Dr Paul Allen

There are many stories of supernatural protection from angels. One inner‑city counselor claimed a seven‑foot angel protected her from a gang of thugs.1 On the other hand, Wolly Tope established a Christian ministry to people disillusioned by false and cultic teachings. In April 1992 he had an appointment with destiny. When he heard about riots breaking out in Los Angeles, Tope took to the streets and preached to the rioters. A gang of hoodlums beats him so severely that he fell into a coma. Tope died the following year, never regaining consciousness after his beating. Why didn’t angels protect Tope during the riots? If everyone or at least every Christian has a guardian angel, where was his guardian angel that night? Belief in guardian angels is nothing new. Ancient thinkers of the Greco-Roman world such as Plato, Plutarch, and Plotinus believed in spiritual guardians, as did Babylonian and Assyrian writers.2 Ancient Jewish traditions suggested that angels were assigned to everyone.3 S

The Bible is considered the best-selling book in history. Estimates say some five billion copies have been sold. It is thought to be the most translated and distributed book in the world. Bibles have been burned, smuggled, and dipped in blood. It’s safe to say that no other book has drawn more comment and controversy than the Bible. The Bible contains a collection of 66 books (39 Old Testament, 27 New Testament) originally written in three languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek) over a period of about 1600 years through the instrumentation of some 40 different writes, from around the Mediterranean region. But, what is the Bible exactly? This has been an important question in my life. Permit a brief testimony to explain. Well into my adult life and education, I thought that the Bible was a collection of bizarre, man-made tales with zero bearing on the world today which had been concocted by some hand-wringing, narrow-minded fascists looking to oppress people for personal gain. Throughout,