I now own another book of Angelic lore, Metatron and all his heavenly chums.
This is really is not the kind of thing a non-believer in this kind of thing should be reading, I'm foaming at the mouth here.
"Chances are, you already know what you believe about angels."
Oh you bet I know what I believe.
"This book doesn't aim to change your beliefs: quite the contrary. It means to give you information about why you believe what you do"
I believe what I do because I'm not totally bonkers, not to the extent this book would like me to be anyway.
"and understand of why your friends and neighbours believe as they do."
I think they're probably about the same as me but it's one of those subjects that never comes up.
"As Flannery O'Connor says, "The truth doesn't change based on our ability to stomach it."
Flannery O'Connor is right about that, whoever thehe's meant to be the author just assumes you know.
"Indeed, the purpose the purpose of this book is to fill you with wonder and to help each of us live with a deeper sense of awe and mystery in our everyday lives."
But I get enough awe and mystery from the universe as it is and, nature and science and stuff, how do effeminate guys with swan wings give you sense of awe and mystery? Whats so mysterious about them?
"For while facts and cosmology are fascinating and informative"
Whoever wrote this believed they were writing a book on non-fiction that's what fascinates me.
"they are not as important as the angels in your life."
I'm not sure what they're getting at here, guardian angels perhaps? But if we all have guardian angels then some people must have been assigned a lazy one seeing as people still seem to die in road traffic accidents and plane crashes. Or were their guardian angels taking the day off?
"You see, in almost every tradition almost every language, the word angel means "messenger"
We are really just talking about the Abrahamic traditions here to be fair they're not quite universal for all religions.
"And as awesome as the messenger's appearance may be"
If you want to call an effeminate guys with swan wings awesome in appearance.
"what's really important, according to the scriptures of most traditions"
We're just talking about Abrahamic traditions here to be fair.
"is the content of the message that's recieved."
But why can't God himself just deliever the content like he did with Moses? Why bother with middle men when you're omnipotent?
"God almost never uses angels frivolously"
Almost never means sometimes he does, but why does he need to use anyone at all?
"They are sent when something significant needs to take place."
Sometimes even to start some kind of new religion, which conflicts with the religions other angels helped to create in the first place. If God wants something significant to take place it would be easier for him to just do it himself he's omnipotent.
"Someone is being called to do something or be something or stand firm about something, and that person's actions or agonies or spiritual comfort are so urgent that God does the equivalent of sending in the Marines to make certain nothing goes wrong."
If God wanted to be certain nothing goes wrong he could just make it so nothing goes wrong...
"But the angels themselves are so fascinating simply because they are supernatural- beyond the natural world as we know it- and the effects of their work are so dramatic. Just feeling their presence can explode a human's concept of universe."
Their concept of the universe certainly has been exploded, but it may have been exploded before the angelic encounter probably as a result of reading too many books like this, there's 376 pages worth of this stuff, it's like the bumper book of bonkers belief. Even Hindu gods and fairies get a mention, and Joesph Smith as well.
According to him you can tell the difference between the genuine article and an evil spirit by offering to shake their hand, if it's an angel you should feel the goodness of it flowing into you.
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Originally Posted by Denny Crane!
