A Divine Looking-Glass - Creation, Angels and The Three Heavens

Creation, Angels and The Three Heavens

God, says Reeve, is an eternal, uncreated spiritual person, in form like a man (1.7). That man is Christ Jesus, who once walked this earth but is now glorified in heaven (1.8). This is the ancient Holy One of Israel who 'will not give his glory to another' (3.38). All other titles bestowed upon the deity are mere name-calling and refer to the divine qualities as perceived by humans. Even Reeve, though, cannot quite bring himself to say that "Father" is just another word for "Son". Most emphatically, what God is not, is an invisible spirit (1.18). That would be something Reeve considers an absurdity. To be able to act and intervene, God must possess a locus, a being. Just as God is eternal, so lifeless matter in the 'formlessness' of dust and water has existed since before time. The three heavens and our world were created from these, not from nothing-at-all. Creation is the word of God breathing life into the previously lifeless dust and water (2.8). Since Reeve is loath to say evil derives from God's creation he sees it as a primal force lying in wait amongst the lifeless dust - a surprising prototype for the Cthulhu mythos.

The angels were the first created beings (3.1). They share the same form as human beings but possess spirits of pure reason (3.3). God's word creates creatures, not replica gods (3.12). Neither humans nor angels share in God's natural infinity (3.27). Sadly, whilst Reeve considers the relationship between God and angels, he ignores any general interaction between angels and humankind. Reeve states that he believes it was but a short time between the creation of the angels and the creation of man. Perhaps he wishes to avoid speculation like Laurence Clarkson's "Land of Nod" or the Jewish Lilith.

The serpent which tempted Eve was one of these angels (3.4). There had to be an angelic reprobate so that the angels would know their innate goodness came from God, and not out of their own natures (3.6). Satan sins, not because of what he wills but because of what God wills for him. Just as there can be no perception of light without darkness, so there can be no glory for some without shame and misery for others (5.36). Reeve does not consider why this rather worldly psychology has to exist in heaven. The angels, although created perfectly pure, require continual infusions of divine inspiration in order not to degenerate (4.26). That degeneration was what happened to the reprobate angel, satan. Reeve does not follow the line that evil may be merely the misapplication of things intended for good.