
The Evil Creator
Origins of an Early Christian Idea
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Narrated by:
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Ben Henri
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By:
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M. David Litwa
About this listen
This book examines the origins of the evil creator idea chiefly in light of early Christian biblical interpretations. It is divided into two parts. In Part I, the focus is on the interpretations of Exodus and John. Firstly, ancient Egyptian assimilation of the Jewish god to the evil deity Seth-Typhon is studied to understand its reapplication by Phibionite and Sethian Christians to the Judeo-catholic creator. Secondly, the Christian reception of John 8:44 (understood to refer to the devil's father) is shown to implicate the Judeo-catholic creator in murdering Christ. Part II focuses on Marcionite Christian biblical interpretations. It begins with Marcionite interpretations of the creator's character in the Christian "Old Testament," analyzes 2 Corinthians 4:4 (in which "the god of this world" blinds people from Christ's glory), examines Christ's so-called destruction of the Law (Eph 2:15) and the Lawgiver, and shows how Christ finally succumbs to the "curse of the Law" inflicted by the creator (Gal 3:13). A concluding chapter shows how still today readers/listeners of the Christian Bible have concluded that the creator manifests an evil character.
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The book of Enoch was thought to be lost for over 2,000 years until, in 1773, a traveller brought three copies back from Ethiopia. Whether or not this ancient book was actually authored by Enoch, the father of Methuselah and great-grandfather of Noah, is an ongoing debate among historians and theologians. But all recognise the book of Enoch as one of the most important apocalyptic works outside of the Bible.
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Further Information
- By Timothy on 01-11-20
By: Unknown
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Change Your Mind
- Deprogram Your Subconscious Mind, Rewire the Brain, and Balance Your Energy
- By: RJ Spina
- Narrated by: RJ Spina
- Length: 7 hrs and 5 mins
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Change Your Mind uses revolutionary teachings to help rewire your subconscious mind and bring balance to your energy. Through a fourteen-day journaling exercise, you’ll uncover the mental programming already affecting you, and then apply specialized activities to counteract it. RJ guides you every step of the way, providing meditations, mindfulness practices, and more. He demonstrates how to not only meet the real you, but also maintain and express it through numerous activities you can easily integrate into your daily life.
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OMG! What a shock!
- By Suzie Schuder on 08-24-23
By: RJ Spina
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The Qur'an
- A New Translation by M. A. S. Abdel Haleem
- By: M. A. S. Abdel Haleem - translator
- Narrated by: Ayman Haleem
- Length: 19 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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The Qur'an, believed by Muslims to be the word of God, was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad 1,400 years ago. It is the supreme authority in Islam and the living source of all Islamic teaching; it is a sacred text and a book of guidance that sets out the creed, rituals, ethics, and laws of the Islamic religion. It has been one of the most influential books in the history of literature. Recognized as the greatest literary masterpiece in Arabic, it has nevertheless remained difficult to understand in its English translations.
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Missing chapter 44
- By Anonymous User on 05-29-19
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Super Attractor
- Methods for Manifesting a Life Beyond Your Wildest Dreams
- By: Gabrielle Bernstein
- Narrated by: Gabrielle Bernstein
- Length: 6 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Ready to turn what you want into the life that you live? The number-one New York Times best-selling author of The Universe Has Your Back shows you how. In Super Attractor, Gabrielle Bernstein lays out the essential methods for manifesting a life beyond your wildest dreams. This book is a journey of remembering where your true power lies. You'll learn how to co-create the life you want. You'll accept that life can flow, that attracting is fun, and that you don't have to work so hard to get what you want.
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Not a huge fan
- By Pamela H on 09-30-19
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Buddhism for Beginners
- By: Thubten Chodron, His Holiness the Dalai Lama - foreword
- Narrated by: Gabra Zackman
- Length: 4 hrs and 43 mins
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This user’s guide to Buddhist basics takes the most commonly asked questions - beginning with “What is the essence of the Buddha’s teachings?” - and provides simple answers in plain English. Thubten Chodron’s responses to the questions that always seem to arise among people approaching Buddhism make this an exceptionally complete and accessible introduction - as well as a manual for living a more peaceful, mindful, and satisfying Life.
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Amazing introduction to Buddhism
- By chad d on 07-02-15
By: Thubten Chodron, and others
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Late Revelations introduces a revolutionary model for understanding the creation of the gospels in the New Testament and beyond. Rather than viewing the gospels as static and finished works published at one time, this book proposes that the initial gospels were "waves" of rolling traditions—stories, teachings, and sayings that evolved within early Christian groups. These traditions were fluid and dynamic, initially lacking the apostolic authorship attributed to them by later generations.
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This volume offers an accessible investigation of the Naassene discourse embedded in the anonymous Refutation of All Heresies (completed about 222 CE), in order to understand the theology and ritual life of the Naassene Christian movement in the late second and early third centuries CE. The work provides basic data on the date, genre, and provenance of the Naassene discourse as summarized by the author of the Refutation (or Refutator).
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This volume presents in new English translations the scattered fragments and testimonies regarding Hermes Thrice Great that complete Brian Copenhaver's translation of the Hermetica (Cambridge, 1992).
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Essential current scholarship
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The scholarship of theology and religion teaches us that the God of the Bible was without a body, only revealing himself in the Old Testament in words mysteriously uttered through his prophets, and in the New Testament in the body of Christ. The portrayal of God as corporeal and masculine is seen as merely metaphorical, figurative, or poetic. But, in this revelatory study, Francesca Stavrakopoulou presents a vividly corporeal image of God: a human-shaped deity who walks and talks and weeps and laughs, who eats, sleeps, feels, and breathes, and who is undeniably male.
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On the Historicity of Jesus
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The assumption that Jesus existed as a historical person has occasionally been questioned in the course of the last hundred years or so, but any doubts that have been raised have usually been put to rest in favor of imagining a blend of the historical, the mythical, and the theological in the surviving records of Jesus. Historian and philosopher Richard Carrier reexamines the whole question and finds compelling reasons to suspect the more daring assumption is correct.
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The Origin of Satan
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Who is Satan in the New Testament, and what is the evil that he represents? In this groundbreaking book, Elaine Pagels, Princeton's distinguished historian of religion, traces the evolution of Satan from its origins in the Hebrew Bible, where Satan is at first merely obstructive, to the New Testament, where Satan becomes the Prince of Darkness, the bitter enemy of God and man, evil incarnate. In The Origin of Satan, Pagels shows that the four Christian gospels tell two very different stories.
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Must read for all practicing Christians
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The Case Against the Case for Christ
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One seriously bitter man
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How Jesus Became God
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Wishing for a bit more meat on the bones
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Beyond Belief
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Spurred by personal tragedy, Elaine Pagels turns to a consideration of the Gnostic Gospels, in particular, the Gospel of Thomas. As opposed to the Gospel of John, which asserted that Jesus was an eternally existing aspect of God who came to earth to save humankind, the "secret" Gospel of Thomas agrees that Jesus was in some sense divine, but says that a streak of divinity can be found in all of us.
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Gospel of Thomas is somewhat a misnomer
- By Buford on 06-08-04
By: Elaine Pagels
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Lost Christianities
- The Battles of Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew
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- Narrated by: Matthew Kugler
- Length: 13 hrs and 25 mins
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The early Christian Church was a chaos of contending beliefs. Some groups of Christians claimed that there was not one God but two or twelve or thirty. Some believed that the world had not been created by God but by a lesser, ignorant deity. Certain sects maintained that Jesus was human but not divine, while others said he was divine but not human.
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The Early Church(es)
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By: Bart D. Ehrman
What listeners say about The Evil Creator
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Anonymous User
- 11-19-24
Beautifully Informative
The Evil Creator was an excellent listen, and a great suggestion for anyone interested in demiurgical studies.
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- Battery_Life
- 10-12-24
Great Introduction to the Concept
Dr. Justin Sledge did an interview with David Litwa recently about this book, which was my introduction to it and to David. I thought the book was excellent and precise about the topic titling it. As someone who has read a lot of gnostic literature and a good deal of early Christian literature I thoroughly enjoyed his breakdown and analysis of the subject and will follow future publications.
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- chris graybill
- 11-13-24
great research
this is a well researched, very insightful book. neutral and historical. highly recommend. the demiurge gets the spotlight.
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- L-Dub
- 01-21-25
Clear and understandable examples
i was born 3rd generation into a modern american cult. after deconstructing my cult beliefs I was left with atheism. Reading Litwa and Stavrakopoulu helps me understand why I can be at peace with my new world view.
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- Rudi Goldman
- 09-24-24
Remarkable Scholarship
A deep nuanced exploration which should be required reading for all students of religion.
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- Daniel Ericsson
- 02-18-25
In depth analysis of the dilemma of Christianity
Revolutionary truths explained in chronological order, intelligent explanations and unraveling the the cause of evil in our world
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- James
- 09-13-24
Depth
I love that this short book was so in depth about early christians who believed the creator deity was evil. Stellar as usual from this author
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- Howdy
- 10-10-24
As a child I always saw the Old Testament god as evil.
Great book with lots of interesting perspectives. I came to the conclusion that the god of the Old Testament was one of the worst examples of parenting. Most decent humans would never treat our children that way.
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- Alexander
- 12-15-24
The lost History of a different Christian theology
Excellent stuff. Quick, to the point, and good scholarship. This very concept is absolutely mind-blowing and unbelievable that most people have no idea about it. The irony? It's almost too convincing not to ignore.
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