From: jtem01@gmail.com   
      
   On 12/20/25 4:32 PM, Mike wrote:   
      
   > Some demons even pretend to be Jesus, I might expect.   
      
   Do demons have agency?  Can they make decisions? Do they   
   have "Free Will?"   
      
   It is my understanding that only God can create life. That,   
   Satan is powerless to do so. The best he can accomplish is   
   to SAVE a life.   
      
   In Camp God there's Lazarus rising from the dead and of   
   course the resurrection But of Jesus. But there's also the   
   Immaculate Conception of Jesus or even Sarah giving birth   
   to Issac when she was 90!   
      
   All from God, because all life comes from God.   
      
   As I pointed out in the past, the fundies were always huge   
   on the anti Christ and the head wound... Donald Trump.   
      
   The thing is that the anti Christ is supposed to survive   
   quite miraculously (Donald Trump) and part of it here is   
   that it's Satan who is saving him.   
      
   Satan can't create/grant life but so long as you're not   
   actually dead yet -- no matter how close -- he can save   
   you.   
      
   This isn't a tangent. See, the concept of demons does not   
   give with all of this. I mean, if they have agency, free   
   will, they think and they make decisions and act on their   
   own... how are they not alive?   
      
   Angels are one better than humans, not one less!  And angels   
   are probably as far away from humans as demons are described.   
      
   I dislike the concept of demons because it externalizes   
   evil. In a very real sense, it's blaming "Sin" on Satan and   
   demons and then punishing people for those sins.   
      
   Right?   
      
   And if you're going to say something like "It's because if   
   you put your faith in God you can't be influenced by Satan   
   and his demons" then you're saying that sin isn't bad,   
   nobody is ever punished for sin, they are punished for their   
   lack of faith.   
      
   Which is odd, because there have been many "Sinners" who   
   did have a lot of faith! Meaning, they had a strong faith   
   that there is a God, Heaven exists and there is divine   
   retribution.   
      
   Lots of "Sinners" had faith!   
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
   --   
   https://jtem.tumblr.com/   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)