There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy! –William Shakespeare
On an average, I attempt to read (not always like) the accolades of the ABA and CBA markets. So, Harry Potter and most recently The Twilight Series occupy my bookshelves as do From Darkness Hid, The Kingdom Series and drum-roll please, Seasons in the Mist—a fantastic, time-travel romance by girlfriend, (shameless plug) Deb Kinnard. Yep, I plan to blog on Time-Travel Romance and the lack thereof in the CBA. Hopefully, that’ll include a chat with Deb (foreshadowing).
Anyhow, this speculative romance author believes that whatever you can imagine you can write, and God willing someone will read it. An ongoing (revised) character for my Legend of the Emerald Rose (series) is an opinionated angel named ‘Tomas.’ And yes, because its fantasy, I delve into angelic semantics (interactions) with mankind. Although, I believe the war was won on the Cross, most often the battle between Yahweh and Satan takes place inside of our hearts, thoughts and imaginations. The devil is the master of disguise and diversion, an artful influencer. He’s a ruthless, egotistic politician with devoted lobbyists—guess that’s politically incorrect, but so am I.
That’s why I keep tight reins on my fictional angel, Tomas, because even in fantasy, I don’t want to mislead anyone as to the truth about angels. Satan’s hoodwinking through the publishing and entertainment industry has persuaded billions and that includes some believers that the principalities of evil are romantic, heroic and redeemable. The latest fads are vampires and werewolves—again, and there’s no doubt that these supernatural creatures are box office hits.
Unlike vamps and weres, angels exist and according to Scripture they are not to be taken lightly. Sadly, most of the world either dismisses these spiritual beings (big no-no) or are obsessed and seduced by Satan’s lobbyists. There’s not enough blog time to address the complexity of holy angels, fallen angels, demons and the different beliefs and encounters out there, nor the distorted truth. I’m thankful that my Biblical foundational beliefs narrow the playing field—at least for me. I respect God’s creation and His purpose for angels. But that people adore, worship and seek these beings advise scares the mustard out of me!
I believe in angels, but unfortunately, I also believe that, as you cited, most of what is believed to be works of angels is just that sneaky devil misleading believers or non-.God's angels are sent to do His work, for the most part silently and unobtrusively to the human eye, the devil's angels on the other hand are more showy. After all, the devil was left to reign over the earth for a time – and people wonder why things keep getting worse, not better?
Good post Linda. I've noticed all my novels have an angel or supernatural thread in them. I love this aspect of my writing, like you said as long as the truth is revealed and we need to know the lowdown on angels. I get concerned about some of these popular movies and books, there are so many that would prefer to hear it from someone other than the plain Word of God. Be it pastors or friends??? The Word tells us in the end that we would have itching ears and make up truths!Hugs in Jesus!