I was reading an article online, about the upcoming Vatican ruling on a Shrine in the Balkins. The shrine is built in a place where people say the virgin mary has been appearing, and people have been going there in the hundreds of thousands sort of like the Lourdes thing. After the article, which supposes that the pope will rule that this is all from satan and meant to lead people away from the church, there were comments from people regarding the phenomena, the expected ruling, etc.
This one caught my eye, because this person believes that worship only counts if it's based on faith of gods existance and not absolute proof of god's existance. Any thoughts on this, other than the guy's a crackpot? Here is his comment:
One of the common theories put around concerning Medjugorije is that these manifestations are the work of Satan.
One of the common responses is “Why would Satan do something which only reinforces faith in God?”
The answer is obvious. God requires faith from his followers. Faith means you believe without evidence.
If God were to provide direct evidence that he exists, there would be no need for faith. Because direct evidence would mean God is a fact, not a belief.
Why believe something which is proven? You don’t need to *believe* something is true, because evidence means you *know* it is true.
So why would Satan create these manifestations? Because it destroys faith. People think there is actual evidence god exists, so they no longer need faith.
Those people who view the miracle might worship God. But they worship him because they saw *evidence* he exists. Not because they have faith he exists.
And if people don’t have faith in God, where do they end up? You guessed it. Oblivion.
So think. All those people going to see the manifestations, might just end up on the highway to hell courtesy of the deceiver’s clamshell tricks.
I don’t know about you, but why would anyone want to risk their soul in such a way? True faith shouldn’t need proof anyway.