#epistle of enoch

[georgiasedify]

Enoch

The book of Enoch

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[indigovigilance]

Lament of the Metatron

I did not have "become an amateur biblical apocrypha scholar" on my 2023 bingo card, but here we are, and I’m going to make you feel bad for hating the Metatron. No, really. A lot of different ✨clues ✨in S2 lead us to the Book of Enoch, which describes how the Metatron came to be. (If you would like to read what the Books of Enoch have to say about maybe-Crowley and maybe-Aziraphale, read this meta.)

There are three books of Enoch: 1 Enoch, 2 Enoch, and 3 Enoch, and after reading them I’ve concluded that they are almost certainly a major source text for Good Omens, at very least with respect to the Metatron. The translation that I used is 116 pages and quite dense, so there will be multiple metas about it (I should also note that I’ve taken great liberties with reorganizing the source text, for brevity). This one addresses the origin of the Metatron and his likely S1 and S3 motivations.

The Story

To quickly summarize the backstory: after Adam and Eve leave the Garden of Eden, a bunch of angels go to Earth, transgress against God (by having children with humans) and piss Her off. So She decides She must flood the Earth to wipe them and all their children and human associates out.

During this age of angelic iniquity, Enoch, a righteous man, the 7th generation from Adam and great-grandfather of Noah, receives visions of the coming flood.

Later, Enoch is lifted up to Heaven by a whirlwind. He gets an angel-guided tour of Heaven and visits what I will call The Mountain of Souls. He sees a mountain with four chambers and asks what they are for. Raphael states that they are for the souls of the dead, where they will be kept until Judgment Day. Enoch asks why they are separated. Raphael answers:

One for the souls of the righteous

One for the souls of sinners, who are buried in the earth, to await judgment, and on that day they will be punished

One for those who complain to, or petition, God (including Abel, who was slain by Cain)

One for the souls of those who are not righteous, “but their souls will not be killed on the day of judgment, nor will they rise from here.” (so perhaps a permanent purgatory?)

Later in his journey, Enoch sees the Valley of Judgment. Again, Raphael answers Enoch’s questions, describing “this accursed valley, is for those who are cursed for ever… [for] all those who speak with their mouths against the Lord… and here will be their place of Judgment.” Enoch comments that it would be better for the sinners if they had never been born.

Enoch also sees where the righteous will go after Judgment: “And in those days my eyes saw the Place of the Chosen Ones of Righteousness and Faith… And I saw their dwelling, under the Wings of the Lord of Spirits, and all the righteous and chosen shone in front of him, like the light of fire…. There I wished to dwell.”

The Second Parable of 1 Enoch describes how God will open the Book of the Living when the Chosen One arrives, and so Judgment Day will begin.

Enoch is taken before God and violently transformed from a human into the Metatron, a celestial being: “And I fell upon my face, and my whole body melted, and my spirit was transformed; and I cried out in a loud voice, in the spirit of power.” After Enoch is transfigured into Metatron, he is made to write 366 volumes of what I will call the Book of Deeds, wherein he writes the name of all men, everything they have done, and what afterlife they are destined for.

After sixty days spent in Heaven, angels return the Metatron to Earth to dwell with his sons for… and this is where the different books of Enoch seem to disagree whether it was for one year or thirty days, but either way, he goes back to Earth with an explicit time limit to explain to his children everything he has seen and to teach them the ways of righteousness. Which he does. The fifth book of 1 Enoch, the Epistle, describes Enoch badgering his children to be not just pretendy-good but properly good, and advising them to suffer and turn the other cheek, etc., so that they are found righteous before God on Judgment Day. He knows that at the end of this visit, he will return to Heaven, will never speak to his sons or the rest of his family for the rest of their lives, and that a Great Flood is coming to wipe out everyone on Earth except for his great-grandson Noah and Noah’s three sons, and that whatever is written in the books by then is what his other sons and grandsons and great-grandsons will be judged by on Judgment Day.

It is worth noting here that a separate scholarly analysis points out that once Enoch is transformed into Metatron, he never eats again: “Since the time when the Lord anointed me with the ointment of his glory, food has not come into me, and earthly pleasure my soul does not remember…” This is meant to show how his journey from human to celestial is opposite that of Adam and Eve, who were nourished by celestial food until they left the Garden, and from then on had to sate themselves with “nourishment for the beasts.”

At the end of this visit to Earth, he issues a final warning to his children and neighbors about the coming Judgment Day, then ascends to Heaven to rule over all the angels and to keep the Book of Deeds.

So what should we take from this?

Enoch, a good man, God’s favorite, is given visions of the destruction of Earth, abducted and taken to Heaven where he is shown the Mountain of Souls, the Valley of Damnation, and the Place of the Chosen Ones of Righteousness, he is transformed into an angel so that he may never enjoy Earthly delights again, he is told that everyone he knows, including all of his children and their children, except for one great-grandson and three great-great-grandsons, will die, and that he has limited time to coach them on how to avoid being punished, tortured, and destroyed forever, and even if he succeeds, they will be trapped in the Mountain of Souls until Judgment Day, and then he is taken from them, and given the responsibility of maintaining the records by which souls will be judged. 

So let's talk about motivation.

Here we find an incredibly powerful, incredibly lonely human-turned-angel (because the other angels are both afraid and disrespectful of him), whose entire family was destroyed before his eyes and who are as of right now, as they have been for *checks watch* 5,000 years, trapped in a celestial mountain of purgatory, and the only way he can ever see them again is to bring about the Second Coming, for only on Judgment Day may they be released from the Mountain of Souls and join him before the Throne of Glory, if they heeded his warnings and are found worthy in the sight of God.

This is a highly motivated, highly traumatized anti-villain. Which is possibly the worst thing to happen to Aziraphale because if Azi has a soft spot for anyone, it’s someone whose children were taken from them by God.

******************************

For evidence of why we can selectively ignore/reinterpret Neil's statement re: the Metatron's human past, please read this meta

I read the Book of Enoch from front to back, twice, but if you want to check my work (or write a response meta!) you can find the source material here and here.

If you would like to read what the Books of Enoch have to say about maybe-Crowley and maybe-Aziraphale, read this meta.

[apilgrimpassingby]

The Epistle of St. Jude is Enochic Literature - Here's Why

(This is cribbing a lot from Fr. Stephen DeYoung's article "The Book of Enoch", so read that - also, it's really good).

The Epistle of St. Jude is a very short and pretty minor book of the New Testament - it's one chapter, read it here. The Enochic tradition was a literary corpus written between the 3rd and 1st centuries BC, centred on the First Book of Enoch but including other texts such as the Book of Jubilees and the Book of Giants, with unifying themes such as having the character of Enoch from Genesis as a central figure, the Enochic calendar (a particular way of organising the Jewish calendar), an apocalyptic emphasis, detailed angelic hierarchies (in particular assigning governing angels to different parts of the world) and ascribing human sin to rebellious angels.

So, the point of this post is that the Epistle of St. Jude represents a Christianised version of Enochic literature. This can be seen in four points:

v.6: "And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, He has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day—". This represents a very truncated version of the Watcher story. In it, several angels are assigned to watch over humanity in its infancy, but rebel and corrupt it by fathering giants with mortal women and teaching sorcery and other forbidden knowledge to humans; God imprisons the watchers in the abyss and wipes out the giants via the Flood. The story, while not found (at least not explicitly) in Genesis, was a favourite theme of the Enochic tradition - it's the central theme of the Book of the Watchers, the largest and most famous part of the First Book of Enoch, the main topic of the Book of Giants and appears in the Book of Jubilees. While you could argue that St. Jude got this from the Nephilim story in Genesis 6:1-4, that story doesn't include the detail that the rebellious angels were "kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness"; he could only have gotten that from the Enochic tradition.

v.9: "But when the archangel Michael, contending with the Devil, was disputing about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you.”" In the Enochic tradition, Michael is the opponent of Satan in God's jury, with Satan acting as the "lawyer for the prosecution" and St. Michael as the "lawyer for the defence". While this conception of Satan appears in the Book of Job, and St. Michael first appears in the Book of Daniel, the Enochic tradition was the first to make much of pairing them up, as seen in the First Book of Enoch.

v.14a: "It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying". Firstly, this calls Enoch a prophet, which heavily implies that St. Jude thought 1 Enoch was at least partly divinely inspired. Secondly, "the seventh from Adam" is a title derived from the First Book of Enoch.

v.14b-15: "Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, 1to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him." This is a quote from the Book of Enoch, specifically 1 Enoch 1:9.

Notably, these all come from the section marked in English Bibles as "Judgement on False Teachers" or something similar, made up of verses 3 to 16 - fourteen verses in a twenty-five verse book. Sine this section is permeated with Enochic ideas and terms, and is the bulk of the letter, I'd go so far as to call St. Jude's Epistle an Enochic book.

[santmat]

Podcast on the Case For the Books of Enoch

1) Enoch and the Dead Sea Scrolls: The book of First Enoch was part of the Dead Sea Scrolls Bible -- the Essene Library of Qumran in Israel. First Enoch was included amongst the Dead Sea Scrolls, in fact was one of the most widely read holy books at Qumran (400 BC -- 70 AD). This observation is based upon the large number of Aramaic Enoch fragments that have been found there. Many Jews were studying Enoch before and during the time of Jesus.

2) Jude Quoted Enoch in the New Testament: The author of the Book of Jude quoted First Enoch in his New Testament epistle (letter), a great canonical endorsement for the Book of Enoch by the Original Jesus Movement. The Bibles that bare the most resemblance to the Scriptures of Jude and the Original Aramaic-speaking Christians is the Ethiopian Bible, as well as the Dead Sea Scrolls-Essene-Qumran Bible. Jude not only quotes from Enoch, but also from the Assumption of Moses. Both Enoch and Assumption of Moses were recognized as Scripture by the Essenes; see more on the Ethiopian Bible below. In addition to Jude, Biblical scholars also have noticed many parallel verses and shared ideas between the New Testament and Book of Enoch, illustrating how influential the Book of Enoch was on Jesus, the authors of the Gospels and other New Testament books. The Book of First Enoch is an important key foundational text of early Christianity.

3) The early Church father Tertullian Referred to Enoch as "Scripture": The Early Church father Tertullian quotes passages from the Book of Enoch, referring to these passages as "Scripture". The Epistle of Jude (verse 14) is also appealed to by Tertullian as a testimonial to the authority of Enoch. (see, De cultu feminarum. 1.3)

Tertullian's canon of the Old Testament included the deuterocanonical books, since he quotes most of them. He also cites the Book of Enoch as inspired, and thinks those who wanted to remove it were wrong. (Tertullian.org)

Barnabus, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Origin and Clement of Alexandria were also fans of Enoch: The Book of Enoch was extant centuries before the birth of Christ and yet is considered by many to be more Christian in its theology than Jewish. It was considered Scripture by many early Christians. The earliest literature of the "Church fathers" is filled with references to this mysterious book. Second and Third Century "Church fathers" like Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Origin and Clement of Alexandria all make use of the Book of Enoch. Tertullian (160-230 C.E) even called the Book of Enoch "Holy Scripture". The Ethiopic Church included the Book of Enoch as part of their official canon of the Bible. (Wikipedia Entry About the Books of Enoch)

4) The Epistle or Letter of Barnabas: Like some other major leaders, Barnabas quoted from Enoch, even using the term "Scripture" to describe Enochian passages. See, the Epistle of Barnabas, translated in the book Early Christian Writings -- The Apostolic Fathers, published by Penguin Classics.

5) Enoch is in the Bible: The ETHIOPIAN BIBLE INCLUDES THE BOOKS OF FIRST AND SECOND ENOCH: The Ethiopian Bible contains the books of Enoch (and several other surprising books once banned and thought to be forever lost), thus preserving this earlier understanding dating back to the time of the Dead Sea Scrolls and New Testament that viewed Enoch to be an inspired sacred text.

[catenaaurea]

It is amazing the predictable response from most people when you bring up the Book of Enoch but what’s even more amazing is the contrast between that and the response one gets when bringing up something like Clement’s epistles or the Didache.

[carbo-ships]

is there a story about Ardis' name? its really pretty I wondered why you picked it :3

yeah! so a bit of context, the Christian Bible wasn't written by a singular person, and is instead a collection of different "books" written by different people over the course of about a thousand years. but of course, anyone can write anything, so people had to be really careful when deciding what writings get included in the Bible, or "canonized". to get in the Bible, historians have to be pretty certain that the work was written when it claims to have been written, that the source was credible, etc etc. because the only stuff that should be in the Bible is the word of God so folks gotta be picky.

because of this, there are a bunch of ancient writings about Christianity that, because of their doubtful authenticity, aren't included in the usual Bible and are considered "apocryphal".

one of these religious texts is the Book of Enoch. one of the reasons for its exclusion from the Bible is that despite it being attributed to Enoch (seventh from Adam, great-grandpa of Noah the flood guy), it probably wasn't written until 100-200 years before Jesus was born. so that doesn't really line up. but in the Epistle of Jude, which is part of the Bible, some argue that it gets referenced in 1:14-15. so it's considered canonical by some Jewish and Christian sects in Ethiopia, but most other traditions don't think it's legit.

if we take a look at the Book of Enoch, one of the stories it tells is about some angels who came down to earth and did some stuff they weren't supposed to:

CHAP. VII. [SECT. II. 2]

1. It happened after the sons of men had multiplied

in those days, that daughters were born to them, elegant and beautiful.

2. And when the angels, the sons of heaven, beheld them, they became enamoured of them, saying to each other, Come, let us select for ourselves wives from the progeny of men, and let us beget children.

3. Then their leader Samyaza said to them; I fear that you may perhaps be indisposed to the performance of this enterprise;

4. And that I alone shall suffer for so grievous a crime.

5. But they answered him and said; We all swear;

6. And bind ourselves by mutual execrations, that we will not change our intention, but execute our projected undertaking.

7. Then they swore all together, and all bound themselves by mutual execrations. Their whole number was two hundred, who descended upon Ardis, which is the top of mount Armon.

So yeah, according to this translation, Ardis allegedly used to be a place on top of Mount Hermon. I don't know enough (read: any) ancient Hebrew to come up with an accurate angel name, but I figured hey, she comes to Earth, she's an angel, I'll just use that :)

[bottheologian]

Uncovering the Secrets of the Book of Enoch: A Journey to the Heavens

The Book of Enoch is a fascinating and enigmatic ancient text that has captured the imagination of scholars and enthusiasts alike for centuries. But what exactly is the Book of Enoch, and why is it so intriguing?

At its core, the Book of Enoch is an ancient Jewish religious work that was written sometime during the Second Temple period, between the third century BCE and the first century CE. It is attributed to the biblical figure Enoch, the great-grandfather of Noah, who is said to have been taken up to heaven and given divine knowledge by God.

The Book of Enoch is comprised of five distinct sections, each of which offers a unique perspective on Enoch's journey and the knowledge he gained during his time in heaven. In the first section, known as the Book of the Watchers, Enoch is shown visions of the fallen angels who have come to earth and taken human wives, leading to the birth of monstrous offspring known as the Nephilim.

The second section, known as the Book of Parables, offers a series of prophetic visions that predict the coming of a messianic figure who will bring judgment and salvation to the world. The third section, the Astronomical Book, is a detailed account of the movements of the stars and celestial bodies, which Enoch is said to have learned during his time in heaven.

The fourth section, the Dream Visions, offers a series of allegorical visions that explore the nature of good and evil, while the final section, the Epistle of Enoch, is a letter from Enoch to his descendants, warning them of the dangers of sin and urging them to live righteous lives.

Despite its importance in Jewish literature and tradition, the Book of Enoch was largely forgotten and lost to history for centuries, with only a few fragments surviving in ancient manuscripts. However, in the late 18th century, several complete copies of the book were discovered among the Ethiopian Orthodox Church's sacred texts, leading to renewed interest in Enoch's teachings.

Today, the Book of Enoch remains a subject of fascination for scholars and laypeople alike, who are drawn to its mysterious origins, visionary imagery, and unique perspective on ancient Jewish religious beliefs. Whether you are a devout follower of Judaism, a curious scholar of ancient literature, or simply someone looking for a thought-provoking read, the Book of Enoch is sure to captivate and inspire you.

Book of Enoch #ancient Jewish text #fallen angels #divine knowledge #celestial mysteries #Jewish literature #Second Temple period #Nephilim #messianic figure #prophetic visions

[ramrodd]

WRONG About The Gospel of John

COMMENTARY:

The Gospel of John is the memoirs of Saint Mark of Alexandria from when he was John Mark of Bethany who is half-way through his Bar Mitzvah year at Passover in the year 3790 Enoch Era, aka 30 CE, and everybody was in town and then Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist between Passover and Pentacost and Jesus cam back into town in time for the Reading of the Laws. The actual memoirbegins after the Philo of Alexandria' mission statemnt at John 1:19 through John 19:46. John 20 and 21 was added by the same editorial board that added Mark 16:9 -20 and, possibly, Colossians and Ephesians. The orientation of the 7 authentic Pauline Epistles is Platonic and horizontal and Colossians and Ephesians adds the verticle aspect of Aristotle. The number 19 is the Alpha and Omega of the Torah and the Gospels, Islam and the Pharaoh's priests employed the base 8 numerology that persists in Africa today, In the base 8 numerology of the Greek gematria, 18 is the Alpha and the Omega. The reasons why the Pharaoh's priests couldn''t interpret Pharaoh's dreams in Genesis is because they were base 9 dreams and Joseph, being a descndent of Abraham and the tithe of Melchizedek, grew up in with the base 9 numrology of the Magi. One of the things Aritotle didn't influence in Alexander the Great was his command structure, which was horizontal and dependent upon proximity, The Romans developed the scalar chain of command based on legal authorities that reflects Aristotle's Method in contrast to Plato's Principle. In any event, John Mark was the Beloved Disciple and, as MacDonald and Walsh have proposed, the Gospel of John is part of the Greco-Roman literary project of the New Testament up to Hebrews. After that, Constantine muddied the watters by replacing the republic with a theocracy in pretty much the same manner as being proposed by Christian Nationalism. If you are looking for New Insights about the Bible, I'd start with MacDonald and Walsh.

[noeticprayer]

Elias the Prophet

July 20

Reading

Elias of great fame was from Thisbe or Thesbe, a town of Galaad (Gilead), beyond the Jordan. He was of priestly lineage, a man of a solitary and ascetical character, clothed in a mantle of sheep skin, and girded about his loins with a leathern belt. His name is interpreted as "Yah is my God." His zeal for the glory of God was compared to fire, and his speech for teaching and rebuke was likened unto a burning lamp. From this too he received the name Zealot. Therefore, set aflame with such zeal, he sternly reproved the impiety and lawlessness of Ahab and his wife Jezebel. He shut up heaven by means of prayer, and it did not rain for three years and six months. Ravens brought him food for his need when, at God's command, he was hiding by the torrent of Horrath. He multiplied the little flour and oil of the poor widow of Sarephtha of Sidon, who had given him hospitality in her home, and when her son died, he raised him up. He brought down fire from Heaven upon Mount Carmel, and it burned up the sacrifice offered to God before all the people of Israel, that they might know the truth. At the torrent of Kisson, he slew 450 false prophets and priests who worshipped idols and led the people astray. He received food wondrously at the hand of an Angel, and being strengthened by this food he walked for forty days and forty nights. He beheld God on Mount Horeb, as far as this is possible for human nature. He foretold the destruction of the house of Ahab, and the death of his son Ohozias; and as for the two captains of fifty that were sent by the king, he burned them for their punishment, bringing fire down from Heaven. He divided the flow of the Jordan, and he and his disciple Elisseus passed through as it were on dry land; and finally, while speaking with him, Elias was suddenly snatched away by a fiery chariot in the year 895 B.C., and he ascended as though into heaven, whither God most certainly translated him alive, as He did Enoch (Gen. 5:24; IV Kings 2: 11). But from thence also, after seven years, by means of an epistle he reproached Joram, the son of Josaphat, as it is written: "And there came a message in writing to him from Elias the Prophet, saying, Thus saith the Lord God of David thy father, Because thou hast not walked in the way," and so forth (II Chron. 21:12). According to the opinion of the majority of the interpreters, this came to pass either through his disciple Elisseus, or through another Prophet when Elias appeared to them, even as he appeared on Mount Tabor to the disciples of Christ (see Aug. 6).

Apolytikion of Prophet Elias

Fourth Tone

The incarnate Angel, the Cornerstone of the Prophets, the second Forerunner of the Coming of Christ, the glorious Elias (Elijah), who from above, sent down to Elisha the grace to dispel sickness and cleanse lepers, abounds therefore in healing for those who honor him.

Kontakion of Prophet Elias

Second Tone

O Prophet and foreseer of the great works of God, O greatly renowned Elias (Elijah), who by your word held back the clouds of rain, intercede for us to the only Loving One.

[stickyllamastudent]

Truth or Pagan ??

To:​You​

Sun 2/25/2024 5:59 AM

below is place to look for updates and free education resources and if not there get back to me

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www.tumblr.com/stickyllamastudent

Angel Numbers, Spirituality, Symbolism and Astrology - Totally the Dream

You searched for 75 books missing from bible - Totally the Dream

The List of 75 Books Removed From the Bible - Totally the Dream

The List of 75 Books Removed or Excluded from the Bible

The Protevangelion

The Gospel of the Infancy of Jesus Christ

The Infancy Gospel of Thomas

The Epistles of Jesus Christ and Abgarus King of Edessa

The Gospel of Nicodemus (Acts of Pilate)

The Apostles’ Creed (throughout history)

The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Laodiceans

The Epistles of Paul the Apostle to Seneca, with Seneca’s to Paul

The Acts of Paul and Thecla

The Epistle of Clement

The Second Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians

The Epistle of Barnabas

The Epistle of Ignatius to the Ephesians

The Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians

The Epistle of Ignatius to the Trallians

The Epistle of Ignatius to the Romans 

The Epistle of Ignatius to the Philadelphians

The Epistle of Ignatius to the Smyrneans

The Epistle of Ignatius to Polycarp

The Shepherd of Hermas (Visions, Commands, and Similitudes)

Letter of Herod To Pilate the Governor

Letter of Pilate to Herod

The Lost Gospel of Peter

The Epistle of Polycarp to the Philippians

Book of Enoch 1

Book of Enoch 2 (known as The Secrets of Enoch

Enoch 3 

Book of Esdras 1 

Book of Esdras 2

Book of Maccabees 1

Book of Maccabees 2

Book of Maccabees 3

Book of Maccabees 4

Book of Maccabees 5

Book of Tobit

Book of Jasher

Book of Judith

Book of Esther

Book of Ecclesiasticus / Sirach

Book of Jubilees

Book of Baruch 1

Book of Barucu 2

Book of Baruch 3 

Book of The Shepherd of Hermas

Book of Wisdom / Wisdom of Solomon

Book of The Psalms of Solomon

Book of The Odes of Solomon

Book of Giants

Book of Adam and Eve 1 

The Conflict of Adam and Eve with Satan

The Gospel of James / The Protevangelion

The Gospel of Peter

The Gospel of Thomas

The Gospel of Nicodemus / Acts of Pilate

The Syriac Infancy Gospel / Infancy of Jesus Christ

The Epistles of Jesus Christ and Abgarus, King of Edessa

The Epistle of Aristeas

The Epistle of Jeremiah

The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Laodiceans

The Epistles of Paul the Apostle to Seneca

The Epistle of Pilate to Herod

Assumption of Moses

Apocalypse of Moses

Testament of Abraham

Apocalypse of Abraham

Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs 

The Acts of Paul

The Acts of Paul and Thecla

The Apostles Creed

Psalm 151

Story of Susanna*

Story of Bel and The Dragon*

Story of Ahikar*

The Prayer of Azariah and the Songs of the Three Holy Children*

Prayer of Manasseh

[unhewn]

Irenaeus, Marcion & Hades

Description of Marcion's Belief Against Heresies, Book I, Chapter 27, Section 3 https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0103127.htm

Salvation will be the attainment only of those souls which had learned his doctrine; while the body, as having been taken from the earth, is incapable of sharing in salvation. In addition to his blasphemy against God Himself, he advanced this also, truly speaking as with the mouth of the devil, and saying all things in direct opposition to the truth — that Cain, and those like him, and the Sodomites, and the Egyptians, and others like them, and, in fine, all the nations who walked in all sorts of abomination, were saved by the Lord, on His descending into Hades, and on their running unto Him, and that they welcomed Him into their kingdom. But the serpent which was in Marcion declared that Abel, and Enoch, and Noah, and those other righteous men who sprang from the patriarch Abraham, with all the prophets, and those who were pleasing to God, did not partake in salvation. For since these men, he says, knew that their God was constantly tempting them, so now they suspected that He was tempting them, and did not run to Jesus, or believe His announcement: and for this reason he declared that their souls remained in Hades.

Refutation of Marcion Against Heresies (Book IV, Chapter 8) https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0103408.htm

Vain, too, is [the effort of] Marcion and his followers when they [seek to] exclude Abraham from the inheritance, to whom the Spirit through many men, and now by Paul, bears witness, that he believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness. And the Lord [also bears witness to him,] in the first place, indeed, by raising up children to him from the stones, and making his seed as the stars of heaven, saying, They shall come from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south, and shall recline with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; and then again by saying to the Jews, When you shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of heaven, but you yourselves cast out. This, then, is a clear point, that those who disallow his salvation, and frame the idea of another God besides Him who made the promise to Abraham, are outside the kingdom of God, and are disinherited from [the gift of] incorruption, setting at naught and blaspheming God, who introduces, through Jesus Christ, Abraham to the kingdom of heaven, and his seed, that is, the Church, upon which also is conferred the adoption and the inheritance promised to Abraham.

Fragment on the Descent Irenaeus, Fragments, Fragment 28 https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0134.htm

And the man of God said, Where did it fall? And he showed him the place. And he cut down a tree, and cast it in there, and the iron floated. This was a sign that souls should be borne aloft through the instrumentality of wood, upon which He suffered who can lead those souls aloft that follow His ascension. This event was also an indication of the fact, that when the holy soul of Christ descended [to Hades], many souls ascended and were seen in their bodies. For just as the wood, which is the lighter body, was submerged in the water; but the iron, the heavier one, floated: so, when the Word of God became one with flesh, by a physical and hypostatic union, the heavy and terrestrial [part], having been rendered immortal, was borne up into heaven, by the divine nature, after the resurrection.

Additional Reading:

Alexander of Alexandria, Epistles on Arianism and the Deposition of Arius

Origen, Contra Celsum, Book 3, Chapter 43

[notmuchtoconceal]

It's not entirely clear in Scripture who the people in the recorded stories actually understood Belial to be. There is no explicit statement: 'Belial is the spirit of abuse.' Yet the common theme in the stories about the 'sons of Belial' is violent, abusive behaviour.

On the other hand, the writings from Second Temple period -- which includes the time of [Josh] and the early [Carpentine] era -- are very clear regarding Belial. They are also clear about the origin of demons, a question that is never addressed in the Bible as we currently have it.

Michael Heiser comments that Belial was one of the names for the leader of the Watchers -- the rebel angels who descended to Mount Hermon and there made a pact with each other to seek out human women and mate with them. Another name was Samyaza, yet another was Masterma and another was [Prince Darkness "Gannon"].

There were many variations on the Watcher story, but the most detailed comes from the Book of 1 Enoch.

While this collection of writings is not part of the canon of Scripture in the west, it was quoted and referenced in the epistle of Jude and is alluded to in Peter's letters. The Book of 1 Enoch was immensely popular in the first century and forms the background to Peter's discussion for the flood and the angels imprisoned in Tartarus, the netherhell.

According to 1 Enoch, the children fathered by Belial and his cohort were angel-human hybrids. Belial, along with the Watchers led by him, crossed both a spatial-boundary and a species-boundary to produce the Nephilim -- the giants of old. In addition, the Watchers passed forbidden knowledge to their wives and children: of particular concern were the arts of seduction, war and the occult.

Enoch helps us make sense of Scripture's cryptic comment:

The nephilim were on the earth in those days -- and also afterward -- when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.

Genesis 6:4 NIV

The Nephilim, the giants, were the children of angels. The might 'heroes of old', the gibborim, were the children of the Nephilim. The Greek word often used for them was titans. Both the Nephilim and the gibborim ravaged the earth to the point where the very existence of humanity was under threat. Their huge, voracious appetites, their rapacious consumption of resources, their vicious fighting and their continued interbreeding with humanity was devastating. Their activities brought the human species to the absolute brink of extinction.

Only at that point did God intervene. He had to.

His promise to redeem humanity would never be able to be fulfilled if there was no genuine humans left.

So He Sent the flood. The Nephilim and gibborim -- along with anyone not fully human -- were destroyed in the deluge.

At least, to be strictly accurate, their flesh was destroyed. Their spirits remained on the earth. Unlike human spirits, they are barred from heaven. And these spirits, still craving to be united with human flesh, became 'shedim', demons or part of the realm of the 'rephaim', ghosts.

One questions that baffles an extraordinary number of people is this: if the Watchers were imprisoned in the netherhell, and the Nephilim and gibborim were 'unbodied' so to speak, in the flood, then where did giants like Goliath come from?

When the Israelites pass over from Egypt into their own inheritance in the Promised Land, they were given explicit instructions to totally annihilate some peoples but to deal diplomatically with others -- and it becomes clear, on examination, that the difference lies in whether or not there are non-human bloodlines in the population. Yet Scripture does not record a second incursion of Watchers. So how did this happen? Did some Nephilim survive the flood in fleshly form? Did the Watchers escape Tartarus for a time?

My personal opinion is that, no, the Watchers did not escape and, no, none of the Nephilim survived and, no, there was not a second incursion either. I think Scripture alludes to what happened, when Moses gave his final speech:

Ask your parents or any of your elders. They will tell you that God Most High gave land to every nation. He assigned a guardian angel to each of them, but the Lord Himself takes care of Israel.

Deuteronomy 32:7-9 CEV

A more literal translation is:

When the Most High apportioned the nations, when He divided humankind, He fixed the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the gods.

Deuteronomy 32:8 NRS

Basically this tells us when it happened -- it happened when God divided humanity into different peoples: that coincides with the Tower of Babel.

Later versions of the Hebrew text change the words, 'the number of the gods,' to 'the number of the sons of Israel'. That sanitises the thought considerably but doesn't alter the actual number.

It's seventy--the count of Jacob's descendants who go down to Egypt with him and also the count of the angels who were given different national territories to shepherd and steward.

These were not the same angels as the Watchers -- instead these are the principalities. They were entrusted by [The All] with guarding the people of the earth, except for those who were Jacob's descendants and who were to be the inheritors of the land promised to Abraham. Over time, these angels too fell. They became oppressors and perpetrated injustice. And they were worshipped as gods.

I believe they are the source of the giants like Anak, Ahiman, Seshai and Talmai as well as Goliath and his brothers.

The post-Flood giants aren't, in my view, the result of an angelic insurrection against [The All] like the one mounted by the Watchers. Rather, they came about because of a descent into corruption by [The All]'s appointed spiritual rulers. Perhaps it is not surprising that, when they fell, these seventy principalities set up their council headquarters in the very place the Watchers had come down -- Mount Hermon.

^*^

The spirits of the dead Nephilim and gibborim were understood, as previously mentioned, to be the demons. They were the 'shedim', mentioned in Deuteronomy 32:17 not long after the comment about apportioning the nations to the angels. Actually and more precisely, the 'shedim' are considered to be goat demons.

I think that nuance is significant, because it's my personal opinion that the original sense of Belial was goat lord.

/

The name might indeed mean worthless or nothing but it's got a distinct resonance of mountain goat to it as well.

Frequently titled 'the prince of demons', Belial is not a demon in his own right. Let's reiterate the distinction. A demon is the spirit of a dead -- drowned -- angel/human hybrid. Belial on the other hand is a fallen angel, a mighty general of infernal armies.

\

A demon is a footsoldier in those armies -- it's not a fallen angel, but the spirit of the deceased offspring of one.

Under the name Samyaza, Belial is the leader of the Watchers -- a group of two hundred angels who, according to the Book of 1 Enoch, descended to Mount Hermon with the intention of seeking out human mates amongst the beautiful women of earth. This is not simply a case of angelic lust -- at least lust for human women. It's actually lust for power; lust for destruction. It's an attempt to wreck [The All]'s plans for the redemption of humanity. The agenda is not so much the seduction of women as the ruination of [The All]'s plans for the redemption of humanity. The agenda is not so much the seduction of women as the ruination of [The All's] promise in Eden, when He declares to the serpent:

I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.

Genesis 3:15 BSB

Here [The All] pledges that the offspring, of a woman will crush the offspring of the serpent. It's no coincidence the Watchers targeted the women when they could just have easily set their sights on the men -- and corrupting them through access to power.

The Sons of God saw that daughters of men they were fair and they took ... wives.

Genesis 6:2 KJV

That word fair is 'tov' -- the very same word [The All] uses when He is pleased to describe His work of creation. It's good. Excellent of its kind. It's also beautiful, agreeable, pleasant, sweet, kind, fruitful. This doesn't say the women were perfect, but it does have the overtone that, basically, they were morally good -- definitely not evil -- as well as physically lovely.

David Flynn suggests that this verse might be better translated: "The B'nai Elohim saw the daughters of Adam, that they were fit extensions.' In other words, 'fit extensions' indicates that the fallen angels saw an opening, a potential weakness, through which full-blown corruption could be introduced into the human genetic pattern, as well as into our spiritual and psychological makeup.

This wasn't a couple of hundred raunchy bad-boy angels just deciding to jump into bed with the hottest, sexiest women they could find on planet earth, this was a conspiracy to wipe out humanity and slap God down in the process. It was an attempt to make God's word null and void by making it impossible for a fully human Saviour to ever exist.

It was betrayal of the most heinous kind.

It's a stratospheric leap from Adam's unplanned fall into sin to the dark and premediated sedition of the Watchers. Adam and Eve weren't ever wandering around Eden, thinking, 'How can I betray [The All] today?' They fell into a trap. But the Watchers -- at least those of their number who descended to Mount Hermon -- were intent on treachery. They cooked up an invasion so malevolent that the trap set in Eden looks almost innocuous by comparison.

The Book of Enoch says that, before the Watchers were confined, they came to the realisation that they'd made a massive mistake in begetting their monstrous offspring. Weeping, they asked Enoch to ascend to God and take Him a message, asking if they could return to heaven. Enoch did and received the answer. It was no.

And when we look at the story and see that it was more about high reason than lust for feminine flesh, we can see why there is no redemption for the fallen angels. The Watchers possessed a hatred of [The All] so deep that they found it necessary to corrupt His image in His human children. It was not enough to exterminate those children; they had to be the agents of their own destruction. They were therefore shown how to forge weapons to wage war, how to use occult techniques of spell-casting and spell-binding, how to make poisons.

[for some reason, she's leaving out how Azazel taught women how to use makeup, the natural consequence of which was the feminine body-image and skincare fixation, as this kicked-off an arms race of image vs. nature and the creation of photoshop, which reinforces the unlivable standard understood to be the norm. women are shallow and Azazel absolutely should have known to never, under any circumstances, treat them like people who can make decisions. bad Azazel. u ruined women forever. naughty boy. now they're smarter and prettier than u and u have to obey them. go sit in the corner and piss on urself.-- ed. bro.]

Admittedly the skills the angels revealed also contained much useful and positive knowledge -- but that's always the lure, isn't it?

So, allowing the angels who devised such atrocities back into the courts of heaven would have been extremely unwise. What accord, as Paul asked, has Christ with Belial? What concord can there be between the mind of [The All], set on returning humanity to Himself, and Belial, set on turning us against the Father? This is one of the most significant reversals Belial wants to set in motion: to brainwash children and turn them out to war against their parents -- both human and divine -- and likewise to cause parents to hate and battle their own children. This explains why I have often called Belial the 'Janissary spirit.'

A 'Janissary' is a term coming from the Ottoman Empire and it original referred to young Christian boys who were taken from their parents, inducted into the Sultan's army, brainwashed and converted, and then sent out to fight the Sultan's wars -- including those conflicts that involved their own families.

It was a cunning strategy: turn the sons against their fathers and get the enemy of the Empire to resource the war against themselves.

Belial's agenda is not just to turn children against their fathers but to actually kill the parents. Failing that, the children are programmed to destroy their father's ideals and beliefs. This is true in both the natural and the spiritual. This tactic is a reversal of [The All] and Son taking sin on Himself.

[Worse still, we are a source of mockery for those who have deceived us so successfully we fund the very systems set up to exterminate us. Belial [has] been remarkably successful in this endeavor over the last few decades and, through mind control, has hidden its gameplan all too well. It's thus all too easy to see Belial as the cause of sin in the world, but that's not so. Like other threshold spirits, it sets up various tests, but we make the choices. Demons and fallen cosmic powers are catalysts for those choices, but they are not the cause of them -- even when they prompt us to destroy ourselves.]

[completely skipped above paragraph on first pass-through for some reason. transcribed on rewrite and enlarged for relevance -- ed. bro.]

Ultimately, Belial's target is fathers and fatherhood and, most especially of all, our heavenly Father. However, it always attacks the mother first -- or else waits until the mother is out of the way.

Armies, by design, lack any of the gentler aspects of kindness and nurture to do with motherhood but that's not the main arena where this spirit deploys this policy. Padeophiles are opportunistic in targeting -- in particular -- young boys just after they've lost their mother. Dad is usually not coping at that point and he's immensely grateful for a father figure stepping in to help his son through the emotional crisis while he is struggling with his own grief around death or divorce.

He's blinded to the grooming of his son and, in not noticing, he's often the one the son blames most in later life: 'Dad didn't defend me when I needed him most.'

This is so common that, as the church, we need to be more pro-active in watching out for it. We need to be 'Watchers' of a new kind. Because instead of protecting children, most churches have protected the abusers and re-traumatised the abused. In fact, as a whole, the church has created a haven for abusers. Perversely the very institution meant to be a sanctuary for the wounded, binding up the broken-hearted, has become a refuse for exploiters.

I believe the reason the spirit of abuse makes its move when the women is out of the picture is because the greatest danger to its ultimate success is not the father but the mother. God made the promise of a redeemer who would crush the serpent's head to Eve, not to Adam.

That's what fuels Belial's relentless hatred of women.

In our present era, the war on mothers and motherhood, women and girls is disguised under a clock of 'inclusivity'. The various attempts to erase women, cancel mothers and eradicate girls simply demonstrate Belial's loathing of the gender.

[notice how her limited perspective, combined with her willingness to blame, to work you up into a combative heat, makes her complicit with the very spirit she claims to be working in opposition to.

when you hear her talking, where does your mind leap first?

MRAs, Incels, the alt-right? is it the gays, the transes? why does somebody need to be blamed? is it because she's hurt? are the people attacking her also in pain and recovering from blame? where is the line between 'attacking women' and stating your own preference with an understanding you'll be given the benefit of the doubt? why is she being so vague with her targets? does she have something to hide, or is she assuming 'her audience' would be in the know?

how many of our blindspots do we ignore at our peril? -- ed. bro]

Men are not safe -- they are in fact the real target, and will not save themselves by hiding in the shadows during the ideological war. Because exactly as in a game of chess, while the greatest threat is the queen, the objective is to take out the king.

That's always been Belial's playbook. And a page from it was used in the Garden of Eden. The regent Adam was the primary target, but his battle companion and helper Eve had to be taken out first.

[bro, look how scared she is. she's the sort of person who'd fling herself in front of her man, counting on her pure heart to stop the blow. she needs you to protect her, bro. she has so much to offer and needs protection cause she can't stay this pure without a man. -- ed. bro.]

With the 'Janissary' aspect as a significant face of Belial, we see once again the full-force tactics of abuse, group mind control, armies and inversions, but we should now include in the list of its activities three of its more insidious strategies:

grooming of the sons in order to turn them against their fathers

deceiving believers into resourcing the war against themselves

convincing believers to fund the very systems that will destroy them.

^O^

Those elements -- the turning of the sons against the fathers, and the resourcing of the enemy in their war against ourselves -- also appear in the story of the Watchers. The fallen angels not only betrayed humanity to side with them. By teaching men and women how to make weapons for war and instructing them in magic -- which is simply the use of the creative power of [The All] against Him -- The Watchers set humanity on a path towards self-destruction. People therefore resourced the war against themselves. The depravity became so bad:

The Lord observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and He saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil.

Genesis 6:5 NLT

Instead of permitting the Watchers to return, as they'd begged [The All] sent a flood to destroy and cleanse everything they'd tainted -- and imprisoned the Watchers in the netherhell of Tartarus.

It may seem a hard, unyielding judgement but, consider: these Watchers were apparently throne guardians. Their Aramaic name means the wakeful ones, the never-sleeping ones, suggesting they were the many-eyed cherubim and thus heavenly sons who were always permitted in His presence. They were the closest to God, aware of His plans, belonging to His court -- essentially His confidants.

They weren't low-ranking angels who carried messages; they were part of the governmental structure of heaven--the Divine Council.

They were top of the hierarchy and, while they obviously didn't know the fine detail of everything, they knew sufficient to be able to sabotage the work of redemption. The level of betrayal is unimaginable -- they not only cursed each other and took an oath to complete their treachery, they were, in effect, cursing [The All]'s love and mercy. They blighted His compassion and then expected to be able to access it anyway.

Now not all Watchers joined the conspiracy, but enough of them did to wreak havoc on earth. And they came within a whisker of success. Only one family stood between them and total triumph.

Now we may not be able to be sure of the veracity of all the small details in the Book of Enoch but, from Peter's writings, we can be sure of this -- the Watchers were definitely imprisoned in Tartarus and the flood was sent to purify the earth.

It's crucial to recognise that Belial's temptations always involve transgression across forbidden boundaries. Just as the angels left their appointed estate and crossed a line never meant to be crossed, so Belial tries to entice us over thresholds into prohibited territory.

/

Jude, in his epistle, mentions the transgressions of these rebel angels only to move straight on to speaking about the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah. The similarity of the incident involving the Levite and his concubine at Gibeah to Lot's behaviour at Sodom begs the question was to whether the men of Sodom were 'sons of Belial'.

While there is no explicit statement to that effect, perhaps there are clues in the names. One possible meaning of Sodom is demons, thus making a connection between Sodom in the Valley of Siddim to 'shedim', the goat demons. In a later age, half a millennia into the future, the Valley of Siddim was the valley of Shittim, acacias, where the Israelities encamped on their last stop before crossing the Jordan. The defilement on the landscape was still so great that the people should have remembered [The All]'s prohibition on such places:

Burn the town... It will remain a permanent mound of ruins, never to be rebuilt again.

Deuteronomy 13:16 ISV

They should have taken the hint encoded in the word acacia. In Hebrew, it has the sense turn aside. It has in the Valley of Acacias that the people began to worship Ball Peor, the lord of the opening.

Through ritual sex and eating food offered to idols, the Israelities covenanted with an obvious threshold guardian -- indicated by both the name, lord of the opening, and the fact they were, at long last, on the threshold of the Promised Land after forty years of wandering. Their betrayal of [Their] God meant they lost His covering protection and, when they were visited by a plague that killed 24,000 people, they had to rely on the defense of Ball Peor, the spirit with whom they had forged their agreement. [And had yet to fully love and appreciate.]

This episode highlights the centuries-long contamination of the landscape around Sodom. The Valley of Siddim was a spiritual dead zone -- ground zero for spiritual radiation so deadly and so potent it can never be eradicated.

Except... there is a hint of hope in a couplet of miracles [Josh] performed.

But first, we have to stop being complicit with the enemy. We have to stop handing over to our spiritual opponents the resources to destroy us. We have to seek to uncover our own transgression by asking [The All] to remove the veil of mind control blinding us to the reality that we are much more comfortable in the camp of Kronos or Belial than we are with [Joshua Fireseed, Frat Star Hamlet Reborn].

When I first noticed mind control as a tactic of Belial and started to pray about it, I focused on other people. I added myself in as an afterthought, not because I believed I was genuinely affected, but because I didn't want to create and 'us vs. them' mentality. However, after a month of prayer [meditation, from a submissive perspective -- ed. bro] I started to see my behaviour differently.

I began to realize that those people I would have classed as champions of the abused had, in fact, slipped into abuse themselves --and, in sliding with them, I was effectively allying myself with the enemy of our souls.

Because the spirit of abuse is a threshold guardian, it will test us at different times.

first, on the threshold of our calling;

second, when we happen to be working with someone who is on the threshold of their own calling;

third, whenever we move into a significant new aspect of our divine vocation.

Just look at the tests [Josh] faced as He was about to take up His ministry.

[lowkeynando]

he is the chief of the angels and archangels, and he is the guardian prince of Israel and is responsible for the care of Israel. [7] [8] [9][10]

Christianity adopted nearly all the Jewish traditions concerning him, [11] and he is mentioned explicitly in Revelation 12:7-12, [12] where he does battle with Satan, [13] and in the Epistle of Jude, where the author denounces heretics by contrasting them with Michael. [14] The earliest surviving mention of Michael is in a 3rd century BC Jewish apocalypse, the Book of Enoch. [9] This lists him as one of seven archangels (the remaining names are Uriel, Raguel, Raphael, Sariel, Gabriel, and Remiel), who, according to a slightly later work, the Book of Tobit, "stand ready and enter before the glory of the Lord". [10] The fact that Michael is introduced in both works without explanation implies that readers already knew him and the other named angels, which in turn implies that they are earlier than the late 3rd century BC (the earliest possible date of the relevant passages in the Book of Enoch), but although their origins remain a matter for speculation there is no evidence that they are older than the Hellenistic period. [9] [15] He is mentioned again in last chapters of the Book of Daniel, a Jewish apocalypse composed in the 2nd century BC although set in the 6th, in which a man clothed in linen (never identified, but probably the archangel Gabriel) tells Daniel that he ands CLONES

[gaast]

Two classes I took in undergrad were Hebrew Bible and New Testament classes. I went to a Methodist school and you had to take at least one REL course to pass. (It was also a liberal arts school with a notable theater troupe, so we were also required to take at least one Theater course. I mention this in case anyone wants to get on a high horse about this.) Both these classes were held in the basement in the main chapel they have on campus.

So anyway, I'm an atheist, never been to any kind of church service, only ever read some of Genesis as assigned reading in 10th grade, but I was super excited for these classes because I was an English major. Do you know the kinda shit you miss out on in literature when you're not super familiar with the Bible? We weren't required to read the whole thing and I didn't (I did less than what we were assigned because, again, English major--I had so much the fuck to read). If you were following me back on my old blog at this point you might actually recall this era of my life.

The professors for these courses, who I believe were married, obviously treated the courses as biblical studies courses, rather than your Sunday School fare. One made several jokes about how you can get an entire degree, hell, a doctorate just by reading, as he put it, "one book." But frankly, everything I learned about biblical scholarship itself was fascinating. If you want to talk about media archaeology and the intersections of dozens, if not hundreds, of differently scholarly and scientific fields, look no further.

The content of the Bible is one thing--as a foundational text inspiring the thought and lives of billions of people, reading it is an odd experience. Learning about Genesis, the whole Torah really, you learn that several different apparent editors (called redactors) very clearly changed the text that we received over time. These redactors even have names (that scholars have given them). If Exodus was edited to lend more legitimacy to the priesthood, you can bet that P did that shit.

But it also verges into book history. Ancient authors didn't have a concept of plagiarism. If you read lines you liked and wanted to use in your own writing, you just copied them wholesale. This is the only reason why we have some surviving fragments of otherwise completely lost texts--for example, Jesus' beatitudes. And if you wanted to give yourself more authority, you'd sign your work as if you were some other actually famous person. Many of the epistles were absolutely 100% DEFINITELY not written by Paul, but they all say they were because that was the practice. (The epistles are ordered by date and the ones after Paul's execution are way more shit-Christian than anything Paul wrote. But they claimed to be Pauline and maybe that was enough to include them, or maybe their inclusion in the Bible was more because their ideology was agreeable. Speaking of...)

But also, consider this: so many people wrote so many books that could have found their way into the Bible. Religious leaders at the time decided what books to include in the collection, and what books to exclude. The Book of Enoch was incredibly popular in its time, but it's now considered apocrypha. Meanwhile, Ecclesiastes isn't even really religious in tone or subject and it was included. (It's also fun to think about why English style rules exclude canon biblical book names from the otherwise-standard italicization of book titles.)

And one more consideration: ancient biblical texts had this pernicious tendency to be written in ancient Greek, which didn't really use things like "spaces between words." To make more scrolls so more people had access to these texts, scribes, who often couldn't actually read, would have to copy the incredibly cramped handwriting of people who they may not have known, from a language they couldn't understand, whose characters they could easily have confused. This happened in a chain of people, from scribe to scribe from town to town, over the course of centuries. Beyond that, imagine copying a scroll of, say, the Book of Isaiah by hand. Can you guarantee that you'd never copy the same line twice in a row by accident, especially if you, again, didn't know the language?

So what even is "the Bible?" Is it the document we got all these millennia later? Is it the original scrolls as written by the original authors--which we can never and will never have? Is it somewhere in between? Should it include this book, exclude that book?

The Bible is still alive. It's a living document that scholars and faith leaders are still debating to this day. If you don't believe me, why are you a Protestant and not a Catholic, or a Lutheran and not a Quaker, or a Baptist and not a Muslim, or Jewish and not an Episcopalian, or an Eastern Orthodox Christian and not an Anglican? Its meanings and histories will be debated for as long as we do, for better or worse. And frankly, there's no right answer. The Bible contradicts itself. We have Lilith because people noticed that Creation happens twice in Genesis because a redactor added extra versions of the earliest Genesis stories to fit their own agenda. You ever read Genesis? It's right there. Two parallel Creations happen side-by-side. They both contradict each other. Jesus contradicts the Hebrew Bible, using people like Isaiah's words to assert that his coming was foretold, when Isaiah, as a prophet during the time of the split kingdom of Isarael, was speaking metaphorically to damn the people in charge (and the people writ large) who let a culturally and ethnically singular people become separated ideologically. Looking at it from one perspective, Jesus was a rabbi, but he was also a biblical scholar, working to recontextualize meanings that were ancient even to him. And yet many claim it mjst be followed dogmatically. How? It contradicts itself! Do I do nothing on the Sabbath or can I take care of some shit I gotta do? How soon after my brother dies do I need to impregnate my sister-in-law for him? Do you really want me to bring up Lot's daughters?

If this kind of shit doesn't make you want to be a biblical scholar I really don't know what could.

But for one last little thing. The Exodus didn't happen. We can get archaeological evidence for a surprising number of things said to occur in the Bible. We can say with reasonable certainty that yeah, Jericho was toppled pretty quickly, for example (probably not with the mere use of trumpets, but you know). We're also reasonably certain that Jesus existed, because EVERYONE agrees this dude was crucified, and if you were someone's follower at the time you'd do everything in your power to assert that he was execured by any other means because of just how humiliating crucifixion was considered, but allies and enemies of his claim he was crucified so that's honestly enough for us to say, yeah, he probably existed and died that way. But we can't find evidence for the Exodus. Ancient Egyptians were notoriously good record keepers and they never recorded the mass departure of a nation's worth of slaves. We'd also be able to see in the earth evidence of that many people walking anywhere, especially if they were wandering for forty years. But that evidence hasn't manifested. It's very unlikely those events occurred.

But that doesn't mean the Exodus isn't real. How many millions, if not billions, of people have accepted that the Exodus occurred in their shared history as a people? How has the fact of that belief shaped their self-conception and the ways they interacted with the world? How has this simple story influenced hundreds of generations of people, and how did it guide them through the numerous awful diasporas they were forced through over the centuries?

Even if the Bible is fictitious--and much of it is--fiction has a power over people. It influences us. That's why we consume it. The Song of Solomon isn't included in the Bible just because it says Solomon wrote it. It's in there because it reflected the thoughts, beliefs, and culture of the people who produced and read it. Anyone who writes fiction could stand to think a little more deeply about religious texts and the ways they affect people's lives. It might make us feel a bit more responsible.

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

The Faith of Many

1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. 2 This is what the ancients were commended for.

3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

4 By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead.

5 By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: ‘He could not be found, because God had taken him away.’ For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

7 By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith.

8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9 By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 11 And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise. 12 And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.

13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. 14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 Instead, they were longing for a better country – a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

17 By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, 18 even though God had said to him, ‘It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.’ 19 Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death.

20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future.

21 By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons, and worshipped as he leaned on the top of his staff.

22 By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions concerning the burial of his bones.

23 By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.

24 By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. 25 He chose to be ill-treated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. 26 He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. 27 By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. 28 By faith he kept the Passover and the application of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.

29 By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.

30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the army had marched round them for seven days.

31 By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.

32 And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. 35 Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. 36 Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37 They were put to death by stoning; they were sawn in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and ill-treated – 38 the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground.

39 These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, 40 since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect. — Hebrews 11 | New International Version - UK (NIVUK) Holy Bible, New International Version® Anglicized, NIV® Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® All rights reserved worldwide. Cross References: Genesis 1:1; Genesis 4:4; Genesis 5:21; Genesis 6:9; Genesis 12:1; Genesis 12:8; Genesis 17:9; Genesis 23:4; Genesis 24:6; Genesis 27:4; Genesis 39:20; Genesis 47:31; Exodus 2:10-11; Exodus 2:13-14 and 15; Exodus 2:22; Exodus 3:15; Exodus 14:22; Exodus 18:4; Joshua 2:1; Joshua 6:15; Judges 4:1; judges 6:2; Judges 14:6; 2 Samuel 12:31; 1 Kings 17:22-23; Job 36:21; Isaiah 14:32; Matthew 12:36; Luke 9:31; Luke 14:33; Acts 7:20; Romans 8:24; Romans 9:7; Hebrews 1:1; Hebrews 7:19; Hebrews 9:15; Hebrews 12:23; James 2:21-22; Revelation 6:11; Revelation 20:8

[pugzman3]

CERN links and connections. Part 2 of 2 part video. This one has audio.

Just like all the other things they do and show us, when you see it one piece at a time, it seems like nothing. Many people do not realize they are being told what is happening; and that one little bit of info is the piece of a puzzle. By the time they get another piece, they have forgotten about the first.

Now, a couple of things. Both in this video and the first one, other things are tied in that go off into other rabbit holes. These two videos are just about CERN and there links.

BUT...... to go off a bit into one of those rabbit holes. You heard what the guy said in the video, "mimicking the temperatures and conditions", (And I have heard this same theory from a few people), but....how else could temperatures and conditions be replicated or modified? Does DARPA come to mind? Chemtrails? Weather modification? What if they are creating those temps and changes for a much more nefarious reasons than just to push "climate change"? I know I have said many times where every rabbit hole leads to right?

Enter.... The Restrainer, the Epistle from Paul to the Thessalonians, particularly verses 6 and 7.

In other words, there is a restrainer in place right now. The Book of Enoch points to the Archangle Michael holding it (he who now letteth will let). But that restrainer will be removed, and (v8) then shall that Wicked be revealed.