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Originally Posted by kd4
just thought I would say that not all ancient religions have strictly polytheistic ideas. Take the Greeks for example, yea there's a whole pantheon, but concerning the fates of mortals, which I think God is mostly concerned with, is controlled by one god and that's Zeus. My proof would be mostly from the Illiad by Homer. Homer says that there are 2 jars on Zeus' doorsill where the blessings and curses of men come from, or something along those lines. If you want to check it I'll give you an actual source later.
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Yes, but nearly all polytheistic religions have some sort o "father"-figure or head of the gods, Zeus and Odin come to mind quickest, but the majority of them have. The concept of the singular god, however, tries to embody all of the pantheon into a single creator that is responsible for everything, creation, weather, trees, animals, people, war, life, death, uncreation. That makes them vastly different while being quite similar at the same time. Quite the conundrum.
This IS a sticky one, isn't it? The scriptures do not say specifically that Azezel/Lucifer/Satan was cast out for any particular action. It states that he said to himself ("in thine heart" Isa 14:13 KJV) that he will ascend into heaven, etc. Most commentaries on this passage would indicate that Lucifer's sin was to think too much of himself or to exalt himself above God. The question is, does one need free will in order to experience pride. Did Azezel/Lucifer/Satan make a choice against the will of God? Our understanding of his position was that he was the head worshiper in heaven. It seems that there was a slight shift in his perception that he began to worship himself instead of God. It is also indicated in scripture that one third of heaven fell with him. Were these angels? Did they also start worshiping Lucifer/Azezel/Satan instead of God?
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Originally Posted by aRs3N1c42
The question becomes, "What is free will?" Can arrogance and pride exist without free will? If we assume that angels don't have free will, the fact that Luficer/Azezel/Satan and a third of heaven were cast out would seem to indicate that they can have pride without free will. Would it not be possible that the same "rules" of psychology and spirituality that govern humans don't necessarily apply to Angels? What are Angels? They are spiritual beings created by God. They are different from humans, we know that, but how? They do not have a physical body but can appear as if they did. Scripture describes two types of angels, cherubim and seraphim; the warriors and the worshipers, respectively.
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Hmmm... indeed! However, free will dictates that we control our will. Without free will, your will is dictated by another. In the case of angels, lack of free will would mean their will was dictated by God. So, in theory, God could have WILLED Azezel, et al, to commit the sin of pride, but who knows. Assuming God did no such thing, it would show the angels did indeed have free will. Most spiritual people, Christian or otherwise, would posit that will is part of the spirit rather than the physical body. If that is the case, then there is little reason to doubt that angels would be much different in regards to that specific.