Neo-monophysitism

Quote: FrGamble

Turning to a real person who

The set of real people doesn't include Jehovah, Anubis, Zeus, Luke Skywalker and many others. The subset of real people you can turn to does not include Julius Caesar, Aristotle, Jesus, Alexander the Great, etc.

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Of course you should do something like that. Prayer will help you to see clearly exactly those good ideas and practical solutions.

Prayer wastes time which could be used in thought.

You may as well counsel me to use the Force.

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First remember YHWH suggested no such thing, that was Satan. God protected Job in this story.

I understand. You need to interpret the passages that show the nature of the monster so they mean the opposite. War. Eastasia. Always. It gets old after a while.

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I might need to remind you again to skip the five verses you find so distasteful and read the 40 chapters that are what the Book of Job is really about.

So now it's "PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE MAN BEHIND THE CURTAIN!"

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Do you give up, doubt God's love or His presence, do you curse Him and get angry, do stupid things that make everything worse?

What you do about a fictional character has no consequence on your life in this world.

Quote: Nareed

The set of real people doesn't include Jehovah, Anubis, Zeus, Luke Skywalker and many others. The subset of real people you can turn to does not include Julius Caesar, Aristotle, Jesus, Alexander the Great, etc.

and since Jesus is God incarnate that means you can turn to God.

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Prayer wastes time which could be used in thought.

Prayer is opening you up to the thoughts and will of God.

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So now it's "PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE MAN BEHIND THE CURTAIN!"

No, more like pay attention to the actual meaning of the book.

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What you do about a fictional character has no consequence on your life in this world.

The character of Job can have a very good and real consequence on your life if you listen to what his story is about.

Quote: FrGamble

No, more like pay attention to the actual meaning of the book.

Your witticisms need some actual wit.

The actual meaning of the book is: Jehovah can send others to make you suffer long and hard, and he won't even tell you why. But you'd best keep your true faith in him, since he sees you as little more than a bug crawling over his creation. This is a deity you're supposed to fear.

Quote: Nareed

since he sees you as little more than a bug crawling over his creation. This is a deity you're supposed to fear.

What I fear is anybody who's follows
Yahweh. That's what's really scary.

Quote: Nareed

The actual meaning of the book is:

That we as human beings often suffer long and hard and we don't know why. But if we have faith in God we know even in our hardships that He sees us as precious and with inestimable value and He will draw close to us in our suffering. This is a deity who loves you and desires to give you hope in the reality of suffering we all must face.

Quote: FrGamble

That we as human beings often suffer long and hard and we don't know why.

But we do know why, in the book. it's spelled out in the verses you're trying to whitewash. Jehovah is a sadist who demands total devotion from his inferior subjects. I've said this before, he's all-powerful and has an inferiority complex, as though he feels he doesn't deserve all that power. He's a bully.

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But if we have faith in God we know even in our hardships that He sees us as precious and with inestimable value and He will draw close to us in our suffering. This is a deity who loves you and desires to give you hope in the reality of suffering we all must face.

That would be funny if people didn't take it seriously.

You know, I attended a burial today at a Jewish cemetery. If it makes you feel any better, this version of the cult of Jehovah is just as bad as yours. I do recall what most of the gravesite prayers mean. About 95% is ass-kissing of the almighty, insecure deity, and the rest is wishful thinking.

Quote: Nareed

But we do know why, in the book.

What is in this fictional book is not the reason and any reasonable person that understands literary genres would know that. Come on the Rabbis, the early Christians, everyone did not read these few verses you are stuck on as the Gospel truth. Our suffering is not because God has some bet with the devil. I know you would like to take this literally because it fits your twisted version of God but you need to come off it. The fact of the matter is that we don't know why good people like Job suffer and if anyone tells you they have an answer they are lying. You suffer and I suffer and the Book of Job recommends that instead of spending 40 chapters trying to figure out something we cannot that we instead have faith that life is not meaningless and that our suffering will end with great joy and peace in the love of God.

If you were writing a book about how to deal with suffering what would you suggest? Give up, realize life is without meaning, you die and are wormfood deal with it, suicide? I'm curious. You see what you offer is not at all funny and it brings me great fear that anyone would ever take you seriously.

Quote: FrGamble

If you were writing a book about how to deal with suffering what would you suggest? Give up, realize life is without meaning, you die and are wormfood deal with it, suicide? I'm curious.

That's easy. Soldier on, life is nothing but
a stream of random events. There is no
meaning outside the one we give it. Look
for the upside in all things and eventually
your life will turn around. Be aware that
you create your reality, it doesn't create
you. No gods needed.

The question is why should I carry on or why should I create a positive reality if there is no meaning outside the one we make up?

Quote: FrGamble

What is in this fictional book is not the reason and any reasonable person that understands literary genres would know that.

I know it's fictional. everything from Genesis to the New testament is fiction. But if we're going to analyze the characters and their motivation, we need to take their actions seriously.

So in this case, what is Jehovah's motivation for telling Satan to go ahead and make Job suffer?

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If you were writing a book about how to deal with suffering what would you suggest? Give up, realize life is without meaning, you die and are wormfood deal with it, suicide? I'm curious. You see what you offer is not at all funny and it brings me great fear that anyone would ever take you seriously.

That would depend on the specific causes, situations and what is within one's control to do about it. There is no universal cause of suffering.

But my top advice would be NOT to turn to Jehovah, Jesus, Spiderman, Obi-wan Kenobi, Amun, Hercules, or other fictional characters for help.