Part 4 of a series. Start here for the rest.
There are two levels of beliefs about God that are outside of theology. the first is heresy, in which outright falsehoods are taught concerning God and His interaction with mankind. The second is Christian Mythology.
Christian Mythology comes up as two major problems. It is subtle, and as such can plant the roots of what will eventually become heresy if left unattended - and it can be easy to fail to notice the transition. The second is that it can present ideas which then become central to one's beliefs and become a form of idolatry. Either way, holding onto these beliefs causes a shift in our agenda upon studying the Bible, which opens us up to false interpretation and false teaching.
Christian Mythology is any set of beliefs which are, at their core, theologically neutral. That is, they are neither directly supported nor denied by scripture. While this takes a lot of forms, this post will focus on one example, and a popular one in certain circles - angels.
The Bible teaches very little about angels - after all, they are neither the intended recipients nor the subject of the Bible. Only 3 are even named (Lucifer, Michael, and Gabriel). Most are not described in physical detail, and when they are they seem to vary widely in appearance based upon their actual duties. When they are seen, it is brief and they are generally doing their task and then disappearing from the narrative again (with the possible exception of Michael, who is mentioned as fighting over Moses' corpse with Lucifer for reasons that aren't really explained; and Lucifer himself, who is in an act of rebellion against God throughout the entire Bible). This is, basically, the entirety of what theology has to say about angels.
Yet, they are a popular topic in pop culture and art. Ask most people these days about angels, and they'll present a physical description that looks nothing like any of the ones given in the Bible, talk about different 'choirs' of angels and their various tasks, possibly even name a handful of them. They may claim that humans become angels upon reaching heaven, or that angels have children and marriages just like humans. They may talk about the epic wars angels fight against demons to save the souls of the world or prevent some great catastrophe from befalling mankind. They are sword-wielding, semidivine, superheroes to modern audiences. And none of it has any place in theology.
So where does the problem come in? Does it really matter whether or not Raphael is the name of a real angel? Who has ever been prevented from reaching Christ because they thought angels were chubby babies in diapers? And, on the surface, these are valid questions. These issues do not directly harm the preaching of the gospel. But the acceptance of them as absolute truth, and the tendancy to focus on them, does. Briefly consider two angels from modern culture - Moroni and Gabriel.
Moroni is the angel believed by Mormons to have revealed the existance of the golden plates to Joseph Smith. Many temples of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints depict him in gold on the top of their steeples. Now, maybe Joseph Smith created the entire story. Or maybe a being calling itself Moroni actually came to him and told him the basic tenants of the religion he went on to form. Either way, the reception of that message, by those who would joing the religion and possibly by Joseph Smith himself, relies upon a skewed view of angels in which anything appearing as an angel can preach anything that sounds vaguely like the gospel and be trusted as a messenger from God.
Likewise, many cults have arisen over the centuries based upon claims that the founder was given a new doctrine by an angel, usually Gabriel. The reason Gabriel is so popular, of course, is that he's one of the only named angels in the Bible and his appearances center around announcing the birth and ministry of Christ. This does not mean that everyone claiming to have a message from Gabriel actually does, however.
Again, however, it is the preeminence of angels and the lack of understanding about how much of one's beliefs about them are not necessarily accurate that allow this sort of thing to happen. After all, this could all have been prevented if those presented with these messages put their trust instead on the gospel found in the Bible, and one verse in particular:
"But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed!"
-Galatians 1:8 (NASB)
No matter who preaches it, no matter what source is claimed, no matter how appealing it sounds, we must be careful that we never let our own preconceived ideas about theological issues color the way we present and receive the teachings of the Bible. Theology must come first - accept no substitutes. This column will be exploring more myths and heresies over the course of this year - stay tuned. In the meantime, why not check out some thoughts by Brian Metzger at the site the picture above was pulled from as he briefly covers a few notable examples that warrant further study.
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