Sue Bradley
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, But against principalities, against powers, Against rulers of the darkness of this world, Against spiritual wickedness in high places. Ephesians 6:12.
It seems to be becoming characteristically
From a series of four teen novels, “Fallen” focuses on angels who have fallen from grace and the one being who can help them back to heaven. Author Thomas E. Sniegoski said he did quite a bit of Biblical research about angels before he wrote the novels, rather then using pop culture references. "I think I drew my ideas from all kinds of sources, but my main source were from the tons of research books on angels and various mythologies that I'd collected over the years. It was really cool to read all this stuff and slowly build my own angelic mythology."
Mr. Sniegoski's background work in this area suggests little familiarity except possibly a vague concept of western culture in the area of angelology. Thomas Horn, author of The Gods Who Walk Among Us, The Invisible Invasion, the bestselling Ahriman Gate and the recently released Nephilim Stargates, The Year 2012 and the Return of the Watchers would likely find pieces of truth in Mr. Sniegoski's "angelic mythology," but would caution that the spirit world is a subject to be taken very seriously.
Dr. Horn, an experienced pastor and veteran exorcist, has had first hand experience: speaking the horror and the reality of involvement with such activities, “These are real. I’ve seen things I hope I never see again…and that no one else ever does.”
Apart from framing the script with Hebraic sounding names, the Judeo-Christian concept of a primal angelic rebellion and the subsequent hybridization described in Genesis chapter 6, “Fallen” gives no references to specific theological traditions but does designate the lead, Aaron Corbett as a ‘nephilim’ hybrid who is on Earth to fulfill a prophecy and meet his destiny: as the chosen Redeemer of the mutinous angelic domain.
This is where the fantasy blurs, the positions reverse, the menace begins.
As Dr. Horn notes in Nephilim Stargates, "Given the abundant and universal prophecies that the end times will witness what we have been calling a 'reopening of the gates of heaven' and the descending of a 'savior,' it is important to note that from the Middle Ages forward, many church leaders have believed that the Antichrist would ultimately represent the return of the Nephilim - the union of a demon and a human."
According to Catholic Online, “the program's pop-culture theology bears little in common with the Christian understanding of angels." Executive producer Pete Donaldson, said that the goal was to make the story ‘more secular,’ so there's no explanation of where God stands on the battle between the angels.”
But how can such a topic, the subject of centuries of rigorous academic study and analysis be represented as “family entertainment?”
With a distribution that includes nearly 90 million homes, ABC Family boasts, "A new kind of family." "We're not for families, we're about families," says ABC Family president Paul Lee, about his network's summer success. "We're not family television as it was in the 1950s. We're television about families that's relevant to today's 18-34 audience." There would be no trace of what he calls "your grandfather's 1950's Ozzie & Harriet television."
The "family," he asserts, "is not what is was 30 years ago. And by the way, let's reclaim that word. Family. Let's not look at it through the narrow prism of politics and religion. Let's reclaim it for what it's really all about. 'My step-mom.' 'My friend Josie.' 'My dog.' It's not just different shades of families. The changing demographics of the United States make it a very different looking family than in the past."
And so, as it is with the reversal of the status of the previously (and admittedly) “fallen” angels that the word “family” has need of ‘reclamation’ as well? Has the position of theological scholarship for millennia and generations of conventional family life at last been correctly discerned and clarified in the 21st century?
For those who find themselves drawn to remote spirituality characterized by an amorphous shadowy 'Creator," an entrance to an "alternate reality game" to the "world beyond" is available online. Mr. Lee explains, “Our millennial audience is on the move and our content needs to move with them and this real time online experience will do just that.”
Though the concept is intriguing, and the scenes of winged angels battling with swords of fire are eye-opening, casual interaction with the unseen or even ‘fantasy’ world can be seductive – and dangerous. By relegating the visible and the invisible to ‘fantasy/science fiction’ status, the desensitization of two generations has been enormously successful.
It is without question, an alarming prospect. But of far greater concern, American ‘families’ who look to sensational television programming for spiritual insight will be terrifyingly ill informed and gravely unprepared.
-----------------Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light and light for darkness. Isaiah 5:20
“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge….” Hosea 4:6
BIOGRAPHICAL BACKGROUND
Sue Bradley is a freelance political writer and researcher. Her articles have appeared in The International Jerusalem Post, The Electronic Telegraph, Jane’s Intelligence Group, Raiders News Update in addition to several private subscription intelligence newsletters.
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1 comment:
Fallen tv show is it just me or does it seem to much like the prophecy films, like a copied essay at school just slightly changed but still to similar to the original. The angels even call the humans monkeys like in prophecy. What bible story would ever call humans monkeys, thats darwins theory.
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