evolution

A little birdie told me that some atheists claim that science has found a transitional form from reptile to bird and that this, somehow, has something to do with God’s non-existence.

Don’t ask me where this bird brain gets these ideas but this is what my little birdie friend, whose name is Archaeopteryx, tells me. Archaeopteryx has virtually come to be worshipped as an idol by the sect of atheism that considers “science” as somehow evidencing absolute materialism or rather, disproving God existence.

seraphim

Herein we continue, from part 1, considering Cherubim and Seraphim in text generally termed the Apocrypha, Deutero Canonical, Pseudepigrapha, Gnostic Texts, etc. (see my article on the Apocrypha here). The fuller complete result consists of quotations of those sections within the text that refer to Angels, Cherubim, Seraphim, Devil, Satan, demons, serpent and dragon.

snake

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Norm Geisler references TrueFreethinker.com:
Apologeticspress.com’s Kyle Butt references TrueFreethinker.com:

Read the article about which Gary Habermas, PhD (Distinguished Research Professor & Chair of the Department of Philosophy at Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary) said, “I have hung on to it since you sent it, & plan to keep doing so”: Historical Jesus – Two Centuries Worth of Citations.

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Michael Heiser on Reptilians in the Dead Sea Scrolls and the book of Enoch

Michael Heiser on Reptilians in the Dead Sea Scrolls and the book of Enoch

Herein, we continue considering Michael Heiser’s “Preliminary Investigation” and “brief overview” which contains some “very tentative” conclusions and some things about which he is “still thinking…and my views may change.” This is all in regards to “brief overview into the matter of serpentine / reptilian beings in the Hebrew Bible.” The first segment left off with a consideration of a Dead Sea Scroll fragment and a text from 1 Enoch with which we now continue (find my full write up here).

The referenced Dead Sea fragment, 4QAmram consists of 4Q543, 545-548 and is known as the Testament of Amram and also the Visions of Amram. Following are the relevant portions from the translation by Robert Eisenman and Michael Wise from their book Dead Sea Scrolls Uncovered (Penguin Books, 1993 AD):

Manuscript C – Column 1
(1) A copy [of the book of the words of the vis]ion of Amram the son of Kohath, the son of Levi

Manuscript B – Fragment 1:9-15
[… I saw Watchers] in my vision, the dream-vision. Two (men) were fighting over me, saying … and holding a great contest over me. I asked them, ‘Who are you, that you are thus empo[wered over me?’ They answered me, ‘We] [have been em]powered and rule over all mankind.’ They said to me, ‘Which of us do yo[u choose to rule (you)?’ I raised my eyes and looked.] [One] of them was terr[i]fying in his appearance, [like] a serpent, [his] cl[oa]k many-colored yet very dark… [And I looked again], and … in his appearance, his visage like a viper, and [wearing …] [exceedingly, and all his eyes …]

Manuscript B – Fragment 2:1-6
[… em]powered over you … [I replied to him,] ‘This [Watcher,] who is he?’ He answered me, ‘This Wa[tcher …] [and his three names are Belial and Prince of Darkness] and King of Evil.’ I said, ‘My lord, what dom[inion …?’] [’and his every way is darkened, his every work da[rk]ened. In Darkness he … [Yo]u saw, and he is empowered over all Darkness, while I [am empowered over all light.] [… from] the highest regions to the lowest I rule over all Light, and over al[l that is of God. I rule over (every) man]

Manuscript B – Fragment 3:1-2
[of His grace and peace. Over all the sons of Lig]ht have] I been empowered.’ I asked him, [What are your names … ?’] He [s]aid to me, ‘[My] three names are [Michael and Prince of Light and King of Righteousness.’]

Now let us consider 1 Enoch 20:7, 71:7; 61:10 from R.H. Charles’ The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament (Oxford: The Clarendon Press Vol. 1 and Vol. 2):

1 Enoch 20:7-8
Saraqael, 7 one of the holy angels, who is set over the spirits, who sin in the spirit. Gabriel, one of the holy 8 angels, who is over Paradise and the serpents and the Cherubim. Remiel, one of the holy angels, whom God set over those who rise.

1 Enoch 71:7
7 And round about were Seraphin, Cherubic, and Ophannin: And these are they who sleep not And guard the throne of His glory.

1 Enoch 61:10
10 And He will summon all the host of the heavens, and all the holy ones above, and the host of God, the Cherubic, Seraphin and Ophannin, and all the angels of power, and all the angels of principalities, and the Elect One, and the other powers on the earth (and) over the water On that day shall raise one voice, and bless and glorify and exalt in the spirit of faith, and in the spirit of wisdom, and in the spirit of patience, and in the spirit of mercy, and in the spirit of judgement and of peace, and in the spirit of goodness, and shall all say with one voice: “Blessed is He, and may the name of the Lord of Spirits be blessed for ever and ever.”

Since Gabriel, is said to be, over “serpents and the Cherubim” then serpents are assumed to be a reference to Seraphim. The other two text (for some reason Heiser listed chapter 71 before 61) list the “Seraphin, Cherubic, and Ophannin” beings (as per Ezekiel chapters 1 and 10 the wheels within wheels are ‘owphan (Strong’s H212) or ophanim. FYI: Heiser is spelling the terms with the Aramaic masculine plural ending “in,” of which the Hebrew is “im”).

I agree that “the ‘serpent’…in the Eden story of Genesis 3 was not a snake – it was a divine being” but was not a Seraph (and was not an Angel) but rather, particularly as per Ezekiel 28, was a Cherub:

You were the anointed cherub who covers, and I placed you there. You were on the holy mountain of God; you walked in the midst of the stones of fire. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created until unrighteousness was found in you. By the abundance of your trade you were internally filled with violence, and you sinned; therefore I have cast you as profane from the mountain of God. And I have destroyed you, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire…

For an elucidation on the correlation, within the Ezekiel 28, between the leader (ruler, prince) of Tyre and the Cherub, see Is lucifer a fallen angel? (contra Jim Brayshaw).

We will consider the similarities and differences between Angels, Watchers, Cherubim, Seraphim, etc. within the next segment.

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Here are links to Michael S. Heiser’s books:
The Façade (The Façade Saga) Volume 1

The Portent (The Façade Saga) Volume 2

I Dare You Not to Bore Me with the Bible

When Giants Were Upon the Earth: The Watchers, the Nephilim, and the Biblical Cosmic
War of the Seed

The Bible Code Myth

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Due to robo-spaming, I had to close the comment sections. However, you can comment on my Facebook page and/or on my Google+ page.

Origen

Within this series, beginning with part 1, part 2, part 3, you will find info from The Gospel of Peter, The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, The Epistle of Barnabas aka Pseudo-Barnabas, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Origen, Anatolius of Alexandria, Jerome plus Alfred Loisy.

Billy Meier, OT III, Gen IV & 1 Enoch IV

If you know to what the title refers, you are well ahead of the game. If not…

To make a long story short:
OT III refers to L. Ron Hubbard’s Scientology’s level known as Operating Thetan III (learn more about Scientology in general here).
Gen IV refers to the Bible’s book of Genesis at chapter 6.
1 Enoch IV refers to the apocryphal Book of Enoch’s (aka Ethiopic Enoch aka 1 Enoch) sixth chapter which means that we are within that book’s section known as the Book of the Watchers (which ranges from chapters 1-36).

To make a short story long:
OT III was once a top level secret of Scientology’s hierarchical mysteries. Warren McShane, president of the (Scientology’s subsidiary—find our article on them here) claimed that OT III “are not trade secrets.”
Well, whatever that means, it is a fact that there was much—litigious—ado when that of which it consists was revealed. The, public, revelation occurred via a 1995 AD court case Religious Technology Center v. F.A.C.T.Net, Inc., et al. , via a Feb. 2011 AD New Yorker article (find court documents here), via the Trapped in the Closet episode of the satirical cartoon show South Park (which led to Scientologist Isaac Haze, who was the voice of one of the characters, to quite the show—apparently, besmirching everyone else was acceptable but not once it hits home) and subsequently in innumerable websites, etc.

OT III was conceptualized by L. Ron Hubbard circa 1967 AD and is a history of how psychological trauma came to be within humans—in a manner of speaking. The story goes that 75 million years ago Xenu (aka Xemu) was the head of the Galactic Confederation and faced the problem of overpopulation. His final solution was to load circa a billion alien beings into spaceships, deposit them on Earth inside of volcanoes and drop hydrogen bombs on them.
So traumatizing was this that the souls, which Hubbard termed thetans (generally pronounced as thee-tons and somewhat like satans), of these alien beings fanned out into the Earth and possess, as it were, human beings. These are what Scientology claims to be able to dislodge via their styled form of exorcism.
Of interest may be the fact that they believe that traumatic past life memories can be triggered as to bring the thetans to the surface so as to do away with them. This is why, for example, the book cover of, and commercials for, Dianetics features an exploding volcano. It is not an erupting volcano but a volcano that is being exploded by bombs by Xenu.
The following video feature interesting Scientology book covers along with the Xenu story:

Keep in mind that the bottom line is that alien beings came to Earth, died a traumatic enough death so that they became disembodied, that they sought to inhabit, or embody, humans and that Hubbard claims the most effective method for removing them. Finally, note that Xenu, the perpetrator, is said to have been imprisoned by his own lieutenants who mutinied and is said to still (75 million years later) be alive and incarcerated here on Earth “in an electronic mountain trap.”

Genesis 6:1-5 states the following:

Now it came about, when men began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them, that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose. Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.” The Nephilim were 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.

Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

From this alone we get the concept that alien beings, the Sons of God (who in the Old Testament are divine beings consisting of a category of being known as angels and perhaps other categories; keeping in mind that satan is not a fallen angel but a fallen Cherub). To make some potentially complex stories long; note that this occurred in the pre-diluvian (before the great worldwide flood) world and so what happened to the hybrids (the half Sons of God and half human daughters of men mixtures) is that they died the traumatic death of drowning.

As they were neither 100% divine nor 100% human, they do not fall into one or the other camp (metaphorically speaking). Thus, when they died there was no where for them to go, as it were—at least not until the eschaton (the end days, last days, end times, etc.).

Due to this fact, 1 Enoch 6:1-8 states:

And it came to pass when the children of men had multiplied that in those days were born unto them beautiful and comely daughters. And the angels, the children of the heaven, saw and lusted after them, and said to one another: ‘Come, let us choose us wives from among the children of men and beget us children.’ And Semjaza, who was their leader, said unto them: ‘I fear ye will not indeed agree to do this deed, and I alone shall have to pay the penalty of a great sin.’ And they all answered him and said: ‘Let us all swear an oath, and all bind ourselves by mutual imprecations not to abandon this plan but to do this thing.’ Then sware they all together and bound themselves by mutual imprecations upon it. And they were in all two hundred; who descended in the days of Jared on the summit of Mount Hermon, and they called it Mount Hermon, because they had sworn and bound themselves by mutual imprecations upon it. And these are the names of their leaders: Samlazaz, their leader, Araklba, Rameel, Kokablel, Tamlel, Ramlel, Danel, Ezeqeel, Baraqijal, Asael, Armaros, Batarel, Ananel, Zaq1el, Samsapeel, Satarel, Turel, Jomjael, Sariel.

These are their chiefs of tens.

Thus, these traumatized and disembodied souls, now demons, roam the Earth seeking to inhabit, possess, humans.

The perpetrators, the Sons of God, currently find themselves incarcerated. Jude 1:6 refers to “the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.” And they are correlated with Sodom and Gomorrha” in verse 7 because those cities “and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.”

2 Peter 2:4-5 likewise states:

For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment…

Jesus demonstrated His power over demons, the disembodied spirits of the Nephilim (the angel / human hybrids) by commanding them to leave people and they demonstrated His power over them by obeying Him. His Jewish opponents never denied His ability to do this but only questioned whence came His ability.

We have a correlation between OTIII and 1 Enoch 6 with elucidation from Genesis 6. Traumatic deaths resulting in disembodiment. Disembodied spirits seeking embodiment. The incarceration of he/they (Xenu and the sons of God) who caused the fracas.

Thus, we see a ready made source from which L. Ron Hubbard may have drawn inspiration for OT III.
Or, perhaps due to his consorting with the likes of Jack Parsons and their mutual practice of Aleister Crowley’s black magick; he received “revelation” from demons who simply relayed the story to him.

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A plea: I have to pay for server usage and have made all content on this website free and always will. I support my family on one income and do research, writing, videos, etc. as a hobby. If you can even spare $1.00 as a donation, please do so: it may not seem like much but if each person reading this would do so, even every now and then, it would add up and really, really help out. Here is my donate/paypal page.

Due to robo-spaming, I had to close the comment sections. However, you can comment on my Twitter page, on my Facebook page and/or on my Google+ page.

nematode

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Norm Geisler references TrueFreethinker.com:
Apologeticspress.com’s Kyle Butt references TrueFreethinker.com:

Read the article about which Gary Habermas, PhD (Distinguished Research Professor & Chair of the Department of Philosophy at Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary) said, “I have hung on to it since you sent it, & plan to keep doing so”: Historical Jesus – Two Centuries Worth of Citations.

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Going too far & not far enough on the issue of the Genesis 6 Nephilim

I find myself in an interesting situation playing monkey, as it were, between two Christian brothers. On the issue of the Genesis 6 Nephilim one is going too far and the other not far enough.

Now for reasons elucidated within my section on the Nephilim – Giants section, I hold that the Genesis 6 affair, as I like to term it, involved the Sons of God Angels and human daughters of men.

Now, the one Christian takes it too far due to, form what I could tell, relying much too much on certain people who are popular within the circles of speakers, teachers, lecturers, authors, etc. who delve into issue relating to the Nephilim, giants, “aliens,” Christian UFOlogy, etc., etc., etc.

The issue is that these fields of research are peppered if not saturated with misinformation. This may be due to purposeful deception, seeking popularity, exaggerations, lazy “research,” honest mistakes—who knows?

For example, this fellow noted that the “Book of Enoch” is not in the biblical canon and followed up with words to the effect but isn’t it? He noted that it is in a couple of Jewish canons. I helped him out and noted that it is in the Ethiopian Church’s canon and as soon as he nodded in agreement I stated the fact that the Ethiopic canon also contains other books that he would not think belong therein.
You see, for their love of the “Book of Enoch”—actually one of the books (plural) of Enoch, one of the versions of one of the books of Enoch, one of the sections of one of the versions of one of the books of Enoch—some Christians are willing to rip the canon wide open. Of course, there is a long line of people standing behind him with their favored books which they claim belong in the canon. For details on this, see my Book of Enoch section.

As an example of a simple case of a very simple to identify error within the context of Nephilim and giants, see Open note to L.A. Marzulli on the Ralph Glidden Catalina Island giant.

In short, I agree with this brother on the issue of Angels being involved in the Genesis 6 affair and other related issues but am attempting to up his game and get serious about follow up fact checking.

genesis206-1124960

Now, on the other hand, the other brother does not even believe that the Genesis 6 affair involved Angels. He wrote this to me, “I don’t believe that angels had sex with humans.”

I replied, “On the issue of Angels with humans: Peter and Jude (and the majority of early Jewish and Christian commentators) disagree with you.”

He then noted and asked:

If Peter and Jude disagree with me, then show me where they say that fallen angels and humans had sex and made kids. Show me anywhere in the Bible. The idea of angels and humans having sex is just an interpretation of what is in their passages. It is not specifically stated as you are implying.

Is the majority always right? Do the majority of Jewish scholars believe that Jesus is the Messiah?

Does the Bible say that Satan and his angels can pro-create?

To date, the discussion rests at my reply which was as follows:

We both know that the majority is not always right: that “the majority of early Jewish and Christian commentators” interpreted Genesis 6 as relating to angels is merely pointing out the historical context of the interpretation of that text, it was originally, in large, understood as angelic by both camps. So, no, the majority of Jewish scholars do not believe that Jesus is the Messiah but the majority of Christians scholars do—at least, I would hope so, capiche?

The idea of Peter and Jude as not stating that angels and humans have sex is just an interpretation of what is in their passages. It is not specifically stated as you are implying.

The Bible does not say that Satan can pro-create and he is not an angel but is a cherub. Thus, this does not pertain to him and the Bible does not say that he was involved in the Genesis 6 affair.

The Bible says that angels can pro-create via Genesis 6 and the 2 Peter and Jude texts.

Okay, here they are—in the KJV—only ;o)–and with my noted in brackets: [FYI this brother is not a KJV only proponent, this is just an inside joke betwixt us]

2 Peter 2,

“God spared not the Angels that sinned [thus far we know that some Angels sinned], but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly [Peter gave us the historical context so he is identifying when the Angels sinned and it was around the time of Noah: Genesis 6 begins with the Sons of God and moves or to Noah and the deluge]; And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly; And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked: (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;) The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished: But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness [Peter is also specifying the Angels’ sin by making reference to the sin of Sodom and Gomorrha which he specifies as being, in part, “flesh in the lust of uncleanness” and you know what is meant by flesh and lust], and despise government. Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities.”

Jude 6-8,

“And the Angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation [seems to mean that they abandoned heaven in a selfwilled (as Peter put it) manner unlike when God sends them on errands], he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities [Jude directly ties Angels which kept not their first estate with Sodom and Gomorrha within the context of “fornication, and going after strange flesh” and they who “defile the flesh”].”

They are both referring to Angels, one directs us to the historical context of Noah’s time and both liken the Angels’ sin to sexual acts committed by citizens of Sodom and Gomorrha.

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A plea: I have to pay for server usage and have made all content on this website free and always will. I support my family on one income and do research, writing, videos, etc. as a hobby. If you can even spare $1.00 as a donation, please do so: it may not seem like much but if each person reading this would do so, even every now and then, it would add up and really, really help. Here is my donate/paypal page.

Due to robo-spaming, I had to close the comment sections. However, you can comment on my Facebook page and/or on my Google+ page. You can also use the “Share / Save” button below this post.

James White

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Norm Geisler references TrueFreethinker.com:
Apologeticspress.com’s Kyle Butt references TrueFreethinker.com:

Read the article about which Gary Habermas, PhD (Distinguished Research Professor & Chair of the Department of Philosophy at Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary) said, “I have hung on to it since you sent it, & plan to keep doing so”: Historical Jesus – Two Centuries Worth of Citations.

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Cliff Walker

Social networks:
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Norm Geisler references TrueFreethinker.com:
Apologeticspress.com’s Kyle Butt references TrueFreethinker.com:

Read the article about which Gary Habermas, PhD (Distinguished Research Professor & Chair of the Department of Philosophy at Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary) said, “I have hung on to it since you sent it, & plan to keep doing so”: Historical Jesus – Two Centuries Worth of Citations.

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