Book Review: Behind the SeenBy Stanley O. Williford
Director of Publications
Ever wonder about those strange, unseen spirit entities mentioned in Scripture – thrones, dominions, principalities, powers, rulers and many others?
The question then arises: who or what are they really?
In his book, Behind the Seen: Angels, Demons, and the Battle for the Human Soul, Pastor Frederick K. Price, Jr., offers as comprehensive an understanding of these entities as we have ever had. In his introduction, Pastor Frederick admits: “What I have found is stunning, and all of it points to the world behind our world.”
There have been a lot of unsupported ideas and speculation taught in the past about this unseen world, but Behind the Seen offers a grand perspective backed by biblical and extra-biblical sources. For example, at the beginning of his book Pastor Price addresses the false assumption held by many that humans somehow become angels when they die. However, he shares that such a concept would be the direct opposite of the truth. A basis for his belief can be found in First Corinthians 6:3, which says:
Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this life?
Clearly, if man is to judge angels, then man must be in a higher position.
He also discusses the three heavens. “The first heaven is Earth’s atmosphere, the realm in which our breathing and weather occur,” he writes. The second heaven he identifies as “Satan’s domain.”
“The third Heaven [note the uppercase H] is where everyone wants to end up, whether they realize it or not, and whether they’re actually headed there or not,” he says.
On the other hand, there are other spiritual entities that most Christians have no idea about.
In Chapter One, titled The Celestial Hierarchy, readers will discover more than most Bible teachers know about the heavenly creatures that occupy seats of power. These include the aforementioned thrones, dominions, principalities, powers and rulers. Pastor Price calls them heavy-hitters, “though not the heaviest hitters in the heavenlies . . . ,” and certainly not the highest.
Behind the Seen is written in a fresh, breezy, conversational way, as if the author is discussing these entities with a friend. While the writing may be light and sprinkled with humor, the content is heavy. Perhaps one of the most interesting chapters is chapter 2, which is titled Lucifer, the Anointed Cherub. In this chapter, Pastor Price reveals something very important: “the predominant theme of Lucifer’s rebellion is found in his five declarations of ‘I will.’ “
- I will ascend into heaven. . .
- I will exalt my throne above the stars of God . . .
- I will also sit on the mount of the congregation . . .
- I will ascend above the heights of the clouds . . .
- I will be like the Most High . . .
Through Lucifer’s words and actions, sin came on the scene;not only the sin of humankind, but sin period. It became a template for all sin – the raising of the individual’s will above that of his Maker. . . . Satan then replicated that deception in the Garden of Eden, when as the serpent, he told Eve she could “be like God, knowing good and evil.”
As incredible as it seems, “millions of humans overtly revere and even worship Satan, the Adversary, just as Christians and Jews worship the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,” Pastor Price notes. He then lists three main satanic subsets.
Luciferians, he writes, worship Lucifer as deity. They “believe that any connection between Lucifer and Satan was fabricated by Christians to besmirch Lucifer’s reputation.”
Satanists are another subset and, according to Pastor Frederick, possibly the best known. “Although they often gather in ‘churches,’ they typically are not worshippers.” They are atheists and believe that neither God nor Satan exist.
Devil Worshippers make up the third group. “They are not only devoted to what he represents, they also believe that he exists, and they overtly worship him as their god,” according to Pastor Price.
In Chapter 3, titled I Saw Satan Fall Like Lightning, Pastor Price cites what he calls “angelic basics:”
- Angels are included in the hosts of Heaven
- Angels are messengers and are not to be worshiped
Egypt offers such gods as Isis and her child Horus. Among the false Roman gods were Zeus and Perseus, his son. Greek gods were Artemis, the twin sister of Apollo and daughter of Zeus. Among Zeus’ offspring were also Aphrodite, Hermes and Helen of Troy. In Rome, the counterpart to Zeus was Jupiter, the son of Saturn.
The list goes on.
Pastor Price tells us that angels not only fight on our behalf but may also be involved with the weather.
In Chapter 4, he discusses the Nephilim, the giant beings that were the offspring of angels and women. Most were destroyed during the Flood, but the Bible indicates a “post-Flood resurgence of giants.” Pastor Price offers a couple of theories of such a resurgence, as well as other enticing bits of information, and he offers a theory about how demons came to be.
We have touched very lightly on only the first three chapters of this book, but there is so much more. While the Bible may be hard to decipher in some portions, it is nice to have a rather definitive breakdown of many of the elements that are difficult to understand. In that area, Pastor Price’s book, Behind the Seen is a great eye-opener. In his study, he concludes “that demons are the disembodied spirits of ancient giants, the mighty men who were of old, men of renown (Gen. 6:4).”
Pastor Price asks in this chapter: Why didn’t God flood the earth before Noah came along? Better yet, why not when Adam rebelled, or after Cain killed his brother Abel? “What made the Flood so necessary in Noah’s day?” he asks. He believes the answer is found in Genesis 6:1-3, which says:
Now it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose. And the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.”
He points out that the reference where the sons of God saw the daughters of men, but those “sons of God” does not refer to people. The reference, he says, should read this way: “the angels of God saw the daughters of men.” The angels in this case were the Watchers, he says, but apparently they watched a little too closely. The Watchers took human wives for themselves, and their giant babies were the Nephilim. “The situation was dire,” Pastor Price writes. “The Flood was God’s sweeping response.”
Chapter 4, like the three chapters before it, is an outstanding read, full of ancient mystery. Titled The Nephilim, it takes the reader close to being halfway through this book, but there are six chapters left.
Chapter 5 is titled The Prince of the Power of the Air, and for those hooked on the supernatural, preternatural or paranormal movies or forms of entertainment, he cautions that Satan uses these “to peddle his larger anti-God, anti-Christ agenda,” as well as to reference the occult. Readers will recall many of the movies he cites in this chapter, such as Independence Day, Transformers, and several of the James Bond and Harry Potter movies.
Chapter 6, titled Angels, Demons and Alien Encounters, discusses, among other things, extraterrestrials, interplanetary creatures, technology, portals, space travelers, alien abductions, etc.
Chapter 7 is titled They Shall Cast Out Demons. This chapter deals with exorcisms, such metals as lead, iron, silver; holy water and grimoires (a book of spells and incantations), as well as other things.
Chapter 8, which is titled The Gates of Hell Shall Not Prevail, discusses the three heavens, hell, Abraham’s Bosom, Hades, the Abyss, Tartarus, and mainly places of the damned.
Chapter 9 concerns The Ministry of Angels.
Lastly, Chapter 10 is entitled Prepare for War, and it discusses, among other things, ways to steer clear of satanic attacks.
Put this book on the shelf with all your other biblical references, and study it regularly. Besides being a fount of great information, it can aid one in steering clear of many of the spiritual pitfalls in life.
https://eifm.netviewshop.com/shopdetail/fjb1
To find books by Apostle Frederick K.C. Price and Dr. Betty R. Price, go to www.faithdome.org/store. Click on Shop, then click the down arrow to find Books. Otherwise, call the church at (323) 758-3777 and ask for the bookstore.
