The Academy of the Host --

A Place of Instruction, Admonition, and Learning

 

Greetings, humans! May the Most High fill you with wisdom and knowledge! 

My name is Crispin. I am an angel of the wisdom order.

Of no consequence really, except in the environs of Heaven and within the halls of the Academy of the Host where I am something of a legend among my teaching peers.  I admit I relish my role as a wisdom angel and teaching is my great passion. But I don't like to do all of the talking. So it is my fervent hope that all of you will enroll and become active participants in the discussions here. I intend to provide a forum in the near future so that we might glean from your own knowledge. I would ask, however, that you keep the comments germaine to the subject at hand. There is nothing as irritating to a discussion as a wandering diatribe.

A word of caution: As always, keep your comments pure, as we have had trouble recently from some rather rebellious students whose shameful chatter got them expelled not only from the Academy but from the Kingdom itself!

It is with some of these fallen creatures that we now contend and because of them that the knowledge of God is of utmost importance to you personally. They do inhabit your planet, you know.

Now--let's get down to it, shall we?

 

Angels 101

Very good. Now that we are all here, I suggest that the best place to begin a discourse on so magnificent a series as Chronicles of the Host...

What? You haven't read it yet? Pshhh. Well THAT must be remedied at once!

Anyway, much of the action and many of the characters in the series deal with angels. So I propose that we start off with a bit about angels from a very broad perspective. Humans like things broadly stroked I have learned. So I shall adapt my teaching a bit by teaching and tossing in a few articles from here and there about angels.

But first let me start with a question that angels have always had about humans:

How many humans can dance on the head of a pin?

Heh Heh. Just a little angelic humor to get us started!

But did you know that during the chaotic years of history you call the Midieval Age, that this was an actual question posed by theologians? Hmph! Humans! First of all I assure you that I have NEVER danced on the head of a pin nor would any self-respecting angel.

So let's get THAT out of the way right now.

Now, as you have doubtless learned, the greatest resource for learning about things spiritual is the Book from which all spiritual truth derives--all LEGITIMATE spiritual truth, that is. I mean of course the Revelation of the Most High God to Humans--otherwise known to you as the Bible.

 

The Amazing Truth About Truth

 

Have you ever considered the extent of God's love toward His creatures in that he actually allows mere humans to delve into His unfathomable mind? I must tell you that for some angels this was a very difficult quandary. Afterall, like you, we too are creatures made for His pleasure. One of the passages in your Bible makes this case quite well. You know it as Psalm 103:20-21

 

Praise the LORD, you his angels,
       you mighty ones who do his bidding,
       who obey his word. Praise the LORD, all his heavenly hosts,
       you his servants who do his will.

 

What an honor! We angels were created to serve the Most High--to do His will. THAT is the noblest response any creature may give back to his Creator. Ah, but some angels didn't see it that way. And when it became clear that humans had an elevated place in the heart of the Most High, well, that was as you say, the "last straw". Rebellion was born in the sin of self-elevation--and still is today.

To be sure, the vast majority of angels realized that humans had a special place in the heart of the Most High. So it was not surprising that following the Rebellion, those of that ilk, fallen and bitter, should seek to wound the Lord where His heart was most vulnerable-by compromising man. But all that is for another study. This is a quest for truth.

Truth. What is truth? If you recall the words of one of your own governors at the time Jesus was on trial, Pontius Pilate asked those very words of the Son--"What is truth?" Now, whether or not he was sincerely asking is a moot point. But the question itself is the key to everything. For if there is no truth--no righteous authority that is rooted in the Creator--then we are all fools at the butt end of a joke, albeit a very complex one.

Ah, but have no worries. God's truth IS truth. That is to say, everything that the Lord says or does is based in his Truth--which flows from His eternal Heart. You see? Everything He says is true, and everything He does is right--whether or not humans (or angels for that matter) agree with it, understand it, or like it. That's just the way it is. Seem unfair? Talk to Job next time you see him. He'll have an interesting take on it.

Where was I...? Oh yes. Truth. And so the Lord, not wanting His creatures to be ignorant of His Greatness and His extraordinary plans for them, determined that his Truth should be revealed. Now, the question was this: How was so great a God to convey truth to--well--to so simple a creature? Afterall, this is not the teachings of a mere mortal but the thoughts of the Eternal God.  Things that were a mystery to angels were to be revealed to humans? And yet it was so.

The problem is that human ability to understand spiritual truth was debased at Eden. In your ancestor Adam's rush to understand, he only succeeded in introducting pride into the picture and muddied the waters for everyone. I believe it was Paul who said that humans "see through a mirror darkly"--it's a very fuzzy picture on your side of things.

And so in His great and marvelous way, the Most High God decided to reveal Himself to humans on two levels: through what He has made (His Creation) and through what He has said (His Word). Fundamental theology I realize, but it is needful to point out. Let's take a look at these two revelations of God:

1. Natural or General Revelation: This is the disclosing that God does to all people everywhere--thus it is called general or natural revelation. That is to say, God speaks to His creation THROUGH His creation. The stars, the seas, the world--all that one takes in of the wonders of natural beauty speak of its source--a Designer with wisdom and purpose.

Paul said in the Book of Romans that God is clearly known through what He has made. That is to say, NOBODY has the excuse to say that there is no God. Why? By virtue of what He has made. In fact, only a fool would look at what has been made and still say there is not God and mean it.

But...simply realizing that someone made the world isn't enough. There had to be a way to KNOW the creator and not simply acknowledge His existence. This is the folly of religion--understanding that there is One greater, yet not really knowing who He is. So another revelation was needed:

2. Special or Particular Revelation: How was a human to know God? This was (and is), if I may use one of your expressions, the "million dollar question." God had a specific message He needed to communicate that went far beyond the fact of creation. He had a redemptive plan in the works and so he revealed himself through covenant, law, prophets and, finally, by coming in Person in the form of Jesus Christ.

So Jesus comes, the "Word of God" in the flesh--to fully disclose God to us in a particular or special way. See? General revelation is open to all, but Special revelation is focused, detailed and specific.

That is the amazing truth about truth.