WEATLEY

Page semi-protected Phillis Wheatley From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to navigationJump to search Phillis Wheatley Phillis Wheatley, as illustrated by Scipio Moorhead in the Frontispiece to her book Poems on Various Subjects. Phillis Wheatley, as illustrated by Scipio Moorhead in the Frontispiece to her book Poems on Various Subjects. Born 1753 West Africa (likely Gambia or Senegal) Died December 5, 1784 (aged 31)

Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. Occupation Poet Language English Period American Revolution Notable works Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral Spouse John Peters Children Three Phillis Wheatley, also spelled Phyllis and Wheatly (c. 1753 – December 5, 1784) was the first published African-American female poet.[1][2] Born in West Africa, she was sold into slavery at the age of seven or eight and transported to North America. She was purchased by the Wheatley family of Boston, who taught her to read and write and encouraged her poetry when they saw her talent. The publication of her Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral on 1 September 1773 brought her fame both in England and the American colonies. Figures such as George Washington praised her work.[3] During Wheatley's visit to England with her master's son, African-American poet Jupiter Hammon praised her work in his own poem. Wheatley was emancipated (set free) shortly after the publication of her book.[4] She married in about 1778. Two of her children died as infants. After her husband was imprisoned for debt in 1784, Wheatley fell into poverty and died of illness, quickly followed by the death of her surviving infant son. Contents 1 Early life 2 Later life 3 Poetry 4 Style, structure, and influences on poetry 5 Legacy and honors 6 See also 7 References 8 Further reading 9 External links

Early life Phillis Wheatley's church, Old South Meeting House[5] Although the date and place of her birth are not documented, scholars believe that Phillis Wheatley was born in 1753 in West Africa, most likely in present-day Gambia or Senegal.[6] Wheatley was sold by a local chief to a visiting trader, who took her to Boston in the British colony of Massachusetts, on July 11, 1761,[7] on a ship called The Phillis.[8] It was owned by Timothy Fitch and captained by Peter Gwinn.[8] On arrival she was re-sold to the wealthy Boston merchant and tailor John Wheatley, who bought the young girl as a servant for his wife Susanna. John and Susanna Wheatley named the young girl Phillis, after the ship that had brought her to America. She was given their last name of Wheatley, as was a common custom if any surname was used for slaves. The Wheatleys' 18-year-old daughter, Mary, first tutored Phillis in reading and writing. Their son Nathaniel also helped her. John Wheatley was known as a progressive throughout New England; his family gave Phillis an unprecedented education for an enslaved person, and for a female of any race. By the age of 12, Phillis was reading Greek and Latin classics and difficult passages from the Bible. At the age of 14, she wrote her first poem, "To the University of Cambridge, in New England."[9][10] Recognizing her literary ability, the Wheatley family supported Phillis's education and left the household labor to their other domestic slaves. The Wheatleys often showed off her abilities to friends and family. Strongly influenced by her studies of the works of Alexander Pope, John Milton, Homer, Horace and Virgil, Phillis Wheatley began to write poetry.[11] Later life In 1773, at the age of 20, Phillis accompanied Nathaniel Wheatley to London in part for her health, but also because Susanna believed she would have a better chance publishing her book of poems there.[12] She had an audience with the Lord Mayor of London (an audience with George III was arranged, but Phillis returned home beforehand), as well as with other significant members of British society. She was also never able to personally meet Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon, who served as the patron of Wheatley's volume of poems, which was published in the summer of 1773.[13] Phillis Wheatley wrote a letter to Reverend Samson Occom, commending him on his ideas and beliefs of how the slaves should be given their natural born rights in America. Wheatley also exchanged letters with the British philanthropist John Thornton, who in turn discussed Wheatley and her poetry in his correspondence with John Newton.[14] Along with her poetry, she was able to express her thoughts, comments and concerns to others.[15] In 1775, Phillis Wheatley sent a copy of a poem entitled, "To His Excellency, George Washington" to him. In 1776, Washington invited Wheatley to visit him at his headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which she did in March 1776.[16] Thomas Paine republished the poem in the Pennsylvania Gazette in April 1776.[17] In 1773, sometime between July and October, Wheatley was emancipated by the Wheatley family shortly after her book, Poems on Subjects Religious and Moral, was published in London. Susanna Wheatley died in the spring of 1774. John Wheatley's death followed in 1778. Shortly after, Phillis Wheatley met and married John Peters, a free black grocer. They struggled with poor living conditions and the deaths of two babies.[18] In 1779, Wheatley submitted a proposal for a second volume of poems, but was unable to publish it because of her financial circumstances, the loss of patrons after her emancipation (often publication of books was based on gaining subscriptions for guaranteed sales beforehand), and the Revolutionary War. However, some of her poems that were to be published in that volume were later published in pamphlets and newspapers.[19] Her husband John Peters was improvident, and imprisoned for debt in 1784, leaving an impoverished Wheatley with a sickly infant son. She went to work as a scullery maid at a boarding house to support them, a kind of domestic labor that she had not been accustomed to, even before becoming a free person. Wheatley died on December 5, 1784, at the age of 31.[20] Poetry External video On being brought from africa to america.jpg On Being Brought from Africa To America by Phillis Wheatley; Narrated by Teyuna T Darris, 0:47, July 8, 2015, GoodPoetry.org[21] In 1768, Wheatley wrote "To the King's Most Excellent Majesty," in which she praised King George III for repealing the Stamp Act.[4] As the American Revolution gained strength, Wheatley's writing turned to themes that expressed ideas of the rebellious colonists. In 1770 Wheatley wrote a poetic tribute to the evangelist George Whitefield, which received widespread acclaim. Her poetry expressed Christian themes, and many poems were dedicated to famous figures. Over one-third consist of elegies, the remainder being on religious, classical, and abstract themes.[22] She seldom referred to her own life in her poems. One example of a poem on slavery is "On being brought from Africa to America":[23] Twas mercy brought me from my Pagan land, Taught my benighted soul to understand That there's a God, that there's a Saviour too: Once I redemption neither sought nor knew. Some view our sable race with scornful eye, "Their colour is a diabolic dye." Remember, Christians, Negroes, black as Cain, May be refin'd, and join th' angelic train. Historians have commented on her reluctance to write about slavery. Perhaps it was because she had conflicting feelings about the institution. In the poem above, critics have said that she praises slavery because it brought her to Christianity. But, in another poem, she wrote that slavery was a cruel fate.[24] Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, 1773 Many colonists found it difficult to believe that an African slave was writing "excellent" poetry. Wheatley had to defend her authorship of her poetry in court in 1772.[25][26] She was examined by a group of Boston luminaries, including John Erving, Reverend Charles Chauncey, John Hancock, Thomas Hutchinson, the governor of Massachusetts, and his lieutenant governor Andrew Oliver. They concluded she had written the poems ascribed to her and signed an attestation, which was included in the preface of her book of collected works: Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, published in London in 1773. Publishers in Boston had declined to publish it, but her work was of great interest in London. There, Selina, Countess of Huntingdon and the Earl of Dartmouth acted as patrons to help Wheatley gain publication. Her poetry received comment in The London Magazine In 1773, which published as a "specimen" of her work, her poem 'Hymn to the Morning', and said: "these poems display no astonishing works of genius, but when we consider them as the productions of a young, untutored African, who wrote them after six months careful study of the English language, we cannot but suppress our admiration for talents so vigorous and lively."[27] In 1778, the African-American poet Jupiter Hammon wrote an ode to Wheatley ("An Address to Miss Phillis Wheatley"). Hammon wrote this poem while Hammon's owner, Lloyd, had temporarily moved himself and the slaves he owned to Hartford, Connecticut, during the Revolutionary War. Hammon saw Wheatley as having succumbed to what he believed were pagan influences in her writing, and so the "Address" consisted of twenty-one rhyming quatrains, each accompanied by a related Bible verse, that he thought would compel Wheatley to return to a Christian path in life.[28] Boston-based publisher and abolitionist Isaac Knapp collected Wheatley's poetry along with that of enslaved North Carolina poet George Moses Horton in 1838 under the title Memoir and Poems of Phillis Wheatley, A Native African and a Slave. Also, Poems by a Slave.[29] The memoir was earlier published in 1834 by Geo W. Light, but did not include poems by Horton. Style, structure, and influences on poetry Wheatley believed that the power of poetry is immeasurable.[30] John C. Shields notes that her poetry did not simply reflect the literature that she read but was based on her personal ideas and beliefs. Shields writes, "Wheatley had more in mind than simple conformity. It will be shown later that her allusions to the sun god and to the goddess of the morn, always appearing as they do here in close association with her quest for poetic inspiration, are of central importance to her." This poem is arranged into three stanzas of four lines in iambic tetrameter followed by a concluding couplet in iambic pentameter. The rhyme scheme is ababcc.[30][31] Statue of Phillis Wheatley in the Old South Meeting House museum, Boston She used three primary elements: Christianity, classicism, and hierophantic solar worship.[32] The hierophantic solar worship is what she brought with her from Africa; the worship of sun gods is expressed as part of her African culture. As her parents were sun worshipers, it may be why she used so many different words for the sun. For instance, she uses Aurora eight times, "Apollo seven, Phoebus twelve, and Sol twice."[32] Shields believes that the word "light" is significant to her as it marks her African history, a past that she has left physically behind.[32] He notes that Sun is a homonym for Son, and that Wheatley intended a double reference to Christ.[32] Wheatley also refers to "heav'nly muse" in two of her poems: "To a Clergy Man on the Death of his Lady" and "Isaiah LXIII," signifying her idea of the Christian deity.[33] Shields believes that her use of classicism set her work apart from that of her contemporaries. He writes, "Wheatley's use of classicism distinguishes her work as original and unique and deserves extended treatment."[34] Shields sums up Wheatley's writing by characterizing it as "contemplative and reflective rather than brilliant and shimmering."[31] Legacy and honors With the 1773 publication of Wheatley's book Poems on Various Subjects, she "became the most famous African on the face of the earth."[35] Voltaire stated in a letter to a friend that Wheatley had proved that black people could write poetry. John Paul Jones asked a fellow officer to deliver some of his personal writings to "Phillis the African favorite of the Nine (muses) and Apollo."[35] She was honored by many of America's founding fathers, including George Washington, who told her that "the style and manner [of your poetry] exhibit a striking proof of your great poetical Talents."[36] Critics consider her work fundamental to the genre of African-American literature.[1] She is honored as the first African-American woman to publish a book and the first to make a living from her writing.[37] In 2002, the scholar Molefi Kete Asante listed Phillis Wheatley as one of his 100 Greatest African Americans.[38] Wheatley is featured, along with Abigail Adams and Lucy Stone, in the Boston Women's Memorial, a 2003 sculpture on Commonwealth Avenue in Boston, Massachusetts. In 2012, Robert Morris University named the new building for their School of Communications and Information Sciences after Phillis Wheatley.[39] Wheatley Hall at UMass Boston is named for Phyllis Wheatley.[40] She is commemorated on the Boston Women's Heritage Trail.[41] The Phyllis Wheatley YWCA in Washington, D.C. and the Phyllis Wheatly High School in Houston, Texas are named for her, as was the historic Phyllis Wheatley School in Jensen Beach, Florida, which is now the oldest building on the campus of American Legion Post 126, (Jensen Beach, Florida). See also African American literature

JEREMIAH 29

Jeremiah’s Letter to the Captives

1Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the remainder of the elders who were carried away captive—to the priests, the prophets, and all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon. 2(This happened after Jeconiah the king, the queen mother, the eunuchs, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the smiths had departed from Jerusalem.) 3The letter was sent by the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Babylon, to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, saying, 4Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all who were carried away captive, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5Build houses and dwell in them; plant gardens and eat their fruit. 6Take wives and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, so that they may bear sons and daughters—that you may be increased there, and not diminished. 7And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the Lord for it; for in its peace you will have peace. 8For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are in your midst deceive you, nor listen to your dreams which you cause to be dreamed. 9For they prophesy falsely to you in My name; I have not sent them, says the Lord. 10For thus says the Lord: After seventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good word toward you, and cause you to return to this place. 11For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. 14I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive. 15Because you have said, “The Lord has raised up prophets for us in Babylon”— 16therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king who sits on the throne of David, concerning all the people who dwell in this city, and concerning your brethren who have not gone out with you into captivity— 17thus says the Lord of hosts: Behold, I will send on them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like rotten figs that cannot be eaten, they are so bad. 18And I will pursue them with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence; and I will deliver them to trouble among all the kingdoms of the earth—to be a curse, an astonishment, a hissing, and a reproach among all the nations where I have driven them, 19because they have not heeded My words, says the Lord, which I sent to them by My servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them; neither would you heed, says the Lord. 20Therefore hear the word of the Lord, all you of the captivity, whom I have sent from Jerusalem to Babylon. 21Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, who prophesy a lie to you in My name: Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he shall slay them before your eyes. 22And because of them a curse shall be taken up by all the captivity of Judah who are in Babylon, saying, “The Lord make you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire”; 23because they have done disgraceful things in Israel, have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives, and have spoken lying words in My name, which I have not commanded them. Indeed I know, and am a witness, says the Lord.

24You shall also speak to Shemaiah the Nehelamite, saying, 25Thus speaks the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, saying: You have sent letters in your name to all the people who are at Jerusalem, to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, and to all the priests, saying, 26“The Lord has made you priest instead of Jehoiada the priest, so that there should be officers in the house of the Lord over every man who is demented and considers himself a prophet, that you should put him in prison and in the stocks. 27Now therefore, why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth who makes himself a prophet to you? 28For he has sent to us in Babylon, saying, ‘This captivity is long; build houses and dwell in them, and plant gardens and eat their fruit.’ ” 29Now Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the hearing of Jeremiah the prophet. 30Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying: 31Send to all those in captivity, saying, Thus says the Lord concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite: Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, and I have not sent him, and he has caused you to trust in a lie— 32therefore thus says the Lord: Behold, I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his family: he shall not have anyone to dwell among this people, nor shall he see the good that I will do for My people, says the Lord, because he has taught rebellion against the Lord. The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.

Learn More About New King James Version

JOHN 20

John 20 King James Version (KJV)

20 The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre.

2 Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them, They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him

. 3 Peter therefore went forth, and that other disciple, and came to the sepulchre.

4 So they ran both together: and the other disciple did outrun Peter, and came first to the sepulchre. 5 And he stooping down, and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying; yet went he not in. 6 Then cometh Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes lie, 7 And the napkin, that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself. 8 Then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and believed.

9 For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead. 10 Then the disciples went away again unto their own home.

11 But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulchre, 12 And seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. 13 And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him. 14 And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away.

16 Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master. 17 Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God. 18 Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had spoken these things unto her. 19 Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. 20 And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord. 21 Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:

23 Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained. 24 But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe. 26 And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. 27 Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. 28 And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.

29 Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed. 30 And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: 31 But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name. King James Version (KJV)

JOHN 19

John 19 New International Version (NIV)

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FALLEN ANGELS GOD KICKED OUT OF HEAVEN.

Chapter 4 - The Demons

Now that we have covered fallen angels, we are going to cover demons. Some people think that demons are fallen angels, but the Bible repeatedly demonstrates that there are clear differences between them. Fallen angels are called “sons of God, gods, powers, principalities, authorities, dominions, host of heaven”. Angels in general are repeatedly shown to cause dreams and visions by which they interact with people and deliver a message from God. They also appear in a bodily way looking like men, and interact with people this way, being seen as having a body.

Of the fallen angels, it is made clear that there is a certain way one should rebuke them, namely asking God to do so, and not doing so personally. “Likewise also these [filthy] dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities. Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.” Jude 1:8-9

“But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous [are they], selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities. Whereas angels, which are greater in power and might, bring not railing accusation against them before the Lord.” 2 Pet 2:10-11

And Jesus himself gave us an example of resisting Satan, a fallen angel, by using scripture in Matt 4 and Luke 4. On the other hand, Demons are often called “wicked, unclean, evil spirits” and are usually mentioned in relation to someone who is demonized, and the demon speaks through that person. Demons do not appear in a bodily form themselves, but interactions with them always involve a body of a person or animal they are working through. Jesus made clear that believers have been given authority by Jesus to cast demons out in His name. “And when he had called unto [him] his twelve disciples, he gave them power [against] unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.” Matt 10:1 “Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name… Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven.” Luke 10:17,20 “And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour.” Acts 16:18 There are essential practical differences in how we are told to spiritually battle against demons versus fallen angels, as Christians. We are given different instructions for each. There is a practical importance involved in understanding that demons and fallen angels are not the same, and we have different instructions for how we are to practice spiritual warfare against each of them. Between this and the different terms used to refer to each, and the different descriptions of how they each interact with or attack people, it becomes clear that demons are not the same creatures as fallen angels. We know all the angels were made on the first day of creation, and are called the host of heaven, and by the end of the 6th day the Bible says God finished creating the heaven and earth and all their hosts. However, the demons are never called the host of heaven, a term which always refers to angels, so it cannot be assumed the demons were created along with the angels. To understand where demons came from, we have to understand a few things first about Jesus Christ, and about human reproduction. Jesus Christ was the only begotten son of God, and the Bible teaches he was both fully man and fully God. Jesus Christ was conceived by the Holy Spirit, who is God, and Jesus’ Father is God the Father, and Jesus Christ, while the son of God, is also Himself God. But Jesus Christ was also the son of Mary, a human woman, and Jesus Christ was also a human man. Was Jesus Christ half-man physically and half-God physically? God the Father is spirit, and the Holy Spirit is spirit. “God [is] a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship [him] in spirit and in truth.” Jn 4:24 “Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.” Luke 24:39 As God the Father is a spirit, He does not have a body made of flesh and bones, by which Jesus could be half-God physically in His body. In fact Jesus Christ is the “image of the invisible God” (Col 1:15). And so it can be argued Jesus Christ is the only person of God with a physical body. But it is made clear that Jesus partook as much as any man in flesh and blood: “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;” Heb 2:14 This means that Jesus had a body that was fully human, flesh and blood as much as any normal human man. And the Bible says that Jesus Christ came in the flesh (2 Jn 1:7) and was a man (1 Tim 2:5). Was Jesus Christ spiritually a man, or was He spiritually God? It would seem that spiritually Jesus Christ was God. Nor could Jesus be considered to be half-God spiritually and half-man spiritually, as this would make him out to be less than fully God spiritually. Jesus Christ is God, and came from above, existing eternally, creating all things (Jn 8:23, 8:58, Jn 1). And the Bible teaches that in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead, but bodily: “For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.” Col 2:9 In fact believing that Jesus Christ was both fully God and fully man, also called “Hypostatic Union”, is an essential Christian Doctrine, basic to the Christian Faith. But it is important to understand that Jesus Christ had a fully human body, like any other human. But Jesus was also fully God, so it can be understood that this was in the spiritual sense, and that spiritually Jesus was fully God. Jesus was not just like any other man when it came to His spirit, or half-man/half-God spiritually, but rather His spirit was that of God. This indicates that Jesus’ spirit was solely from God the Father, in regards to reproduction and the virgin conception by the Holy Spirit. This is interesting as the Bible says that Jesus Christ is the only begotten son of God, and was “begat” by God. “Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth Him that begat, loveth him also that is begotten of Him.” 1 Jn 5:1 But the same word for “begotten” is used many times relating to men and their children. Matt 1:2 “Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren” In fact the Old Testament is full of examples in which fathers beget their children, but there are no cases of mothers begetting their children. The Bible therefore, taken at literal face-value, teaches that children are only begat by their fathers. In the case of Jesus, spiritually He was fully God, and begotten of God the Father by the Holy Spirit. He did not have a half-human spirit, and so it seems his spirit was not a 50/50 mixture of God the Father and His mother Mary’s human spirit. Rather, Jesus as the son of God was God, and of the same spirit as God the Father. What does the Bible actually teach about the spiritual side of human reproduction? Let’s go back to the beginning when God first made Adam, “And the LORD God formed man [of] the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” (Gen 2:7) Once Adam’s body had received the “breath of life”, then he became a living soul. So apparently a body, that then has the “breath of life” added to it, results in a new living soul. The word here for “soul” is clarified in the New Testament, 1 Cor 15:45 “And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.” The word here for “soul” is “psyche” and it means “life” and “soul”. It is also used in: Matt 10:28 “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” But there is a different word that is used in 1 Cor 15 for “spirit”, and that is “pneuma”. This is the “breathe of life” in Gen 2:7 which is the “spirit” which gives life. “The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life.” Job 33:4 “All the while my breath [is] in me, and the spirit (ruach) of God [is] in my nostrils” Job 27:3 “And the LORD said, My spirit (ruach) shall not always strive with man, for that he also [is] flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.” Gen 6:3 The spirit of life in man was given by God to Adam in Gen 2:7, and is the spirit of man. Without God striving with the spirit of man, he no longer has life, but the man dies. But as long as God strives with the spirit of man, the man lives. The point being that a man being alive is tied to him having the spirit, the “breath of life” giving life, as God breathed into Adam. Job says the breath of the Almighty had given him life, but yet the only time when God is recorded to have breathed life into any man is when God made Adam. The Bible only records God having done this one time, with Adam. Yet Job indicates he also has the breath of the Almighty. As such it would make sense that somehow the “breath of life” is inherited, and passed down through reproduction, and did pass down from Adam through his children, all the way to Job. How might the “breath of life” or spirit pass down through reproduction? The Bible does say that what causes life, giving life to the body, is in the blood, “For the life of the flesh [is] in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it [is] the blood [that] maketh an atonement for the soul.” Lev 17:11 And we know that what causes life is the “breath of life” or “spirit”. And so the “spirit” or “breath of life” must be in the blood. As such there is a connection that the Bible makes between the “breath of life” or “spirit” and the blood of the physical body. It is understood that a child is formed from a bodily contribution from both parents in the process of reproduction. Perhaps the “breath of life” is tied to the father’s contribution in reproduction. God specifies that people reproduce through multiplication, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply” (Gen 1:28). What is multiplication? God actually demonstrated multiplication for us, by how God made Eve from a little piece, a rib, taken from Adam. (The rib itself contains blood in the marrow, and the life of the body is in the blood.) “And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.” Gen 2:21-22 God is not recorded to have breathed the spirit, the breath of life, into Eve in order for her to become a living soul. Nor is God recorded to have repeated this process with Cain, Abel, Seth, or any of their children. God breathed the spirit of life into Adam who became a living soul, and God is recorded to have done this only one time, with Adam. Then Adam had a spirit and a soul and was alive. Obviously Eve and Adam’s children were alive and had living souls also, even though no record is made of God having breathed the breath of life into them. Yet Job states that the breath of the Almighty had given him life. All of this indicates that God put the breath of life, a spirit, into Adam, and somehow this spirit was multiplied to all other people from Adam. Whether by Adam’s rib in the case of Eve, or through reproduction with their children, which the Bible calls “multiplication”, it seems that all people were passed down the breath of life from Adam. So it makes sense that when God made Eve, He not only multiplied her body from Adam’s body, but that also God multiplied her spirit from Adam’s spirit. Like a seed that grows. And then she became an individual living soul as well, as she had a body and spirit (the breath of life) which is located in the blood. And this was all through the process of “multiplication”. As such, Eve was multiplied from Adam, in body and spirit, and then herself became a living soul. God did this with Eve Himself, but from that point on the same thing would occur with Adam and Eve multiplying to have children, through the natural process God set in place. This means that during reproduction, the new spirit, breath of life, that each child has, is multiplied and grown from a little seed of the spirit or “breath of life” of the prior generation. This does not negate that that God forms each person in the womb (Is 44:2,24) but the point is that the building materials, a seed, are already in place for God to build from, not just in regards to multiplying a new body, but to multiplying a new spirit as well. All children are multiplied from what already exists in the father or mother. That the body and soul (mind, emotions, will) of the mother are inherited traits of a child is obvious, children look like their mothers, have psychological traits like their mothers, the intelligence of their mother, etc. And so we know that both the body and soul of the mother contribute to the body and soul (mind/will/emotions) of the child. Both the mother and father’s soul and body contribute in the multiplying process to form a child, and this is obvious as the child looks like both parents. Each contributes an equal number of chromosomes, to combine in conception, for the physical body, and the same sort of thing would make sense of the soul (mind/will/emotions) as well. But is this 50/50 split the case with the spirit of the child, the breath of life, which actually gives the child life and makes the child to become a living soul? If everything in the reproductive process is a 50/50 split between the mother and the father, then why does the Bible universally say the father begat the children? Many people assume that the spirit of a child is deposited by God at the time of conception, like God reaches down from heaven adding an individual new spirit into the child. But God says that we reproduce by “multiplication”, not addition. If the spirit of a child was added by God, or was 50/50 from the mother and father, along with the child’s body or soul being 50/50 from the mother and father, then it would seem counter-intuitive that the Bible always speaks of men begetting children. In fact, as solely the mother’s body grows the child’s body in pregnancy, it would make more sense for her to be said to beget the children, all things being equal. Yet it is always the father who begets the child, and God the Father who begot Jesus Christ. As the spirit of the child, the breath of life, is what makes the child to be alive and a living soul, then this is essential to the child being alive. If the father alone were to contribute the spirit giving life to the child, this could explain why a child is begat only by their father. And this essential ingredient to a living child would also balance with the mother’s larger contribution in pregnancy. Only the mother can go through pregnancy, perhaps in the same way only the father can give the spirit, the breath of life, and this is what it means that the father begets the child. There is more in the Bible which seems to verify this idea. 1 Cor 11:8,12 “For the man is not out of the woman, but the woman is out of the man; For just as the woman is out of the man, in this manner also the man is through the woman; but all together from God.” The Bible says the children came through Eve, as in “passing through”. The word here “dia” means “a motion through”. The distinction is clearly made that while Eve came “out of” Adam, that her sons “passed through” her. And so also, while sons and daughters come “out of” their fathers, all children have come “through” their mother, not “out of” her. It cannot be physical birth that is spoken of here, as obviously babies come out of their mothers. It could not be the multiplication of the body that is referenced to here, as we know the child body is multiplied from both the parents equally. Rather, this stated difference must reference to spiritual multiplication. Applying this to Eve, this means her children came through her, but solely “out of” Adam. It must be the spirit that is referenced here, the breath of life, an essential ingredient, which when added to the body makes a child to become a new living soul. This is indicative that the spirit of a child (male or female) comes only from the father of a child, and is multiplied from him alone. But on the other hand the body and soul of a child clearly have traits of both of the child’s parents. If begetting means giving life, and the spirit is the breath of life, then it makes sense that the spirit would come only from the father of the child, because the Bible says that fathers alone beget children. And in the larger scheme of things, if the father solely was the source of multiplication for a child’s spirit, this would balance the larger contribution of the mother in the “multiplication” of the child’s body in pregnancy. There is more in the Bible to confirm this idea. In keeping with this, the Bible confirms that it was by Adam alone (not Eve) who passed the sinful/dying spiritual state to all of humanity. “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned– for until the Law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. But the free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many. The gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned; for on the one hand the judgment arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand the free gift arose from many transgressions resulting in justification. For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men. For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous. The Law came in so that the transgression would increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Rom 5:12-21 NASB “For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.” 1 Cor 15:21-22, 45 It seems the spiritual change that occurred when Adam ate from the tree, when his eyes were opened, and his spirit became in a dead/sinful state, passed from him alone to all of humanity. The Bible makes clear that this spiritual state came from Adam alone, and not from Eve. This would make the most sense if all of his children were multiplied solely from his own spirit. It seems after him eating from the tree, his spirit gained these qualities of a dead/sinful state, and all spirits multiplied from his original would inherit this quality as well. These passages parallel Adam and Jesus very closely. It is true that through Jesus Christ, singularly, all Christians become spiritually born again to life. This matches most closely with the concept that through Adam, singularly, all people were born spiritually to death. In the same way that in Adam alone all die spiritually, all are made alive spiritually by Jesus Christ alone, through a new birth by the Holy Spirit. And so there are several conclusive points that the Bible seems to make about how humans reproduce by multiplication, which align with what is known of Jesus Christ. If human multiplication was set up by God so that the mother’s spirit is not multiplied to the child in any portion, then this would allow for Jesus Christ to have been fully God spiritually, His spirit being begotten solely by God the Father. Some teachings seem to argue that how Jesus was fully God and fully man is a mystery. But this teaching here would allow for Jesus Christ to have been fully God spiritually without anything having happened in reproduction that violated the way God set up human multiplication to work, in the beginning. This teaching makes the fully God spiritual nature of Jesus Christ to be completely consistent with the process of reproduction through multiplication which God set up originally. If all people receive their spirit as multiplied solely from the spirit of their father, then Jesus Christ being fully God would work without inconsistency. But if the spirit of the mother was also multiplied in combination to grow the spirit of the child, then this could be argued to have been at odds with Jesus being fully God spiritually. He was not half-man spiritually, but fully God spiritually. Jesus surely was not half-man spiritually and half-God spiritually, with a contribution from his mother Mary affecting his spiritual full God-ness, but rather Jesus Christ was fully God. This lines up with the spirit of the child coming solely from the spirit of the father. At the same time, Jesus was fully man in His body, receiving both from his mother… and paradoxically from Himself… as He is the image of the invisible God. “Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature” (Col 1:15). The 50/50 contribution of Jesus’ body from God the Father and from Mary, can only be understood in that Jesus Christ is eternal, and always was… so His paternal bodily blueprint came from Himself. This is not meant in that Jesus was His own father, as that would contradict that God is His Father, and I am not stating otherwise, nor blurring the lines of the persons of the Godhead or Trinity. But what I do mean is found in the truth Jesus spoke, “Before Abraham was, I AM”, in that Jesus Christ eternally always was, is, and will be God, and here before He made time itself, a paradox that is only solved by Jesus Christ eternally existing. Col 1:15 also means we all were made in the image of God, which means we all were made in the image of Jesus Christ, from the beginning. He always was. The body of a child comes from, is multiplied from, both the mother and father, as seen in Adam and Eve. And the body is grown solely by the mother in pregnancy. But at the same time the spirit, breath of life, of the child is multiplied solely from the spirit of the father of the child. This seems to be the definition of “begetting”. And the spirit of the child therefore inherits the qualities of the spirit of the father, such as the example of a sinful spiritual nature and death passing from Adam to all of his children. And so it seems that the Bible teaches that in multiplication the body of the child will be half from the mother, and half from the father, but that the spirit of the child will come solely from the father of the child, which gives the breath of life, which makes the child to become a new living soul. Understanding this to be the case, there is an account in the Bible which sticks out, in regards to where demons came from. It sticks out because understanding this about human multiplication; this account requires some strange implications. Going back to the first wave of falling angels, the “sons of God”, messenger-type angels who looked like men: “And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they [were] fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also [is] flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. 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.” Gen 6:1-4 Here the “sons of God” had children with human women. Based on what we have covered, this has some interesting implications. These “sons of God” were of the messenger type of angels, who universally are described to look like human men. Apparently, they were able to reproduce, in having a bodily form of human men. Another thing we know about angels is that they are immortal spirits. Their children are described to have been mighty men, and giants (Nephilim in Hebrew). They are described as men, and so they looked human, but were giants. What would happen if a human-looking male angel had children with a human woman? If this was the case, then the result as described here were giant men. Understanding what we have covered about multiplication, it would make sense that the spirit in these offspring would have come solely from their fathers, these sinful angels. But angels are immortal spirits. Using Adam as an example of inherent spiritual traits passing solely from the father to the child, it would make sense that the offspring of these angels would also have immortal spirits, and have angel-type spirits, coming solely from their fathers who were angels. On the other hand, their bodies were a combination from their human mothers, and human-looking angel fathers. Apparently these messenger angels who looked like human men had spirit bodies, but when taking a physical form their bodies had DNA and chromosomes which were nearly identical to that of humans. According to the science of genetics, the DNA and chromosomes halved in the contributions of 2 parents, have to match closely to be able to combine together. So whatever DNA and chromosomes these fallen angels contributed would have to have been pretty much identical to that of a human man, which makes a lot of sense as human DNA is the blueprint used to make a body form to be human, inside and out. DNA and chromosomal information function as a blueprint for the body. Slight differences can make huge changes, which render 2 creatures incapable of having offspring. For instance, a chimpanzee’s DNA is estimated to be about 95% similar to that of a human, and chimpanzees have 24 chromosome pairs, while humans have 23. The differences are only a matter of 1 chromosome in number and 5% of the DNA. Yet the bodies of humans and chimpanzees are still vastly different, and they are incapable of intermixing. And so knowledge of science indicates that the number of chromosomes pairs of these human-looking male angels was probably also 23, and that their DNA was likely 99.9% or more similar to humans living at the time. In fact, in Genesis in the story of Abraham, the Bible calls messenger angels who looked like men, and ate like men, “men” in one verse, and the same “angels” in another verse. It seems while messenger angels are in a physical bodily form they may sometimes be like “men” in their bodies even down to a DNA and chromosomal level. (Gen 18:22, 19:1) The human body is mortal, and dies, while the human spirit sleeps in death. Would these offspring have bodily immortality? God seems to speak directly to these angels and their human wives, and tells them, “My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also [is] flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years”. And so the Bible indicates that these giant offspring did not receive physical immortality in their bodies, but rather that their bodies would be mortal. Not only that, but that these children would only live to the age of 120. This was a drastic drop in lifespan, as many people were recorded to be living about 850 years on average. The verse of God’s pronouncement of shortened life-spans is placed in between the verse describing these angels taking wives, and the verse telling of their giant children. As such it seems clear that God was speaking primarily to these parents about their children. But also it had a secondary prophetic meaning. The giant (Nephilim) children seem to have inherited a couple of abnormalities from their angel fathers, new and peculiar physical traits. The first trait was a shortened life-span of only 120 years, and the second was gigantism in their bodies. Gigantism is caused by a pituitary brain tumor in humans today, essentially it is caused by cancer. It seems obvious that the physical genetic inheritance from their human-looking angel fathers was flawed and imperfect. Yet bodily they were human, as they are called “men”. Of course, God’s pronouncement is usually taken to have applied to all of humanity as a prophecy, as after this time it is recorded that human life-spans shortened to 120 years. But what seems to have happened here, connecting the dots, is that these offspring were the first ones to only live 120 years, and then this spread to the rest of humanity. How could this be the case? It would seem that these giants (Nephilim) essentially did have human bodies, even though their genetics were deteriorated with imperfections, causing cancer and a shortened life-span. Nevertheless, they are called “men” and had human bodies. Jesus Christ is perhaps the only similar example we have in the Bible of someone who had a human mother, and non-human father. As Jesus Christ is the only Biblical example we have of something similar, He is the Biblical example we must use. Jesus Christ was fully God spiritually, but His body was fully human. And it also seems the same result was the case with these giants (Nephilim), that they were fallen angels in spirit, but they had fully human bodies, even though they contained genetic deterioration. Their fathers had angel spirits, and angel bodies, and their mothers had human spirits and human bodies. But they seemed to have the spirit of their fathers, but mortal bodies like their mothers. And this seems to be the same pattern as with Jesus, who had the same spirit as His Father God, but a human body like His mother Mary, and was a "man". In having the spirits of their fathers (though not their bodies) it would stand to reason that these giants (Nephilim) had immortal spirits. If their physical mortal bodies died after 120 years, it stands to reason that their spirits would have still been immortal and continued living on, without a body. And in the Bible it is the demons who are evil spirits who seem to be looking for bodies to inhabit. And so the most likely origin of the demons in the Bible is that they are the immortal spirits of these dead giants (Nephilim). These are the demon spirits who now roam about, loosed from their dead bodies. If these giant (Nephilim) offspring had human bodies, then it stands to reason that they also could reproduce with human women. In fact, they would have been a closer physical match with human women than their own fathers. And nothing in these verses indicates that these giants (Nephilim) were sterile. Rather they are called “mighty men of old, men of renown” and so they apparently were famous men, who may have had no problem getting wives. Without a voiced exception, “men” are generally able to reproduce. If these giants (Nephilim) took wives and had children, the same pattern of spiritual inheritance should have also occurred. They would have had children with human bodies, but like their fathers, the spirits of the children would have also been like the fallen angels, and immortal. And so their children would have become demons as well, upon the death of their mortal bodies. There is every reason to think thought that these children could have been either male or female. This would mean that demons today could have at one time had male or female bodies. This would also mean that a human man could have begat children with the daughter of a giant (Nephilim). If this were to have happened, the children of such a union would have had human spirits from their father, and also had human bodies. However, their bodies would have inherited the traits of genetic deterioration from their mother, leading to a shortened lifespan, cancer, and gigantism. And in this way, with continued intermixing, all of humanity could have come to have a shortened lifespan, and to be at risk for gigantism, and cancer which is the cause of gigantism. Gigantism seems to be a more recessive rare trait, whereas shortened lifespan seems to have been very dominant. This means human spirited people eventually could have had a maternal ancestor who was the daughter of a Nephilim, but themselves not be giants, even if they did have a shortened lifespan. If this theory is correct on how spiritual heritage and physical heritage works, then seeing that we all live only 120 years today at most, and that people still have gigantism today, and many other sorts of cancers, it can pretty much be concluded that this intermixing is precisely what happened. And so such was the world before the flood. It should also be noted that this all started taking place “when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them” which would have been even as early as the daughters of Adam. “There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that” means that there were giants (Nephilim) being born from as early as the time of Adam, all the way up into the days of Noah. This intermixing had a very long time to have a cumulative effect and to become widespread, as this is a span of at least 1650 years (Hebrew) to 2200 years (LXX) before God sent the worldwide Flood. Why did God send the Flood? The Bible specifies in the very next verse that: And GOD saw that the wickedness of man [was] great in the earth, and [that] every imagination of the thoughts of his heart [was] only evil continually. And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them. Gen 6:5-7 These giants (Nephilim) were called “men” in Gen 6:4. God was so grieved by the wickedness of men, which can refer to giants (Nephilim) as well, that God decided to destroy mankind. We know today that demons are evil spirits, and they oppress people with many negative things. They apparently were wicked back then also, back when they had their own mortal bodies, as were all men. It was because of the wickedness of all men, giant (Nephilim) or not (though they were included in this accounting), that God chose to destroy the world. It should be noted that the wickedness of all men was the reason for the Flood, and the stated reason was not the intermixing itself. If intermixing happened as described above, it may have to do with why God spared Noah. This ties back to the prophecy of Eze 31, which describes a giant tree so tall, and with so many high branches, and boughs, that it outgrew everything else. These giants (Nephilim) are called “men” by the Bible, and so their children were all “men” also. Their bodies would have been human, and so God considered them human. But if you were to take a snapshot picture of the spirits of all the people who looked human living on the earth at that time, and look at it, what would you see? It could be that the vast majority of the population had immortal spirits originally begat of these angels who fathered the giants (Nephilim), while only a small minority of people had the mortal human spirits which were begat originally by Adam. Those with immortal spirits would not sleep in death, but would become what we know today as demons. Looking at the symbolism of Eze 31, it seems possible that humanity was spiritually being out-bred and becoming like an endangered species, though not out-bred physically. Physically there were many who had human bodies, everyone had a human body, but spiritually only a few had human spirits begotten originally from Adam. “But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD. These [are] the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man [and] perfect in his generations, [and] Noah walked with God.” Gen 6:8-9 Noah had a perfect lineage tracing back to Adam, as is recorded in Genesis. Part of why Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord was because he was a just man. But the other reason that Noah found favor with God was because his spirit was human, and traced back to Adam. One has to wonder just how much pure humanity was left in the world by the time of Noah. God did say that “all flesh” had corrupted His way, and there was violence cause of them. “And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth… And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein [is] the breath of life, from under heaven; [and] every thing that [is] in the earth shall die.” Gen 6:12-13,17 And so God sent a worldwide Flood, which destroyed all people except for Noah and his family. “Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water” 1 Pet 3:20 We can know that Noah was “perfect in his generations” and therefore had a human spirit, seeing his lineage that traced back to Adam. Therefore, his three sons also had human spirits, and so all of humanity that was to follow after the flood would have human spirits also. But apparently while Noah was perfect in his generations, either his wife or daughter-in-laws were not perfect in their generations. The eight souls on the Ark were all human, including Noah’s wife and daughters-in-law. Yet the fact that humanity dropped to having 120 year life-spans several generations after the flood, and gigantism showed up in their descendents, shows that not everyone on the Ark was “perfect in their generations”. Only Noah was specified to be. Many people have thought that the change of shortened life-spans after the flood was due to atmospheric changes. But in fact one Christian creation scientist, Dr. Carl Wieland, has theorized that the loss of longevity could have been caused by genetics. …“All positions which attempt to explain the ‘lifespan drop’ in environmental terms have another bit of data to explain, and that is the temporary persistence of longevity after the Flood. Noah was 600 at the time of the Flood, but lived another 350 years afterwards, in the post-flood atmosphere! Even in pre-Flood terms, Noah was already of moderately advanced age. One would presume that, if the post-Flood atmosphere/environment has such devastating effects on us now, then because Noah would have been instantly exposed to these same effects, it should have cut his life short much more rapidly. Actually, only Methuselah and Jared lived longer than Noah”… “Even though the post-Flood decline is obvious, we see that eight generations after the Flood, people are still living more than twice as long as is common today. It would seem much easier to explain the situation if the change occurred within the makeup of humans, rather than external to them. If our longevity is genetically pre-programmed, then that can explain why Noah still lived for a considerable time after the Flood, regardless of any change in radiation or atmospheric pressure. In other words, he was fulfilling his genetic potential as far as lifespan was concerned (in the absence of accidental death or disease).”… “I suggest that our ancestors simply possessed genes for greater longevity which caused this ‘genetic limit’ to human ages to be set at a higher level in the past”… “If this suggestion has merit as the major (if not the sole) cause of greater pre-Flood ages, then the obvious question is how some of these longevity genes were lost. The human population went through a severe genetic bottleneck at the time of the Flood—only eight individuals. The phenomenon of ‘genetic drift’ is well-known to be able to account for ‘random’ selectively neutral changes in gene frequencies (including the loss or ‘extinction’ of genes from a population) which may be quite rapid. Also, loss of genes is far more likely in a small population.”… “This brief essay is meant solely as a stimulus to further thought, not as a precise model of events. However, it would seem that an explanation along these lines would be feasible, especially if several genes contributed to such longevity. For this scenario to work Noah’s sons and their wives would have to have significant heterozygosity at the relevant gene loci. That this could well have been so is suggested by the age of Shem at death -600, considerably less than that of his father. ‘Short-lived’ alleles of the relevant genes may always have been present, which would mean that in the pre-Flood world, there would have always been some individuals (homozygous for such alleles) living drastically less than the ages recorded for the patriarchs.”… Dr. Carl Wieland, creation.com/decreased-lifespans-have-we-been-looking-in-the-right-place The idea is that before the flood there were people with genes for longevity, and those with genes for a shorter lifespan. The small population size which survived the flood could have resulted in the gene for longevity being lost, and the gene for a shorter lifespan coming to exclusively dominate the gene pool. If in fact the giants (Nephilim) and their descendents had genes for 120-year life-spans, and these genes were carried on the ark by one of the human women, this would line up perfectly. Noah “was perfect in his generations” and had a human spirit, as would all his descendents, and he had genes for longevity. But it is possible one of the women on the ark had genes for a shortened lifespan, because she, though human, was descended from a son of Adam and a daughter of the giants (Nephilim). And through such a bottleneck effect as proposed above, the shorter-lifespan genes came to dominate the population universally. This is in contrast to the rarer and more recessive genes that cause gigantism, which seem to have cropped up in only a minority of the population after the flood. It is very important to note that because Noah had a human spirit, so did all of his sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and of their descendents. All the people after the flood were therefore human, having human spirits that would sleep in death, and human bodies, even if those bodies had genes that were corrupted by the messenger angel insurgence before the flood. All of the people living after the flood were human, even though eventually all people came to live no more than 120 years, and even though a minority of people after the flood developed gigantism. However, if this entire theory about how spiritual/physical reproduction and lineage works through multiplication is incorrect, then what does the Bible teach? Then the Bible simply describes these giants (Nephilim) as being “men”, and there is no Biblical argument to be made (that I have found) which explains what the demons are and where they came from. As such, in the absence of any such Biblical argument, the only thing to assume about the giants (Nephilim) is that they were “men” in every way. And then one would have to conclude that spiritually they were no different than any other human people, despite their angel fathers. One can only make the argument that the giants (Nephilim) became demons with Biblical backing and from Biblical argument if one accepts that the spirit of the child is multiplied from the parents, and at that, begat solely from the child’s father. But if one accepts that the spirit of the child is begat solely by the father of the child, then this also means that if the giants (Nephilim) had daughters (which the bodies of “men” can produce daughters) which a human man could have had a human-spirited child with. Even though such a daughter of a human father and Nephilim-daughter mother would have genetic corruption producing shortened lifespan and/or gigantism, that child would be human spiritually. And if such a female child was on the Ark, this could have led to shortened life-spans and gigantism in humanity after the flood. One cannot pick and choose which parts of the ramifications of this theory to accept, without ignoring the simple logical implications of the theory. If the Bible teaches that we can know the giants (Nephilim) became demons, based on the spirit of the child coming from the father of the child, then by the same teaching it must be accepted that a human man could have human-spirited human children with a daughter of such giants (Nephilim). Assuming this theory about multiplication and begetting is wrong then all I could say the Bible, God-breathed Holy Scripture, teaches is: 1. The giants (Nephilim) are called “men” and must be assumed to be have been human in every way, including their spirits, and as such (had they known Christ) would have been redeemable, and could have theoretically been saved by faith in Jesus Christ like any other human. 2. The Bible does not specify where the demons came from, these evil spirits who have no physical body and are not seen in a physical form, but seem to want to get in the bodies of people and animals. It is therefore a great mystery as to when God created the demons and where they came from. Other teachings are out there which conclude that the demons came from the giants (Nephilim) but these teachings are based upon extra-biblical texts, and not the Bible. But the above 2 points are the only things that can be found in the Bible, or argued from the Bible, unless this theory about the spirit of the child being multiplied and begat by the spirit of the father, etc. is accepted as correct. Some teachings out there include ideas that the giants after the flood were also Nephilim, and must have been caused by a second incursion of fallen angels interbreeding with human women, which I believe is incorrect. No such event is recorded in the Bible after the flood. God saw fit to record the first incursion of the “sons of God” in the Bible, so we would know what had happened, and so there is every reason to think that God would have told us about a second incursion also. The idea that God has hidden this knowledge makes God seem inconsistent, as He was forthright about telling us about the first incursion. There is no Biblical reason to think there was a second incursion of interbreeding of fallen angels with human women. The gigantism after the flood and the shortened life-spans both can be traced back to the first incursion which God is forthright about in His Word. It is also obvious that neither shortened life-span nor gigantism should be taken as proof positive that anyone living after the flood was a “Nephilim”, up to and including today. Humans have had gigantism since the flood, as is recorded in the Bible, and humans have had life-spans shortened to 120 years since the flood, as it recorded in the Bible. Additionally Ezekiel 31, speaking of these Gen 6 events, and the imprisonment of these fallen angels who begat the giants (Nephilim) in the Abyss, says that: “To the end that none of all the trees by the waters exalt themselves for their height, neither shoot up their top among the thick boughs, neither their trees stand up in their height, all that drink water for they are all delivered unto death, to the nether parts of the earth, in the midst of the children of men, with them that go down to the pit. Thus saith the Lord GOD; In the day when he went down to the grave I caused a mourning: I covered the deep for him, and I restrained the floods thereof, and the great waters were stayed: and I caused Lebanon to mourn for him, and all the trees of the field fainted for him.”” Symbolically this passage, which we already covered in detail, tells that God sent these fallen angels of Gen 6 down to the prison of the Abyss at the time of the Flood. The stated purpose of imprisoning these sinful angels in the Abyss was “to the end that none of all” the trees (angels) would repeat these actions. The other “trees” who were angels mourned, and even fainted when God imprisoned these “sons of God” of Gen 6 in the Abyss. God specifies in this symbolic passage that He did this to the end that none of all the other angels would repeat the actions of Genesis 6. This was God’s stated purpose for their imprisonment. As such what the Bible actually teaches is that no other fallen angels would repeat these actions, and this can be known as God’s purpose will stand. “I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.” Isa 46:10 “So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.” Isa 55:11 There may also be a second to the statement in Eze 31, which is in: “The LORD [is] good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him. But with an overrunning flood he will make an utter end of the place thereof, and darkness shall pursue his enemies. What do ye imagine against the LORD? He will make an utter end: affliction shall not rise up the second time.” Nah 1:7-9 The Bible seems to teach that God imprisoned the angels who begat children with women in Genesis for the specific purpose and reason that no other angels would repeat their actions. And so in the absence of any mention of these interbreeding events repeating after the Flood, and in the presence of God stating His purpose was for these events to not be repeated by any other angels, it seems clear that all the giants after the Flood were just giant humans. And there are still people afflicted with gigantism today, who are also human. The lack of a second incursion of interbreeding after the flood, coupled with the fact that all flesh was destroyed in the worldwide Flood (save those on the Ark), indicates that if there was any relationship between the gigantism before the flood and gigantism after the flood, it must have come through those on the Ark. However, the 8 souls on the Ark were all human. Outlined here is a Biblical explanation of what happened, and how both shortened life-spans and gigantism still occurred after the flood, relating it to the Nephilim, while all the people on the Ark were still fully human. Barring this explanation, it would have to be concluded from the Bible that the gigantism of those before the flood and those after the flood is entirely coincidental. We are now going to resume covering demons from the perspective that they have their origin in the giants (Nephilim) who existed only before the flood, who all died in the Flood (as “all flesh” was destroyed save the 8 human souls on the Ark), and that demons are the disembodied evil spirits of these giants (Nephilim). However, if you would like more information further confirming that the giants after the Flood were all humans having gigantism as people do today, and were not demon-Nephilim, please see the Appendix: No Nephilim Post-Flood. After the flood of Noah demons were around, and seem to have been involved with people in many ways. One way they seem to have been involved with people was in idolatry. “What am I saying then? That an idol is anything, or what is offered to idols is anything? Rather, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the Lord's table and of the table of demons.” 1 Cor 10:19-21 Even as early as the time of Jacob in Genesis (1900s BC) it is recorded that Laban had idols (Gen 31). It seems that these idols were inspired by demons, and the worship of them must have involved interaction with demons. Many nations had idols and practiced idolatry, and demons seem to have been involved in all this, across the worldwide scope of many cultures. In the time of Moses (1400s BC) God forbade the making of idols in the Ten Commandments: “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness [of any thing] that [is] in heaven above, or that [is] in the earth beneath, or that [is] in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God [am] a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth [generation] of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.” Ex 20:4-6 God also forbade the Israelites to be involved with various types of magic, familiar spirits, and necromancy. “A man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones: their blood [shall be] upon them.” Lev 20:27 According to the Strong’s Concordance, the word here for “familiar spirit” means “ghost, spirit of a dead one, necromancy, one who evokes a dead one, one with a familiar spirit”. If one considers that demons are actually the spirits of the dead giants (Nephilim), then it makes a lot of sense that it is demons who are being referenced to here as the “ghost, spirit of a dead one”. And it is forbidden for God’s people to “evoke the spirit of a dead one”, or to have anything to do with a demon, let alone to become familiar, gain familiarity, with one. The term here for “wizard” is “one who has a familiar spirit” and “necromancer”, again this is having a relationship with a demon. “When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you [any one] that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, [or] that useth divination, [or] an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things [are] an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee.” Deut 18:9-12 Some of these same terms are used again in Deut 18, forbidding the people to practice, or to consult with anyone who practiced, having a relationship with a demon. God calls this an abomination, and makes clear that those nations around at the time all did practice these things. As such we can know historically that demons were interacting with people all throughout the world in this time period, as familiar spirits in various magical practices. In the time of Jesus many in Israel and the surrounding nations, had come to be demonized and a major part of Jesus’ ministry was in casting demons out of those who were demonized, and thereby healing them. "Jesus was driving out a demon that was mute. When the demon left, the man who had been mute spoke, and the crowd was amazed. But some of them said, "By Beelzebub, the prince of demons, he is driving out demons." Others tested him by asking for a sign from heaven. Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them: "Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall. If Satan is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand? I say this because you claim that I drive out demons by Beelzebub. Now if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your followers drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you." Luke 11:14-20 It stands to reason that demons had also been inflicting people in times prior to then, as there already were Jewish people who were driving out demons at the time, prior to Jesus doing so. Jesus also makes clear that Satan had power over the demons, and Jesus equates the “prince of demons” or “Beelzebub” to either be Satan, or be working for Satan. And so it becomes clear that the demons were working for Satan. Further confirmation that demons were the disembodied spirits of the dead giants (Nephilim) is seen in that they seemed to be familiar with God having sent someone to the Abyss in punishment, in specific their angel fathers. Luke 8:28-31 "When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell at his feet, shouting at the top of his voice, "What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, don't torture me!" (For Jesus had commanded the evil spirit to come out of the man. For oftentimes it had caught him: and he was kept bound with chains and in fetters; and he brake the bands, and was driven of the devil into the wilderness.) Jesus asked him, "What is your name?" "Legion," he replied, because many demons had gone into him. And they begged him repeatedly not to order them to go into the Abyss." The term here for Abyss is the same word that is used in Revelation, the same place where the locusts are released from. And as we have covered, this is synonymous with the lowest part of the Earth mentioned in Ezekiel 31, and Tartaros the prison of the angels who sinned before the Flood. And so the demons are aware that their angel fathers or paternal ancestors are imprisoned in the Abyss, and fear being imprisoned there themselves. It is also interesting to note that the demons knew that Jesus was the son of God. In many places the attitude of the demons towards Jesus seems to be one of fear, and they beg and entreat him to not torment them, asking if he is going to destroy them. “Ah! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are–the Holy One of God!” Luke 4:34 And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, [thou] Son of the most high God? I entreat thee by God, that thou torment me not. Mark 5:7 That they seemed to be seriously afraid is confirmed in: “You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble in fear.” James 2:19 As part of his ministry, Jesus gave authority to His disciples to cast out demons. “And when he had called unto [him] his twelve disciples, he gave them power [against] unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.” Mat 10:1 And they went out, and preached that men should repent. And they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed [them]. Mark 6:12-13 “And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the demons are subject unto us through thy name. And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.” Luke 10:17-20 Jesus made clear that in the future His followers also would continue to cast out demons. “And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues” Mark 16:17 And believers did just that, such as Paul who is recorded to have cast out a demon in Jesus’ name in Acts. “Now it happened, as we went to prayer, that a certain slave girl possessed with a spirit of fortune-telling met us, who brought her masters much profit by fortune-telling. This girl followed Paul and us, and cried out, saying, "These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation." And this she did for many days. But Paul, greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, "I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her." And he came out that very hour.” Acts 16:16-18 Christians have been casting demons out in the name of Jesus Christ ever since that time, and still do today. Demons have been located here on earth since their beginning, and through the book of Revelation into the future there seems to be no change in this. They are on earth and demonize people. In the book of Revelation there is a place where demons seem to be mentioned in specific as playing an important role, working for Satan. “And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. (Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame.) And they gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon.” Rev 16:13-14 These demons perform signs and gather the kings of the earth to the battle of Armageddon. However, they do this before Jesus Christ has actually returned. And so they are leading the kings to gather to battle Jesus before Jesus has returned. They seem to know Jesus is returning, but it is very questionable that the kings of the earth are aware of who it is they are gathering to fight against. It seems likely they would not realize it is Jesus who they are preparing to battle, but under a great deception, they would believe they are gathering to fight someone else. The other interesting thing here is that the demons, who do not have bodies or look like anything, are said to look like frogs. The word here for “like” means “resembling” or “comparable to”. If these demons were to possess some actual frogs, then they would look like frogs. However, would the kings of the earth follow demon-possessed frogs to a battle, even if these frogs seemed to be performing signs? It seems doubtful. I have some further ideas on this, which you can read about in the Appendix, which ties this to the theory-of-evolution-based growing belief in “alien” life in outerspace. (See Chapters 12 & 13) After the millennial reign of Jesus Christ on earth, Satan is let out of the Abyss for a short time, and then thrown into the lake of fire, defeated forever. After this comes the Judgment. “Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.” Rev 20:11-15 It seems that at the Judgment is when this prophecy will be fulfilled: I have sworn by Myself; The word has gone out of My mouth in righteousness, And shall not return, That to Me every knee shall bow, Every tongue shall take an oath. Isa 45:23 For it is written: "As I live, says the LORD, Every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall confess to God." Rom 14:11 At the judgment both great and small, all the dead, are going to be judged. Demons seem to be referenced to as spirits of the dead in the Old Testament. And every knee will bow and every tongue will confess to God. As the demons were at one time called “men” and had knees and tongues, it stands to reason that they will also be at the Judgment to bow and confess and be judged. And if their names are not found in the Book of Life, they will be thrown into the lake of fire, which is the second death.