lew@ihuxr.UUCP (Lew Mammel, Jr.) (04/02/84)
I recently quoted from memory a statement from the Interpreters' Bible which correctly rendered is: "In many passages in the O.T. the stars are looked upon as angels (I Kings 22:19; Neh. 9:6; Job 38:7; etc.), and this was assumed by Paul." I came upon this during my "flesh of beasts" researches pertaining to I Corinthians. The cited passages are not very startling: I Kings 22:19; And he said, Hear thou therefore the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne, and the host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left. Neh. 9:6; Thou, even thou, art LORD alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and thou preservest them all; and the host of heaven worshippeth thee. Job 38:7; When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? I found a few more along these lines under "stars" in the Oxford Cyclopedic Concordance: Jud. 5,20; They fought from heaven; the stars in their courses fought against Sisera. Jude 13; Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever. That last one seems to suggest that the planets are "fallen angels". These quotes by themselves don't reveal the character of the beliefs which gave them expression. It would be interesting to examine the scholarship which backs up the exegete's evaluation I quoted above. To clarify my point, I don't mean to belittle St. Paul's sophistication as a thinker. I do mean to assert that his concept of God is unreachable from our modern vantage point. Even the most devout fundamentalist on the net is a hopeless materialist in his outlook, compared to the early Christian mystics. You can't go home again! Lew Mammel, Jr. ihnp4!ihuxr!lew