**BOOKS** The Origin of Evil (by Chuck Missler)

 Most people -especially non-Christians - might imagine Bible study to be boring and just a read-and-discuss kind of exercise. I guess that might be true of a lot of Bible studies but not the ones led by Chuck Missler - or any Koinonia Institute teachers.

I recently signed up at Koinonia Institute for Bible classes but have not enrolled in any of the courses yet. Taking a course is a bit of a commitment because, although most are self-paced, there is class participation and quizzes, etc.   I want to wait until my brain is feeling steady before I start. In the meantime, I listen to and watch some of the many books and video courses offered by those from Koinonia. (At the end of this post, I will link to some of the videos and suggest ways to access the books for free through library resources.)

I am currently listening to the audiobook of "The Origin of Evil" by Missler.  It's a 2-hour listen but I like to slow down the playback and backtrack over certain parts. Reading the book would be easier but my online library only has the audiobook format. If you don't have library access, you can get it at Amazon in various formats.

This is the synopsis shown:

The best way for me to tell you why I recommend this book is to share some of the notes I jotted down for further study:

• Gabriel is the messenger angel. He is the announcer of news about the Messiah. (Find & list examples of this.)
• Michael is the warrior angel. At war on behalf of God's people. In Daniel 10, when Gabriel was trying to get a message to the fasting Daniel, something was blocking his way. Michael came to his aid. 
• How important was the 21-day fast Daniel completed? Where else does "21" show up in this scenario?
• Michael and Gabriel are the only 2 (of God's) angels with names and specific jobs. 
• Fallen angels & demons are not the same things. (follow up on this.)
• The war is not between God and Satan; the war is between Satan and us.
• The Gap Theory:
• When were the angels created? and
• When did Satan fall?
• Read about Jesus being tempted in the wilderness by Satan after his fast. Pay attention to details:
• Does Satan (for now) have power over the earthly kingdoms? He is (for now) the Prince of this world. Principalities & "rulers of darkness" - think about this. Study what it means: powers, principalities...
• Notice how Jesus responds to every temptation with the Word of God (we should learn to do the same.)
• Satan departed from Jesus "for a season". Study that.

Those were my easy notes. I had some hard ones to do with physics. For example, in making a point, Missler points out that "there is a limit to smallness". He went into the physics of it and I had to consult with the science nerds of the Christian community on Reddit. One user helped tremendously and I think I sort of get the concept now.

What I love about these kinds of studies is that I am reminded that the Bible is an endless well of information - in every area. I think I have learned more about science, biology, astronomy, and philosophy in a year of Bible study than in all other my years alive.

Should you feel inclined to check out more, here are some of the links I promised:

• Koinonia House's YouTube channel 
• The NarrowPathMatt714 YouTube channel's list of KH videos is easier for me to sort through when doing a study on a particular book of the Bible. For example, if I am in Genesis and stop at a particular point, I can find my way back easier here.
• My favorite study from Missler is Learn the Bible in 24 Hours. This one never gets old. I also have the book from Amazon. 

This should get you started. And a word of advice when listening to Missler: his mind moves fast so he talks fast. I always slow down the speed on audiobooks and videos just so I can keep up. On YouTube, you can do this by opening the Settings wheel and selecting Playback Speed. Also, I suggest using captions whenever they are available.

I hope this is useful and God bless.

Peace

--Free