Thursday, November 30, 2023

The Angels that Sinned

In the time leading up to the worldwide flood, it was written that “There were giants on the earth in those days, and also afterward ...” Genesis 6:4 There is a video by Dr. Peter Gentry on YouTube that points out that the reference to Giants in Genesis 6 reveals that the giants on the earth existed before the fallen angels (“sons of God”) had offspring; these giants were on the earth before and after the flood.  He suggests that this information in Genesis Was to correct the view that the giants were the offspring of angels.  I tend to agree with this.

I tend to think that the giants (Nephilim) were humans who were very tall. They were not the result of gigantism or giantism caused by a pituitary disorder, such as Robert Wadlow who was 8 feet 11 inches tall (said to be the tallest man on record).  There have been those who do not or did not have the disorder that are over 7 feet tall, such as Angus MacAskill who was 7' 9"; he was/ is the tallest on record without the pituitary disorder.  Goliath could have been 9 feet 6 inches. It could be that the giants of the Old Testament reached nearly 10 feet tall, but that probably was the upper limit.    



Angus MacAskill 


The reference to giants in Genesis 6 speaks of the “sons of God” having wives, and children being born to them: “There were giants on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.” Genesis 6:4

There is the common view that these “sons of God” were angels. And they procreated with human women. It's hard to understand how angels could have sex with humans.  Hebrews says concerning angels: “Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?” Hebrews 1:14 How can spirits have the biology to procreate with humans? Were they a special kind of angel? Could angels take on human biology somehow? Angels did appear in human form, but was it a true incarnation or just an illusion? We just don't really know how it could be done.

Though some have tried to argue against them being angels, there are some New Testament texts that seem to suggest they were angels. The are the angels that sinned: “4 For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment.” 2 Peter 2:4 This speaks of angels who sinned and are in chains of darkness. What was their sin? If it was the same sin as Satan's, why was Satan not bound with them, and are all fallen angels bound? Could it be that their sin was the one involving human women?

There's the reference in Jude that would seem to support the view that certain angels sought to procreate with human women: “6 And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day; 7 as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.” Jude 1:6-7 The comparison to Sodom and Gomorrah would support the idea of going against the Divine limits of morality: angels having sex with humans was like homosexuality. Both are outside God's moral will.

I had thought that maybe when an angelic being leaves their realm (domain) and enters into our 3-dimensional realm, God has designed it so that they are transformed into a functioning flesh and blood human being.  The angels can enter by will, but once they enter, they take on human biology, but this was only meant to be temporary. I doubt that there is such a thing as Angel DNA that could be passed on to humans--they had to become human to procreate with humans.  Those angels who entered and chose to stay and cohabit with humans left their proper domain (Jude 6).  They became human but retained their self-awareness and superior knowledge. They took human wives and had children.  The children were human, but the knowledge of the angels could be passed on to their children which gave them an advantage over others becoming “mighty” men on the earth.  

In connection with the flood, God cast these offending angels into chains of darkness.  It could be that they transitioned back to their realm to escape the flood, which would have killed them in their human form. This judgment of these angels would have kept them from a repeat offense in the new post-flood earth and serve as a deterrent to other angels who have access into our 3-dimensional realm.

The demons are other fallen angels who do not enter into our 3-dimensional realm in human form but still have an influence in their own spirit form into our realm while staying in their own realm (which I would call "the spirit realm").  Satan is a fallen angel, but he did not cohabit as a human with humans, but he can function in his spirit form in our realm from his realm.  I question the view that says the demons are the disembodied spirits of those whose bodies were destroyed by the flood being the half-breed children of both the the fallen angels and their human wives, and after the flood, their spirits live on, roaming the earth in search of bodies to inhabit (demon possession).





Wednesday, November 15, 2023

"the faith OF Jesus Christ"

 *Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.   Galatians 2:16  KJV

I don't believe "of Jesus" and "of Christ" means Jesus' or Christ's faith. The names "Jesus" and "Christ" are in the genitive case, so "of" is added, which is often descriptive or speaks of possession, but it has a lot of other usages, like a "bucket of balls": "of balls" is the content of the bucket. So "faith of Jesus [or Christ]" could be the content of faith. But even if "faith of Jesus [or Christ]" was Christ's faith, how does that save us, unless it means his faithfulness in going to the cross? Yet we still have to believe, as Galatians 2:16 says: even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith of Christ. That clearly says we believe in order to be justified.



*This quote is from the King James Version, which translates it "of Christ," while the New King James translates it "in Christ": Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified. Galatians 2:16

Sunday, November 12, 2023

Christian Deism


I think the common mindset in our country is one that's deistic and nominally Christian.  It's a cultural mindset, one that is still accepting of things like Christmas and Easter, promoting a nominal Christianity (mostly in name only), and one that may be cynical of the Church and its form and ritual and certain traditional values.  They are deistic in that they loosely hold some commonly held beliefs with several religions, such as there is an intelligence ("God") who will judge us on the basis of our relative goodness, after death, but they are generally disinterested in and ignorant of the Bible.  They are "Christian" in that they identify more with it culturally (singing Christmas songs about Jesus and his birth) than with Judaism or Islam or Hinduism, and they may believe in a Jesus who went about doing good, believing if they are relatively good, as Jesus was, in their character and conduct, they will be ultimately approved by God.