Say Anything Blog

I fear not because I know who I am and who’s I am.

You are all set - in Chicago and NYC!

Also, I noticed the ‘I am’ repetition. I think that was Fichte‘s solution to Kant’s first principle dilemma. “The self posits a self-positing self.”

Fichte (1762–1814) developed during the final decade of the eighteenth century a radically revised and rigorously systematic version of transcendental idealism, which he called Wissenschaftslehre of “Doctrine of Scientific Knowledge.” Perhaps the most characteristic, as well as most controversial, feature of the Wissenschaftslehre (at least in its earlier and most influential version) is Fichte’s effort to ground his entire system upon the bare concept of subjectivity, or, as Fichte expressed it, the “pure I.”

Also, Gene, while I am talking philosophy and you theology, did you know that the first monotheistic religion, Zoroastrianism (circa 9,10th c BCE), beat you guys by 1,000 years?

key concepts of Zoroastrian eschatology and demonology had influence on the Abrahamic religions

Thank you, by the way, for dealing with the demons. I’m glad it ain’t me! Still, I s’pect they fear my name.

There’s a huge arrogance in assuming that demons fear your name. It is one thing to believe you are doing the work of the lord or are trying to lead a good life. But to believe that demons run screeching from the mention of (insert your name here) is supreme self idolatry.

Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.
Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud.

-- Proverbs 16: 18-19 (KJV)

As it is written, There is none righteous, no not one.

-- Romans 3:10

In the story, the demon proclaims “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize...” There is nothing to impart that he fears Paul (though his master certainly), let alone that he fears other humans. The Bible is always clear that God does miracles by the hands of humans. It is always God’s power, God’s name, God’s works, never the works of man. To claim fear of demons is to claim that for yourself.

I fail to see how that’s NOT arrogant.

Obama/Biden is not change. It’s more of the same.

Sparkie, I’m sorry, you lost me.  I’m not a philosopher or theologian per se.  Just a guy with lots of experiences in the Spirit that witness to what is true for me.  So I’ll go with that.

As far as Zorasterism, The Bible confirms the existence of Pre Abrahamic religions. Look at the tower of Babel for example and what came from that. In fact go back far enough in history you will find most religious expressions were monotheistic.  One God.  That is the witness of the spirit.  There is One God.  Man knew that from the beginning because they knew the story of the true and living God.  It just skewed off a bit as time went on.

Man was created as we see in the Genesis account 15-20 thousand years ago.  The world is as old as our geology shows.  There have been extinctions.  Several.  But, there was a beginning to it all.  More than Big Bang.  The Big Bang was, God said.  and it was.

When? Billions of years ago.  Men existed before the creation of man as recorded in Genesis.  None of them survive to this day.

There are billions of years contained in the first verse of the Bible.  God had to recreate the earth from formlessness and void caused by some global catastrophe. (Asteroid in the Gulf of Mexico?) Then is when the creation story kicks in. 

So, zorasterism certainly did precede Abraham. Lots of things preceded Abraham.  Lost of aberrant religious expressions some of whom continue to this day.

We just have one trump card.  Jesus.  Predicted and fulfilled as he conquered death.  That’s why the Demons tremble.

the AVATAR
Old Tigers are more dangerous when they believe this could be their last hunt.

From , “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen”
Old tigers, sensing the end,
they’re at their most fierce. 
And they go down fighting.

Kenny,
First I looked at several versions of this passage in Acts 19, I don’t think they were mentioning that they knew Paul because they were passive about the whole thing.  I think they really did have concerns that he would come to them in the name, authority and anointing of Jesus and deal with them.  They would have to bow to his command. See Mark 16:17.

So, to say that once a person has been hidden in Christ he carries with him the same authority in the name of Jesus that Jesus carries.  Once that takes place the person who does walk in that authority is “Known about”.  Put another way, Taken note of. 
Not someone they want to mess with.  If I take note of a rattle snake, I will want to steer clear of it. To take note of.  Demons aren’t stupid.  They will try to stay clear.  They know this can’t come out well.  They are looking for an easier mark. 

So, is it arrogance to say that Demons know and fear when your name as it is connected with, anointed with the Power of Jesus?

I don’t think so.  We as Christians have walked in too little power.  We are pansies.  We must be bold, strong and full of confidence that We can do all things thru Jesus the anointed one and the anointing we carry in our very beings as a result of being connected spiritually to his anointing.  That’s the real explanation of the “I can do all things thru Christ which strengthens me”. 

If you reread my post, I say clearly that if you are walking in the anointing of Jesus you walk in the full authority of his name.  That is not arrogance, that’s the authority he intended everyone to have.

It’s the authority the Apostles needed and had after the day of Pentecost.  It’s the authority that men had for the first couple hundred years of Christianity until it became corrupted.

Thank God we are getting back to a Jesus centered understanding of what it means to be a Christian.

We are supposed to be kicking the devil around, not the other way around.  The gates of HELL are not supposed to be able to stand against us.  A gate is a defensive weapon.  So, we are to storm Hell and release those who are captive.

That’s what this old Tiger wants to do.  More important it’s what I already do.

You should see what happens when a person is set free from demonic oppression. Once you see that transformation it has two impacts on you, 1. You get angry that the devil deceives people they way he does and can put them in such bondage and 2. You go looking for trouble, your spiritual radar begins looking for those oppressed of the Devil wanting to be set free.  That’s why I spend so much time in difficult inner city circumstances.  I want to find those who are oppressed of the Devil and help them find release.

That’s what Jesus did. Acts 10:38 (New Living Translation)

38 And you know that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. Then Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.

Should I do any less?  Should any of us?

the AVATAR
Old Tigers are more dangerous when they believe this could be their last hunt.

From , “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen”
Old tigers, sensing the end,
they’re at their most fierce. 
And they go down fighting.

OK, Gene, my mistake, I misunderstood you.

I thought you were claiming that demons were afraid of you and your name...instead of being afraid of the authority you weild in Christ. My mistake.

I apologize for calling you arrogant.

Obama/Biden is not change. It’s more of the same.

yea. i’m pretty much about as atheist as they come. i mean, i was never baptized. i was raised by two scientists who believe in science. if explanations were ever needed, if i ever asked questions, the answers were scientific. what’s more, my parents endorse reductive scientism. they are hostile to disciplines like psychology and sociology… pseudo-sciences.

about as far as i go towards being religious is wondering how to get normativity (good, bad, love, hate, et al.) or teleology (function of purpose explanations) into a causal-mechanic world-view. Spinoza offered an option that is consistent with one sense of ‘God’. I don’t buy into Spinoza’s 1)determinism 2)panlogicism or 3)rationalism, but I am pretty impressed with his metaphysics in general (i.e. his monism and his theory of properties). I have been thinking about two related questions recently. 1) Are all ‘causes’ reducible to, and identical to, their micro-physical constituents, or are there non-reductive (or emergent) causes (such as a belief causing action in us)? (Hume has previously explained that this is pretty much unanswerable, but its fun to wonder.) and 2) What properties (intrinsic or extrinsic) are causally relevant? Why do the relevant properties change with the sort of explanation one seeks (causal, teleological) and are there any objective properties (or merely ones we can perceive/detect and deem to be relevant)?

All this God talk is for people who are afraid of thought-sin. You must recoil Gene, at all the pure saturation of the world with sin nowadays. They teach that we are free and must answer for our choices. They exaggerate about our freedom, get our spirits up, and steal this fiction back from us. Contrarily, it does make people behave and work hard with relatively few side affects (irrationality, pedophilia, hypocrisy, self-hatred, fear of death, sexual repression, psychic repression, intellectual repression, dualist schizophrenias, paranoias, etc.) which seem to be common to all religions, theisms, and atheisms; in greater or lesser amounts.

Well, monotheists seem to have come about at the same time as the others. My particular fav, if I am to pick one of those ‘quaint’ old views, would probably be Empedocles’ air, fire, earth, water, love, and strife schema. Its the coolest, IMO… and easier to believe than all that reanimation, miracle, and sea-parting talk we get from the Christians. I mean, I’ve seen fire, water, air, earth, love, and strife. And so have you. And you discredit this old schema as a brick in the tower of Babel?

I have seen, in Northern Italy, a place where the Christian church was built over the Roman one which, in turn, was built over a pagan one. literally on top of each other. a literal metaphor. See for yourself, in Fiesole.