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God's Monsters

Vengeful Spirits, Deadly Angels, Hybrid Creatures, and Divine Hitmen of the Bible

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1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available

The Bible is teeming with monsters. Giants tromp through the land of milk and honey; Leviathan swims through the wine-dark sea. A stunning array of peculiar creatures, mind-altering spirits, and supernatural hitmen fill the biblical heavens, jarring in both their strangeness and their propensity for violence—especially on God's behalf.

Traditional interpretations of the creatures of the Bible have sanded down their sharp, unsavory edges, transforming them into celestial beings of glory and light—or chubby, happy cherubs. Those cherubs? They're actually hybrid guardian monsters, more closely associated with the Egyptian sphinx than with flying babies. And the seraphim? Winged serpents sent to mete out God's vengeance. Demons aren't at war with angels; they're a distinct supernatural species used by Satan and by God. The pattern is chilling. Most of these monsters aren't God's opponents—they're God's entourage.

Killer angels, plague demons, manipulative spirits, creatures with an alarming number of wings (and eyes all over)—these shapeshifters and realm-crossers act with stunning brutality, each reflecting a facet of God's own monstrosity. Confronting God's monsters—and the God-monster—may be uncomfortable, but the Bible is richer for their presence. It's not only richer; the stories of the monsters of the Bible can be as fun, surprising, and interesting as any mythology. For anyone interested in monsters, myths, folklore, demons, and more, God's Monsters is an entertaining deep dive into the creaturely strangeness of the Bible.

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    • Publisher's Weekly

      August 7, 2023
      In this edifying outing, Hamori (Women’s Divination in Biblical Literature), a professor at the Union Theological Seminary, diligently combs through the Bible for “monsters” and “monstrous acts” that have been hidden by time and forgiving interpreters. Hamori argues that, while popular culture has gradually “domesticated” the Bible’s “strange and frightening” creatures—cherubim defanged into chubby, winged babies; angels bestowed the “soft-edged glow of a Hallmark card”—the text itself reveals fierce beings who “commit violent acts,” generally on God’s orders. Cherubim, or “hybrid monsters who stand sentinel at sacred... sites,” serve as God’s “henchmen,” while angels can work on behalf of God or Satan, equally capable of “deliver a message or fatal blow.” Such violence is most associated with the Hebrew Bible, but is rife in the New Testament as well; Revelation’s apocalyptic backdrop finds angels “wounding, burning, poisoning, drowning, and otherwise massacring human beings” with “God’s signature inscribed across it all.” Through fine-grained textual analysis, Hamori wisely reminds readers that “grappling with the monstrous divine is in some ways at the heart of the Bible’s sense of what it means to be the people of God,” and suggests that God’s monstrosity ”gives room for our grief, anger, and protest.” Curious believers will find this eye-opening and mind-expanding.

    • Booklist

      September 15, 2023
      Hamori has written a tour de force on the monstrous creatures God employs in the Bible. Delving deeply into the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament, she uncovers the horrific creatures behind the sanitized versions we are used to seeing in our modern translations. The seraphim and cherubim are not cute angelic beings; rather, the seraphim are flying serpents who God employs to destroy the Israelites for complaining and the cherubim are hybrid creatures with the head of a human and the body of a lion who guard divine spaces. Another such creature is the Adversary himself, who is God's chief torturer and is enlisted by God to test Job's faith. By the New Testament, he is Satan with his own evil domain. Then there are the Angels, God's army who destroy on God's command. Hamori goes on to discuss demons, spirits, the leviathan, ghosts, giants such as the Nephilim, and even the monstrosity of God. In this well-paced narrative, Hamori makes not just biblical references but references to popular culture, including religious and horror films. Hamori's work bridges religion and popular culture, which will be of interest to popular, academic, religious, Christian, dark fantasy, and horror readers. Highly recommended.

      COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

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