Angels don't speak gobbledeegook

So, my dear blog reading sextet, do you remember when I told you that I would provide you with a review of the C.S Lewis classic Mere Christianity? Well...I lied.

Not about the book review. I'll still give you one of those (so you can put down your torches and pitch forks), it just won't be about Mere Christianity. See, I finished Mere Christianity a while ago, I read a different book this week, which I was kind of ashamed of.

Don't worry, I will not be reviewing a Gossip girl novel or the Twilight saga. However, I have read a book called: Our Invisible Allies: the truth about Angels.

Now, before you become very concerned and begin reffering me to very good phsyciatrist, I have not joined a cult of obsessive Angel worship. I will however admit, however reluctantly into the blogosphere, that I believe in Angels, Deamons, and a world beyond our own.

This book written by Ryan Phillips, a charismatic baptist pastor from Atlanta, dealt with the history of Angels and the various ways in which they have aided and continue to aid humanity.

In terms of actual literary merrit, I will say that Mr. Philips is no Donald Miller (or C.S Lewis or even John Eldridge). His voice comes off as very excitable due, in large part, to the exclamation points he places after every sentence! That being said, the true stories of angelic experience he recounts are very interesting and, to be honest, fun to read.

I also agree with some of the theological points he makes about Angels. I beleive that Angels assist beleivers in times of need, I beleive that they fight demonic forces on our behalf, I also beleive that, at the end of a beleiver's life, they come to bear souls to heaven.

That being said, there are some points within the book that I do NOT agree with. As a charismatic, mr. Phillips places a lot of emphasis on speaking in tounges. Now, I don't necessarily disagree with the idea of speaking in tounges. I beleive that tounges can be spoken by beleivers, but Mr. Phillips and I disagree on what constitutes "tounges".

I (and many theologians, including C.S Lewis) believe that "tounges" refer to spoken languages other than the native language of the speaker. For example, if God wants someone to say something in...Mandarin Chinese but that person does not happen to speak Mandarin Chinese, God will give them the mandarin words to speak and he will also provide a translator so that everyone may understand what is being said.

Charismatics beleive that speaking in tounges means speaking "the language of Angels" as well as human languages, and a translator does not necesarrily have to be present. Frankly, I have a hard time beleiving that a bunch of vowels strung together in no discernable order are actually a heavenly language. Frankly, I don't think Angels NEED language to communitcate with God or eachother. Speech and language are human necesities.

Despite my issues with this, I don't have a problem with people who beleive in the idea of speaking in "Angel tounges". I DO have a problem with Christans who beleive that they are better than other Christians BECAUSE they beleive it.

Mr. Philips makes the claim in this book that all Christians are children of God however, only charismatic christians (in other words, christians who practice speaking in tounges) have been granted "Sonship". He uses several scriptures to back up this claim, most of them from 1st Chrointhians. I not only found most of this evidence to be disjointed and taken grossly out of context, I also found this claim to be arrogant, demeaning and, ultimately, disheartening.

Up until the secting involving "sonship", this book was filled with encouraging stories which called all beleivers to band together and gave us a message that we are not alone. By making the claim that only a certain group of Christians are "select" Mr. Phillips does more damage to the faith than Satan and all his minions could ever do.

Reading this book, both the good and bad aspects of it, has made me realize, more clearly than ever, that it is imperative for all of us who have faith in Jesus Christ to set aside our petty differences and band together. It's sad, really that two thousand years later, we have not heeded Jesus' teaching and are still arguing amongst ourselves about who is going to be "first" in the kingdom of heaven.

Ultimately, it does not matter whether you speak to God by confessing to a preist or closing yourself inside a prayer closet. You can worship God both by singing traditional hymns and praise and worship songs. You can be filled with the spirit shouting loudly in tounges or sitting quietly on a park bench. Ultimately, we are all children of God; all who have faith in Christ have "sonship".

God does not distinguish between the charismatic and the presbyterian or the Chatholic and the Anglican. God sees only his sons and dauthers who are in need of his guidance. It's about time we began to see eachother that way too...

More of a rant than a review, I guess. Sorry about that. But thanks for giving me that moment to preach. Hope you didn't find it too disconcerting.

Next Friday, I promise a wholy non-religious book review