By around the early 4th century BCE, every day of the month was under the protection of a yazata, which also established a hierarchy amongst them.

In Judaism, angels (מַלְאָךְ‎ mal’āḵ 'messenger') are traditionally beings that stand by God but are distinct and subordinate. Tradition also places them below humans because they are only able to carry out God's commands and lack a will of their own. A prophet or priest could also be called a mal’āḵ. But, referring to supernatural entities, they are part of the heavenly court, moving from being part of God to being distinct from God. They're tasked with delivering messages for God. Satan is part of the heavenly court as well as a mal’āḵ. By the time the book of Daniel was written, angels even have names, Gabriel and Michael being mentioned in that book.

There are two types of demons in the Hebrew Bible, shedim (שֵׁדִים), which occurs twice, and se'irim (שע‬י‬רי‬‬ם‬), which occurs once. Se'irim refers to male goats and is used in Leviticus 17:7 and probably refers to Assyrian demons that happened to be goat shaped. Shedim, used in Deuteronomy 32:17 and Psalms 106:37, refer to foreign gods which are evil for not being the Jewish God. Diseases, especially those that affect the brain, were ascribed to demons and the cure was thought to be the removal of demons.

By Unknown author - http://www.vvv.ru/forum_gallery/original_view.php?id=8570&tid=1, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7768239

Early Christianity took the idea of angels as messengers from the Jewish tradition, adding that they ministered (served) to people as dictated by God. They added Uriel and Raphael to Gabriel and Michael of the Jewish scriptures. Their existence is taken for granted as is that of demons and their opposition to each other. It also accepted that angels could interact on the physical plane with humans, advising kindness to strangers 'for thereby some have entertained angels unawares' (Hebrews 13:2).

By Attributed to Michelangelo - 9QG4jcK04QjMfw at Google Cultural Institute maximum zoom level, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=23608743

While there were evil spirits sent by God, they aren't considered demons because they serve God rather than opposing God. In the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible) the 'gods of other nations' became 'daimones' (minor deities) and carried negative connotations. Because of this translation and association, the duality of angels on God's side and demons being non-Christian deities as well as being tempters and causing pain and suffering. Of the 55 times demons appear in the New Testament, 46 of those refer to possession or exorcism.

By anonymous - Transferred from ru.wikipedia to Commons by Shakko using CommonsHelper. + [1], Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7794115

In Islam, angels (ملاك Malāk) are foundational and are exclusively heavenly spirits, not humans messengers. They are able to reason and can be tested by God by adornments. They're not specifically named as revealing the Quran, but tradition holds that Gabriel did so. They are also capable of carrying out negative tasks, like guarding and punishing sinners in hell.

By Multiple/Unknown - Oxford Digital Library, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3727081

Demons in Islam take two basic forms, jinn (جِنّ‎, sometimes djinn), which come from pre-Islamic Arabian belief systems. They're accountable for their actions and can believe or disbelieve God's guidance. Though they usually are invisible, they can show themselves and change their shape at will. They can also be injured and take revenge by possessing the person that harmed them, requiring an exorcism. They rarely meddle with human affairs. The other form, shayāṭīn (شَيَاطِين, singular shayṭān شَيْطَان) or devils, are related to Jewish and Christian versions of demons and are specifically malevolent, opposing believers and leading them astray. They are still under the command of God since God commands both good and evil despite being reluctant about it, and can only act when God orders them to do so.

[theriu]

“Compassion is kindness for people in need. More than just feeling pity, compassion moves you to relieve the misery of a person. In the parable of the Good Samaritan, the Samaritan “had compassion” on the injured man (Luke 10:33 esv), which moved him to come to his rescue. The Greeks and Romans valued courage, strength, wisdom, power, and revenge. For them, compassion was a weakness, not a virtue. But for believers in Jesus, compassion is what marks us out as God’s children. Jesus tells us to imitate our heavenly Father: “You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate” (6:36 nlt.) Compassion is God’s very person. In one of the greatest self-revelations in the Bible, He described Himself as “the compassionate and gracious God” (Exodus 34:6). We’re most like our Father when we’re compassionate, kind, and gracious to others.”

—Our Daily Bread, Jan. 26, 2023

[catholicgael]

Agiosoritissa (Mother of God), Constantinople, 7th century

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

Don’t worry, your god will be a Disney character some day.