BEN: Things certainly get more complex when one takes into account the intertestamental Jewish literature. Just to be sure I understand the implications are you in fact saying that ‘demons’ are the evil spirits of the departed giants or Nephilim, and that not only is this what a text like 1 Enoch believes to be true (rather than just a playing with ANE mythology, grasping for an explanation of evil in the world), but also that this is what the... Read more

BEN: Let’s talk about the Watchers in 1 Enoch, or as I prefer to call them ‘the Insomniacs’ in view of the derivation of that term, meaning they never sleep. I wonder if you knew that these guys show up in Marvel comics as supernatural beings from other galaxies who are supposed to guide and steer things in the universe, only occasionally intervening. Stan Lee mush have read 1 Enoch somewhere along the line. Marvel Comics is where I first... Read more

BEN: Two of the conclusions of your detailed exegetical work which will surprise many are: 1) there is no record in the Bible, including not in Rev. 12, of a primeval fall of Satan from heaven, and 2) there is no evidence in the Bible of Satan having a multitude of angels under his control. The first evidence of this actually comes in 1 Enoch. What are some of the implications of these conclusions? Where and when does evil get... Read more

BEN: In my book Jesus the Seer, I dealt with the interesting interpretations of Gen. 6.1-4 in NT passage such as Jude, 2 Pet. 2, and 1 Pet. 3, not to mention the beginning of Rev. 20. Satan ends up in a hermetically sealed off pit, and the naughty angels end up similarly in Tartarus. But where exactly do you think the Biblical writers envisioned these places being— in the ground, i.e. Sheol, the land of the dead or in... Read more

BEN: I imagine some readers of Chapter 4 are going to wonder why you went straight to the intertestamental stuff on ho diabolos and then backtracked to the OT in the following chapters to deal with the other two supernatural rebellions. I can see the conceptual logic of this, but some may not. And of course some Biblicistic readers will want to know why you even bother with non-Biblical material like that. But of course the answer is clear— it... Read more

BEN: So let’s see if we can sum up some of the basic conclusions of Chapter 2: 1) Ha Satan of Job 1-2 fame is not the chap we later came to call the Devil. He is the prosecuting attorney of the heavenly council, so to speak—the ‘adversary’ as opposed to the advocate in legal terms; 2) the rebel/serpent in the garden of Eden is indeed the one later called Satan, but he is a throne guardian/cherubim, and so rather... Read more

In days of sadness, In days of loss We share our problems, But at what cost? Why then so careless Do we care less, We want our freedom But is it best? We mask our feelings But not our face, We think the unthinkable Will not take place. What fiend beguiles us To selfish ways What anger riles us Are these ‘normal days’? There’s no returning Despite our yearning The forward motion O’er rule emotions With social distance Alone, together... Read more

BEN: Let’s talk a bit about the 3 key OT texts about the Nefarious One, the Great Deceiver— Gen. 3, Isa. 14, Ezek. 28. While I am all for comparing these, I don’t think they should just be mushed together. More to the point, I think that the latter two texts are further developing what is at best implicit in Gen. 3, in various ways. I think the traditions in Gen. 1-11 are in various places quite primitive, and do... Read more

BEN: The image of God concept is a critical one to understanding so many things in the Bible, especially in regard to both the nature and the status of human beings (and angels). While I agree with you that the image concept does convey something about the status of its recipients, I think it also tells us something about their nature. The connection between theology and ethics in the Bible (see my The Indelible Image) is this image concept— ‘be... Read more

BEN: I entirely agree with you that Gen. 1.26 and 3.22 is not about the Trinity but rather about God and his heavenly council. As you say on p. 64. n.14, that God announces to the ‘us’ the project of making humans in his image makes no sense if he is talking to the rest of the Godhead who already knows this, being omniscient. So instead, this is a revelation to the angels or supernatural beings that make up God’s... Read more