I'm kinda glad that I resisted eating most of the Chinese New Year stuff... not only is it not good for me, but also when I see some of my colleagues falling sick, it really isn't funny :P Apparently there's a surge in patient numbers who are falling sick due to eating too much new year goodies and partying too hard over the long weekend.
CNY was okay for me for the most part, except for new year's eve, which is the one day of the year where I get to see the detested relatives from my mother's side :( Actually, I really really dislike a particular maternal uncle who is loud, attention seeking and says stuff that makes no darned sense. Everyone's stopped correcting him years ago, he never listens anyway. I don't mind guys who tell tall tales, but at least they have to be somewhat entertaining... and not incredibly dull and very very badly narrated with lots of stops, pauses and hemming and hawing to see if we are in awe of him or not...:P
And if he thinks I'll ever forget the way he treated my family when he was in trouble some years ago... and how he tried to force us to help him get out of it by showing up at our house shouting at the top of his voice... well... I'm not a very forgiving person...
Some odd things happened over the long weekend.... for one, I was shocked by my sister's questions about the possibility of there being "half-breed" angels... (ie. half man-half angel)
This happened on Monday when we went out to meet Wolfy after a dinner with my paternal relatives (which I really much prefer actually). My sister wanted to tag along cos I guess she was bored. Over coffee, sometime after 1am, our conversations kinda swerved to the topic of angels...
Now, my sister has NO IDEA at all that I'm on a non-Christian spiritual path... Like the rest of my family, she follows the same brand of fundementalist belief.... however, I KNOW she isn't a "straight arrow" so to speak... otherwise she won't keep visiting facade.com for tarot readings....:P
Soooo... about half-angels....
See, the whole thing arose because of a passage in Genesis that my sister and myself have known about since we were teens.....
"Genesis 6:1-4 (NIV version)
When men began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them,
2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose.
3 Then the Lord said, “My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days will be a hundred and twenty years.”
4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of men and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown."
The phrase "The Nephilim" is not seen in the KJV (King James) version of the bible. It was translated from the original hebrew into the following....
"Genesis 6:4 (KJV Version)
There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown."
Now, some scholars theorise that Sons of God could refer to ...
1) fallen angels
2) powerful human rulers
3) godly descendants of Seth intermarrying with wicked descendants of Cain
The problem with 2) and 3) is that, well... ordinary humans + ordinary humans = more humans and not "giants" as indicated in verse 4. So many people tend to view 1) as the most likely possiblity.
Well, when I was much younger and still in the religion, I did ask certain pastors if "sons of God" could refer to 4) "aliens" but they pooh-poohed the idea. Aliens apparently don't exist in my family's fundementalist world view. I also asked about possiblity 5) "proper angels" well... needless to say they were shocked..... most people in the religion tend to think of angels as spirit beings without gender. Also, its stated in the gospels that angels don't marry... as evidenced by the following...
"Matt 22:30 (NIV Version)
At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven."
However, as some wily minds... (my sis included)... conclude... it doesn't say that angels don't make out. And angels have been known to take the form of human men.
I was a little bit surprised by my sis actually. I wonder what might be nibbling at her brains... because she was so insistant for me to answer her questions about this particular bible passage. I wondered why she didn't ask a proper minister instead. In fact, she pressed me for an answer if it might AT ALL be possible for there to be a half-angel to the point of asking if there is anything in the scriptures forbidding angels to mate with humans.
In my limited knowledge of theology.... the answer is "No". I have never come across any passage that indicated that proper angels are forbidden to mate with humans.
After that, she asked me what kind of superhuman powers a half-angel might have that might indicate their status. I don't think she was too happy when I told her that the only indication is size... the word "Nephilim" is roughly translated into "giant"... presumbly in terms of stature... but some scholars have suggested it might also refer to mental might.
I really really hope my sister doesn't end up being attracted to Doreen Virtue and the irk...:P Seriously speaking... I think that she's looking for some kind of power, but the angel folk are where most of the "fluffy bunnies" are. :P I don't think they could really teach her anything useful... and that whole "love and light" thing might cause her to puke.
Sad thing is, my sis doesn't see herself as an individual that might desire power. Truth be told... most humans are.... but like to think that they are "above all of that". She even once said to me that she probably has "few personal demons"....:P Honestly, despite being a pretty intuitive individual for most of her life.... I think this time, she's taking herself for a ride. :(
Now there's nothing wrong with wanting power, but I feel that there should be an acknowledgement by the individual that that is what they secretly desire. If not, things can get pretty skewed... and you get some pretty self-righteous notions coming out a deluded mind.
Posts
