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#4. Dragons

September 17, 2009 in Angels and Myth, Featured with 4 Comments

(At the behest of one of my favorite fans (xy), this post is all about dragons.  If you don’t want to read about dragons and their place in the Bible, then you shouldn’t read this post.)

Smoke curled from the dragon’s nose as it slept.  The ground rumbled as the monster breathed, its scales reflecting the light from the knight’s torch as he crept closer.  The knight squinted, discerning the glimmering piles of gold from the dragon’s hide.  He eased his feet one after the other, careful not to step on any branches or pebbles, careful not to wake the beast.

With every inhalation of the dragon, the knight felt himself drawn in as if someone were pulling at his tunic, and with every exhalation, any exposed skin burned as if he were near flames.  He winced in pain as the dragon’s hot breath rushed past him and out the opening of the cave.

The knight stood next to the dragon’s neck and drew his sword, careful not to make a sound.  He raised the blade high above his head, ready to strike.

“Back to Hell with you, devil!”  He shouted as he pushed the tip of the sword down into the nape of the dragon’s neck.  Its eyes sprang open, wings unfurled and the beast flailed around spewing its acidic blood.  The knight backed away quickly, but some blood seared into his arm.

Flames flew from the dragon’s mouth like a river, engulfing everything in the cave.  Gold and jewels melted in the heat and the knight’s skin and clothing took flame incinerating him instantaneously.  The fire soon gurgled from the dragon’s mouth, and was replaced with blood as it choked and died of the mortal wound inflicted by the knight.

There’re a lot of stories of dragons in the world, but not nearly in as many cultures as some other creatures.  The main places they persist are in England and Asia.  Why is this?  I’m not terribly sure.  I did some research, but couldn’t find many explanations of regional heritage for dragons.

The difference in depiction and characteristics is very interesting.  Asian dragons are much more lizard/serpent like, and the English dragons take on a much more powerful reptilian monster feel with bat-like wings and such.  Perhaps the difference was in creatures that survived time from the dinosaur’s age, I’m not sure.

But, I knew of references in the Bible to dragons, and had to find out the connection.    There are sixteen references to dragons in the Bible… as long as you’re reading the King James Version (and some references to the English Standard Version)…  It makes sense because in feudal England, dragons were big time.  Most of the legends and tales were of dragons around that time period, so when the Bible needed a terrible creature to make the peasants not want to be like… dragons were the perfect candidates.  In the Amplified Bible, it says that dragon is the symbol for Egypt (which is interesting because an Egyptian myth

One dragon survives the jumps in translation.  That’s the dragon from Revelation.

Why do  you think the dragon remains the same in Revelation?

(Or, share your favorite dragon story/myth/Bible reference with everyone!)

#3: Gods and Goddesses

May 4, 2009 in Angels and Myth with 2 Comments

zeusThe story of gods and goddesses always involve strife.  There’s always a few gods (and goddesses) to start the party, then they have kids, and their kids generally succeed them in gruesome fashions because of power, greed, etc.  Or, a group of gods finds another group of gods from another land… and war ensues.

This is the general story of gods and goddesses in mythology.  In the Greek mythology, the Titans were the ruling gods of the land with the leader being Kronos.  Well, in general, you don’t hear about the Titans as much because they were quickly overthrown by Kronos’ own son, Zeus.  In Norse, there were the Aesir and the Vanir (oh, and humans).  They didn’t get along… so much so that the Aesir is pretty much all you hear about.  I’m sure you’ve heard of Odin… or maybe his son, Thor?  (Especially since the comic book line of Thor comics, is actually fairly decent to the terms from the myth itself.)

The Bible has different versions of gods in it too.  There the most popular Baal (although, upon further examination, this name actually just means “god”), there were others too though.  One of which, Molech, I found while perusing the concordance in my Bible who people sacrificed children to in the Valley of Ben Hinnom, which the word Gehenna comes from… 

I’ve always had a fascination with other cultures’ gods and always took note of the ways that they related to each other, never broke away from where they were, and some of the ways that mimicked the story of Jesus.

Think about it, the Greek gods of Mt. Olympus stayed, for the most part, on Mt. Olympus, and when they weren’t there, they were messing with human life, direct interaction-style.  One place at a time.  Zeus, the top-dog, had a son.  His son was powerful, stong.  The strength of a god, all the flaws of a human.  A hero.

The Aesir stayed in Asgard.  If they wanted to war or go somewhere else, they had to go there, one place at a time.  Odin, had a son.  Also powerful, also strong.  A fearless warrior, completely flawed.  A hero.

The Bible calls God the Lord of Lords.  Why would it need to do that?  The Almighty God.  Why?  

If the other “gods” weren’t real, then why call God the One True God? It would seem redundant.  Right?

Well, I think that the gods and goddesses of other cultures are imposters!  I think that they are regional fallen angels set up to try to achieve the greatness of God by “ruling” their own people group.  Think about it.  Remember in Genesis 6, where the “sons of God” were hooking up with the “daughters of men” they were creating Nephilim.  The Bible says this about the Nephilim:  ”They were the heroes of old, men of renown.”

So, we have multiple stories of Zeus seducing the ladies all over Greece, and producing a son that becomes a hero of old.  Same story, no?

In another part of the Bible, Daniel 10, Daniel sees an angel of the Lord, and this angel says something I find very interesting:  ” …the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia.”

The prince of the Persian kingdom?  I truly do not believe this to be a literal prince, and I don’t think it’s referring to the videogame series.  I believe that it’s referring to a fallen principality that has dominion over that area of Persia.  In Ephesians 6, Paul warns that “we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”

I think these princes, powers, and rulers of darkness have been trying to mimic God for a long time, and it’s been working for a long time.  I believe that nowadays, they take different shapes in order to achieve the same affect, but I believe they’re still out there, deceiving people and keeping them from the truth of the Lord of Lords, the One True God who brought forth his son who committed no sins, was powerful but did not fight, and sacrificed himself for every single one of us.  It’s the only story of the son of a god out there where that happens. 

So, I guess the question is, what shape do they take nowadays?

And now for something completely different.

April 29, 2009 in Angels and Myth, RtI with 0 Comments

I’m going to break away from all of my normal postings here for a minute of your time because there’s something very important happening in my family right now.

Me and my wife (Mary) work for a missions organization called Pioneers who sends out missionaries all over the world.  We work in the home office, but there are people in a bunch of different countries and their goal is church planting movements.  They work in coffee shops, as teachers, in the jungles, and whatever they can do to meet people and introduce them to Christ.

I work with the Communications team working with printing jobs and newsletters and such, and my wife has been working in the Finance department for 4 years now, and has been offered a new opportunity.  Pioneers has short-term missions opportunities for college-age, young adults called The Edge.  In 2006, my wife was involved with a 2-month trip that went to India (a trip which as soon as she got back I proposed!).   That “short” trip really changed my wife for the best.  She came back with a renewed spirit, a new outlook on God’s word, and an excitement for missions!

In November(ish), a job on The Edge coordinating team opened up, and she’s been offered it.  This would be a position helping to setup these young adults for their short-term, summer mission trips.  Coordinating with our field missionaries to get places for them to sleep and all of their paperwork and all of the other details that go into these trips.  She’s extremely excited about it, but she needs your help!

Yep, you probably guessed it, you’ve heard all the key words to set you up for this, but here it is:  She has to raise support for this position.  The support will include her salary and any travel that she may need to do as they go around to different colleges and occasionally overseas.

She’s been fighting this bear for a while now, but she needs your help!  She’s currently at 28% and needs to be at 75% by June 1st so that she can start for the summer!  They need her in the position, but don’t have the funds for her to make the move!  There are over 150 young adults scheduled to make an Edge trip this summer and her help is vital to the mission.

Would you prayerfully consider supporting my wife in her efforts?  Any little bit helps to get her there, and prayers are accepted as well (but they don’t necessarily move up the percentage… ha!)!

If you’re ready to give and only want to click one link from here because money is burning a hole in your virtual wallet, you could check out:  http://pioneers.org/give and Mary’s account number is 100882.

If you’d like to know more about her, what she’s doing, how to give, and everything, I’ve convinced her to start a blog.  Mary’s Musings.

Don’t worry, she’s cool.  And, if you support, you can sign up for an monthly email newsletter and/or quarterly print newsletter, and get a thank you card!

#2: Giants

March 21, 2009 in Angels and Myth with 3 Comments

The river flowed smoothly over the rocks.  David knew the size he needed for his sling, but he didn’t want to mess this up.  He pulled out the sling and checked it’s capacity.  The rocks were colored and sized differently.  He stooped to pick one up.  This one looks about right.

He fitted it in the sling.  Perfect.  Four more, just in case.  He repeated the process four more times and put each in his satchel.
A part of him wished that the king’s armor had fit, or that he had his own to wear.  The Lord protected him though.  
The Philistine army engulfed the hillside.  Their shouts and jeers rang out, echoing off the mountains.  ”Cowards!”
“Where’s your God?”
“Come out and fight!”
As David approached, he could clearly see the reason for Israel’s fright.  At the front of the army, towered a monster more than a man.  Nearly ten feet of muscle and bronze armor challenged anyone who drew near.  His spear alone must have weighed more than David.  The giant, Goliath, stomped his foot in protest, quaking the ground.  ”What is this joke?  You send a boy?”
David pulled his sling from his satchel.
“Come here boy and lets make you food for the vultures and dogs!”
Loading the sling, David said nothing.  He finished and looked up to Goliath.  ”I come against you not with just this sling, but with the Lord Almighty.  This is the day that you, a warrior-giant, were defeated by a boy and the God of Israel.  I will give the bodies of your army to the vultures and dogs.  The whole world will know of the Lord Almighty’s strength.”
Goliath bellowed a laugh that shook David’s insides.  Suddenly, the giant lunged forward to attack.  David ran forward also.  He swung the stone around.  The stone sailed through the air and smashed through Goliath’s skull.  
The giants feet tripped themselves as blood gushed from his forehead.  He slammed face-first to the ground, shaking the ground.  Silence fell over the Philistine army.  No shouts or jeers could be heard.
David jumped atop the giant and pulled Goliath’s huge sword from his scabbard.  David raised the sword over his head and with one swipe of the heavy weapon.  Screams of fear cascaded down the hill.  The Philistines scattered like flies.
Frankly, I’m not sure if I would have the same nerves of steel that David proved to have when faced with a real-live giant.  The Bible says that Goliath was “six cubits and a span” (Samuel 17:4) which translates into over 9 feet tall!  Granted, 9 feet tall isn’t quite the mammoth that I imagined him as a kid, with arms as thick as oak trees and 5-stories tall.
But in the Bible, Goliath wasn’t the only giant.  In some versions of Genesis 6:4 (Yes, the same one that I listed last week for Nephilim…  Coincidence?) it replaces the word “Nephilim” with “giants”:  ”There were giants on earth in those days…” (NKJV).
Well, if the Bible talks about giants roaming the Earth as early as Genesis… then is it so hard to believe that perhaps the stories of giants that live on in mythology around the world are based on truth?  
In Greek mythology, there are stories of all kinds of giants.  I’m not talking about the Titans or the god’s of Olympus.  No, I think they’re a different story altogether, which I might just get to next week.  For now, we’re talking giants.  There was Talos, a gigantic defender of the island of Crete.  A whole race of one-eyed giants called Cyclopes who appeared in many stories including The Oddessy.  Not to mention, almost every god had a giant son!
Norse mythology had giants too.  They even classified them.  If you’re a reader of Science Fiction/Fantasy books or played Dungeons and Dragons, then you’re familiar with Frost Giants.  Well, guess what, they’re from Norse myth!  (Here come some hard to pronounce names…)  Hrungnir was the strongest frost giant and owned a horse with an awesome name:  Golden Mane (Gullfaxi).  There were even frost giantesses!  Gerda was supposed to be a beautiful one!
The thing is, giants must have been real, but where’d they go?  Are they extinct?  How were they created?
I think they were a part of the Nephilim, and I believe their families were a bit… supernatural.
What are your thoughts?

#1: Orientation

March 14, 2009 in Angels and Myth with 4 Comments

Welcome one and all to my first, official author blog.  My name is Brian C. Russell, but most of my posts will likely be signed “bman.”  I am a 24 year old male Christian author who lives in Florida.  

Some of you may remember me from previous blogs.  From The Underfold or White Board Artwork where I am primarily silly and occasionally non-sensical.  While I will not discount the fact that there may still be some of that here, this blog is primarily for my novel-writing endeavours.

Hence the title of this blog is Angels and Myth.  For those of you who don’t know me personally, which is hopefully a lot of people, I have always been fascinated with mythology.  For a long time it was primarily Greek mythology, but over the years it has grown to include many more civilizations than I can remember.    
I can still remember checking out the same book over and over again in the library at my elementary school.  It was a simple encyclopedia of mythological creatures, and I loved it.  The idea that there were creatures of the fantastic variety living around the world at one point in time.  Minotaurs are still my favorite, especially after watching the new Chronicles of Narnia movies!
I can hear some of you questioning my reasoning back there about the creatures roaming around for real in the past.  It’s true, I still believe in those creatures.  But, let me explain…
When I was in college, I took a Mythology course and got my first real taste of what “mythology” was for more than just me.  For me, myths were awesome stories of heroes and gods and goddesses and huge monsters that needed to be destroyed.  For many people, they were just stories.  And, the Bible was a myth too.
At first, I clearly remember having that shock of, “What do you mean the BIBLE is a myth?  Its not possible!”  I’d been raised to believe that the Bible was truth, and here was this teacher going over the story of Adam and Eve like it was just another story to go on the shelf with Prometheus and his fire of the gods or Zeus seducing the ladies as a cow (don’t ask).  I couldn’t believe it.
But my interest had been piqued.  I had this feeling that there was a kernel of truth in what she said.  Not that the Bible was “just another story” but that the other stories still fit with it’s story.
Genesis 6:2, the first chapter of the Bible, speaks of angels coming down from Heaven to take human women as wives.
“…the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive.  And they took as their wives any they chose.” (ESV)
Sound familiar?  Zeus, one of the Greek gods, often came to, well, be with human women.
Genesis 6:4 speaks of the Nephilim, or the children of angels and human women.
“The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came into the daughters of man and they bore children to them.  These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown.”  (ESV)
Mighty men?  Men of renown?  Like, Hercules?  The son of Zeus and a human woman?
Interested?  Join me throughout this blog.  I will be crafting stories for your entertainment, posing questions for your thoughts, giving updates on my current book projects, and hopefully open your eyes to the spiritual world that’s constantly battling around you.
Since this is Orientation, are there questions?  Suggestions?  Let me know!