Texting Jesus

Thoughts on Transmitting the Gospel

 

For we have not followed cunningly devised fables,
when we made known unto you
the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,
but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.
(1 Peter 1:16)

What does it mean to be an eyewitness? There were many eyewitnesses to Jesus and His miracles at the time that He lived, including especially the lowly fisherman Peter. There were eyewitnesses who saw Him die on the cross and His resurrection. Peter's method of transmitting the incredible events that he witnessed firsthand was to talk about them publicly (e.g. Acts 4:8-12) and put them down in writing, specifically 1 and 2 Peter in the New Testament.

The idea of being an eyewitness took on new meaning after the events of last week. With the recent terrorism incident at the Boston Marathon news commentators noted another type of explosion -- that of technology. In the intervening years since 9/11 there has been a revolution in digital technology, literally at everyone's fingertips. People at the scene of a crime can click and record events as they occur. They can text information and attach photos within seconds.

Very shortly after the tragedy,  images were being posted on the Internet and on social media sites. The whole planet could see! Everyone with access to this technology could become a virtual eyewitness to these events! It was very difficult to view such terrible human suffering up close, and our hearts went out to the victims. The investigators asked the public to send in these images. Relying on surveillance camera shots and mountains of visual evidence, these officials quickly began piecing together the story of what happened in Boston.

While watching the news accounts last week, the 2 Peter verses suddenly seemed more significant. Peter's self-descriptive term "eyewitness" was very apt. Boston had so many on-site eyewitnesses, including all of us around the world who weren't there but who could still view the horror through the modern miracle of visual technology. Back in the days of Jesus, the events Peter observed on a daily basis were only occasionally witnessed by huge crowds of eyewitnesses. Yet these things that Jesus said and did were so earth-shattering that Peter and the other writers of the New Testament recorded their sightings of Christ's miracles for posterity. They also wrote His doctrine that He preached.

Obviously, there was no digital imaging technology 2000 years ago when Jesus Christ walked and ministered, delivered His messages and performed His miracles. But just imagine! Imagine how it must have felt to actually SEE the healing of the lepers, and WATCH as Jesus fed the 5,000! What the early disciples could have done with such modern powerful visual technology! But God didn't choose it that way. In fact, Peter felt it necessary to preface his remarks with the statement that he wasn't following "cunningly devised fables" but was making known to us the power and future coming of Jesus Christ. Such an incredible story as Christ's actual bodily resurrection, as testified to by the early eyewitnesses, must have sounded like a real whopper to a skeptic!

As Christ's disciple and part of the inner circle closest to Him, Peter got a visual foretaste of His future coming. After asserting that he was an eyewitness, Peter goes on to record that he was also an eyewitness to the Transfiguration (2 Peter 1:17-18). We know from Scripture that it was only Peter, James and John who witnessed this event firsthand. Interestingly, the legal requirement in both the Old and New Testament was "at the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses." (e.g., Deut. 17:6; 19:15; Matthew 18:16; 2 Cor. 13:1; 1 Tim. 5:19). Here were three eyewitnesses to the majesty of Jesus. Only three! But three was enough.

The Apostle John would later write similarly that he was also an eyewitness. Note how he describes his experience:

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;... That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. (1 John 1:1,3)

John concludes with an interesting comment: "And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full." (1 John 1:4) John WROTE down what he witnessed, what he heard, and what he experienced firsthand with Jesus. There were no digital recording devices 2000 years ago. These eyewitnesses  committed their experiences to writing.

Luke likewise put eyewitness accounts into writing: 

It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus, Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word; (Luke 1:2)


Why put it into writing? Peter actually seems to answer this question in the next verse in this 2 Peter passage. As an Apostle, inspired by the Holy Spirit of God and entrusted to the care of feeding the Lord's flock with the Gospel message (John 21:16-17), he had the prophetic authority to write this firsthand eyewitness account:

We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: (2 Peter:1:19)


In fact, Peter warns in the next two verses, that this Word is not subject to private interpretation, but came from the Holy Spirit.

Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. (2 Peter 1:20-21)

Matthew Poole, in his 1600s Commentary on these several verses in 2 Peter, explains how the words of  Scripture are to be interpreted:

...no man nor company of men, no church nor public officers, are to interpret the Scripture of their own heads, according to their own minds, so as to make their private sense be the sense of the Scriptures, but to seek the understanding of it from God, Who shows them the meaning of the Word in the Word itself, (the more obscure places being expounded by the more clear) and by His Spirit leads believers, in their searching the Scripture, into the understanding of His mind in it: God Himself being the Author of the Word, as verse 21, is the best interpreter of it.... [T]he first principle of our faith, that the Scripture is not of human invention, but Divine inspiration; that the prophets wrote not their own private sense in it, but the mind of God; and at His command, not their own pleasure."[1]

In sum, Scripture, as the Word of God, interprets itself. It can stand alone and doesn't need "cunningly devised fables" to supplement it. The written Word is the Truth and it is sufficient.


Photoshopping Jesus
In the Boston tragedy, shortly after the flurry of digital images began being posted all across hyperspace, human nature took over. People were trying hard to make sense out of this senseless act of brutality. One newspaper report recounted that people "began making their own often wildly irresponsible conclusions about who might be the bombers." People began developing their own theories which began "spinning out into the wider Internet." Furthermore, "the theories developed via social media complicated the official investigation, according to law enforcement officials. Those officials said Saturday that the decision Thursday to release photos of the two men in baseball caps was meant in part to limit the damage being done to people who were wrongly being targeted as suspects in the news media and on the Internet."[2]

During exciting, electrifying, or extremely volatile events sometimes stories get mixed up, facts become garbled, information and data get mangled, random pieces of irrelevant material become overly important, and the real truth of the matter can get lost. Even memories can fail. What authority can be trusted to give a true account of what just transpired? Unfortunately, in America not everyone believes "official accounts" anymore, especially with so many stories of government and/or media coverups. But trusting other sources for information isn't always a good idea either, especially since many of the websites pumping out alternative information have their own, sometimes sinister, sometimes self-serving, agendas.

We may never know for sure what really happened in Boston. But, unlike varying reports about the Boston situation, we can know for certain that Peter's words are the True Word of God. Peter has just assured us that he is delivering a "sure word of prophecy" with his eyewitness account. This means that it is the Word of God, irrefutable, inerrant. In the very next verses, however, Peter goes on to warn about FALSE accounts that would inevitably arise which would corrupt this pure Word of Truth:

But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not. (2 Peter 2:1-3)

Matthew Poole reminds the reader that the word "also" in the first phrase of this text means that is "plainly related to what went before: q.d. Together with those prophets which were sent by God, there were likewise false prophets, such as were not sent of Him." We will have the problem of false prophets with us until the end of the Church age. But here and elsewhere in Scripture we are forewarned about their motives, their tactics and their agendas.

Poole explains that the word privily "signifies either to bring in slyly and craftily, under special pretenses, and without being observed (Gal 2:4; Jude 4); or to bring in over and above, or beside the doctrine of the Gospel, which they did not renounce; or both...." In other words, a crafty heretic won't deny the Gospel, he will just bring in a new teaching alongside it. A crafty false teacher doesn't need to negate the basic facts of the story, he just slyly supplements them with enough additional material to corrupt the original. The Apostle Paul, defending the Gospel message he was entrusted with, wrote, "For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ." (2 Cor. 2:17)

Matthew Poole also notes that in bringing in these damnable or destructive heresies these false teachers "either in their words or their practices, either directly, or by consequence of their doctrines or actions" deny Jesus. Their words can claim to follow Jesus, but their actions speak differently. Poole cites Titus 1:16: "They profess that they know God; but in works they deny Him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate." This is reminiscent of Luke 6:43 where the Lord says, "For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit."

Tragically, this denial of the Lord, whether in word or deed, is said to result in a swift judgment. Poole asserts that this is a "forensical or judicial" matter in that "whosoever professeth himself to be redeemed by Christ, and yet denies Him in his deeds, is said to deny the Lord that bought him; it being alike as to the greatness of the crime...." and that this "swift destruction" may be "temporal in this world; [but] to be sure eternal in the other (1 Thess. 5:3). Likewise, "so others running with them into the same errors, shall fall into the same destruction." It is very risky business to hook oneself up with a false prophet or/or his false prophecies!

In the early church world there were vastly different accounts of Jesus, His ministry and teachings. These caused no end of difficulties for the early church leaders. Much of this literature is considered Gnostic, pseudoepigraphal or apocryphal. (See our post "The Rise of Apocalyptic Paganism in the Church" and especially the sub-section "The Original Apocalyptic Source Material.") Already the early church had a serious problem with false prophets who were writing false gospels. It would become an ongoing issue in the church and still affects us to this very day. In fact, many of these early writings are experiencing a resurgence, especially amongst evangelicals. (See, for example, our article "'Babylon Rising' and Canon in Crisis: Apocrypha, Pseudoepigrapha, Fresh Revelations, and an 'Open' Canon" by Pastor Larry DeBruyn.)

These "feigned words" of false prophets can have disastrous consequences. Those who would corrupt the Gospel of "the Lord that bought them" (by His shed blood), do it for their own "pernicious" (destructive) motives. Peter openly states that these motives are money ("covetousness") and power. In fact, Matthew Poole bluntly points out that when we are made merchandise of, we become someone else's "slave." The sad consequence of all of this, the Apostle Peter concludes, is that "the way of Truth" is blasphemed.

Consider the parallels. With our modern-day high-tech computer Photoshop tools, anyone can take a digital image and distort it for their own purposes. In fact, it is so easy to corrupt digital images that it is nearly impossible for ordinary citizens to discover photo tampering. Likewise these early false prophets were corrupting the Gospel message by mixing in their own false teachings. Jesus warns that this tampering and corrupting will go so far that there will even arise "false Christs" who will have the power to "shew great signs and wonders" (Matthew 24:24; Mark 13:22). Again, note the power of image. Signs and wonders are sights to be seen, powerful and intoxicating experiences that can easily corrupt and deceive those not well-grounded in the Word of God. In our modern era of high technology, it is easier to fathom how Christ's endtime warning in Matthew 24 could be about an image of a "false Christ" that is worshiped (Rev. 13:15; 14:9-11).


The Written Word
God chose to deliver His message of salvation via the written Word, not via images. This is why literacy -- the ability to read and write -- is so important to the Church whenever and wherever it experiences revival. In our postmodern era, the importance of the written Word is being downgraded to mere oral and visual images. Part of the reason, we believe, is because it is easier to manipulate people this way. (See our article "The Newest Heresy of the NAR: Orality," e.g.) Images are also potent on film. Mel Gibson's The Passion is one such example. In it he mixed both Scriptural and extrabiblical visions of a Catholic sister. It is a good example of "privily" bringing in additional material to corrupt the simplicity of the Gospel message.

A study on the use of the word "image" in the Old Testament Scriptures indicates this word continually refers to graven and molten idols that were made by man and worshiped as gods. These images caused the people to go into harlotry and idolatry, something which was admixed with their other beliefs. It ended up bringing them to destruction, ruin and judgment. Jeremiah warned not once but twice: "Every man is brutish by his knowledge; every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them." (Jer. 10:14; 51:17. See also Romans 1:23 in the New Testament.)

In the remainder of 2 Peter, the Apostle continues to write of judgment, and gives many warnings about denials of the Gospel significance of the story of Noah, and about angels and fallen angels. In fact, Peter delivers one of Scripture's sternest warnings about falling into error. These are not warnings to be taken lightly, nor dismissed as irrelevant in our modern enlightened age. Nor are Peter's warnings legalistic or narrow-minded. Adding to the Scripture in such ways as 2 Peter describes results in terrible consequences.

We can rejoice because

So mightily grew the Word of God and prevailed.
(Acts 19:20)


Holding forth the Word of life;
that I may rejoice in the day of Christ,
that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.
 (Philippians 2:16)


In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God....
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us,
(and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,)
full of grace and truth.
 (John 1:1; 14)

Endnotes:
1. Quotations taken and adapted for blog posting from A Commentary on the Holy Bible, Volume III, Matthew-Revelation, by Matthew Poole (Hendrickson Publishers). All bold and emphases added.
2. David Montgomery, Sari Horwitz and Marie Fisher, Washington Post, "Officials overwhelmed by evidence, videos: Technology, tips helped put focus on pair."

Circling the Wagons

Pan Evangelicals Still Wield the Broken Sword 
of Political/Cultural Evangelism 

An editorial by Dr. Orrel Steinkamp

The evangelical political games are essentially over. All that is left is to create an evangelical political party. The GOP will sooner, rather than later, nominate a presidential candidate advocating same sex marriage. The past election cycle demonstrated the culture is too far gone to be saved by the ballot box and raw political and legislative power. 

Actually the Gospel was never intended to be a political/cultural product. Nevertheless, seeker-sensitive evangelism gave it the ole college try. All that remains is what Shakespeare called “wind and fury signifying nothing.” 

Pragmatic Christianity tried desperately to accommodate to postmodern culture but it has peaked and is now flirting with medieval Catholic monastic mysticism. 

Only a handful of attractional megachurches with multiple campus satellites draw lot of media attention. They have staked their hope on getting too big to fail, and then getting even bigger. Their motto is “grow or die.” But the price isn't cheap spiritually and monetarily. They have to tinker with their product line to attract and then hold their postmodern shoppers. But the megachurch monstrosities of over 20,000 consumers linked to a singular CEO by super-optic technology on satellite campuses are actually very rare. Someone has designated 2000 congregants as the the mini-megachurch entrance level. But only 10% of the 56 million Protestant churchgoers in America are even in churches of 2000. 47 million Protestant churchgoers are in churches that have 199 or less congregants. 60% have 99 or fewer people in their churches. 

Nevertheless, many of these pastors are flat out trying to get mega. Pastors sign up for leadership courses and get their sermons from Rick Warren's pastoral toolbox on the net. But still they are failing to get mega. This “get out there and lure them in” only produces a bread and circus mentality. The pastors and people should just give up and return to being an authentic New Testament local body of Christ. But the business model of the big box megachurches has already set in and purpose-driven pragmatism rules. 

The “take dominion” Apostles and Prophets have tried their hand at national politics as a form of Dominion evangelism. This wedding to Pentecostal Latter-Rain extremists and political activity produced some interesting activity in the last election. They had their hands all over Texas Gov. Perry's failed presidential bid. They then tried to prophesy serial marriage practitioner Newt Gingrich to the top of the ticket. That collapsed and then they turned to a Paleo-Catholic Rick Santorum, and finally dutifully followed Mormons Glenn Beck and Mitt Romney to the election gallows. But God didn't raise up Mitt. 

The Dominionists are now left with trying to fast and pray their Dominion agenda into churches having struck out politically. The jet-setting "apostles and prophets" have now aimed their Dominionist agenda on China, Africa and Europe. Surely they won't want to waste their time on the small churches in America. 

Others want to hitch a ride on international Catholicism. Thanks or no-thanks to the seminal work of the late Chuck Colson and his “Evangelicals and Catholics Together" (ECT) project, many are offering Reformation and Counter-reformational mystical monastic spirituality to breathe new life (pun intended) into the pragmatic/political evangelical corpses strewn around. Bill Hybels confessed the failure of his seeker-sensitive pragmatics. And in nearly the same breath he introduced Catholic mystical spiritual formation and centering prayer techniques to his congregation. 

This is not victory, folks. It is admitting that political/cultural evangelicals have failed and now need to continually change their product line to hold their consumer base. Scazzero, who teaches Catholic Contemplative Prayer across the evangelical world and joins Trappist monks in silent spiritual retreats, nevertheless finds his speaking schedule filled with evangelical churches (Rick Warren, etc.). I noticed that he had an article in the recent “Enrichment,” the Assemblies of God national pastors magazine. In his intro to Catholic contemplative prayer teaching his opening play suggests that something has to be done about the low level of spiritual "health" among evangelicals, especially pastors in general. His solution is to cross the Rubicon (return to Rome) and introduce the Catholic practice of entering the “silence” of Contemplative Prayer and Centering Prayer, and actually have "Jesus" speak verbally into the silence. 

The Elephant Room experiment of a grouping of megachurches last year suggested that we need to link up with Word/Faith heretics like T.D. Jakes who is still a non-trinitarian. Lou Giglio and John Piper (Neo Calvinists) needed mystical, Catholic-promoting Beth Moore reading the lectio-divina and Bill Johnson's Jesus Culture rock band to make a splash at the Passion youth conference in Atlanta. 

This appears to be a "circling the wagons" to recruit every able-bodied sort of evangelical into the new effort. Converting the culture appears harder than anticipated. Now even the venerable Chuck Swindoll has invited a non-trinitarian rock band to his church. If you can't defeat the culture in the ballot box or with political alliances then you need to circle the wagons. If you can't dominate the culture by "apostolic and prophetic decrees" in league with political forces, and if you can't become junior partners with the Vatican and Jesuits,... Well! recruit every able body in sight. Different doctrine does not deter them. Anyone can enter this wide circle.

Aligning with Word/Faith apostates is now deemed acceptable (whose beliefs actually reach the extreme that Jesus did not save us at the cross but rather when the Father caused a demoniacally defeated Jesus in Hell to be born again and resurrected Him). Word/Faith advocates call this “identification” teaching. Essentially they claim we are identified with Jesus in that we together with Jesus have been born again. That parity right? Well! So be it. Why align with Word/Faith? They need to coalesce with everyone they can get just to survive in this culture. Besides, they preach a prosperity message and everyone needs more money to build their programs these days.

But it will take more than a wholesale adaption of of rock and roll music and cheap imitations of lewd cultural crazes like the Harlem Shake to rescue the future of the 60-year-old neo-evangelical experiment. Youth workers can't ride to victory by aping rock concerts right down to mosh pits and metal/punk copies of the worst in the youth culture. It won't help to make the kick drum explode against the sternum and the electric base to make the backbone ring like a tuning fork even if the song is “How great thou art.” Indeed this produces a full-bodied rush that has more to do with Springsteen in Phillips arena than Paul's more modest “singing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs in your heart to God” (Col. 3:16; Eph. 5:19). This is slavish imitation of a culture far along in decay. Yet evangelicals are madly rushing off in hot pursuit of accommodating to it!

Same sex marriage is unstoppable in the wider culture. The only question now is can the evangelical church find the spiritual fiber to stand against it. Especially when there are so many other sexual sins tolerated nowadays in the church. The Andy Stanley non-stance and double-speak about homosexuals in his North Point megachurch complex is not that promising. Rob Bell, the evangelical Wheaton and Fuller Seminary-trained emergent who insists that he is an evangelical, has called for full scale capitulation to homosexuals marriage and the culture. Bell's solution is simple capitulation. Bell recently stated “I am for marriage. I am for fidelity. I am for love, whether it’s a man and woman, a woman and a woman, a man and a man. I think the ship has sailed and I think the church needs—I think this is the world we are living in and we need to affirm people wherever they are.” Bell sees evangelicalism as a very narrow politically intertwined, culturized evangelical subculture. Bell urges people to to embrace a different sense of the term evangelical. He states: “a beautiful thing would be if evangelical came to mean buoyant, joyful, honest announcement about all of us receiving the grace of God.” He further feels the evangelical subculture is dying if not dead already. Notice Bell is striving to retain his new version of evangelicalism. It is the term 'evangelical' that needs to be re-defined to fit his new image of it. That way he can still claim to be one.

Many evangelicals for now would not follow Bell that far. Nevertheless, they put their eggs with stealth into the cultural basket. Subtly many are changing their message and only one in a hundred pew-sitters sees the shift. I heard it recently. In an Easter message the pastor dramatically told of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. But in the application there was a subtle change. Jesus was raised so people are able to “hit the restart button” for their daily lives. Indeed, it is true we will live new lives in Christ. But! No my friends! Jesus defeated DEATH in his resurrection and now the gift of God is ETERNAL LIFE. The resurrection is not about rebooting our physical lives that are already passing away. We look not to the seen world but the unseen world and the resurrection victory over the grave. That is the traditional Easter message. 

Where in the New Testament did the church attempt to gain pagan popularity in order to evangelize? Roman emperors and provincial authorities openly had legal homosexual marriage partners. But Paul and his churches didn't give them the time of day. They zealously protected their so-called product line, the Gospel message. No cheap pagan knock-offs. They actually believed the so-called 'product' of the Gospel would sell itself if faithfully preached and lived. I (Paul) planted, Apollos watered but God gives the increase. (1 Cor. 3:6). Just a reliable, unashamed intelligent presentation of the Gospel, because it (the Gospel) is the power of God unto salvation (Romans 1:17). 

My son recently gave me, almost ashamedly, a watch. It was a copy of a Rolex with the exact logo and all. I asked him how much he paid for it. “Oh! Dad, I bought it on the street for 10 dollars.” What an analogy! Haven't we had enough cultural knock-off's of the Gospel? Haven't we had it with evangelical, political, money raising action committees? They don't work anyway in a culture that Paul said long ago was passing away. False apostles and prophets and their conjured glory clouds will only reach evangelicals that have been surviving on inferior rations. Artificial lure fishing is not what the Bible writers were talking about in becoming fishers of men. 

In biblical cultures as well as many cultures today fishing is done with a net. If the net is mended and has no holes it will bring in a catch. May our church repair the broken nets, deliver the Gospel message, and return to biblical fishing for men. 


Photo credit: Terry McCombs / Foter.com / CC BY-NC

Four Items of Interest

News announcements from Discernment Ministries

As cold waters to a thirsty soul,
so is good news from a far country.
(Proverbs 25:25)

Dr. Martin Erdmann Interview:  Dr. Martin Erdmann, Professor of Philosophy at North Greenville University, Director of the Verax Institute in Greer, South Carolina, and member of the Discernment Research Group recently was featured on a podcast interview. He spoke about his meticulously-researched book, Building the Kingdom of God on Earth and explained how elitist internationalists exploited the liberal Christian Ecumenical Movement in the early 20th century in order to propagandize the American population with the message of a technocratic New World Order. He also discussed current manifestations of this strategy within modern evangelicalism. To listen to this interview, visit HERE.


Discernment Ministries Newsletters online: Discernment Ministries began publishing a newsletter back in 1990. Most all of the issues are published online, although a few may be missing. We recently began a lengthy process of describing the contents of each issue. So visit our newsletter webpage http://www.discernment-ministries.org/newsletters.html and scan the compendium of articles. You will find this much more useful for researching topics. Check back often as this is a work in progress.


Warren Smith informs us that his website http://www.mountainstreampress.org is now back online. On the main page you can watch his DVD Standing Fast in the Last Days and listen to Warren's interview with Chuck Smith on the Pastor’s Perspective show, 1/23/08. Warren has written extensively on the subject of spiritual deception and has spoken on radio, television, and at numerous seminars and conferences. Many of his articles have been published on Herescope. His books include The Light That Was Dark: From the New Age to Amazing Grace, Deceived on Purpose: The New Age Implications of the Purpose-Driven Church, and A “Wonderful” Deception: The Further New Age Implications of the Emerging Purpose Driven Movement. His most recent book, False Christ Coming: Does Anybody Care?: What New Age Leaders Really Have in Store for America, the Church and the World was released in February 2011.


Pastor Anton Bosch, who serves on the Board of Directors for Discernment Ministries, will be part of another live online interview on Tuesday, April 16. Go HERE and follow the instructions to register to listen in. In addition to his pastoral duties Anton trains pastors in various parts of Africa and is currently in the process of developing a Bible School in Zimbabwe which now has 200 students. He is the author of Building Blocks of the Church: Re-examining the Basics and the booklet Contentiously Contending. His articles are published on countless websites across the world, including Herescope, and some of these have become classics. For more information see his website: http://www.antonbosch.com.

The NEPHILIM

According to Plain Scripture

By Pastor Anton Bosch

The Hebrew word Nephilim is translated “giants” in the Old Testament. It only appears twice in Genesis 6:4 and Numbers 13:33. A whole series of doctrines have been built around this word, in spite of the fact that the word only appears rarely. These doctrines on the Nephilim are based on Genesis 6:1-4. (It must be noted that most speculators lean very heavily on extra-biblical writings for most of their information.) The theories can basically be summed up as follows:

Demons/ angels (sons of God) had illicit relationships with women (the daughters of men) and these perverted relations produced genetically mutated beings known as nephilim (giants). God then imprisoned some of the angels who did this and in order to purify the bloodline of man God brought on the Flood. Through genetic engineering these Nephilim will be resurrected, one of which will be the Antichrist[1]. To these people, the Nephilim are also tied up with so-called extra-terrestrial forms of life.

Since these theories are gaining ground and a number of books have been published based on this hypothesis, it is necessary to examine Genesis 6 again and see what exactly it teaches. We will discover that the proponents of these theories break every principle of hermeneutics. Here is the text:

“Now it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose. And the LORD said, "My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years." There were giants on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.” (Genesis 6:1-4)

Sons of God

The first problem revolves around who in the passage are the “sons of God.” Some make the connection with Job 1:6; 2:1. “Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them.” (Job 1:6). It is obvious, and not contested, that the “sons of God” in Job were angels. But does that mean that this term in Genesis 6:2 also refers to angels?

First, the normal meaning of “sons of God” is “believers.” “But as many as received him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name” (John 1:12). Job 1:6 (a poetic book) is the only place where angels are called "sons of God." It is logical and reasonable therefore that the normal meaning be attached to the term here, rather than the exception, as found in Job, unless there were something in the text that made a connection between Genesis 6 and Job 1 -- which is absent.

Second Jesus explicitly said that “in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven.” (Matthew 22:30) (See also Luke 20:34-36). Therefore in Jesus’ own words, angels are asexual and do not procreate.

So here is the problem. Genesis is obscure about who had the relations. Jesus said angels do not have relations. So either Jesus was mistaken or the “sons of God” were not angels. You choose! It is really as simple as that – there are no other options.

Some try to get around this by saying that the angels inhabited (possessed) human bodies to do this. That sounds good. But here is the question: A Christian man has the Holy Spirit in him. When that man produces a child by his wife, what is the child? God or man? Clearly, it is a man. There are multitudes of people in the world who are demon possessed and who procreate. What do they produce? Human babies or mutants? Obviously human babies. So why should Genesis 6 be any different? If demons entered into men to produce offspring the children would be human, and only human. [Ed. note: see previous Herescope article for a list of questions that results from these teachings.]

One of the principles of hermeneutics is that the Old Testament is interpreted in the light of the New Testament and not the other way round. In order to say that the “sons of God” in Genesis 6 are angels (or demons) we must discard the light of the New Testament and that should never happen.

The nature of the relationships

The next problem is that it is claimed that the angels had illicit relations with women. Yet the text is very clear: “they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose” (Genesis 6:2b). The phrase “took wives for themselves” only, and always, means marriage. It never refers to casual, illicit or adulterous relationships. (See Genesis 11:29 & Ruth 1:4). To suggest otherwise is reading into the text that which is simply not there.

Giants

The theory goes that the giants were the product of these illicit relationships. We have shown that the text does not refer to illicit relationships and that the fathers could not be angels.

Genesis 6:4, again is very clear: “There were giants on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them.” Notice that it says there were giants (fact number 1) and afterwards the sons of God came into… (fact number 2). There is NO connection between the fact that there were giants and the fact that people had children.

It is exactly like me saying: “There is milk in the supermarket and eggs are $1.50 a dozen” Milk has no effect on the price, or even the existence of eggs and the other way around. I am simply stating two facts that describe things about food in the supermarket.

In Genesis 6 Moses is describing the state of the world before the Flood. He makes no connection between Nephilim and the sons of God and daughters of men. If the sentence had been reversed as follows: “The sons of God came into the daughters of men and the bore Nephilim” then you could postulate some theory about the nature of this process. But the text does not give us any room to connect the Nephilim with these marriages.

Genesis 6:4 does say that the children that were produced “were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.” “Mighty men” is a term which is used 154 times in the OT and simply refers to powerful men, either physically or politically. Just like there are many mighty men today and some are men of God and others are worldly and unsaved, so there were mighty men in those days, of which Noah was one.

“Men of old” also holds no mystique, these were simply the heroes of bygone days.

“Men of renown” is also used in Numbers 16:2 and Ezekiel 23:23. These are just famous men, or well-known men. The Hebrew term literally means “men with a name” meaning they had “made a name” for themselves.

The descendants of these relationships were not monsters, mutants, or anything extraordinary. Some were ordinary people and some were powerful, some were little known and others had made a name for themselves. Genesis 6:5 (the next verse) goes on to describe these people as wicked and worthy of God’s judgment.

Furthermore, the translation of the word nephilim in Genesis 6:4 as “giants” is very arbitrary. There are many other possible ways this word could be translated here: Bullies, mighty ones or tyrants. At least one dictionary states that the nephilim in Genesis and in Numbers were two different peoples.[2] Once again, we cannot build an entire doctrine on a word which we cannot translate or explain with any measure of certainty.

Genesis 6:4 is simply a description of life before the Flood and not a commentary on mysterious genetic mutant life forms. Jesus obviously has this verse in mind when He says:.

“But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be." (Matthew 24:37-39) [Note the reference to marriage in both verses.]

One of the most important principles of hermeneutics is that the verse has to be read in its context. The context is clear, that the life was going on as usual, people were becoming more and more self-absorbed and sinful but judgment was coming.

The cause of the Flood

Those who speculate about the Nephilim, connect them with the reason for the Flood. Once again, there is no connection there. Genesis 6 describes life on earth. Yes, there were Nephilim, but more significantly, people were marrying and having children and becoming more wicked. Genesis 6:5-6 cannot be clearer. God’s judgment fell because of the wickedness of man. This had absolutely nothing to do with demons, angels or mutants. Look at these verses again:

“Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. So the LORD said, "I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them." (Genesis 6:5-7)

If the Flood had anything to do with anything other than man’s sinfulness, either Moses or Jesus would have said something, but both are silent about demons, angels and mutants. The Flood had nothing to do with clearing the gene pool. It was all about clearing the earth of sinful and wicked people. Even Sunday school children should be able to tell you that.

If the Flood had anything to do with God wanting to destroy the giants because they were “contaminated seed” or to purge the gene pool then, Noah and his sons should have been destroyed also. Noah and his sons carried the gene from which giants were formed. This is obvious since giants (nephilim) are born after the Flood and were present in the Land when the spies were sent to scout out the land (Numbers 13:33). These giants were descendants of Noah since all of humankind after the flood descended from Noah.

Extra-biblical evidence

These speculators quote the Book of Enoch (and other apocryphal books) in support of their ideas as though they are Scripture. Yet, Enoch and the rest of the Apocrypha are not part of the Canon of Scripture for obvious reasons – they are not, and have never been regarded as inspired except by apostate churches.

Once again they break one of the fundamentals of Evangelical and Reformed hermeneutics: We hold only to Scripture and do not add, nor subtract from it (Revelation 22:18; Deuteronomy 4:2; 12:32). It is especially reprehensible to formulate an entire doctrine on extra-biblical evidence as these people are doing.

The fact is that there is overwhelming evidence in very old writings that the Hebrew sages never regarded the “sons of God” as angels or demons. But we dare not use that as evidence lest we sink to the same level as the speculators.

Jude 6

Jude 6 is quoted in support of the theories. This verse says: “And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day.” (Jude 1:6)

Once again, there is absolutely nothing in the verse, or the context, that connects it with Genesis 6. There is nothing in the context that gives rise to understand that “not keep(ing) their proper domain” has anything to do with having relations with women. These angels sinned by overstepping their boundaries – that is evident. But what those boundaries were can be any of a hundred things. We just cannot draw connection between Genesis 6 and Jude 6, except that the chapter number is the same as the verse number!

2 Peter 2:4-5

Verse 4 is similar to Jude 6: “For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly.” (2 Peter 2:4-5)

To those who pluck verses out of their context there appears to be a connection between the sinning angels and the flood. But look at the context:

• 2Peter 2:1-3 There were, and will be, false teachers and they will “bring upon themselves swift destruction”.
• 2Peter 2:4 Angels sinned and God “reserved them for judgment”
• 2Peter 2:5 The ancient world sinned and God judged them by the flood but spared Noah
• 2Peter 2:6-8 Sodom and Gomorrah sinned and God judged them but spared Lot
• 2Peter 2:9 Therefore in the future, the Lord will judge the unjust and save the godly.

The angels and the pre-flood world are simply two of four examples that Peter quotes to show that God will punish sin. The connections between the sinning angels and the Flood are the same connection with false teachers and Sodom – the connections have nothing to do with gene mutation but is all about sin and the consequences.

Conclusion

The purpose of this brief article is not to provide answers to all the questions that surround Genesis 6. In fact, we do not have all the answers and those who claim they have a full and detailed explanation for these verses are speculating. The point of the text in Genesis 6, as in 2 Peter 2 is to warn that God will not tolerate sin and will judge it.

But what we are certain of is that the theories about angels producing mutant life forms are not Biblical and that the conclusions derived from this theory are fictional, at best.

“… charge some that they teach no other doctrine,
nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies,
which cause disputes rather than godly edification which is in faith.”
(1 Timothy 1:3-4)

“But reject profane and old wives' fables,
and exercise yourself toward godliness.”
(1 Timothy 4:7)

“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine,
but according to their own desires,
because they have itching ears,
they will heap up for themselves teachers;
and they will turn their ears away from the truth,
and be turned aside to fables.”
(2 Timothy 4:3-4)

Endnotes:
1. This is a very brief and highly sanitized summary of some very extreme and bizarre teachings. But it must also be noted that those who hold to these teachings differ greatly amongst themselves as to how far they take their conclusions. 
2. Thomas, R. L. (1998). New American Standard Hebrew-Aramaic and Greek dictionaries : Updated edition. Anaheim: Foundation Publications, Inc.


This article was originally published in the July/August 2011 Discernment Newsletter and has been re-published on Herescope due to a number of requests:  http://www.discernment-ministries.org/Newsletters/NL2011JulAug.pdf   See previous Herescope article, and the compilation of articles at its bottom, for current information on how far from Scripture the Nephilim teachers and teachings have now veered.

See also Pastor Larry DeBruyn's article "Demons, Daughters and DNA: The Sons of God, the Daughters of Men, and the Nephilim in Genesis 6," published on Herescope 6/22/11: http://herescope.blogspot.com/2011/06/demons-daughters-and-dna.html

Image titled "Nephilim." This graphic illustrates the rising popular conception about what Nephilim are and how they appear. Photo credit: >kindgott< / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-ND  

101 Questions about "the Nephilim"

The New Prophetic Paradigm
Questions Regarding Genesis 6 and Matthew 24

Exhibit 1*

"Timothy, my own son in the faith . . .
I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus . . .
that thou mightest charge some that they teach no other doctrine,
Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies,
which minister questions,
rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do. "
1 Timothy 1:2-4, KJV (Emphasis added)

Below is an extensive list of questions compiled by members of the Discernment Research Group who have taken considerable time to research the rise in popularity of prophetic teachings involving “the Nephilim” among certain evangelicals, especially on the part of those who in the past have taught biblical prophecy from a dispensational and pre-tribulation rapture perspective. With the revival of interest in the antediluvian Nephilim and the role their emergence played in the spread of global corruption at the time of Noah (Compare Genesis 6:1-5 and Matthew 24:37-41), there has, in an attempt to relate these creatures to apocalyptic scenarios, arisen a corresponding reliance upon ancient and modern extra-biblical sources. These non-canonical sources include apocrypha and pseudepigraphical writings, pagan mythologies, astrology, signs and symbols of Freemasonry, UFO lore, quantum physics, science fiction, secret codes and symbols, etc.[1]  For the sake of identification, the inclusion of these heterodox sources to create prophetic scenarios might be called “the new prophetic paradigm.”

Yet this “new prophetic paradigm” raises questions. For example, what do the Scriptures by themselves communicate about the Nephilim? What do the Scriptures have to say about the issues raised by modern-day proponents of Nephilim theories? And in view of the “other” sources employed to create the new-prophetic scenarios, it must be asked, are the Scriptures in and by themselves no longer a sufficient guide to understand Bible prophecy (i.e., the Reformation doctrine of sola scriptura)?

Because these teachers have been esteemed for years by believers who adhere to biblical prophecy taught from a dispensational pre-millennial and pre-tribulation rapture perspective, we would note two things about the futuristic scenarios they are creating. First, many other solid Bible scholars and teachers and pastors are being influenced by this new prophetic paradigm which embraces both Scripture and mythology. And second, because these teachers are esteemed and have enjoyed the reputation of being reliable, it becomes difficult to question their prophetic presupposition—that when combined with Scripture, extra-biblical sources are reliable authenticators of the biblical text—without being derided as being divisive and unloving. So we recognize that the questions we raise may prove controversial. But nonetheless, they should be asked.

Teachings regarding the Nephilim have precedence in history. Yet we think it is time to take another look at this issue as it is currently manifesting itself. Quite possibly the reliable Bible scholars, teachers and pastors of the past never dreamed that contemporary interpretations regarding the Nephilim would leap to the extremes as they now appear to have leapt. Likewise, the Gap Theory has become a gaping chasm into which these “new prophetic paradigm” teachers are inserting their myths.[3] Our fear is that the camel of mythology has now stuck its nose in the prophetic tent, and given the camel's fascinating speculations, will wreck the whole tent of prophetic study from the pre-millennial and dispensational perspective. We think it’s time for some questions to be raised about the current Nephilim-prophetic construct.

So what does the Bible say in answer to the following questions that arise from the various contemporary versions regarding the Nephilim teachings? Some of these questions may seem startling, even shocking.[2] But we can attest to the fact that these questions arise from reading the scenarios of  “the new Nephilim-prophetic paradigm,”[4]  which in some instances is being sensationally promoted.

WHAT DOES SCRIPTURE SAY?

1.    Do angels/demons have a physical body?

2.    Can they manifest themselves in a physical body? Or are the entities still spirits? Or are they both?

3.    Does this body resemble man’s body in all ways?

4.    Are angels sexual beings? Do they possess procreative organs?

5.    If so, for what purpose do angels have sexual organs? Are they for recreation or procreation? Or both?

6.    If angels can procreate with humans, then can they procreate, even if asexually, among themselves? If not, why not?

7.    If angels possess the capacity to sexually reproduce with humans, does this pertain to all angels, or only the fallen angels?

8.    Is there a real threat of evil angels sexually forcing themselves on human females (against their will)? If so, does this include Christian women? Can women resist this rape? If so, how?

9.    If angels are sexual and are capable of reproducing offspring with human women, this would include Satan, right? If so, since he is the devil, is he able to produce a special class of hybrid with human females more powerful than the Nephilim supposedly produced by the “Watchers”? Would this include the Antichrist?

10. Will Antichrist be the literal, physical, genetic offspring of Satan? Does Satan have actual offspring today? If so, then what would make Antichrist’s demonic birth unique?

11. What motive is there for angels/demons/Satan to have sexual relations with human beings? Is it for physical or spiritual corruption—or both?

12. Can a human being have an altered state of consciousness in which they experience a sexual relationship with an angel/demon that seems real but is not literal? How can one tell the difference? Are angels/demons able to implant suggestive and potent imagery into human minds?

13. Isn’t this experience of becoming “one with the divine” through sexual euphoria mixed with drugs part of the diverse multicultural pagan rituals across thousands of years? But, if this is historically true in the pagan world, why don’t we have documented accounts of this spiritual/physical act producing hybrid offspring throughout the centuries?

14. Precisely how does an angel/demon manifest and perform sexual acts – is it literal physical or an illusion? Is it an act of demon obsession or possession which can alter the rational mind?

15. Are angels and/or demons space aliens? Transdimensional creatures? Are they able to move between multidimensional or parallel universes?

16. If so, does this include Nephilim hybrids? Do we have a hybrid class of mankind that is able to perform superior feats and interact between spiritual “planes” of existence?

17. Do space aliens have a physical body? Can space aliens be one and the same with angels and/or demons? Nephilim? Or are they a separate class of hyper-dimensional beings that can potentially interact with angels, demons and human beings?

18. Where is heaven? Where do angels, demons, and/or space aliens live and move?

19. Who do space aliens submit to for authority?

20. By embedding potent imagery, can space aliens affect the human mind? If so, how are they able to gain access to a man’s mind and soul?

21. Can space aliens rape human women, producing mutant offspring? How is this related to the Nephilim and the Watchers?

22. Do angels/demons and/or space aliens possess DNA?

23. If so, is their DNA compatible with human DNA?

24. Does their DNA match human DNA to the extent that it can create humanoid or hybrid offspring?

25. Can the hybrid DNA of Nephilim be used to resurrect dead tissue? Does Nephilim DNA possess a unique quality which can be manipulated by man to create evil life forms? Hybrid chimeras? Mutants? If so, where can one obtain a sample of Nephilim DNA?

26. Can the Watchers/space aliens use genetic material harvested from humans to create demonist creatures? Satanic super-soldiers? Mutant warriors?

27. If so, does this include the genetic/reproductive material of both human males and females? If both, then what sinister purpose could these creatures have for harvesting human sperm or eggs?

28. Is it conceivable that the Watchers’ DNA has the potential to corrupt the human gene pool and thus wipe out humanity? Or, create a race of soul-less creatures that cannot be redeemed by God?

29. Can Satan create man? Can he give life to man? Can he create human hybrids? Can he breathe nephesh (soul life) into these hybrid men?

30. Can Satan perform genetic engineering on mankind? If so, what is his motive? How can he manipulate genetic material?

31. If the Nephilim hybrids exist, do they possess a soul and spirit? Can they be redeemed?

32. If there are humanoid offspring of angels and mankind should they be considered subhuman? Can this offspring be redeemed?

33. When did the humanoid offspring of angels/demons and or space aliens with mankind first occur? What evidence is there of these offspring? Is there tangible physical and historical proof?

34. Is there currently humanoid (hybrid) offspring of angels (demons or space aliens) and mankind? Do they reside on earth? If so, where?

35. If these hybrids are here now, how does one assess someone to ascertain if they are a hybrid? By what measurements and criteria does one assess another human being to ensure their racial purity?

36. What should Christians do if they suspect someone of being a hybrid/Nephilim? Should there be an authority set up to monitor and assess human DNA?

37. Should these hybrids, if they exist, be exterminated? If so, what is the biblical rationale for doing this?

38. How does one assess a newborn baby or a child to see if they are hybrids?

39. Were the giants in the bible demonic hybrids? Or were they simply very large human beings?

40. Who are/were the “sons of God”? Are/were they angels, demons, space aliens, hybrids? Were they ancient mythological gods and demigods?

41. Are there still giants on earth? If so, where? Can it be documented?

42. If giants do exist, are they all products of the Nephilim gene/DNA? Is it possible to have human genetic anomalies (giantism) not related to the Nephilim hybrids? What negative implications might there be for persons living today with an extraordinary stature? Should tall people (like professional basketball players) be assessed for possession of Nephilim DNA?

43. Was Nimrod a fallen angel/human hybrid (a demonoid/Nephilim)? Could he have been a space alien? How do we know? What facts are there? How about Og of Bashan? Goliath? Were they fallen angels or human hybrids? If so, what facts are there to assert this?

44. What does one call the offspring of a human being who mated with an angel/demon/space alien? What is the proper term?

45. Are demons the same as fallen angels or are they distinctly different entities?

46. Are fallen angels (demons or space aliens) actually the Nephilim spirits that survived the Flood after the human part of the body died? If so, how can disembodied Nephilim survive the flood to later inhabit a human body or perform sexual acts to create hybrids? Can they live in another dimension? If so, how can it be proven?

47. Is this danger of disembodied Nephilim returning in the flesh precisely what Jesus warned about when he talked about the “days of Noah”? Are disembodied Nephilim space aliens?

48. If so, do they pose a special threat to humans different from that of fallen angels?

49. Did Jesus specifically warn about space aliens, giants, or other mutant or hybrid creatures returning to earth before His coming? If so, where?

50. If so, what did Jesus instruct His church to do about these Nephilim creatures?

51. What did Jesus tell His church to do with end time hybrid half-humans?

52. What did Jesus tell His church about how to precisely identify a Nephilim?

53. What should Christians do if they see a Nephilim? Should they be exterminated? If so, how is this done? Does it involve high tech warfare? Star wars?

54. Should one engage in spiritual warfare against them? If so, then specifically define and describe this special kind of spiritual warfare. Is it dangerous?

55. Is it our responsibility to take spiritual dominion over these creatures?

56. When did angels and Satan fall? Before Genesis 1:1? When mankind fell? Or in Genesis 6?

57. Where are angels, demons and Satan right now in the church age?

58. According to Scripture, what are they able to do?

59. What are they NOT able to do according to Scripture?

60. What are the “Watchers” according to Scripture? Are they angels, demons, hybrids, Nephilim, or space aliens? What are they? If they are angels, are they only good angels, only fallen angels, or both? Or something else?

61. If the Watchers are fallen angels, then what instructions did Christ give His church about how to deal with them? How can we know they are present?

62. Why should the end time church be concerned about the Watchers?

63. Are the Watchers in reality ancient pagan gods such as Apollo/Osiris who live and walk the earth?

64. Were these ancient pagan gods in cross-cultural mythological accounts genuinely human? Or, hybrids? Demigods? Or, space aliens from distant galaxies that came to earth to give us knowledge?

65. Are the returning Nephilim hoards a sign that Jesus will soon return?

66. Will the Antichrist and the False Prophet be the resurrection of beings of ancient Nephilim descent? Literally, will Antichrist be a DNA son of Satan? Will he be a reincarnation of ancient Nimrod (Apollyon)? Did Antichrist exist in ancient times?

67. Is the Antichrist a Nephilim? A Watcher? A space alien? A human hybrid? What about the False Prophet? How can this be ascertained? If so, what is the Christian response? What can we do? What should we do?

68. Is the current Pope the Antichrist or the False Prophet? How can one identify the Antichrist or False Prophet for sure? What are the biblical criteria for Antichrist? What are the biblical criteria for the False Prophet? Are there other outside reliable sources of information about the Antichrist or False Prophet beyond Scripture? Ancient records? Embedded symbols? Coded mysteries? If so, what are these messages and how can they be evaluated?

69. Can we rely on ancient mythology for information about Nimrod, Apollo, and other gods and goddesses? Can this give us insight into end times?

70. Can we glean truth from mythology and astrology that sheds light on Scripture? If so, how do we know it is the truth and not lies?

71. Can we incorporate apocryphal, pseudepigraphical, mythology, astrology, fable, folklore, science fiction and other sources into our understanding of end times?

72. How does one sort out what is truth from error from these apocryphal and occult sources? By what criteria can we judge the accuracy of these other accounts?

73. Which extra-biblical sources are reliable? Which are not? By what criteria is this determined? Should we make special allowances for incorporating these ancient pagan and apocryphal sources into what we know from Scripture because of a pending dire crisis in the end times such as a Nephilim invasion?

74. Is Freemasonry a reliable source of information about end times? Does it give us insight into the timetable for the Lord’s return?

75. Are there hidden secret codes embedded in the Bible that only very learned and trained men can decipher? Are these codes hidden until the last days?

76. Can we glean end time truth from hidden secret codes embedded in other literature, statues, works of art, ancient images, mythology, astrology, fairy tales, non-biblical prophecies, ancient markings and sacred sites, the Great Pyramid, UFO lore, quantum physics, and science fiction? If so, how can the truth be distinguished from error in these sources?

77. If truth is embedded in non-biblical sources, even hidden in codes that require familiarity with occult methods to unlock, where did Jesus or one of the biblical prophets instruct how to decipher these codes sequestered away in Scripture?

78. If ancient alien creatures (angels, demons or other) mated with human women how did that corrupt the bloodline of Noah? Of David? Of Christ? If the Messianic line was somehow genetically corrupted, was the protevangelium, the first gospel, rendered null and void (Genesis 3:15)? If so, did Jesus Christ really accomplish our redemption?

79. Was Noah the only uncorrupted bloodline genetically and is this why God saved him from the destruction of the flood? Did God destroy well-nigh all human life on earth after it had been corrupted by demonic DNA?

80. Were any of Noah’s sons carrying the corrupted bloodline? What about their wives? How can we know for sure? Are some people on earth today carrying in their bodies a corrupted genetic code? How can we know? And what should we do about it?

81. Is this genetic corruption the sin of “marrying and giving in marriage” that Christ warned about in Matthew 24:38? If so, how can one make sure that their spouse is genetically pure before marrying them? Should there be a marriage test to check DNA for Nephilim corruption?

82. Is cosmic warfare about to happen on Earth with space aliens and other creatures coming in the skies to do battle with earthlings? If so, how does Christ battle them? How does mankind battle them?

83. Are there space aliens, Nephilim and/or Watcher creatures coming to earth to give us guidance to bring about peace on earth and good-will toward all?

84. Do these coming creatures possess superior knowledge and intellect, advanced science and technology that will facilitate mankind into building the kingdom of God on earth? Should Christians cooperate with them?

85. Are these creatures telepathically transmitting helpful information to mankind by employing digital imagery or by mind-to-mind enlightenment that will assist certain adepts to discover hidden codes? Are they guiding humanity towards greater revelation? Do they have superior spiritual revelations and control mechanisms that will help mankind avoid catastrophe?

86. Is mankind on the verge of a great paradigm shift in reality, in which these space alien creatures will become manifest and begin to facilitate the events of the end? If so, what should be the response of Christians everywhere?

87. Do Christians need to revise their understanding of Scripture to incorporate in these new alternative future scenarios? Will this revision require a “new prophecy paradigm” shift?

88. Were the ancient Mayans correct in predicting a new cycle on earth in 2012?

89. Can we rely on ancient calendars and prophecies about the end times on earth? Do these contain accurate prophecies?

90. Is the year 2012 embedded in symbols, literature, mythology, and other ancient and modern records as a significant end time date? Is 2012 in the Bible? If so, where?

91. Are we living in a hyper-dimensional universe in which angels, demons and space creatures can pass back and forth between our four dimensions and alternate realities?

92. Is quantum physics showing us a path of alternate realities that explain Scripture? Should we be forming a new paradigm for interpreting Scripture that incorporates the scientific discoveries and hypotheses of quantum theorists?

93. In order to interact with celestial and extraterrestrial beings, is quantum physics showing us how to circumvent the space-time continuum? Can the dimensions of time, matter and space be altered?

94. Does quantum physics account for the hyper-dimensionality of the Nephilim and Watchers? Do they have superior abilities by which they can pass between dimensions of time and space? If so, is this innate to them or are they taught how to do this? If so, by whom and for what purpose? Can these abilities be passed on to the human race by inter-mating?

95. If Nephilim and/or Watchers have superior abilities to human beings, are these abilities explained by spiritual or physical attributes? Or both?

96. Are there higher races of mankind? Do these races possess human DNA and therefore have superior supernatural abilities? Does this give them power over normal humans (i.e., like Hitler)? Are they gods? Demi-gods? Should they be worshiped? Put in positions of power and leadership?

97. Therefore, do lower races of mankind exist who do not possess these superior supernatural abilities? Why not? Are these races inferior? What should happen to them?

98. How does one assess a superior or inferior race of mankind? Do some men possess extra insight, extrasensory perception, the ability to see beyond the five senses? If so, what is the significance of this? Are these super-humans here to show other humans “the way”?

99. Is Bigfoot a Nephilim? If he/it exists, what’s its/his DNA? Is he human or hybrid? Why is Bigfoot important in end time scenarios? Can he be redeemed?

100. Are crop circles evidence of space alien craft landing sites? Are these a significant phenomenon for Christians to understand? What do they tell us about the Nephilim? Watchers? Space aliens? Demons? Angels? End times? Return of Christ?

101. WHERE IS ALL OF THIS IN THE BIBLE? Using Scripture to interpret Scripture, how does one answer the speculative questions we have asked, questions which arise from reading and interacting with the sensational writings of the teachers of “the new prophetic paradigm”?

"For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine;
but wanting to have their ears tickled,
they will accumulate for themselves teachers
in accordance to their own desires;
and will turn away their ears from the truth,
and will turn aside to myths."
2 Timothy 4:3-4, NASB (Emphasis added)

Endnotes:

1. In many prior articles on Herescope, the utilization of these outside sources has been extensively documented. See the list of articles included at the bottom of this post. See especially Pastor Larry DeBruyn's articles "'Babylon Rising' and Canon in Crisis: Apocrypha, Pseudepigrapha, Fresh Revelations, and an 'Open' Canon," http://herescope.blogspot.com/2013/01/babylon-rising-and-canon-in-crisis.html  and  “Demons, Daughters and DNA,” Guarding His Flock Ministries; http://guardinghisflock.com/2011/06/22/demons-daughters-and-dna/ and http://herescope.blogspot.com/2011/06/demons-daughters-and-dna.html

2. The “new prophetic paradigm” writers borrow heavily from outside sources such as UFO lore. Once one enters the realm of UFO lore especially, some of the more extreme elements included in these questions become apparent.

3. See Pastor Larry DeBruyn's excellent article "The Gap Theory: A Review and Grammatical Critique: From Cosmos to Chaos, and Cosmos Again," posted on Herescope 2/22/13, http://herescope.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-gap-theory.html
4. If we had taken the time to exhaustively footnote the many sources from which these questions arose, it would have been overwhelming and literally run into the thousands. Rather, we refer the reader to our previous writings on these topics for starters (see list below) to familiarize themselves with the beliefs of the “new prophetic paradigm” and get an overview of their outside sources.

*Exhibit 1 comes from the back cover of Stephen Quayle's book Angels & Fallen Angels - Offspring of the Gods: the Sexual Corruption of the Human Race as depicted on Amazon.com:  http://www.amazon.com/Aliens-Fallen-Angels-Offspring-Corruption/dp/B0014ZYHJA/ref=pd_sim_b_4http://www.amazon.com/Aliens-Fallen-Angels-Offspring-Corruption/dp/B0014ZYHJA/ref=pd_sim_b_4 (front cover) and http://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-media/product-gallery/B0014ZYHJA/ref=cm_ciu_pdp_images_1?ie=UTF8&index=1 (back cover). Quayle is among the leaders of the "new prophetic paradigm." For context see: HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE & HERE.

NOTE: The Discernment Research Group has written extensively about the rise of apocalyptic paganism in the prophecy movement of the evangelical church. Other HERESCOPE articles on this topic include: 
"COSMS, CODES, AND CRYPTOLOGIES:"

Part 1: QUANTUM MYSTICISM IN THE CHURCH

Part 2: COSMIC CRYPTOLOGY IN THE CHURCH

Part 3: The Emerging ENIGMA Bible

Part 4: False Eschatology Arising!

Part 5: Quantum Teleporting Through Time
Part 6: Quantum Geomancy and Cryptic Mystic Math

Part 7: Quantum Prophecy

Part 8: A Quantum Cosmic Christ

Part 9: Quantum Mysticism Goes to Market 

Militant Prayer: Taking Spiritual Dominion Over Dark Angels

Doomsday Datesetters 2012

New Age Date Setting The Harbinger: A Review and Commentary

"Nephilim Eschatology: A Crash Course in the Emerging Endtime Prophecy Heresy"

Part 1: Nephilim-induced Human DNA Corruption

Part 2: The Serpent Seed & the Nephilim

12-12-12:  NAR Date Setting

12-21-12: Evangelical Christians Believing Mayan Prophecies
2012 & Fantasy-Driven Faith
2012: New Agers & Mayan Prophecies
“Babylon Rising” and Canon in Crisis: Apocrypha, Pseudepigrapha, Fresh Revelations, and an “Open” Canon
The Emerging Galactic Religion: Science Fiction and the Rise of Technocratic Posthumanism
The Rise of Apocalyptic Paganism in the Church: Bible Prophecy in Crisis
Petrus Romanus: Pope Francis: History's Final Pope? A Commentary & Overview of the book Petrus Romanus
For a biblical examination of the “Nephilim," See: Pastor Anton Bosch, “Nephilim,”Discernment Newsletter, July/Aug. 2011, pp. 4-7; http://www.discernment-ministries.org/Newsletters/NL2011JulAug.pdf; and also: Pastor Larry DeBruyn, “Demons, Daughters and DNA,” Guarding His Flock Ministries; http://guardinghisflock.com/2011/06/22/demons-daughters-and-dna/