Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Justin and the Watcher Tradition

After pointing out in chapter 4 that Christians do not kill themselves because they do not wish to block God's purposes, Justin explains the origin of evil and persecution of Christians in the world.

In a nutshell, Justin refers to the watcher tradition (Genesis 6 via 1 Enoch) in which fallen angels have intercourse with women, their offspring being demons. These demons are the source of evil and of paganism. Particularly surprising is Justin's claim that the names given to pagan gods by "poets and mythologists" are the very names the fallen angels chose for themselves and their offspring.

Spiritual warfare was the subject of my MA dissertation, and the Watcher tradition was one of the more entertaining stories to explore. Although the bulk of the tradition is fantasy, and lacks Biblical support, one should not discard this awareness of non-human evil to readily.

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