Epicurus to the Rescue!
EPICUREANISM: A philosophy advanced by Epicurus that considered happiness, or the avoidance of pain and emotional disturbance, to be the highest good and that advocated the pursuit of pleasures that can be enjoyed in moderation.
“Death does not concern us, because as long as we exist, death is not here. And when it does come, we no longer exist. “
--Epicurus
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“For Epicurus, pleasure consisted in freedom from disturbance. Two forms of disturbance stood out for Epicurus: the disturbance of God intervening in nature and the disturbance of an afterlife. For Epicurus, to allow that God might intervene in the natural world and to take seriously the possibility of an afterlife (with the moral accountability and judgment it implies) were incompatible with the good life.........A God who intervenes in the natural world and thus in human affairs is a God who can derail our plans and mess up our day.”
--William Dembski
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“Atheists are prepared to burrow very deep down the materialist rabbit hole in order to avoid any possible confrontation with the spiritual.”
--Rabbi Moshe Averick
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“ I can hardly....see how anyone ought to wish Christianity to be true; for if so the plain language of the text seems to show that men who do not believe, and this would include my Father, Brother and almost all my best friends, will be everlastingly punished. And this is a damnable doctrine."
--Charles Darwin
"There seems to me to be too much misery in the world. I cannot persuade myself that a beneficent and omnipotent God would have designedly created the... [parasitic wasp]... with the express intention of their feeding within the living bodies of caterpillars, or that the cat should play with the mouse."
--Charles Darwin
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It has been observed that since Charles Darwin presupposed that God would never have created such a messy world of suffering and pain, he [Darwin] was driven to posit his evolutionary theory, in part at least, to get man off the Divine moral hook. After all, if Chance, Time and the mindless mystery-force of Natural Selection could be coaxed (“scientifically”, of course) to take the heat for evil and injustice in the hearts of men and in the world, then those pesky issues like “sin”, the afterlife, and moral responsibility before a Holy God could begin... quite conveniently... to fade away into the dense and comforting fog of metaphysical Naturalism and the feel-good, muddle of purposeless, mud-to-man Macro-Evolutionism.
Motivated at least in part by anger against the “damnable doctrine” (ie. the possibility of eternal separation from God or...“hell”), Mr. Darwin pulls out his 'easy-pleasey' Epicurean Eraser of wishful thinking and before you can say, “It's not fair! I didn't do it!....I'm not guilty!”, the Just and Holy God revealed in Scripture sheepishly begins to slink away...as we are encouraged to imagine... embarrassed, impotent and disgraced.
Magic Macro-Evolutionism, in its determination to save humankind from her universal existential angst, has heroically ridden into town on a white unicorn of metaphysical speculation, and, using the scalpel-blade of godless Epicurean Materialism, proudly proclaims that she has successfully declawed The Lion of Judah and sent him on his way.
Scientism to the rescue!.
Thus the Spirit of Idol Humanism ascends the vacated throne of God and, with newly acquired sovereign bravado, declares God defeated and dead. and the new and improved Commandments” are issued:
“Relax. Be not disturbed. There is no “Sin”. Let feelings, pleasure...and power...be your guide!”
Redemption is conjured up at the “Mercy Seat” of the triune philosophies of Epicureanism, Materialism, and religious Scientism. The magic wand is waved. Absolution achieved. With painless ease, neo-Darwinian wizardry ushers a soulless humanity into New Age Nihilism's Epicurean Heaven.
Self-serving philosophical alchemy at its finest.
The soul: now you see it....now you don't.
The Darwinian/Epicurean “meme” is deeply stained into the fabric of the human soul, it seems...
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“On hearing this Jesus said, 'It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.' But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Matthew 9: 13)
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"Hey! Come On Now, Eppie!...Cure Us!”
(Father Darwin, Please Chip In!)
Epicurus, man, we hear you...
We know now the highest good!
Help us spread your gospel message,
Through this Feel-Good Neighborhood!
Help us find our Comfort Level...
And put Moses' God to bed!
We can handle sweet, sweet Jesus...
(But without some things He said!)
“Evil's” not a happy topic,
Nor that creepy talk of “Sin”...
Epicurus! To the rescue!
Father Darwin, please chip in!
It's a matter of convenience;
Yes, we seek The Way of Ease!
Eppie, teach us all about it......
Help dissolve the “soul disease”.
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Just find comfort in your feelings,
Just relax and be here now!
Let your feelings be your Idol;
Let them be your Sacred Cow!
Find shalom here in the darkness...
Give your conscience, man, a break!
Sidestep Sinai's pointing finger...
Just relax....for Heaven's sake!
Dodge The Light here in the shadows;
Darwin's cover just employ!
Truth's not really what we're after...
No, our bottom line's “Enjoy!”
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Charlie Darwin! That's the ticket!
Hop the Epicurus' Train!
All aboard The Loco-Motive...
Idol thoughts to rule and reign......
Who'd-a-thunk it?...Tiny finch beaks
Could obscure a Holy God!
Chuck 'n' Eppie's magic moment!
Life of ease!....No Decalogue!
Hey! Come on now, Eppie! ...Cure us!
From the lies of Romans Three.
Teach us “Sin” is just illusion...
Shine your light and help us see!
Follow up, sweet Father Darwin....
Soothe us with thy word today!
May we hear you whisper to us:
“Son, what did God really say?”
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“...Epicurus designed his materialist system to make any deity superfluous...evolutionary theism (or any of its variants), rather than providing anything new, is merely following in the ruts of Epicurus's wagon......A materialist cosmos must necessarily yield a materialist morality, and therefore Darwinism must yield moral Darwinism.”
--(Benjamin Wiker, Moral Darwinism: How We Became Hedonists, 2002)
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Lord, give us grace to recognize our true condition and our true need. Help us 'see' our spiritual blindness. And then like beggar Bartimaeus, may we respond....”Lord, have mercy!”