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Suffering
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Llyandrian
Livestock Science Exchange
#1 - 2012-04-12 09:35:52 UTC  |  Edited by: Llyandrian
In Amarr Scripture, people are brought closer to god by their suffering, and when they achieve heaven they are relieved of that suffering. This is very similar to Roman Catholic Dogma, 'you're not a real Catholic unless your suffering'.

Then we have
Quote:
Then Molok the Deceiver sundered the lands and the people suffered floods and plagues conjured by him. Molok turned the people against the sefrim and people who once sang their praise now abhorred them.


In the old testament the flood and Plagues unleashed on Egypt are sent by the Abrahamic God, who also upsurped the old Gods. This is an inversion of responsibility and victim.
Evet Morrel
Doomheim
#2 - 2012-04-28 16:52:37 UTC  |  Edited by: Evet Morrel
What scripture are you citing in support of this: that in Amarr Scripture people are brought closer to god by their suffering. I'd love to know, it'd be so nice to have divine sanction. To know that I was doing god's work. I could stencil it to my hull.
Evet Morrel
Doomheim
#3 - 2012-04-28 16:54:42 UTC  |  Edited by: Evet Morrel
"Only through many hardships
Is a man stripped to his very foundations
And in such a state
Devoid of distractions
Is his soul free to soar
And in this
He is closest to God"
- The Scriptures, Book of Missions 42:5
Deceiver's Voice
Molok Subclade
#4 - 2012-04-28 20:42:32 UTC
Llyandrian wrote:
Then we have
Quote:
Then Molok the Deceiver sundered the lands and the people suffered floods and plagues conjured by him. Molok turned the people against the sefrim and people who once sang their praise now abhorred them.

Molok the Deceiver
The Amarr Faith is not completely analogous to the Catholic faith, though it does draw a lot of inspiration from it.

Molok himself seems to be loosely based on "Moloch". The Amarr... well, the name and symbolism are a mismatch of Akkadian and Sumerian AMAR.UD - Marduk. Note, both "Amarrians" and "Udorians" are True Amarr.

Well, let's just say I would wager there could be "alternative explanations" as to what exactly the Amarr worship. For instance, that Molok represented an older faith that was being threatened (a leader of this faith, for instance), and the Sefrim created as a means of wooing the followers of the older faith to that of the Amarr.

From this context, the Amarr Emperor could easily have said, "This isn't our deity doing this, it's the work of that crazy guy over there, Molok. ::cough::He also steals babies and drinks blood.::cough::"

It's just my interpretation though. Long and the short of it, I would personally see the Amarr as saying; "Hardship brings you closer to God; Suffering is a punishment from God." This isn't something unique to the Catholic faith, and the mythological roots of the Amarr faith seem to go much farther back (Mythology is awesome).
Llyandrian
Livestock Science Exchange
#5 - 2012-04-29 00:39:04 UTC  |  Edited by: Llyandrian
Deceiver's Voice wrote:


Well, let's just say I would wager there could be "alternative explanations" as to what exactly the Amarr worship.


This is my point, consider molok as a verb not a noun, a description not a name, it takes on a quite different meaning from convention, with scripture telling the story from the pre-Christian perspective. Molok is the Abrahamic God turning the people away from the old faith.
Deceiver's Voice
Molok Subclade
#6 - 2012-04-29 01:37:33 UTC
Llyandrian wrote:
This is my point, consider molok as a verb not a noun, a description not a name, it takes on a quite different meaning from convention, with scripture telling the story from the pre-Christian perspective. Molok is the Abrahamic God turning the people away from the old faith.

Another possible interpretation.

From the eveolopedia article on Molok:

Quote:
While the Amarr church contends that Molok's existence and actions as recorded in the Scriptures are historical fact, many foreign scholars believe that the events are embellished at best or outright fabricated at worst. Most sources of information regarding him come from the Scriptures or later authors, leading some to doubt his existence entirely. Of course, the Scriptures are replete with verifiable historically accurate documents, making objections to them as a source of information contentious.

It's definitely open to interpretation, but from the perspective of an Amarrian scholar going by Amarrian religious tradition, Molok was a person, and the events described in the scripture were historical fact.

At least, that's what they would say when the powers-that-be are watching.