Julie one more time for the CSFF Blog Tour on Broken Wings by Shannon Dittemore!
I'm just looking back at the entries (well, those I saw before about 9 PM Pacific time Tuesday night).
Several CSFFers posted about Biblical elements in particular in Broken Wings. Meagan @ Blooming with Books cited Biblical instances of prophetic dreams and also the possibility of seeing into heaven (or as Broken Wings would call it, the Celestial). Shannon McDermott makes a pretty compelling case for the Cherubim and Shields being consistent with the Bible (though I'm still not so sure about the Sabers :) ). As Meagan so brilliantly commented on my entry, "If Broken Wings has turned us to the Bible to search for answers then perhaps it is a good thing." I completely agree.
Others praised the writing in the book...as I'd mentioned, I didn't feel like there were the same witty touches here, so I was disappointed. But several CSFFers seemed to appreciate the descriptions in Broken Wings, including Kathleen Smith and Rebecca LuElla Miller.
Shannon McDermott (again) has some memorable lines about why she doesn't like Jake and Brielle so much this time around (and I agree with most of it!) She wraps up with: "Those who like books about angels will find this the sort of thing they like. Even those who don’t may make an exception."
That about sums it up better than I could write.
Thanks for the tour, everyone!
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
CSFF Blog Tour - Broken Wings by Shannon Dittemore
Julie here for the CSFF Blog Tour!
Book: Broken Wings by Shannon Dittemore
Ridiculously simplified summary: Book 2 in a series. Newly-graduated teen Brielle's world is falling apart, when her father takes up with a much younger woman and starts drinking again. Her sleep is plagued by nightmares, despite her protective halo. Her boyfriend Jake starts to doubt God's will, when it seems like He no longer plans for him to wed Brielle. And demon Damien, refreshed and restored after his stay in hell, has a plan for Jake and Brielle...
Content: Less violence than Angel Eyes (review here). The book did come at a good time to reinforce to me that yes, there are unseen battles. And I realize now that I didn't appreciate Angel Eyes quite as much as I should have for the new eyes it started to give me.
But on the other hand, Dittemore adds quite a bit of speculation to the angel world she's set up, which I spoke about at some length yesterday. In addition to those issues, there are also some new groups of angels and demons that aren't in the Bible (Sabres--angels with bladed wings--for the good guys, and the Palatine for the demons). Cherubs look like eight-year-olds, evidently, and female angels are now typical instead of just an option, with 2 of the 4 main angels portrayed--and the two we get closest to, I think--being females. I don't think any of those are necessarily anti-Biblical, but added to the speculation in Angel Eyes, I feel like we're getting to the edge of a fine line.
That said, I don't normally read angel books, but this book is FAR more accurate than the few I have read.
I'm not sure how easy it would be to follow this if you haven't read the first book, but my gut says it would be extremely difficult. Frankly, I'd expected at least the "epilogue" of sorts in Angel Eyes to be recapped here, but there was nothing. This reviewer (non-CSFF) did not read the first book and was very confused throughout the second.
Rating:
Compelling: 5 out of 10. I thought this one started out even slower than Angel Eyes, which at least had a mystery to carry it along. It was midway through before things picked up for me. Even then, I didn't understand the characters' reactions to certain elements, such as when Brielle finds out the big secret her father's been keeping. The last 75 pages or so start to fly--things get a bit muddled to me (a big battle ends when the players vanish). I was wondering how the story could start to be resolved before the end (spoiler alert! it's not, really).
Characters: 4 out of 10. I felt like Brielle lost quite a bit of personality. Her number obsession has become rather minor, her photography unmentioned, and yet she still strikes me as distanced from the situations she sees. Jake starts out the book in public in an orange tutu, which I personally found kind of creepy, and he hasn't used his gift in 7 months...he just felt kind of flat and strange to me. Canaan is a very minor character, with two female characters taking the forefront as far as angels go. Damien got more interesting. I even found dear Kaylee obnoxious in the beginning, with her "copious" use of "air quotes". But by the end of the book I thought she was easily the best character this time around.
Writing/editing: 7 out of 10. The distance in Brielle's style bothered me less this time, but Jake's third-person bits felt odd to me and occasional parts in his point of view felt to me like Brielle was talking...not like how I remembered his bit at the end of Angel Eyes. The writing wasn't bad (though I did get a touch lost in some of the happenings at the end, probably because I was hoping against hope for a resolution that didn't come). There were some interesting speculative spiritual thoughts, like this one from an angel's point of view (though CSFF blogger Shane Werlinger already posted it):
Plausibility/believability: 3 out of 5 and Positive: 2 out of 5. I know, it's weird to combine these, but I think it's fair here.
Regarding the new classes of angels...I guess they were plausible in that I actually looked up Sabres to make sure I hadn't just missed them in the Bible. (I know "Shield" from Angel Eyes is not a class of angel either, but I do believe angels guard over human affairs--if not on a one-on-one basis--so it seemed a reasonable class to me....naming a class of angel that is that that physically close to God, seemed odd to me.)
The theme is that God's plans do all work to good, no matter if they make sense to us or not. My problem is that one main character ends the book resolved that God's plans work to good, but as a reader, I have no idea why things would have happened the way they did for Brielle's mother. If someone I loved and trusted told me, dead serious, that's what happened in their real life, I'd have faith. But fiction has to be more plausible than reality, and I didn't personally buy it here.
Oh, and I was also astounded that a small town still had a photo shop that had numerous employees and could process film, but maybe I'm wrong there.
Gut reaction: 2 out of 5. Actually, the same basic complaints I had with Angel Eyes here. The book ends completely unresolved (though in fairness, I know that's the norm for book 2 in a trilogy, and unlike Angel Eyes, there was no easy way the author could have wrapped it up by ending the book a few pages earlier--or later).
And like Angel Eyes, the bad guys (demons in this case) evidently have dark skin. The cherub has "(b)lack skin, black hair knotted at her neck, bright brown eyes." The next page, she notes that she can slip in among the demons undetected, as "I'm created for such purposes. Darkness was given to me as a gift, and the Fallen often mistake me for one of their own."
Don't get me wrong. Pearla the cherub was likeable. But am I crazy to get just a little queasy at the fact that, aside from her eyes, the one angel with dark skin looks just like a demon?
Bonus points: 5 out of 5.
Recommended for: People who loved Angel Eyes and who can discern reality from fiction.
Total Rating: 2.8 out of 5 stars
Here are the other tour participants!
Gillian Adams
Julie Bihn
Jennifer Bogart
Beckie Burnham
Laure Covert
Pauline Creeden
Janey DeMeo
Theresa Dunlap
Emma or Audrey Engel
Victor Gentile
Nikole Hahn
Becky Jesse
Jason Joyner
Karielle @ Books à la Mode
Carol Keen
Shannon McDermott
Meagan @ Blooming with Books
Megan @ Hardcover Feedback
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Joan Nienhuis
Nathan Reimer
Chawna Schroeder
James Somers
Kathleen Smith
Jojo Sutis
Steve Trower
Phyllis Wheeler
Shane Werlinger
*In conjunction with the CSFF Blog Tour, I received a free copy of this book.
Ridiculously simplified summary: Book 2 in a series. Newly-graduated teen Brielle's world is falling apart, when her father takes up with a much younger woman and starts drinking again. Her sleep is plagued by nightmares, despite her protective halo. Her boyfriend Jake starts to doubt God's will, when it seems like He no longer plans for him to wed Brielle. And demon Damien, refreshed and restored after his stay in hell, has a plan for Jake and Brielle...
Content: Less violence than Angel Eyes (review here). The book did come at a good time to reinforce to me that yes, there are unseen battles. And I realize now that I didn't appreciate Angel Eyes quite as much as I should have for the new eyes it started to give me.
But on the other hand, Dittemore adds quite a bit of speculation to the angel world she's set up, which I spoke about at some length yesterday. In addition to those issues, there are also some new groups of angels and demons that aren't in the Bible (Sabres--angels with bladed wings--for the good guys, and the Palatine for the demons). Cherubs look like eight-year-olds, evidently, and female angels are now typical instead of just an option, with 2 of the 4 main angels portrayed--and the two we get closest to, I think--being females. I don't think any of those are necessarily anti-Biblical, but added to the speculation in Angel Eyes, I feel like we're getting to the edge of a fine line.
That said, I don't normally read angel books, but this book is FAR more accurate than the few I have read.
I'm not sure how easy it would be to follow this if you haven't read the first book, but my gut says it would be extremely difficult. Frankly, I'd expected at least the "epilogue" of sorts in Angel Eyes to be recapped here, but there was nothing. This reviewer (non-CSFF) did not read the first book and was very confused throughout the second.
Rating:
Compelling: 5 out of 10. I thought this one started out even slower than Angel Eyes, which at least had a mystery to carry it along. It was midway through before things picked up for me. Even then, I didn't understand the characters' reactions to certain elements, such as when Brielle finds out the big secret her father's been keeping. The last 75 pages or so start to fly--things get a bit muddled to me (a big battle ends when the players vanish). I was wondering how the story could start to be resolved before the end (spoiler alert! it's not, really).
Characters: 4 out of 10. I felt like Brielle lost quite a bit of personality. Her number obsession has become rather minor, her photography unmentioned, and yet she still strikes me as distanced from the situations she sees. Jake starts out the book in public in an orange tutu, which I personally found kind of creepy, and he hasn't used his gift in 7 months...he just felt kind of flat and strange to me. Canaan is a very minor character, with two female characters taking the forefront as far as angels go. Damien got more interesting. I even found dear Kaylee obnoxious in the beginning, with her "copious" use of "air quotes". But by the end of the book I thought she was easily the best character this time around.
Writing/editing: 7 out of 10. The distance in Brielle's style bothered me less this time, but Jake's third-person bits felt odd to me and occasional parts in his point of view felt to me like Brielle was talking...not like how I remembered his bit at the end of Angel Eyes. The writing wasn't bad (though I did get a touch lost in some of the happenings at the end, probably because I was hoping against hope for a resolution that didn't come). There were some interesting speculative spiritual thoughts, like this one from an angel's point of view (though CSFF blogger Shane Werlinger already posted it):
Pearla nods and dives after the Shield, her mind sorting through this new assignment. It's the greatest expression of love, she knows, to lay one's life down. But she wonders if humans know just how unique the ability is to do that.Death is not something an angel has to offer her loved ones. How glorious it must be to have one's days numbered by the Father.But I felt like it had very few of the sparkling witty asides that added so much to Angel Eyes.
How precious it makes each and every one.
Plausibility/believability: 3 out of 5 and Positive: 2 out of 5. I know, it's weird to combine these, but I think it's fair here.
Regarding the new classes of angels...I guess they were plausible in that I actually looked up Sabres to make sure I hadn't just missed them in the Bible. (I know "Shield" from Angel Eyes is not a class of angel either, but I do believe angels guard over human affairs--if not on a one-on-one basis--so it seemed a reasonable class to me....naming a class of angel that is that that physically close to God, seemed odd to me.)
The theme is that God's plans do all work to good, no matter if they make sense to us or not. My problem is that one main character ends the book resolved that God's plans work to good, but as a reader, I have no idea why things would have happened the way they did for Brielle's mother. If someone I loved and trusted told me, dead serious, that's what happened in their real life, I'd have faith. But fiction has to be more plausible than reality, and I didn't personally buy it here.
Oh, and I was also astounded that a small town still had a photo shop that had numerous employees and could process film, but maybe I'm wrong there.
Gut reaction: 2 out of 5. Actually, the same basic complaints I had with Angel Eyes here. The book ends completely unresolved (though in fairness, I know that's the norm for book 2 in a trilogy, and unlike Angel Eyes, there was no easy way the author could have wrapped it up by ending the book a few pages earlier--or later).
And like Angel Eyes, the bad guys (demons in this case) evidently have dark skin. The cherub has "(b)lack skin, black hair knotted at her neck, bright brown eyes." The next page, she notes that she can slip in among the demons undetected, as "I'm created for such purposes. Darkness was given to me as a gift, and the Fallen often mistake me for one of their own."
Don't get me wrong. Pearla the cherub was likeable. But am I crazy to get just a little queasy at the fact that, aside from her eyes, the one angel with dark skin looks just like a demon?
Bonus points: 5 out of 5.
Recommended for: People who loved Angel Eyes and who can discern reality from fiction.
Total Rating: 2.8 out of 5 stars
Here are the other tour participants!
Gillian Adams
Julie Bihn
Jennifer Bogart
Beckie Burnham
Laure Covert
Pauline Creeden
Janey DeMeo
Theresa Dunlap
Emma or Audrey Engel
Victor Gentile
Nikole Hahn
Becky Jesse
Jason Joyner
Karielle @ Books à la Mode
Carol Keen
Shannon McDermott
Meagan @ Blooming with Books
Megan @ Hardcover Feedback
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Joan Nienhuis
Nathan Reimer
Chawna Schroeder
James Somers
Kathleen Smith
Jojo Sutis
Steve Trower
Phyllis Wheeler
Shane Werlinger
*In conjunction with the CSFF Blog Tour, I received a free copy of this book.
Monday, April 22, 2013
CSFF Blog Tour - Satan in the Bible and Broken Wings
Julie here for the CSFF Blog Tour!
This month we're reviewing Broken Wings by Shannon Dittemore. Unlike the previous book in the trilogy, Angel Eyes, this book portrays an actual angel and demon from the Bible, and one is Lucifer himself.
In Broken Wings, Satan is portrayed as the literal ruler inside hell (and the fires of hell are God's glory reflected). Honestly, the idea that Satan actually rules over hell had never crossed my mind.
I believe that Satan fell, and probably due to pride (hinted at in 1 Timothy 3:6). Is there a place where the Bible says Satan rules hell? I didn't find one, and I'm not sure why he'd rule a place that was to be his punishment. I know that cartoons always show the devil (and often demons) gleefully tormenting people in a pit of fire...but those same cartoons show cats and mice literally turning to harp-strumming angels after they're killed, so they probably aren't the best place to learn theology.
So I thought I'd look through the mentions of Satan in the Bible and make sure I hadn't missed anything obvious, at least. Per Bible Gateway, there are just 47 references to "Satan" proper in the NIV.
First off, the physical description in Broken Wings is extra-Biblical--that is, something we don't see in the Bible. I don't think extra-Biblical portrayals are wrong. If they were, I'd have to stop writing fiction. But I'm wary of extra-Biblical portrayals of Biblical creatures that don't make me see reality more clearly. Angel Eyes had a lot of extra-Biblical ideas, but also opened my eyes more clearly to the reality of angels and demons being around us, so in that sense it was a helpful book on a spiritual level.
Broken Wings is portraying actual Biblical figures like Satan and Michael, and I don't think it can lean on the "Wow, angels are really around us" idea like Angel Eyes could, since it's taken for granted at the start of the novel. So I think I held it to a higher standard.
That said, I thought the physical description of Satan was plausible enough. 2 Corinthians 11:14 notes that Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Here's an angel's-eye-view of when Satan visits his demons in Broken Wings.
So here are most of the Biblical references I could find, mostly "Satan" and "the devil". (I would say "Evil one" was largely the same as below. Links and quotes are NIV.)
In the Old Testament, Satan incites David into taking a census of Israel (1 Chronicles 21:1). He accuses Job in front of God, then torments Job with utter destruction of almost everything he has, and finally gives him painful sores everywhere (Job 1:6-2:7). And later, the high priest Joshua is standing beside the angel of the Lord, with Satan standing at his (other translations say Joshua's) right side to accuse him, and God rebukes Satan (Zechariah 3:1-2).
The New Testament uses the name Satan a lot more. Of course, Satan tempts Jesus (Matthew 4:1-11, Mark 1:12-13, Luke 4:1-13). Pharisees accuse Jesus of calling on Satan but as Jesus says, "If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand?" (see Matthew 12:22-28, Mark 3:22-26, Luke 11:14-20). Satan steals the Word from people (Matthew 13:19, Mark 4:15), causes God's people to be unfruitful (Matthew 13:38-39) and binds a crippled woman (Luke 13:10-17). When Peter objects to Jesus suffering and dying, Jesus says to Peter "Get behind me, Satan!" (Matthew 16:21-23, Mark 8:31-33). Satan enters Judas (Luke 22:3, John 13:27) and "asked to sift" the disciples "as wheat" (Luke 22:31-32).
After the Gospels, Satan prompts Ananias to lie about the price he received for the land he "donated" to the church (Acts 5:3). Paul recounted his vision on the road to Damascus in Acts 26:15-18, where God sends him to the Gentiles "to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.'" The closing to Romans (Romans 16:20) promises a triumph over Satan.
I would class the remaining references to Satan I saw prior to Revelation--and even some inside it--as being about Satan tempting, (1 Corinthians 7:5, 1 Timothy 5:11-15, Revelation 2:9-10) tormenting (2 Corinthians 12:7), teaching?! (1 Corinthians 5:5, 1 Timothy 1:20), scheming (2 Corinthians 2:11), obstructing (1 Thessalonians 2:18), or deceiving (2 Thessalonians 2:8-12).
And of course, there are some references we take to mean Satan that won't come up simple word/phrase searches, such as when Jesus says in John 10:10, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."
I'd say "Steal, kill, destroy, tempt, and torment" pretty much sum up what I've seen of Satan in the Bible."Tempt" might is shown the most. And I can definitely imagine some great temptation scenes coming up in Book 3 in this trilogy.
But back to my initial question. Hell was prepared for Satan and his angels (Matthew 25:41-43). But I didn't notice any indication that it was a place for them to hang out when they're not being punished by God. So I still see Satan ruling hell (and holding demon meetings there) as extra-Biblical. Per 1 John 5:19, "the whole world is under the control of the evil one." Maybe I missed why the demons chose hell as their meeting place in Broken Wings, when they have the whole world to play with.
I didn't list the Biblical references to Satan's fall...I think the fact that he fell is widely accepted among most Christians, but it's not easy to find just reading without substantial context. Most of the references don't even mention Satan. There were some interesting thoughts by William D. Webber at Beliefnet.
I believe two mentions in Luke 10:17-20 and Revelation 12:7-9 aren't exactly about the original fall. As Webber's article indicates, there is actually some debate as to if references like Isaiah 14:12-15 and Ezekiel 28:13-17 are talking about Satan at all--at most they are double references also alluding to historical figures.
As to the fall, Broken Wings also portrays Satan as God's worship leader, who got too vain. I'm not saying that's not possible, and I've heard some people say it before. But as far as I know, that belief is also extra-Biblical. I don't mind speculation, but I don't like when people start preaching speculation as fact...and the angel-knowing humans in Broken Wings acknowledge the worship leader position as an accepted fact. It might make interesting fiction, but I worry that some people might take it as (ahem) gospel.
Now, let me admit, I haven't studied Satan extensively; reading for this blog entry is by far the longest I've investigated him specifically.
But on the other hand, I'm not sure we really need to know the enemy's backstory in detail? Or is it enough to just know that he seeks to tempt, to torment, to kill, to destroy, and try to fight that?
Regardless of Satan's past, we do know his ending (Revelation 20:7-10). That's something I think all Christians can agree on, no matter how they might view the finer details of what comes before.
I'll review the book itself tomorrow. For now, here are the other tour participants!
Gillian Adams
Julie Bihn
Jennifer Bogart
Beckie Burnham
Laure Covert
Pauline Creeden
Janey DeMeo
Theresa Dunlap
Emma or Audrey Engel
Victor Gentile
Nikole Hahn
Becky Jesse
Jason Joyner
Karielle @ Books à la Mode
Carol Keen
Shannon McDermott
Meagan @ Blooming with Books
Megan @ Hardcover Feedback
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Joan Nienhuis
Nathan Reimer
Chawna Schroeder
James Somers
Kathleen Smith
Jojo Sutis
Steve Trower
Phyllis Wheeler
Shane Werlinger
*In conjunction with the CSFF Blog Tour, I received a free copy of this book.
This month we're reviewing Broken Wings by Shannon Dittemore. Unlike the previous book in the trilogy, Angel Eyes, this book portrays an actual angel and demon from the Bible, and one is Lucifer himself.
In Broken Wings, Satan is portrayed as the literal ruler inside hell (and the fires of hell are God's glory reflected). Honestly, the idea that Satan actually rules over hell had never crossed my mind.
I believe that Satan fell, and probably due to pride (hinted at in 1 Timothy 3:6). Is there a place where the Bible says Satan rules hell? I didn't find one, and I'm not sure why he'd rule a place that was to be his punishment. I know that cartoons always show the devil (and often demons) gleefully tormenting people in a pit of fire...but those same cartoons show cats and mice literally turning to harp-strumming angels after they're killed, so they probably aren't the best place to learn theology.
So I thought I'd look through the mentions of Satan in the Bible and make sure I hadn't missed anything obvious, at least. Per Bible Gateway, there are just 47 references to "Satan" proper in the NIV.
First off, the physical description in Broken Wings is extra-Biblical--that is, something we don't see in the Bible. I don't think extra-Biblical portrayals are wrong. If they were, I'd have to stop writing fiction. But I'm wary of extra-Biblical portrayals of Biblical creatures that don't make me see reality more clearly. Angel Eyes had a lot of extra-Biblical ideas, but also opened my eyes more clearly to the reality of angels and demons being around us, so in that sense it was a helpful book on a spiritual level.
Broken Wings is portraying actual Biblical figures like Satan and Michael, and I don't think it can lean on the "Wow, angels are really around us" idea like Angel Eyes could, since it's taken for granted at the start of the novel. So I think I held it to a higher standard.
That said, I thought the physical description of Satan was plausible enough. 2 Corinthians 11:14 notes that Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Here's an angel's-eye-view of when Satan visits his demons in Broken Wings.
Silence consumes the assembly now, imposed on them by the sight of an icy white figure dropping into the hall from above. His wings, spread wide, are white, save the tips, which retain a char he's never rid of.
Black-tipped wings for the Prince of Darkness. Healthy wings. Strong wings. His skin shines like polished marble. His hair lies in curls of midnight around his face--still fresh, still bright, still retaining the beauty that seduced a third of the angels. Human eyes would have a hard time distinguishing the Prince from a Warrior like Michael. But the absence of light behind those pale blue eyes hints at the creature's true nature. And they are pale, so pale the blue seems buried far below, glinting like coins at the bottom of a well.
He's exquisite. Majestic.
And he's afraid.
So here are most of the Biblical references I could find, mostly "Satan" and "the devil". (I would say "Evil one" was largely the same as below. Links and quotes are NIV.)
In the Old Testament, Satan incites David into taking a census of Israel (1 Chronicles 21:1). He accuses Job in front of God, then torments Job with utter destruction of almost everything he has, and finally gives him painful sores everywhere (Job 1:6-2:7). And later, the high priest Joshua is standing beside the angel of the Lord, with Satan standing at his (other translations say Joshua's) right side to accuse him, and God rebukes Satan (Zechariah 3:1-2).
The New Testament uses the name Satan a lot more. Of course, Satan tempts Jesus (Matthew 4:1-11, Mark 1:12-13, Luke 4:1-13). Pharisees accuse Jesus of calling on Satan but as Jesus says, "If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand?" (see Matthew 12:22-28, Mark 3:22-26, Luke 11:14-20). Satan steals the Word from people (Matthew 13:19, Mark 4:15), causes God's people to be unfruitful (Matthew 13:38-39) and binds a crippled woman (Luke 13:10-17). When Peter objects to Jesus suffering and dying, Jesus says to Peter "Get behind me, Satan!" (Matthew 16:21-23, Mark 8:31-33). Satan enters Judas (Luke 22:3, John 13:27) and "asked to sift" the disciples "as wheat" (Luke 22:31-32).
After the Gospels, Satan prompts Ananias to lie about the price he received for the land he "donated" to the church (Acts 5:3). Paul recounted his vision on the road to Damascus in Acts 26:15-18, where God sends him to the Gentiles "to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.'" The closing to Romans (Romans 16:20) promises a triumph over Satan.
I would class the remaining references to Satan I saw prior to Revelation--and even some inside it--as being about Satan tempting, (1 Corinthians 7:5, 1 Timothy 5:11-15, Revelation 2:9-10) tormenting (2 Corinthians 12:7), teaching?! (1 Corinthians 5:5, 1 Timothy 1:20), scheming (2 Corinthians 2:11), obstructing (1 Thessalonians 2:18), or deceiving (2 Thessalonians 2:8-12).
And of course, there are some references we take to mean Satan that won't come up simple word/phrase searches, such as when Jesus says in John 10:10, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."
I'd say "Steal, kill, destroy, tempt, and torment" pretty much sum up what I've seen of Satan in the Bible."Tempt" might is shown the most. And I can definitely imagine some great temptation scenes coming up in Book 3 in this trilogy.
But back to my initial question. Hell was prepared for Satan and his angels (Matthew 25:41-43). But I didn't notice any indication that it was a place for them to hang out when they're not being punished by God. So I still see Satan ruling hell (and holding demon meetings there) as extra-Biblical. Per 1 John 5:19, "the whole world is under the control of the evil one." Maybe I missed why the demons chose hell as their meeting place in Broken Wings, when they have the whole world to play with.
I didn't list the Biblical references to Satan's fall...I think the fact that he fell is widely accepted among most Christians, but it's not easy to find just reading without substantial context. Most of the references don't even mention Satan. There were some interesting thoughts by William D. Webber at Beliefnet.
I believe two mentions in Luke 10:17-20 and Revelation 12:7-9 aren't exactly about the original fall. As Webber's article indicates, there is actually some debate as to if references like Isaiah 14:12-15 and Ezekiel 28:13-17 are talking about Satan at all--at most they are double references also alluding to historical figures.
As to the fall, Broken Wings also portrays Satan as God's worship leader, who got too vain. I'm not saying that's not possible, and I've heard some people say it before. But as far as I know, that belief is also extra-Biblical. I don't mind speculation, but I don't like when people start preaching speculation as fact...and the angel-knowing humans in Broken Wings acknowledge the worship leader position as an accepted fact. It might make interesting fiction, but I worry that some people might take it as (ahem) gospel.
Now, let me admit, I haven't studied Satan extensively; reading for this blog entry is by far the longest I've investigated him specifically.
But on the other hand, I'm not sure we really need to know the enemy's backstory in detail? Or is it enough to just know that he seeks to tempt, to torment, to kill, to destroy, and try to fight that?
Regardless of Satan's past, we do know his ending (Revelation 20:7-10). That's something I think all Christians can agree on, no matter how they might view the finer details of what comes before.
I'll review the book itself tomorrow. For now, here are the other tour participants!
Gillian Adams
Julie Bihn
Jennifer Bogart
Beckie Burnham
Laure Covert
Pauline Creeden
Janey DeMeo
Theresa Dunlap
Emma or Audrey Engel
Victor Gentile
Nikole Hahn
Becky Jesse
Jason Joyner
Karielle @ Books à la Mode
Carol Keen
Shannon McDermott
Meagan @ Blooming with Books
Megan @ Hardcover Feedback
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Joan Nienhuis
Nathan Reimer
Chawna Schroeder
James Somers
Kathleen Smith
Jojo Sutis
Steve Trower
Phyllis Wheeler
Shane Werlinger
*In conjunction with the CSFF Blog Tour, I received a free copy of this book.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)