"He is genderless and all powerful so he can appear to anyone in any form He likes. If He wants to be a woman for a while, that's His business. I always say Him because it's easier and I don't say His name, so don't expect it."
Crowley took rather larger sips of his wine then he normally would and continued.
"All right. Here's the condensed version of the story. In the beginning of everything there was Him and nothing else. Not even space or time for Him to exist in. Then he created the angels. Nine choirs in three tiers. At first, they existed only to praise Him, their Creator. But although there was no time yet, they knew that at some point they would be needed for something else and they worked towards those ends, trusting His plan.
"Now, He had a second-in-command who was the Morningstar, you know him as Lucifer. And things were fine for a while, though there was no while for them to be fine in. I won't keep saying that, just keep it in mind. It's hard to explain non-temporality in English. Anyway, at some point, the Morningstar learned of His plans for the creation of the universe. Lucifer's pride told him that he could rule such a creation better than Him, so he gathered followers, nearly a third of all the angels, and rebelled against the Lord.
"There was a War, the likes of which you could not conceive and many angels were slain. In the end, however, the Archangel Michael, the Commander of the Host, and a real jackass by the way, overpowered the Morningstar and threw him down. As punishment for his sins of Pride, the Morningstar was cut off entirely from the Presence and made to Fall into a new realm. This he called Hell and he became its ruler the way he wanted to rule Heaven."
Crowley finished his fourth, sixth, ninth? glass of wine and poured himself another. He really hated talking about this part.
"Every living thing feels the Presence. I know that you're an atheist, but you feel it, too, and would only miss it if it were gone. Since it was nearly everything that makes up an angel, most of those who lost it went insane or became really cruel and twisted. They started to become known as demons.
"Then He created Light, Time, the Universe, the Earth, Water, Life, and Humans. He created a Man and Woman and put them in the Garden of Eden where He told them they could eat of any tree but one: the tree of knowledge. Well, Lucifer, for various reasons, formed for me a mortal serpent body (I suspect it was easier than a human one...) and sent me to the Garden with an order to make some trouble. Since there was only one rule, the only trouble I could make was to get them to break it. Eve was dissatisfied with her idiot husband Adam, but he was the man and the first so he was in charge. But I convinced her that if she ate the apple from the tree of knowledge that she would be the one in charge. She did and got instant awareness of right and wrong and free will to go along with it.
"Suddenly with free will, the humans could choose whether they wanted to be good and follow Him or to be evil, wallowing in sin for their own personal gain. And somehow, I never did quite understand this part, but there was some kind of Agreement that said that His followers would return to Heaven when they died and those who chose evil would be punished and sent to Hell. It doesn't seem like a fair choice to me if those are the consequences, but He has never been fair, no matter what anyone says."
Trying very hard not to sound bitter, Crowley tried to wrap up his argument.
"So here's my point. There is nothing that can exist that He didn't create, right? Because He is omnipotent. So if He didn't create other dimensions, and we would know if He did 'cause we were there, then they don't exist. So, where then do you people come from? I don't know. Maybe He wants you all to just think you're from another dimension. Maybe He wants me to think you exist when you really don't. Second guessing Him is impossible and His plan is ineffable, so I don't worry about it."
Crowley sat back, muttering something about solitare. "I hope that answers your question, kid."
no subject
Crowley took rather larger sips of his wine then he normally would and continued.
"All right. Here's the condensed version of the story. In the beginning of everything there was Him and nothing else. Not even space or time for Him to exist in. Then he created the angels. Nine choirs in three tiers. At first, they existed only to praise Him, their Creator. But although there was no time yet, they knew that at some point they would be needed for something else and they worked towards those ends, trusting His plan.
"Now, He had a second-in-command who was the Morningstar, you know him as Lucifer. And things were fine for a while, though there was no while for them to be fine in. I won't keep saying that, just keep it in mind. It's hard to explain non-temporality in English. Anyway, at some point, the Morningstar learned of His plans for the creation of the universe. Lucifer's pride told him that he could rule such a creation better than Him, so he gathered followers, nearly a third of all the angels, and rebelled against the Lord.
"There was a War, the likes of which you could not conceive and many angels were slain. In the end, however, the Archangel Michael, the Commander of the Host, and a real jackass by the way, overpowered the Morningstar and threw him down. As punishment for his sins of Pride, the Morningstar was cut off entirely from the Presence and made to Fall into a new realm. This he called Hell and he became its ruler the way he wanted to rule Heaven."
Crowley finished his fourth, sixth, ninth? glass of wine and poured himself another. He really hated talking about this part.
"Every living thing feels the Presence. I know that you're an atheist, but you feel it, too, and would only miss it if it were gone. Since it was nearly everything that makes up an angel, most of those who lost it went insane or became really cruel and twisted. They started to become known as demons.
"Then He created Light, Time, the Universe, the Earth, Water, Life, and Humans. He created a Man and Woman and put them in the Garden of Eden where He told them they could eat of any tree but one: the tree of knowledge. Well, Lucifer, for various reasons, formed for me a mortal serpent body (I suspect it was easier than a human one...) and sent me to the Garden with an order to make some trouble. Since there was only one rule, the only trouble I could make was to get them to break it. Eve was dissatisfied with her idiot husband Adam, but he was the man and the first so he was in charge. But I convinced her that if she ate the apple from the tree of knowledge that she would be the one in charge. She did and got instant awareness of right and wrong and free will to go along with it.
"Suddenly with free will, the humans could choose whether they wanted to be good and follow Him or to be evil, wallowing in sin for their own personal gain. And somehow, I never did quite understand this part, but there was some kind of Agreement that said that His followers would return to Heaven when they died and those who chose evil would be punished and sent to Hell. It doesn't seem like a fair choice to me if those are the consequences, but He has never been fair, no matter what anyone says."
Trying very hard not to sound bitter, Crowley tried to wrap up his argument.
"So here's my point. There is nothing that can exist that He didn't create, right? Because He is omnipotent. So if He didn't create other dimensions, and we would know if He did 'cause we were there, then they don't exist. So, where then do you people come from? I don't know. Maybe He wants you all to just think you're from another dimension. Maybe He wants me to think you exist when you really don't. Second guessing Him is impossible and His plan is ineffable, so I don't worry about it."
Crowley sat back, muttering something about solitare. "I hope that answers your question, kid."