My novel takes place in a non-denominational heaven (similar to the tv show 7th heaven in that it was about Christians but they never mentioned Jesus). My main character is a teenage girl who I guess is half-angel as she was conceived on earth by humans but they decided to have an abortion and in the world of my book aborted fetuses are born to term by women in heaven, so she was born in heaven. So my question is, since she has a human soul but she's never been on earth what's the extent of her knowledge of good vs evil? Would she commit minor sins? Could she play pranks that weren't mean-spirited?
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2007: Feline Overflow
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Feb 19, 2008 - 17 56
Since Lucifer (better known to some as Satan) was originally an Angel (Genesis) who rebelled against God, I assume that Angels have some form of free will. Perhaps they would have an innate impulse to do the will of God, but your character, being half-human, can choose not to listen to that impulse (but if you portray God accurately, she'll likely end up Joining Satan in Hell). Original sin exists in all humans (excepting Mary in some cases and Christ in all), so she knows evil and good, though depending on the way she is raised she may not know certain kinds of sin (eg: sodomy, which can be interpreted as loveless sex as well as its traditional form, or gluttony, which may not even be possible in your Heaven). Angels often have powers attributed to them, especially in modern literature, and you can choose this route for your girl. It is likely, however, that since her mother & father were both human (right?) she will behave more like a human (easier for you, since humans are native to earth and easily oservable, angels not so much), but have adaptations suited to her Heavenly environment (eg: power to fly/float). She's fully capable, being first human, to commit any kind of sin that she knows. being a prankster in heaven, where feathers aren't ruffled much, gets a ton of attention, so if it works for your character, go for it.
You may want to think the "angel" part through. Does every saved soul become an Angel? Do the Unborn become Angels? What fuctions do Angels serve? How is the hierarchy of Angels organized (Seraphim/Cherubim)? It could be possible that there are other denizens of heaven besides angels and the saved, perhaps your character is that kind of person/creature.
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Feb 22, 2008 - 21 14
Thanks for the reply! This is very helpful to me. :D
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Feb 23, 2008 - 17 56
Keep in mind though, that not everyone believes that Lucifer betrayed God. Just as some people believe that angels do have some semblance of free will, there are others that don't believe that. There's a lot of different views on what angels are exactly, that it's really a result of what you want to go with in your story. This article's pretty good as a starter point: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angel
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Feb 29, 2008 - 17 53
That's true, but there are several literary works that give license to an Angel's free will, including the TV series "Touched by an Angel". So, if the author wants to s/he can give angels free will, even if not everyone believes this to be true.
----------NaNo 2008, what will you bring?
More WKRC? The Triumphant return of Siegfred's Giant? The Misadventures of Hans and Greta? Or the newly discovered From one Architect to Another?
112,245 / 50,000
Feb 29, 2008 - 18 27
Oh I was never disputing that :) I just wanted to point out that there are many views on what exactly angels are, and how free will plays into some of those views.
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Feb 29, 2008 - 18 50
Oh. Wow, there are an awful lot of misunderstandings in this forum...something needs to be done to ratify this. ----------
NaNo 2008, what will you bring?
More WKRC? The Triumphant return of Siegfred's Giant? The Misadventures of Hans and Greta? Or the newly discovered From one Architect to Another?
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Jul 11, 2008 - 22 55
Your character would should exibit both human and celestial qualties. Like when jesus whip the robbers out of the temple even thought the bible says that he never sinned. I guess delivering a good licking to a person who deserves is not consipder a sin. Allow your protagnist to be human without acqually committing any sins. If she did in fact strayed to far from this than a righetous heaven would have no place for her.
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Jul 13, 2008 - 21 57
@Solomon Williams - He didn't whip them. He drove them out of the Temple with a whip, yes, but He never struck them. He was angry that His Father's house was being used as a marketplace and He did what He had to.This was done so that a prophecy would be fulfilled: "Zeal for Your house will consume me."
Anger is not a sin, especially to One who not only created anger, but to One whose anger is always restorative in nature. In this case, it restored proper reverence to the Temple, which since the times of old had been seen as the dwelling place of God and the altar of repentance. It was holy. To defame the Temple in treating it as any old place to do business was a great insult to Jesus.
And to say that a righteous heaven would have no place for a girl who sins is a tragedy when compared to the ultimate message of Christianity. After all, it is grace through faith in Jesus that covers sin and allows our entry into heaven, which is simply the Presence of God.
@OP - Completely theoretically, yes, it is completely possible for your character to sin. However, think about it this way: if you're in the Presence of sheer, unadulterated, perfect love, which the Bible says God is, is it altogether likely? I think that it would do its part in capturing your attention away from pranks. However, if God were to say... send her to Earth to do some good work, where she was not fully aware of His immediate and overwhelming Presence... I think it would be possible. But having been born in heaven, I have no doubt that she would wish to return there. And I would certainly think that she would know good from evil, as being in the light of all that is good and right and true tends to make you aware of that which is evil, wrong, and false.
Ja ne.