Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!mips!dimacs.rutgers.edu!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: horsch@cs.ubc.ca (Michael C. Horsch) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: The demons Message-ID: Date: 5 May 91 04:43:51 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C., Canada Lines: 34 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu In article ROBERT@kontu.utu.fi (Robert W. Johnson) writes: :This post concerns the demons. : [...] :Now what are they, and where did they come from? Demons are mythical creatures (I'd even say "metaphorical creatures"). The question "where did they come from?" entirely misses the point of the myth (or metaphor). It's much more useful and interesting to ask: "Why does scripture mention them?" and "What do these metaphorical creatures represent today?" Then we can dispense with the metaphor and deal with the real concerns that we've been able to identify. : [...] :Now if you don't believe me concerning where the demons come from and who :they are then SCRIPTURALLY show me. Scripture is not a source from which one can (or even should) prove the existence of anything. Besides, asking someone to use scripture to disprove the existence of something that scripture explicitly mentions (even as a part of a myth) is as silly as asking someone to disprove the existence of Calvin's tiger, Hobbes, using only the Sunday funnies. :Robert W. Johnson :Computer center, The University of Turku, Turku Finland :robert@kontu.utu.fi (InterNet) :robert@firien.bitnet (BITNET) : :The preceeding is my opinion and may not express the opinion of my employer :and furthermore has nothing to do with my employment. Mike (My employer is not responsible for my views, and vice versa) -- Michael C. Horsch Department of Computer Science horsch@cs.ubc.ca University of British Columbia