@ThomasdelVasto's banner p

ThomasdelVasto

Κύριε, ποίησόν με ὄργανον τῆς ἀγάπης σου

0 followers   follows 0 users  
joined 2025 May 20 19:37:18 UTC

Blogger, Christian convert, general strange one. https://shapesinthefog.substack.com/


				
User ID: 3709


				
				
				

			

		

	














	


		


			



	

		

			

			

				

					

						

							
						

						

							
							

								
ThomasdelVasto


								

								

								
								
								

								
							
					
 
				


				
Κύριε, ποίησόν με ὄργανον τῆς ἀγάπης σου

				
				
				

				

					0 followers  

					follows 0 users  

					joined 2025 May 20 19:37:18 UTC
				


				
					

					
Blogger, Christian convert, general strange one. https://shapesinthefog.substack.com/



				

				

				

				

				

					

					

					
					
					

					
User ID: 3709


					
					
					
				

			


					

						
					



		

	

 











			
			

			
			

			




	


		

			
‎

			

				
				

					Hour
					Day
					Week
					Month
					Year
					
				

			


			
‎

			

	
	

	 Hot Bump Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
	



		

	






	

		
		

		
		
	

	

  







		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for May 17, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
How come? What's the block for you? With dogs specifically.


Though I am curious about your wife's other ideas now, lol.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for May 17, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I agree we deserve dogs, and your intelligence test is great. Our dog is great at opening doors and it's a pain, but we love him.


I'm the same with cats, they're ok but nowhere near as lovable as dogs. Kind of like, less variance though since they tend to be less annoying.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for May 17, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Your kids don't want puppies???


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for May 17, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I finished Mage Errant, it was pretty good but dropped down to a 3.5/5 by the end. I actually made a Youtube review if anyone is interested: https://youtube.com/watch?v=8XjM93SfXTE


Started reading Spellslinger on the advice of the author of Mage Errant, and it's fun so far. My biggest gripe with it though is that it has that retarded trope where the protagonist gets in intense magical battles and always just happens to knock people unconscious instead of actually killing them. So incredibly stupid, though I get why authors are tempted to use it.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for May 17, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
What kinds of pets do you all have? And why are dogs the best?


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Friday Fun Thread for May 15, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Hah yes I have seen Buffy multiple times, excellent show.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Friday Fun Thread for May 15, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Yeah I agree with all of this, except obviously I don't think hell is eternal and generally think God is more of a chill guy than most Christians. Which, I hope, helps make my actions a bit more reasonable.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Friday Fun Thread for May 15, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Cyberpunk is one of those games that my friends always try to convince me to play. I finally got it after years of pressure, played like 20 hrs, and just got super bored. I'm not sure why exactly as it seems like a game I'd like on the surface, but it just felt... soulless. I didn't care about any of the characters. The plot felt kind of dumb. The world and the gangs and such all seemed super fake. I don't know exactly what the problem was.


That ending does sound cool though!


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Friday Fun Thread for May 15, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
What's your favorite trash movie series to watch? My fiancee and I just watched Twilight and it was a hilarious romp. End of the fourth movie was GROSS though.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Wellness Wednesday for May 13, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Congrats! Cruises are awesome. May you have many years.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Wellness Wednesday for May 13, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I thought this for a long time, until I started them and they immediately helped me out of years and years of depression.


I am on an SNRI and have chronic pain though, so it might be different than most.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Wellness Wednesday for May 13, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Wishing you luck brother!


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Wellness Wednesday for May 13, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I think SSRIs and that class are still the cutting edge. Scott Alexander has a good article about them but I can't find it at the moment, I think @self_made_human linked it to me a while back.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Wellness Wednesday for May 13, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Mmm I would say it tends to feel like a lot of tension in my body overall and just a sort of pessimistic outlook on life.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Wellness Wednesday for May 13, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Ahahaha I didn't expect that to work, but hey I'll take what I can get.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Wellness Wednesday for May 13, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Update since @FtttG already thanked me for my previous depression post, (read my blog already Ft!), but I am doing much better!


The primary issue in my case was playing too many video games, especially of the addictive, competitive kind. After I set that down I naturally went back to spending more time reading, in prayer/meditation, and generally just taking care of responsibilities at work and in the household, which has been great for my mood. Ultimately I find that in retrospect it's often quite obvious why my mood has dipped, but when I'm in the middle of a depressive episode it's frustratingly hard to understand or take action on it. Oh well.


I also want to do a quick shoutout here to anti-depressant drugs. For over a decade I dealt with depression and refused to take any prescriptions for it. While I do think it's good to resist treatment for a while, ultimately I caved and I'm glad I did. I'm on an SNRI and it has been a tremendous help to me. So if anyone is on the fence about it and has struggled with depression or anxiety for a while, I'd recommend at least trying some.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Wellness Wednesday for May 13, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
You should go ahead and marry self_made already so we can get him in here. Not sure if a doctor's medical license transfers with marriage, but perhaps it should!!!


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Baby Don't Fear the Reaper
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
You may be right, though I believe Luther was notoriously anxious about hell himself.


Calvinism and the resulting branches definitely focused on it more though, I agree there.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Baby Don't Fear the Reaper
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


I can't tell you how much I agree. I came to the same conclusion a few years back, persuaded by similar arguments. I have some notes. First, your section on aiōniois is pretty good, but you could make a stronger case by also mentioning Romans 16:25:




Thanks for the feedback! Yeah I could've gone deeper into the Scriptural arguments, but I felt I had enough to at least question the premise that infernalism had to be right in an absolute sense. I know that it goes far deeper than what I laid out!




Once you look past the authorities and their grand proclamations of Hell being eternal, most of the arguments for how a benevolent God could possibly allow such a thing strike me as weak - even the higher quality arguments proposed by great figures like CS Lewis don't stand up to scrutiny. It ultimately comes down to whose authority you trust, and the original scriptures muddled through the lens of our modern English translations.




Very strongly agree. As I pointed out a couple times, a benevolent God torturing His creations for eternity just makes zero sense to me. The argument is always "but we need free will!" which I actually didn't cover here, to my chagrin, but that feels extremely weak to me as well. So God created us knowing many would choose eternal torment... that's still evil!




which argues that Universalism was a majority or at least commonplace view in the early church. If that's right, then the whole thing reeks of a doctrine endorsed for social engineering purposes.




I mean yeah it's obvious to me at least that the temporal church has been corrupted throughout history and used doctrine as a blunt instrument to force control onto people. I don't think any clear eyed Christian with a good grasp of history can argue any differently.


To me it helps that I'm Orthodox, as the official Orthodox position leaves a lot more room for the temporal church being fallible than the Catholic position does. You wouldn't know it interacting with many Orthobros online, but there is plenty of dissent amongst the Orthodox church about the decisions of the hierarchy. Orthodoxy is, by it's nature, far more democratic and council oriented than Rome, so it feels far more flexible and alive to me, in terms of doctrine.




In the end, however we argue about it, we'll meet God one day and have to accept the truth, whatever it turns out to be. Thank you for posting this. I've really enjoyed your posts on your faith journey and would like to see more.




Hey I really appreciate this sentiment! I have definitely hesitated at some points since a few folks seem to be kind of surprised or even offended I'm posting it here. But I have also gotten enough positive feedback that I feel it makes sense to share here.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Baby Don't Fear the Reaper
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
My understanding is that it's rare to find a writer like Lewis who is both skilled enough to paint a good picture, and schizo enough to actually try it. Given that Christ Himself told us we'll never know about the afterlife, and the general attitude of the major churches towards it, most Christian writers are understandable hesitant to tackle that problem. Lewis was quite courageous.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Baby Don't Fear the Reaper
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


I do have to say, I always thought the "noble lie" or using hell as a way to motivate people was just dumb. Whatever happened to intrinsic motivation? Whatever happened to people behaving well because it makes our time on earth more pleasant/civilized etc? But I've always been one of the "good kids" so I have a really hard time getting into the mindset of someone who just always gives in to their vices and doesn't care who they hurt or the damage they cause along the way. But fear of hell was never a motivator for me.




Yeah I was quite surprised how many people trotted out this argument when I started discussing universalism. Seems quite common, for some ridiculous reason. I agree that it has never been motivating for me, instead it's the exact opposite. The fear of eternal hell always just crippled me when I believed in it.




but in your essay you've cherry-picked all the verses that support universalism. There is plenty of material that supports just punishment as well.




There is absolutely a lot of Scripture that indicates infernalism, or annihilationism as you say. I admitted in the post that I didn't do an exhaustive exegesis on all of Scripture, and frankly the more obvious answer is a sort of infernalistic or annihilistic view. However, I found enough arguments to at least hope for universalism! Perhaps I wrote too strongly.


That being said, there's no reason there can't be a separation and an eventual reconnection. God can do what He wants. Perhaps after the end of this age, those sent to damnation are given another chance in another universe, in a completely different way of life. Perhaps they are indeed annihilated. Perhaps it's something far stranger! We simply don't know, and will never truly know.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Baby Don't Fear the Reaper
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
My pleasure! I see my plan worked, mwuahahahaha!


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Baby Don't Fear the Reaper
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


At least in the US, I wonder if cultural anti-intellectualism causes the intellectual Christians to stay quieter than they would otherwise be. As if it was something shameful, that they couldn't accept their beliefs on pure faith and needed to waste energy on unimportant theological nuances.




I suspect it's something to do with this, and also the Protestant roots. Protestants took the infernalist rhetoric and turned it up to never before seen extremes. Contemporary Protestant churches have chilled out a lot, but besides the Quakers, most of the early sects were all-in on motivation through fear via fire and brimstone preaching.




Infernalism's dominance repels people like me who would be interested in learning more but hesitate because of the crowd it attracts.




This is the point I try to make to other Christians. It also repelled me for a long time. I hope that Christian culture as a whole can move towards more intellectualism and grace, but we'll see.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Baby Don't Fear the Reaper
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Interesting! I appreciate the clarification.


And yeah, I'm not too into logical consistency which is part of why I'm Orthodox hah. I follow my heart before my reason.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Baby Don't Fear the Reaper
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Good question! I don't really know or understand much about angels, not going to lie. They seem less like persons and more like forces of nature in a way. Then again Satan must've had free will since he betrayed God. I suppose I'm not an angel so I'm not as bothered.


But yeah to be consistent I guess the demons would have to be saved in eternity too.