(5 minute read)

The Myth of the Spirit World

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It’s crucial to remember this. Defining the afterlife is the linchpin of what a religious belief will look like in the end. What the afterlife “looks like” is never determined by a linear logic.

Mankind has defined their religions based on what they think happens in the afterlife and works its way back. They start at the payoff and work their way backwards.

Once that is determined questions about good people can be answered. What is the reward? Bad people? What is their punishment? Why do bad people succeed? Why do bad things happen to good people?

“Why is this bad thing happening.”

“Don’t worry. There is a reward in the end.”

“Oh? What reward?”

“You get to twinkle your toes in the river of life forever.”

“Oh, that’s nice then. How do I get there?”

“Easy. Make sure you do these things and avoid doing these.”

A belief system built on rewards in the afterlife will drive the formation of that system. Do good here and you will be rewarded there. This belief will then define its tenets. Despite what seems like the obvious the rules do not come first. Rather, the afterlife is defined first. Tenets of faith, or how to live a life that guarantees that destination, comes next.

Over time expanding the definition of the afterlife also includes introducing “new” actors, like angels. Angels are never mentioned in the earliest Jewish writings. When they finally arrive, the narrative is suspicious at best. As we will see in one circumstance, Gen. 19, the event is forever altered by the introduction of angels.

Details to follow.

Just as the myth of the afterlife developed over centuries, so, too, did the myths of angels. The Christian angels point to its Jewish roots with mistranslations and willful additions borrowed from the Greco-Roman world.

After the 48 years of Babylonian captivity we begin to see the emerging myth of angels, or messengers. This follows their subsequent exile in 597 BCE. As is often the case, after experiencing hardship cultures often introduce new ideas and adopt them into their faith. It would be naive to think they are coincidences.

Such is the case with the Jewish people after their captivity.

Literalists try to legitimize the “roots” of Christianity. They believe that the appearances of “angels” in Jewish scriptures validates the appearance of “angels” found in Christian scriptures.

Those assumptions are based on mistranslations. They involve looking backwards 3,500 years. They interpret ancient “angels” with a modern definition. As we will see below, the angels in Gen. 19 are not your everyday run-of-the-mill cherubs.

The anthropomorphic model treats the scriptures very differently.

First, it takes into account when the works were written.

Second, it determines what was happening in and around the community at the time of the writings. These events will obviously influence the writings.

Third, it would allow outside resources that check or contradict the scripture information.

All of this is done to interpret with context in which the original writings took place.

Lot and the Gods. No, I Mean Messengers. No, Men. No, Angels!

In the earliest First Testament manuscripts of Genesis 19, the story of Lot uses a different word for the strangers. It was not a word that translated into angelic beings. Instead, the literal translation informs us that Lot was visited by Gods.

That’s right, “Gods.” Not a typo.

There is ample evidence and it is widely accepted that the ancient Hebrew faith was not always monotheistic. The author(s) of the earlier manuscripts suggests something very profound and mystical. When we come across strangers, we may indeed be encountering Gods.

Does this sound a little familiar?

It should. In many Middle Eastern cultures, it is a virtue to show hospitality. People also value showing kindness to strangers for that same reason. It could be a god there to trick you.

The story in Gen. 19 goes through a change in later translations as well. Perhaps change is not a strong enough word. Censorship is more correct.

Suddenly and without explanation the visitation of Gods is changed to “heavenly beings.” Is it possible there was an error in the translation process? Believing an error of that size occurred is difficult. A simpler explanation is that alterations to the text were intentionally made.

The reason for the censorship?

One explanation is that the scribes and priests “did not want to encourage their believers.” They did not want them to think that God was in the habit of calling upon mere mortals. They wanted them to believe this required the assistance of priests and their elaborate rituals.

The story of God directly meeting man is wiped out with the insertion of a go-between, a “holy emissary.” Not quit God and not quit the priesthood. The change becomes permanent.

Earliest manuscripts with the reference of Gods aside, the “angels” appearing in the later manuscripts are different. They look nothing like the fat cherubs of Renaissance art. They are also unlike the heralding angels we sing about at Christmas.

That “brand” of angel would come later.

Literalists believe that Lot’s angelic visitors are among the first of “angels” we read about. They are first described as “messengers” in the narrative and then, later, as “men.”

Not only do they look like men, but they eat and sleep like ordinary men. Then they travel by foot to Sodom, “about 40 miles of difficult road.”

There are no suggestions of them wielding any divine power.

We do know that they have a certain amount of carnal appeal. The lusty citizens who gather outside Lot’s door prefer the two strangers as sexual playthings. They choose them over Lot’s two virgin daughters.

By the way, wasn’t it considerate of Lot to sacrifice his two daughters to a lecherous mob?

Christian apologists assume that these destroyers are angels. This is because they are referred to as messengers (mal’akh). This term is used to define all kinds of human and divine emissaries.

Theocentric scholars, literalists, view Christian tradition backward through 2,000 years. They assume these beings are celestial. These beings are indeed part of the angelic race.

Wrong again.

The English word angel comes from the Greek word angelos. This word originally meant messenger. It was used to render the Hebrew word ma’akh in early Greek translations.

The celestial beings we are familiar with today were created in the 4th century CE. This occurred only when the scriptures were translated into the Latin form.

Prior to that, their existence was thought to be divine or human, left to the imagination, intentionally leaving them elusive.

Read Emerging Christian Myths, Part 6

Resources

• Carol Newsom, Angels, Anchor Bible Dictionary, Doubleday, 1992
• Jonathan Kirsch, The Harlot By The Side Of The Road, Ballantine, 1997
• Samuel Meier, Angels, The Oxford Companion To The Bible, Oxford University Press, 1993