God's Monsters

Vengeful Spirits, Deadly Angels, Hybrid Creatures, and Divine Hitmen of the Bible

By: Esther Hamori

Narrated by: Lisa Larsen

The Bible is teeming with monsters. Giants tromp through the land of milk and honey; Leviathan swims through the wine-dark sea. A stunning array of peculiar creatures, mind-altering spirits, and supernatural hitmen fill the biblical heavens.

Traditional interpretations of the creatures of the Bible have sanded down their sharp, unsavory edges, transforming them into celestial beings of glory and light—or chubby, happy cherubs. Those cherubs? They're actually hybrid guardian monsters, more closely associated with the Egyptian sphinx than with flying babies. And the seraphim? Winged serpents sent to mete out God's vengeance. Demons aren't at war with angels; they're a distinct supernatural species used by Satan and by God. The pattern is chilling. Most of these monsters aren't God's opponents—they're God's entourage.

Killer angels, plague demons, manipulative spirits, creatures with an alarming number of wings (and eyes all over)—these shapeshifters and realm-crossers act with stunning brutality, each reflecting a facet of God's own monstrosity. Confronting God's monsters—and the God-monster—may be uncomfortable, but the Bible is richer for their presence. For anyone interested in monsters, myths, folklore, demons, and more, God's Monsters is an entertaining deep dive into the creaturely strangeness of the Bible.

©2023 Esther J. Hamori (P)2023 eChristian

Honest look at the hard parts of the Bible

The author took a hard hitting look at the spooky, weird, and downright terrifying tales of the Bible, ultimately revealing how God himself is not above the fray. This forces readers to make an intellectually honest assessment about who exactly this God is, and why does he do or allow these things. I’ve always enjoyed great Biblical analysis and scholarship, and this did not disappoint. Be warned though, this will challenge our conception of the feel-good, all-loving Heavenly Father we hear about in Sunday School as kids!

As a Gen X reader, I caught just about all of the 80s/90s pop culture references. The author is rhetorically gifted and has a great sense of humor. I would enjoy her class if I were a Union Seminary student. Great book and highly recommended.

God’s Monsters

I had no idea how god is viewed in the Bible. I was always taught that it was our fault when something bad happened. God’s punishment. This is the god that I’ve come to see in my own misery and I hated him for it. I was raised as a fundamentalist. Everything god did was for our benefit. He is kinda human, only he can do awful things to good people just because. We are created in his image. This book was phenomenal. I first learned of it on Bart Ehrman’s blog. On of the best books I’ve read in a long, long time.

intuitive observations

The story highlights what the Bible actually says!
Bringing to light things people don't like to think about or haven't taken the time to actually understand.

The vivid descriptions in detail were perfect. 

This book desperately provided the insight needed into the dualistic nature of God in this earthly realm. There is no all good, all loving entity within the Bible. It is a book of highs and lows, death and rebirth, creation, and destruction. 

Loved it

Dr. Hamori leads a fascinating, and easy to understand, journey through some of the mythical figures appearing in the Bible. I loved the descriptions, accompanied by details revealed about the same (if not similar) characters in other Semitic literature of the time. Highly recommended for anyone curious about ancient writings and some of the figures that appear. And also how history was told through “monstering” other groups of people

Just too editorial

On the one hand, the book is one of the few books which tries to remove the smoothing or sanitizing done to the Bible by English translators. In the sense, it’s helpful and educational.

On the other hand, if you are looking for information from a source which sticks as close to facts and logic as possible, this isn’t it. Just as English translators gloss the actual meaning of the Hebrew, she goes the other way to make it worse than it really is.

Overall, it was education but the education is too buried in her editorializing and overstatements.

In the end, it’s worth the listen because there are so few books in this theme. But please don’t let this be the only book you listen to on this theme.

Very informative! Extremely interesting!

I’ve studied the Bible for years and wasn’t aware of all the information provided in this book. The writing kept me engaged the whole time!

Will leave you wondering if Christian Media was Dooped

I fear some people may delete this, and ask for their credit back before the author gets to her point. Interesting though

A Monster Task

It's not easy trying to illuminate the dark side of God. I can fully say, this book didn't disappoint. The oldest interpretation's and manuscript's concerning the Bible tell a slightly different story. Believer's beware, this is a book medieval Christians would have burned without a second thought.

Really an Amazing Book

Entertaining, smart, and funny, but serious and well-cited as well. The conclusion is really deep and insightful, and a little unexpected, but it makes perfect sense and is inescapable once you reach it. And I enjoyed every step along the way!