Soulwork: The Lucifer Effect
This Sunday, November 30, at 9-10 am and the following Wednesday evening, December 3, 6:30-7:30 pm, we conclude our four-week Soulwork series entitled, “Be Not Conformed.” For the first three weeks, we discussed Walter Wink’s “Powers” trilogy of Biblical scholarship investigating questions around the reality and morality of power–earthly and divine–as illuminated by the Hebrew and Christian scriptures.
For our final discussion, we will look at the recent book, The Lucifer Effect, by Stanford psychologist, Phillip Zimbardo–the man behind the famous “Stanford Prison Experiment.” For info about Zimbardo, the Stanford Prison Experiment and The Lucifer Effect, click here. And here’s a quote from Zimbardo’s book, subtitled, “Understanding How Good People Turn Evil”:
The “Lucifer Effect” describes the point in time when an ordinary, normal person first crosses the boundary between good and evil to engage in an evil action. It represents a transformation of human character that is significant in its consequences. Such transformations are more likely to occur in novel settings, in “total situations,” where social situational forces are sufficiently powerful to overwhelm, or set aside temporally, personal attributes of morality, compassion, or sense of justice and fair play.
Evil is the exercise of power to intentionally harm (psychologically), hurt (physically), or destroy (mortally or spiritually) others.
According to various scenarios of early Christian Church Fathers (from Cyprus, Armenia, Greece, and France), Lucifer was god’s favorite angel, referred to as the “Morning Star,” as “Light,” as the “Prince of the Power of Air.”. His sin, and the origin of his transformation into the Devil, stems from his envy of man and disobedience to God…
Thus, “The Lucifer Effect” represents this most extreme transformation imaginable from God’s favorite Angel into the Devil. My work has focused on lesser transformations of human character not as dramatic as this one, in which ordinary, even good people begin to engage in bad deeds, for a short time or longer, that qualify as evil.
terrible
Comment by miller | September 2, 2009
Off topic – Help with PM?
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Boss Resurfacing
Boss Resurfacing
Comment by Boss Resurfacing | September 6, 2009
The word “Lucifer” in Isaiah 14:12 presents a minor problem to mainstream Christianity. It becomes a much larger problem to Bible literalists, and becomes a huge obstacle for the claims of Mormonism. John J. Robinson in A Pilgrim’s Path, pp. 47-48 explains:
“Lucifer makes his appearance in the fourteenth chapter of the Old Testament book of Isaiah, at the twelfth verse, and nowhere else: “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!”
Listen to Isaiah – Chapter 14 (King James Version) from blueletterbible.org.
The first problem is that Lucifer is a Latin name. So how did it find its way into a Hebrew manuscript, written before there was a Roman language? To find the answer, I consulted a scholar at the library of the Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati. What Hebrew name, I asked, was Satan given in this chapter of Isaiah, which describes the angel who fell to become the ruler of hell?
The answer was a surprise. In the original Hebrew text, the fourteenth chapter of Isaiah is not about a fallen angel, but about a fallen Babylonian king, who during his lifetime had persecuted the children of Israel. It contains no mention of Satan, either by name or reference. The Hebrew scholar could only speculate that some early Christian scribes, writing in the Latin tongue used by the Church, had decided for themselves that they wanted the story to be about a fallen angel, a creature not even mentioned in the original Hebrew text, and to whom they gave the name “Lucifer.”
Why Lucifer? In Roman astronomy, Lucifer was the name given to the morning star (the star we now know by another Roman name, Venus). The morning star appears in the heavens just before dawn, heralding the rising sun. The name derives from the Latin term lucem ferre, bringer, or bearer, of light.” In the Hebrew text the expression used to describe the Babylonian king before his death is Helal, son of Shahar, which can best be translated as “Day star, son of the Dawn.” The name evokes the golden glitter of a proud king’s dress and court (much as his personal splendor earned for King Louis XIV of France the appellation, “The Sun King”).
The scholars authorized by … King James I to translate the Bible into current English did not use the original Hebrew texts, but used versions translated … largely by St. Jerome in the fourth century. Jerome had mistranslated the Hebraic metaphor, “Day star, son of the Dawn,” as “Lucifer,” and over the centuries a metamorphosis took place. Lucifer the morning star became a disobedient angel, cast out of heaven to rule eternally in hell. Theologians, writers, and poets interwove the myth with the doctrine of the Fall, and in Christian tradition Lucifer is now the same as Satan, the Devil, and — ironically — the Prince of Darkness.
So “Lucifer” is nothing more than an ancient Latin name for the morning star, the bringer of light. That can be confusing for Christians who identify Christ himself as the morning star, a term used as a central theme in many Christian sermons. Jesus refers to himself as the morning star in Revelation 22:16: “I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.”
And so there are those who do not read beyond the King James version of the Bible, who say ‘Lucifer is Satan: so says the Word of God’….”
Henry Neufeld (a Christian who comments on Biblical sticky issues) went on to say,
“this passage is often related to Satan, and a similar thought is expressed in Luke 10:18 by Jesus, that was not its first meaning. It’s primary meaning is given in Isaiah 14:4 which says that when Israel is restored they will “take up this taunt against the king of Babylon . . .” Verse 12 is a part of this taunt song. This passage refers first to the fall of that earthly king…
How does the confusion in translating this verse arise? The Hebrew of this passage reads: “heleyl, ben shachar” which can be literally translated “shining one, son of dawn.” This phrase means, again literally, the planet Venus when it appears as a morning star. In the Septuagint, a 3rd century BC translation of the Hebrew scriptures into Greek, it is translated as “heosphoros” which also means Venus as a morning star.
How did the translation “lucifer” arise? This word comes from Jerome’s Latin Vulgate. Was Jerome in error? Not at all. In Latin at the time, “lucifer” actually meant Venus as a morning star. Isaiah is using this metaphor for a bright light, though not the greatest light to illustrate the apparent power of the Babylonian king which then faded.”
Therefore, Lucifer wasn’t equated with Satan until after Jerome. Jerome wasn’t in error. Later Christians (and Mormons) were in equating “Lucifer” with “Satan”.
So why is this a problem to Christians? Christians now generally believe that Satan (or the Devil or Lucifer who they equate with Satan) is a being who has always existed (or who was created at or near the “beginning”). Therefore, they also think that the ‘prophets’ of the Old Testament believed in this creature. The Isaiah scripture is used as proof (and has been used as such for hundreds of years now). As Elaine Pagels explains though, the concept of Satan has evolved over the years and the early Bible writers didn’t believe in or teach such a doctrine.
The irony for those who believe that “Lucifer” refers to Satan is that the same title (‘morning star’ or ‘light-bearer’) is used to refer to Jesus, in 2 Peter 1:19, where the Greek text has exactly the same term: ‘phos-phoros’ ‘light-bearer.’ This is also the term used for Jesus in Revelation 22:16.
So why is Lucifer a far bigger problem to Mormons? Mormons claim that an ancient record (the Book of Mormon) was written beginning in about 600 BC, and the author in 600 BC supposedly copied Isaiah in Isaiah’s original words. When Joseph Smith pretended to translate the supposed ‘ancient record’, he included the Lucifer verse in the
Comment by ion ghica | January 22, 2011
What goes through your mind each day?
Do you believe the bible? Truly?? then what follows must be truth..
that there truly are angels & demons here among us that we can’t see
that each belongs to a great army.. and they are very much at war
and everyone has at least 1 of each assigned to them, with them each day
these “beings” watch & know our ways.. and make suggestions to us
and are also constantly talking to everyone else in our lives
sadly it seems most believe these added “thoughts” are their own??
Their goals?
The demons want to confuse & worry us
to think we are stupid, helpless & bad, to loose touch with reality & others
The angels want to clarify us, help us find solid ground & grow in God’s peace
a happy or disturbed life.. it depends on which “thoughts” you believe
as when your life on earth ends, you will be joining one of their armies..
So your day.. every thought in your mind is either yours
or a thought suggested by one of the angels or the demons
the running conversation in your mind is a combo of all 3..
your daily environment (every one around you) is affected by all 3
Does not the bible/God tell us that-
The devil “talked” to Eve.. that he ALWAYS tempts us, tries to stumble us
That God “talks” to you.. and that He sends angels to protect us and
instructs us repeatedly to wear His armor to fend off the demon’s attacks!
Aren’t we to believe God’s instructions? to recognize & resist the devil!
Ok.. so imagine you are the demon assigned to confuse, worry & waylay you..
anything to ruin your day.. make you fail.. keep your mind fuddled
what do we worry about? what makes us unhappy, guilty, mean, or confused?
what would be the best way to do this TO YOU?? what messes you up most?
Lets watch them work on a man.. young & married with kids..
how would the demon ruin his life? make it really tough every day?
so lets see what fun the demons can have..
First cause strife in his marriage-
his wife is tired from working & looking after kids.. fixing dinner & the house
her demon keeps her mind busy so she forgets her makeup & his kiss
suggests to him that the new gal at work is cute.. suggests to her to wink at him
shows him his single buddies going out after work.. suggests to one to invite him
suggests to him that life would be more fun without the harried wife & noisy kids
The angel suggests- that she is tired and has much to do.. help her
that he loves his kids, that he is committed to her & his marriage
the demon suggests he is & should feel guilty about the thoughts HE gave him?
then the demon suggests he needs a drink.. or 2.. or 3!
the angel whispers-no.. dont.. it will makes things worse.. go help her
what does the man do?
Then the demons attack him on all sides.. really make him feel alone-
suggests to his boss that he is being lazy.. to check up on his work often
keeps the man’s mind on other worries so he messes up on projects
keeps him distracted as he lays down something, so he forgets where it is
tells him his family never appreciated him, tempt all to argue & seperate
suggests he needs a crutch.. and interupt or guilt any thought of God ‘s help
especially convince him that demons aren’t real..
that his problems are all other’s faults.. or better yet, his own!
the demon will try to distract you.. like have a friend to call to interrupt
or else keep tons of junk suggestions running through your head
so you miss something important.. you dont hear or see what what needs to be done
now you feel guilty.. you didnt make that birthday call.. you forgot to stop & get milk
now your spouse hears her demon’s suggestions that you are non-caring..
you hear yourself saying- no I was busy.. your demon says your wife is a pain
you & wife argue.. you go to bed not speaking..
the demons grins ear to ear.. their job well done for the day
how can they get you best? you know you & so do they.. what are your “buttons”?
is it money? do you need more? are you underpaid? do your bills pile high?
how about your weight & loving food- is that loved snack a guilt to bear?
or pride- are you smarter than others.. or does your neighbor have more?
too busy- no time for loved ones, always just one more riddle to solve
feel insecure- scared not pretty, not smart, not capable
bad relationships- are you unworthy of love? are you jealous?
thoughts of freedom vs duties? so shirk responsibility.. drink.. carouse
oh what circles the demons can run us in!! and they know this game well
even every good act can become bad.. like a pride badge to wear?
and the demons especially love to twist these in your mind..
busy-ness befuddles.. guilt, anger, jealousy, pride beat us down
how easily we fall listening to the demons chatter.. STOP NOW!!
PLEASE WAKE UP PEOPLE! THIS IS NO FAIRYTALE!
KNOW- 2 others are whispering in your ear.. in everyones! with good & bad ideas
KNOW- these are OTHER beings.. REAL beings.. with other motives.. REAL motives!!
KNOW- you are never alone.. every person/soul is important to them.. EVERYONE
KNOW- we will become like them too.. we WILL join one of their armies..
WHOSE suggestions are you listening to? Do you know which ideas are yours alone?
HOW does your day usually go?
HOW would it go if you knew this to be true? if you sifted these suggestions
and acted as YOU decide.. knowing your thoughts are NOT all yours..
don’t feel guilty or super smart for your thoughts.. these were probably theirs
Ask God for discernment and protection.. think clearly.. listen for the angels
the demon’s suggestions will ruin you.. recognize them.. and cast them out!
Worth repeating from another writing-
Lastly, did you know it is written that God brags on your faith in heaven? And that Jesus prays for you to make it through your daily trails. And also that the Holy spirit speaks for you to God when you dont even know how or what to ask for? They all truly know how tough it is living here. Is this real? Oh yes. Knock on the door today. Just tell Jesus your heart and ask him to cover your sins as He promised.. then go talk to your Father. Ask Him first to build your faith.. then ask for the Spirit’s instruction, wisdom & discernment. Open your ears to the angels & close them to the demons. Your are a conquerer by faith! Choose to live in Eden by truly being joined daily with your God, who has a plan for you & promised you your heart’s desires!
Suggested readings on this topic- The Bible!! and also
Comment by ion ghica | January 22, 2011