The Hum of Angels: Listening for the Messengers of God Around Us - Hardcover

Scot McKnight

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1601426313 ISBN 13: 9781601426314

Publisher: Waterbrook Press (A Division of Random House Inc), 2017

Synopsis

World-renowned New Testament Scholar, Dr. Scot McKnight offers a straightforward examination of what the Bible says about angels. Do our loved ones become angels when they die? Do we all have a specific guardian angel? Can we talk to angels? Do angels have wings? Should we be scared of them? What can we really know from the Bible about angels? Dr. Scot McKnight answers these questions and more in this straightforward examination of what the Bible says about these mysterious heavenly beings.

About this title

Review:

"Books on the angelic in the Bible are usually of varying quality--so fluffy and story filled they lack a coherent basis in Scripture, or so impenetrably philosophical one can't apply them to the normal Christian life. Scot McKnight's The Hum of Angels carefully avoids all these pitfalls and presents a sound and balanced biblical vision of God's angelic realm and its work. He helpfully reimagines the ministry of angels, while keeping his work rooted in and framed by Scripture. The Hum of Angels is a worthy addition to the library of anyone wanting a solid, insightful, and scriptural view of God's angelic ministers."
--Jonathan Macy, author of In the Shadow of His Wings and minister in the Church of England

"Angels are everywhere! Until I read this book, I must confess that even as a Bible teacher I'd missed how ever present angels are at key junctures and in critical ways throughout the biblical story. As a pastor, I'd been mostly blind to the angels all around us (which most people in our church body, statistics show, more readily see). This wonderful book opened not only my eyes but my ears to the beautiful hum of angels surrounding us--a harmony that points us to the melody of Jesus at the center."
--Joshua Ryan Butler, pastor at Imago Dei Community, Portland, OR; author of The Skeletons in God's Closet and The Pursuing God

"I make a practice of reading everything Scot McKnight writes because I learn so much from his bright mind and generous spirit. His work exemplifies an intelligent, rich way of understanding the Bible; and this wonderful book is no exception. After having read The Hum of Angels, I'll walk through my day with more awareness of God's loving presence and comfort, and more hope because of it."
--Shauna Niequist, New York Times best-selling author of Present over Perfect

"In The Hum of Angels, Scot McKnight invites us to consider the active and significant role angels play on the pages of Scripture and in fulfilling the purposes of God today--not for the sake of information, but for the sake of hope. How easy it is for us, from our ground-level perspective, to give discouragement and despair the upper hand. This reminder of the powerful activity of myriads of God's angels on our behalf is one more reason for hope to thrive in the future of God's ultimate victory over evil. This book is an eye-opening, reassuring, and hope-filled read."
--Carolyn Custis James, author of Half the Church: Recapturing God's Global Vision for Women and Malestrom: Manhood Swept into the Currents of a Changing World

"In the Hum of Angels Scot opens your mind to the true nature of angels as reported in the Bible and through history. I had no idea there were so many times that angels were present throughout the biblical story. I agree with Joshua Butler, it opened not only my eyes, but my ears to the beautiful hum of angels surrounding us. The book is divided into 4 major sections:
1. In defense of angels
2. God's loving presence in angels
3. God's loving advocacy from angels.
4. God's loving transformation through angels.

Scot maintains that 'If you believe in God, you also believe in angels.' Angels are not to be considered supernatural beings but rather an important moment that the person depicted it as an encounter with a messenger of God. Most of us believe in the angels that announced the birth of Christ, and made their appearance at His death, but this book illustrates time and time again the special moments throughout scripture. He does include some personal narratives of visitations with angels but by and large this is a detailed retelling of all the Bible accounts.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and the exploration of the history of angels. The various types of advocate, guidance, announcement, temptation, and warrior angels, to mention a few of the various types, was spiritually uplifting. The exploration of the Catholic and Episcopal Church histories was great."
--Lamplighter

About the Author:

Scot McKnight (Ph.D., University of Nottingham) is the Karl A. Olsson Professor in Religious Studies at North Park University. Prior to joining the NPU faculty in 1994, he was a professor at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He has written widely on the historical Jesus, Christian spirituality, and the Emerging Church. One of McKnight's more popular books, The Jesus Creed, won the Christianity Today's book award for 2004 in the area of Christian living. McKnight's blog, JesusCreed.org, has been a popular site for Emerging Church discussion. His other publications include: The Real Mary: Why Evangelical Christians Can Embrace the Mother of Jesus; Praying with the Church: Following Jesus Daily, Hourly, Today; Jesus and His Death: Historiography, the Historical Jesus, and Atonement Theory; Embracing Grace: A Gospel for All of Us; Turning to Jesus: The Sociology of Conversion in the Gospels; The Story of the Christ, with Philip Law; and 1 Peter and Galatians in NIV Application Commentary. His most recent publications include The Blue Parakeet: Rethinking How You Read the Bible and James (New International Commentary on the New Testament).

About this edition

• Publisher: Waterbrook Press (A Division of Random House Inc)
• Publication date: 2017
• ISBN 10: 1601426313
• ISBN 13: 9781601426314
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 224