Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Alcoholic Angels


Did you hear the one about the drunken angel? Apparently no one has. I was amazed that of all of the rather controversial items that we take on in the book, the issue that generated the most push back was the concept of angels drinking.

There are several characters in the novel who have a taste for yanin. Although it is never explicitly stated, it is inferred that this is some type of wine.

While to me this seemed like a minor point of controversy, [after all we endorse a version of the big bang, we  imagine angels using wormholes, we conceptualize a network through which dark energy is continually recycled, we even have angels mining the material of quasars] many of the earliest reviews contained questions about drinking in heaven.

Here is our answer: perhaps angels never tasted wine in heaven; however, the fact that Lucifer, an angel living in heaven, was able to be tempted to reject God and was able to convince a third of the angels to follow suit seems to indicate a level of temptation in heaven.

If there is no temptation, there can be no choice. Sin needs opportunity in order to exist.

Sin is most often the misapplication or perversion of a good thing. Food is good; gluttony is bad. Sex is good; promiscuity is bad. Football is good; the Dallas Cowboys are bad.

So an angel walks into a bar and orders a martini...

* I would have given proper attribution to the picture above, but found it in several locations and wasn't sure who to attribute it to. If it is yours, thanks!

1 comment:

  1. Interesting concept ....drinking angels....I, too, found this a rather disquieting thought. The idea of God allowing drinking in heaven seemed to be a stretch from my way of thinking. However, you have raised a rather interesting point... that Satan was able to deceive 1/3 of the angels in a perfect paradise... a point that many probably have not conceptualized either, but it is a fact. I suppose that in order for him to have been able to accomplish this feat, he must have utilized many instruments of temptation that we would have problems picturing in heaven and yet there was indeed a war in heaven! It gave me pause when I read this in your book...howbeit you have stated that this is a work of fiction...and yet now I understand that maybe there is indeed a chance that he used this as a temptation in order to remove the Holy Spirit's influence on their minds as many do today. It has always been my greatest reason for not imbibing myself as I do not want to deter the Holy Spirit from having access to my mind every moment. Interesting and thought-provoking...thanks for another chance to "reason together".

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