Posted by Burlison on X (video): Burlison: "Let me kind of walk you through my personal journey on this. [...] how does this fit with my biblical worldview? Does this really challenge my faith? What I've come to the conclusion is that if you pay attention to what the Bible actually says, not what you think it says, this [NHI] does not conflict with anything that we believe as Christians. Burlison: "The Bible is very clear: we're not the first creation. There were entities part of the heavenly kingdom, the kingdom of God, that were created before mankind entered this universe. The question is: what are those things?" Burlison: "The Bible describes them broadly as angels. It describes some of them as seraphim, some as cherubim. I don't know what those things are, right, and those people, but at the end of the day I don't want to pigeonhole myself as a believer into saying, "Oh an alien comes from an extraterrestrial being and comes down and that doesn't fit the Bible." Well maybe it does. Maybe that's what the Bible was pointing towards all along" Burlison: "[...] the more that we as Christians just stick to what the Bible actually says, as opposed to what we believe it says, I think we'll be better off. The Bible doesn't say, for example, that the devil. There's nowhere in the Bible that says the devil has a tail and a pitchfork, right? It doesn't. It's not there and so start shaking away any kind of mediaeval version of your interpretation of the Bible and I think you'll be better off" What are Seraphim and Cherubim I asked my AI, heres the response: Neither seraphim nor cherubim are explicitly called angels (mal'akh = messenger) in the Bible. They seem to be a different category - closer to throne room beings whose job is presence and protection rather than carrying messages. Later Jewish and Christian tradition folded them into angelic hierarchies (cherubim and seraphim rank very high in medieval angel rankings), but the biblical texts keep them somewhat distinct Notice that last sentence: that later traditions put these seraphim and cherubim into the angel hierarchies. But the original biblical texts didnt. And notice also what Burlison says: if you pay attention to what the Bible actually says, not what you think it says, this [NHI] does not conflict with anything that we believe as Christians start shaking away any kind of mediaeval version of your interpretation of the Bible and I think you'll be better off Grusch: stories in religious texts aren't fable. They happened. For the below quote, watch the actual video for the full context: Timestamp 1:03:54: Grusch: "Unfortunately you're bursting maybe a world view or a bubble for some people, but it actually ultimately might enforce people's belief systems, because... stories in the religious texts weren't fable, allegory or whatever. They happened! And I'm not saying all of them did, but there might be evidence if we were openly and honestly studying the subject in more detail" Look at his facial expression when he says "they happened". He seems to have zero doubt submitted by /u/phr99 [link] [comments]