James Lasher wrote a post titled Supernatural Connections: Exploring Nephilim and Scripture for the Charisma website which is the website for, “The Magazine About Spirit-Led Living” which also reads, “About Charisma Magazine: To passionate, Spirit-filled Christians, Charisma is the leading charismatic media source that inspires them to radically change their world. Since 1975…”
The post in an introduction to, “Tony Merkel’s recent interview with Charisma” on, “topics ranging from Bigfoot to Nephilim” so as to allow for Merkel (who is unintroduced in the post) to, “challenge conventional thinking” which, I’m saddened to say, in this case means making up un-biblical tall-tales to sell to Christians in a typical pop-Nephilology style.
Due to that pop-post-flood-Nephilologists sell theo-fear-porn, Merkel notes, “There are people who believe that their bloodline comes from Nephilim.” It is asked, “Is there a connection between ancient accounts of the Nephilim and modern-day experiences of the supernatural?” the reply to which is that, “Merkel, and many others who study the matter such as” fellow pop-Nephilologists, “L.A. Marzulli, certainly think so.”
It’s tragic but modern pop-Nephilology is un-biblical neo-theo sci-fi tall-tales sold to Christians: it’s where the most embarrassingly ridiculous wild conspiracy theories that should die find a new home by being thrown in a blender & are mixed in till they leaven the whole lump.
In this case, people today have bought into so much such stuff that they come to the pop-Nephilologist enduced delusion that they, their friends, their families, perfect strangers, etc., may not be fully human: historically, assertions that some humans aren’t really humans (such as Nazis did to us Jews, evolutionists did to the Aborigines, etc.) led to serial and mass murders. Such is my book Nephilim and Giants as per Pop-Researchers: A Comprehensive Consideration of the claims of I.D.E. Thomas, Chuck Missler, Dante Fortson, Derek Gilbert, Brian Godawa, Patrick Heron, Thomas Horn, Ken Johnson, L.A. Marzulli, Josh Peck, CK Quarterman, Steve Quayle, Rob Skiba, Gary Wayne, Jim Wilhelmsen, et al. includes a chapter titled “Nephil Kampf” since such paranoid and dangerous assertions are rampant within pop-Nephilology.
The bottom line is that any concept of post-flood Nephilim implies that God failed: He meant to be rid of them via the flood but couldn’t get the job done, He must have missed a loophole, the flood was much of a waste, etc. See, fallacious Nephilology negatively effects theology proper. Also, post-flood Nephilologists have to just invent un-biblical tall-tales about how they made it past the flood.
This describes 100% of pop-Nephilologists. And those who claim they survived the flood contradict the Bible five times (Genesis 7:7, 23; Hebrews 11:7; 1 Peter 3:20; and 2 Peter 2:5).
I’ve written whole books debunking them such as the one just noted and Nephilim and Giants: Believe It or Not!: Ancient and Neo-Theo-Sci-Fi Tall Tales.
I have asked dozens of Marzulli’s fans why he assert that Nephilim were very, very big and asserts he has their skulls but can only ever show us regular sized skulls: 99.9% don’t even attempt a rely.
To get Nephilim past the flood, past God, Marzulli opts of a fantasy tall-tale about another fall of Angels post-flood which again resulted in Nephilim. Yet, there’s only a one-time fall of Angels in the Bible and Jude and 2 Peter 2 tell us that those Angels were incarcerated.
Not surprisingly, Lasher notes, “Merkel’s curiosity about the Nephilim began in 2017 when he encountered the work of Gary Wayne, an author who connects biblical history to accounts of giants and supernatural beings.”
I debated Wayne and have written many articles reviewing his views (as well as having included him in the first book I mentioned). Key questions are: What’s the usage of the vague, generic, subjective, multi-usage and modern English word “giants” in English Bibles? What’s Lasher’s or Merkel’s or Wayne’s usage? Do those two usages agree?
Well, after decades of asserting Nephilim were “giants” (by which he means very, very, very big—which isn’t the English Bible’s usage of that term) it just took me asking him one little question, during our debate, to get him to admitting he doesn’t know how big they were, “we don’t know how big Nephilim were…we don’t know how tall that they were” (sic.)—and then, he went on to say he’ll keep asserting they were “giants.” What sense does it make to refer to the height of someone who’s height you don’t know?
It’s noted, “I never was taught about Nephilim in church,” Merkel admits. “I went into Bible College and never heard about it … and it wasn’t until I started looking at Enoch that things started clicking in my head.”
Well, that’s a good reason to attend an expositional church since the pastor will teach on it, by definition, and well, perhaps he should have read the Bible at least once during lo, those many years. But, he didn’t turn to God’s Word rather, he turned to 1 Enoch aka Ethiopic Enoch, to be exact, which is just Bible contradicting folklore from centuries, if not millennia, after the Torah, see my book In Consideration of the Book(s) of Enoch.
Interestingly:
Merkel also explored the possibility of lingering traits of Nephilim ancestry in certain individuals today. Reflecting on DNA and physical anomalies, he shared: “I have a brother and sister who are twins … one looks like a white girl with blonde hair, and her twin brother is darker than me. Could it be that some people have characteristics and traits of their supernatural fathers of long ago, while others don’t? Maybe I lack the proper scientific understanding, but it makes you think.” He connected this to reports of individuals with extra teeth, six toes or even supernatural experiences that could point to ancient origins. [ellipses in original]
I said, “Interestingly” since how could Merkel possibly know about any, “traits of Nephilim” considering that the dirty little secret is that since we’ve no reliable physical description of Nephilim then their height is a non-issue and that alone debunks 99% of un-biblical Nephilology.
Thus, how could he know of, impossible to exist, “lingering traits of Nephilim ancestry”: he doesn’t and can’t.
Note how utterly maniacal this is such that slight differences in the amount of melanin in the epidermal pigmentation could have some unknown something to do with Nephilim somehow.
Yes, he, “lack[s] the proper scientific understanding
and, “it makes you think” incoherently paranoid half-thoughts—that are also very dangerous.
Now, regarding, “traits of Nephilim” there’s literally zero indication that any of them had, “extra teeth,” “six toes” is only stated about one single person in the whole Bibel and he was a Repha, not a Nephil (2 Samuel 21:20), and to generically assert that generic whatever is meant by, “supernatural experiences” and jump to the conclusion that it, “could point to ancient origins” is merely asserting that generic whatever is meant by, “supernatural experiences…could point to ancient origins.” But such is the bread and artificial butter of pop-Nephilology: make merely asserted vague statements, only on platforms where one won’t be challenged, and move on—all the way to the bank.
We’re then looped back to 1 Enoch, “though not part of the canonical Bible…Merkel noted that ‘there are parts of Enoch that are actually quoted in the New Testament,’ which he says led him to take its accounts more seriously”: correct, if by, “parts,” plural, he means, “part,” singular: Jude quotes Enoch and Paul quotes Greek poets so, what of it?
It’s noted, “The book describes not only the corruption of humanity but also of animals and plants” for which there’s literally zero indication since it does no such thing—not that it matters since it contains and consists of tall-tales.
For example, it has Nephilim as being MILES tall which is great folklore but poor reality—hey, where’s that Nephilim trait expressed in pseudo-humans today?
Now, any good pop-Nephilology knows that when you establish a ministry based on selling tall-tales about giants/Nephilim you’ll run out of material after reading the mere two sentences in the Bible wherein their mentioned. Thus, as Tony Merkel did, you’ll have to run off into apocrypha and pseudepigrapha (see my book The Apocryphal Nephilim and Giants: Encountering Nephilim and Giants in Extra-Biblical Texts) and then you will have to just appropriate cryptozoology just to keep you going.
It’s admitted, “Merkel himself acknowledged the challenges of sifting through accounts that blend historical, spiritual and mythical elements.”
Example, James Lasher notes, “Merkel discussed paranormal phenomena, such as Sasquatch sightings and encounters with beings like the so-called ‘Catman’” and, guess what:
Connecting these accounts to Scripture, Merkel pointed out that Nephilim are mentioned post-flood in Numbers 13:33, when the spies of Israel, of which Joshua and Caleb were among the number, report seeing giants in Canaan.
This raises the question of how these beings could have survived or reappeared after the flood.
Merkel speculates: “Could they have gone into other realms during the flood? Or could there have been a remnant that survived in a supernatural way?”
Is it just me? Did anyone else miss the, “Connecting…to Scripture” claims of, “Sasquatch…and…‘Catman’”? What would tall hairy ape creatures and feline man have to do with Nephilim? Again, we’ve no reliable physical description of Nephilim and since both of their parentage looked just like humans—Angels look just like human males and human women look like human women (see my book What Does the Bible Say About Angels? A Styled Angelology)—then every indication is that Nephilim would have looked just like humans.
Indeed, “Nephilim are mentioned post-flood in Numbers 13:33” but such is misrepresented so let’s review:
- Mentioned doesn’t necessarily mean they were there much like I’m now mentioning the first US POTUS Washington but he’s certainly not alive.
- That’s based on one single sentence.
- From an, “evil report.”
- Not by, “the spies” in general, since there were 12, but by the 10 unreliable ones so that the fact is that Joshua and Caleb were not among that number.
- The ones whom God rebuked.
- The contradictory, unreliable, embellishers who were unfaithful and disloyal.
- It’s not just that they, “report seeing giants” but Nephilim, which was impossible since they didn’t make it past the flood in any way, shape, or form.
- It’s not a case of, “This raises the question of how these beings could have survived or reappeared after the flood” but rather, did they reappear after the flood, the biblical answer to which is of course not since God didn’t fail, didn’t miss a loophole, the flood wasn’t much of a waste, etc., etc., etc. and THE only indication that they did is a fear-mongering scare-tactic tall-tale that contradicts Moses, Caleb, Joshua, God, and the rest of the whole Bible.
- “gone into other realms” is just a fantasy speculation about a loophole that God missed but Merkel was clever enough to figure out.
- “a remnant that survived” contradicts the Bible five times (Genesis 7:7, 23; Hebrews 11:7; 1 Peter 3:20; and 2 Peter 2:5).
I could actually keep going, and did so in my post Chapter sample: On the Post Flood Nephilim Proposal.
I wrote the following in an email to Charisma and also posted it to the video of the interview: to date, I’ve not received any sort of reply to either:
Good day, I pray I find you well,
Contacting you about the article by James Lasher by the subject title: https://mycharisma.com/spiritled-living/supernatural-connections-exploring-nephilim-and-scripture/
Wondering if there’s any fact-checking being done since, for example, Lasher wrote, “[Tony] Merkel pointed out that Nephilim are mentioned post-flood in Numbers 13:33, when the spies of Israel, of which Joshua and Caleb were among the number, report seeing giants in Canaan. This raises the question of how these beings could have survived or reappeared after the flood. Merkel speculates: ‘Could they have gone into other realms during the flood? Or could there have been a remnant that survived in a supernatural way?’”
Yet, it was left at that.
Why didn’t Lasher instantly point out a few utterly fundamentally key issues:1) “Nephilim are mentioned post-flood” doesn’t imply they were alive at the time just like I can mention the first POTUS Washington right now but he’s long gone.
2) “in Numbers 13:33” is cited and misrepresented as being part of a statement by “the spies of Israel, of which Joshua and Caleb were among the number” yet, the narrative (of Num chaps 13-14) make it very clear that v. 33 is part of an “evil report” by 10 unreliable guys whom God rebuked, over against Caleb and Joshua whom he blessed. The 10 just made up a tall-tale.
4) Lasher also jumped languages from the specific ancient Hebrew word, “Nephilim” to the vague, generic, subjective, multi-usage and modern English word “giants” which also begs the questions: What’s the usage of the word “giants” in English Bibles? What’s Lasher’s usage? Do those two usages agree?
5) Based on a utterly unreliable one-liner we’re then told that the God rebuked deception, “This raises the question of how these beings could have survived or reappeared after the flood” which, of course, it doesn’t since they never did: because God didn’t fail, didn’t miss a loophole, the flood wasn’t much of a waste, etc., etc., etc.
6) Yet, “Merkel speculates” about ways God could have failed and loophole He could have missed so that the flood would have been much of a waste?
Do you see how fallacious Nephilology damages theology proper? And now Charisma is responsible for promulgating such unchecked fallacies on the WORLD WIDE web.
Is there a known reason why Lasher didn’t mention these issue nor ask Merkel to correct them?–and I’m not even mentioning other problems with their views.
Thank you for your time and attention,
Ken Ammi
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