Why I embrace Michael Heiser’s Divine Council Worldview

Let me just share what I’ve learned from Michael Heiser’s Divine Council Worldview (DCW), which is the Christian doctrine I now hold. I believe this is the right way to understand the Bible and inform our Christian Faith.

After learning about the DCW, my impression is that Heaven is not automaton-land. It’s apparently a common modern view that when you’re in Heaven as spirits, you are to be automatons; you can’t do any action of your own, you wait for orders and do only what God tells you to do. Someone argued with me before that we can’t have free will in Heaven (now I know that that’s from Reformed Church/Calvinist belief).

But DCW says we do. We are free to move around and do as we please, we even have recreation. Heiser said, we’re not strumming harps in Heaven or doing anything that makes us mere props. There is an hierarchy in Heaven, so differences exist there too. But God gives us assignments, and part of those assignments is managing the cosmos as part of his council. This seems consistent with contemporary views in the Ancient Near East about the other world or afterlife.

DCW just means that one purpose for the creation of humanity is to be partners in his managing of the cosmos, the creation. Other beings, those we call angels though not all are really angels, were also created for this. Some of them rebelled however, and so we have Satan and his “fallen angels,” actually fallen created spirit beings. Heiser described the three falls, in Eden, the Nephilim and Babel, and these are the three events that corrupted humanity. These particular beings didn’t like being joined by humanity in managing the cosmos.

The enemy of DCW is the idea that we are supposed to be God’s automatons. The concept of an automaton is actually modern, probably inspired by ideas about modern automatic machinery and likening people to these. But my theory is that automaton-land views of Heaven are actually a product of Gnostic infiltration (which ultimately comes from Paganism). I think many ideas of the Christian afterlife today are influenced by John Milton and William Blake, but those have Gnostic ideas in them. Milton’s and Blake’s work as supposed to be literature (also The Revolt of the Angels by Anatole France), but some people mistakenly adopt those ideas as doctrine.

The problem with all this for me is when some believers try to bring Heaven to Earth under the automaton idea. Because of the idea of Eden, we try to achieve Utopia. But doing it while being separated from God has been disastrous (See Dr. Heiser’s video short on utopia). When non-believers do it, they end up creating things like Marxism and try to turn others into automatons; and that also leads to disaster (millions dead because they don’t want to become automatons). But even believers fall to this pitfall. They may claim to have the Holy Spirit to guide them or such. But historically it led to things like the Inquisition or killing of people of other faiths. People trying to make the Earth into Heaven today are still vulnerable to sinful influences.

In all, our theology will indeed manifest in the way we treat other people. If we think people become automatons in Heaven, we tend to try and turn others into automatons. If we think people should be free and able to act on their own on Earth, as in Heaven, we will respect other people. In fact, I believe that is how the second great commandment, to love others, is enacted.

I think automaton ideas in religion make people leave their religions as well as become Atheist. No one wants to be automatons and we’re wired to be that way. I think realizing this will revolutionize Christianity and return it to what it was originally. I don’t propose this just as a revisionist act or cop out just appeal to the atheists. I see it more as returning to Ancient Near East roots which is close to the truth. Also, trying to make automatons of others is corruption of God’s creation.

I haven’t read Heiser’s book Unseen Realm yet, but a lot of Youtube videos already explain a lot of his points. Still, I do hope to get most of his books.

The False Narrative of Control: The Real Problem in Christian Communities

 After my article about Control Freaks messing the world up, and as I went about the seminar using the book Good and Beautiful God by James Bryan Smith, I had a vital epiphany. On page 45, Smith mentions that the desire for control is one of the causes of people doing bad things. Indeed, having such a desire would mean fear of loss of control; this leads people to become fearful and desperate, and as a result, they resort to forceful, coercive and rights-violating (and indeed, sinful) measures to address this.

Another Perspective on the “First Murder”

The Biblical account of Cain and Abel, considered the first murder, has often been thought of as a case of jealousy. Cain is thought to have been jealous of God’s reaction to Abel’s offering. Indeed, God’s reaction is longer to Abel than to Cain. Cain saw it as favoritism, though it isn’t. So the usual lesson taught is that God does not play favorites, despite us believing differently. But there could be another angle to it, that still sticks with the message of the Word.

Control-Freaks Are the Ones who Ruin the World

Have you, believing you are in the right, wanted to enforce your view of this on another person? If you find someone who disagrees, you are so angry with them that you will start to hate them, want them removed from your sight or life? And, when you reach the breaking point, want them killed? That’s probably the way a control-freak feels.

Have you balked at someone else’s choice of music, food, books or clothes? Has someone’s taste (or lack of) shocked you? Have you wanted to step into lives and tell them what music to listen to, what food to eat, what books to read or clothes to wear? Did you want to do this because you didn’t want to be “offended” by their taste?

If you dislike a colleague’s working style, have you snapped and said to them, “your way sucks! This is how you do it!” And you do it arrogantly. Some people say the same thing when they see a friend’s lifestyle they don’t like. They feel like they have the right to order the friend around and make their lives “better.” They have always dreamed of seizing control of someone and direct them, and perhaps when the friend does benefit from this control, the friend will thank them and they can be so proud of themselves and boast it to the world. They probably want to be like the hosts of “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy,” only they want to do it by force.

You’ve probably heard someone say, “I know you better than you know yourself. So do as I tell you!” or “I’m disgusted that you think that way. You’re a disgusting person because you don’t react the way I want you to!” Or, “How dare you act like that towards me! When you talk to me, you do it the way I want you to! Give me the manner and respect I want!” So they will want to dictate you and try to run your life for you.

Other examples:

“Why aren’t you outraged at the same thing I'm outraged at? You’re on the side of evil aren’t you? That’s it! I won’t accept any explanation from you! Either you’re with me or against me! Fuck you! I’ll bring you down!”

“I believe everybody should be nice… so I will force them to be nice!”

If you’re like the above, then you are among the people who are making the world hell.

Filipino Imperialism: Emocratic Nonsense

(This is an older article from 2010 in Antipinoy.com that later disappeared after the site was revamped. I reprint it here.)

Lately I happened upon a page with the title Imperalismo ng Pilipinas.  The idea struck me as funny. The Philippine Empire? Now many might ask what’s wrong with that? I would ask, I thought Filipinos hated imperialism? You have American, Spanish and corporate imperialism, but then you want Filipino Imperialism? That would constitute a great deal of hypocrisy.  

There are other ways Filipino Imperialism rears its ugly head.