Quotes from Brian Godawa

Some scholars have used the term monolatry of this view rather than monotheism, because monotheism excludes the existence of any other gods, while monolatry allows for the existence of other gods, but demands the worship of one God who is essentially different from all other gods.[21]

Enoch explained, "When we were in the midst of the Gigantomachy, I knew that everything that I had believed in was a lie. I understood for the first time in my life that the only way that evil was allowed to spread its talons over the earth was for righteous men to do nothing. We will no longer do nothing. We will fight this evil.

If we want to understand how the ancient Jews understood the terms they used, we should look at how they themselves interpreted the texts. If one uses only Scripture to interpret Scripture without its cultural context, then one is not actually using Scripture to interpret Scripture, but conforming Scripture to one's own cultural bias and preconceived ideas.

Jude 6-7 And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day— just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in gross immorality and pursued strange flesh, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.

The Hebrew word is actually Lilith, which the Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible explains is a Mesopotamian demoness residing in a tree that reaches back to the third millennium BC. Here we find Inanna (Ishtar) who plants a tree later hoping to cut from its wood a throne and a bed for herself. But as the tree grows, a snake makes its nest at its roots, Anzu settled in the top and in the trunk the demon ki-sikil-líl-lá [Lilith] makes her lair.[15]

the first thing is to get you settled. Tell your men to gather their families and move to the city of Ziklag. It is twenty miles south-west of Gath, on the outer reaches of Philistia in the Negeb. I will relocate the current inhabitants to Gaza and Ashkelon." David bowed and left the cup on the table. "Lord Achish, you are too kind and too wise. I only hope to be worthy of your goodness and greatness.

Suddenly, a light from heaven burned down upon the two angels and they were gone, translated up to heaven. • • • • • All along the Valley of Siddim, the long, gigantic rift began to spasm. Large fractures opened in the crust. Massive amounts of heat and gas escaped into the air. The land rolled like a tsunami wave of earth. Up above, lightning joined the thunder in the black heap of cumulus storm clouds.

Then the lightning struck. A massive display of multiple lightning strikes painted the sky with a frightening brush. It lit the combustible elements in the whirlwind. A rainstorm of fire and brimstone from heaven engulfed the four cities of the plain in a furnace of sulfurous flames. Nothing survived.

Sending the goat out into the desert to Azazel, was not an offering to the damnable goat demon, but rather it was a banishment of Israel's sin to the realm of chaos outside Yahweh's kingdom—the same realm of Azazel.

I can think of no greater privilege than being a child bearer of the gods! And that privilege begins today. All those women who desire the Sacred Marriage say your goodbyes to your fathers, your husbands, your siblings and your lords, and come to the holy shrine of Enlil this evening. We will perform a mass marriage ceremony and celebrate your newly exalted status!" Inanna was smugly satisfied with her delivery.

They established a hierarchy of four High Gods over the rest of the pantheon, and Seven Who Decree the Fates. They had no idea that an insignificant scrapper, the Watcher called Gadreel, would bide his time, build his strength and perfect his fighting technique to become the mighty Ninurta of Uruk, and now Marduk of Babylon. Ishtar had to admit that he had been clever about it. She stood before her tent, watching the puny humans labor on her fabulous temple, musing on the Plan of the Watchers.

They had taken on the disguise of divinity in order to draw worship away from the Creator, who was known in antediluvian times as Elohim. He had other names, such as El Shaddai, which meant God Almighty; El Elyon, which meant God Most High; and the secret covenant name of Yahweh, the eternally self-existent one. Ishtar smiled to herself. Drawing worship away from Elohim was not all the Watchers were after.

Ecclesiastes 12:13–14 The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.

If they will not give themselves to us, then we will have to take them by force.

This is my favorite sister and wife, Awan," said Cain. "Welcome to 'the Hidden Valley', my 'Garden away from the Garden,' I like to say. I have always had a green thumb. So I put it to good use." Lamech remembered from stories that Cain was a worker of the ground. This secret paradise was a breathtaking incarnation of God-given skill.

The second evening, the daughters got him drunk again and Gaia, the youngest, slept with him and got pregnant as well. The fruit of their incestuous intercourse would one day prove to be a thorn in the side of Abraham's seed to come. The firstborn bore a son and called him Moab. The younger one bore a son and called him Ben-ammi. These two would be the fathers of the Moabites and the Ammonites.

When Elohim sent the Deluge as punishment for mankind's wickedness on the earth, part of that evil was this miscegenation of unholy human angelic hybrids. With those waters, archangels came from heaven and imprisoned many of the Watchers in the earth to await their final judgment. Seventy of the Watchers remained free.

That abominable offspring of Ham and Emzara was the man that Ishtar was after. As the cursed son of Ham, he would be the perfect vehicle through which to breed the Seedline of the Serpent in opposition to the Seedline of the Woman through the chosen son of Noah.

The offspring of the union between the Sons of God and the daughters of men were called Nephilim. A Naphil grew quickly in the womb and depleted the mother's nutrition to a deadly level. Their gestation period was five months. Though they were humanoid in appearance, they had a slight bluish grey tinge to their skin color and sported an extra digit on both their hands and feet, for a total of twelve fingers and twelve toes.

Now, kill every man, woman and child in the town!" The warriors balked. Did they hear him correctly? "You heard what I said. KILL THEM ALL!" The warriors rode through the town to accomplish the diabolical command of their king. Nimrod whispered into Saul's ear, "Yahweh wants a holy war of herem, I will give him herem.

The Rabbi's condemnation of Israelites was all too acceptable to Simon. But then, to eat meals with sinners and harlots, to touch the unclean, and to embrace the godless Kittim was incomprehensible to Simon. It was like making the unclean clean and the clean unclean. It was like saying that God would adopt his enemies and disinherit his own children. The opposite of

Jesus was standing on the high place of the stronghold of supernatural evil next to the Prince of the Power of the Air. Belial swiped his hand and the clouds appeared to part, enabling Jesus the ability to see all the known world below and their cities of men. Belial's contempt melted into a seductive whisper in Jesus's ear. "Do you see all these kingdoms and their glory? They have been delivered to me, and I give them to whom I will.

The thought of escape might be laughable, but a warrior never stops looking for ways to fight.

Biblical imagination does not engage in syncretism (blending opposing views), but in subversion (infiltrating and overthrowing an opposing view). The commonalities show