class: center, middle ## Introduction to SR4 - Satan's World System (Derived from https://ichthys.com/SR4(SWS).htm) --- ### Summary [Part 4 of the Satanic Rebellion Series on Ichthys](https://ichthys.com/SR4%28SWS%29.htm) was one of the first studies on Ichthys that I read all the way through, and I found it fascinating due to how much of the world suddenly makes sense when examined from the proper spiritual point of view, tracing the true causes and effects of things. This study introduces the idea that the world we live in is all one big illusion put on by Satan, who manipulates everything from behind the scenes for his nefarious purposes. Learning to examine things in the world critically -- critiquing the illusion -- can help us Christians find freedom by dispelling the illusory shadows with the light of God's spiritual truth. --- #### Outline - [Why do this study in particular?](#4) - [Plato's Allegory of the Cave](#5) - [Satan the puppet-master](#6) - [The outline for SR4 on Ichthys](#7) - [Steven's high-level introduction](#8) --- ### Why do this study in particular? As a child, you may have heard adults talking about "the way the world really works." For us as Christians, we believe in a spiritual dimension hidden from our physical sight, but very real nonetheless. This, in fact, is the crucial driving force behind reality, even though it is veiled from our eyes at present. At least for me as a teenager, Christianity was kept in its nice God-shaped box. There was the world in all its complexity, and then there was church and God stuff. Maybe somewhere deep down I knew the two were fundamentally linked, but it was never something that captured my thoughts explicitly. Then I read this study. This is one of the first things on Ichthys I read all the way through, and to borrow an idiom, it completely blew my mind. *Ah*, I said. *So this is what is beyond the illusion*. --- ### Plato's Allegory of the Cave In his [Allegory of the Cave](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allegory_of_the_cave) (*Republic* 514a-520a), the Ancient Greek philosopher Plato speaks of an allegory for life: humans chained to face a wall where illusions of shadow play before their eyes. This is all they know, so they think it is how the world actually works. Having never been exposed to true light, those in the cave think that the illusions of shadow are reality. In truth, these humans are enslaved, chained in a prison of their false perception. After being dragged into the light, it may take a while for these people's eyes to adjust -- they've been used to only seeing shadows, after all. Those in the cave will be resistant to the light, as it is bright and painful for their eyes adjusted to darkness. Moreover, things in the outside world don't compute in terms of "cave logic" -- in great irony, those chained in the cave may mock those in the light as fools. This allegory is actually a great explanatory tool. For Plato, light served as a metaphor for philosophical truth. For us in our present study, light instead stands as a metaphor for spiritual truth. As we learn about how the world really works in this study, it will be possible to move further and further from the illusions of shadow (what Satan's world system would have us think are the actual realities) and more towards the light of spiritual truth. --- ### Satan the puppet-master The illusions put before us are created with intent: to veil the truth from our eyes. We must learn to critique them and instead see things as they truly are, all so that we can achieve the freedom that the truth affords us (John 8:32). We as Christians must deal with the harsh fact that this world system, this *kosmos* (Greek: [κόσμος](https://biblehub.com/greek/2889.htm)), is presently ruled over by Satan, with him pulling the strings. Bearing this in mind is in fact crucial, as it ensures we never forget that we are strangers in a foreign land, soldiers of Jesus Christ in enemy territory. --- ### The outline for SR4 on Ichthys See [the study directly](https://ichthys.com/SR4%28SWS%29.htm). --- ### Steven's high-level introduction Everything in this world -- from art, culture, politics, the media, governments, corporations, false religions, and even some groups calling themselves Christian -- are all part of Satan's web of lies and deceit that he has set up to trap and distract us as Christians and lead us away from the truth. If we study the tactics Satan uses in his pursuit of his objectives, we can come to see the world as it actually is, and step off the hamster wheel of illusion that keeps us away from freedom in the truth. <!-- Footnote List --> <div class="footnotes"> <ol> </ol> </div> --- #### Outline - [Why do this study in particular?](#4) - [Plato's Allegory of the Cave](#5) - [Satan the puppet-master](#6) - [The outline for SR4 on Ichthys](#7) - [Steven's high-level introduction](#8)