The War in Heaven | Fate & Fabled

What happens when angels and demons battle in heaven? Islam, Judaism, and Christianity all have a story of cosmic conflict—some depict all-out war, while others are more courtroom drama. Their differences give us insight on each faith's beliefs about the afterlife, good and evil, and humans' moral responsibilities. But their similarities point to an ancient ancestor all three religions share.

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Hosted by Dr. Moiya McTier & Dr. Emily Zarka, FATE & FABLED explores the stories and characters of mythologies from all around the world - why they came to be and how they impact us still today.

Hosts: Emily Zarka, PhD & Moiya McTier, PhD
Writers: E.H. Matthews, Emily Zarka, PhD
Director: David Schulte
Executive Producer: Amanda Fox
Producer: Thomas Fernandes
Editor / Animator: Steven Simone
Illustrator: Sophie Calhoun
Script Editors: Emily Zarka, PhD & Moiya McTier, PhD
Fact Checker: Yvonne McGreevy
Additional Footage: Shutterstock
Music: APM Music
Executive in Charge (PBS): Maribel Lopez
Director of Programming (PBS): Gabrielle Ewing
Assistant Director of Programming (PBS): John Campbell

Fate & Fabled is produced by Spotzen for PBS Digital Studios.
Descriptive Audio & Captions provided by The Described and Captioned Media Program

[GravesRWFiA]

dogs and cats, living together, mass hysteria!

[corvinalevanthi]

this video couldn't have been posted at a more perfect time than this. just as i was in the throes of restless doubts about my english literature major and had no motivation whatsoever to study for tomorrow's paradise lost lecture, seeing this video reminded me of how passionate i once was about my major. perhaps i should take this as a wake up call for myself.

[RidireOiche]

Prometheus the fire bringer is another light bringer who was cast out and punished by the main god of the mythology from which his story features.

[harrisonfletcher]

Thank you for explaining that Lucifer is not the Judeo-Christian devil. It's such a common misconception.

[colbymullenix]

7:04 It’s good to see Hazbin Hotel being used as a recent pop cultural example for this topic.

[onerayoflight]

You might want to expand your comparative religion studies to Hinduism. There are various Gods and Goddesses who are involved in similar battles. Durga combats evil and demonic forces. Krishna kills Demons. Krishna is an incarnation of Vishnu, and there is one story that Vishnu reincarnated as Kalki will appear at the end of the world.

[wimvanderstraeten]

John Milton in the movie The Devil's Advocate (1997) is my favorite depiction of the devil in fiction ("I'm a fan of man!"). The name is an obvious reference to the author of Paradise Lost.

[sapphirII]

Talking about the apple. I love the explaination in Shin Megami Tensei V. The throne of creation used to be fought over by the nahobinos, beings of infinite life and knowledge, and often changed who was the ruling god, when the god of law took possession, he decreed that there would be no more nahobinos beside him, stealing the knowledge from them and practically put them inside the tree, and regressing the other nahobinos into demons. When the first humans ate the fruit, they gained the knowledge, and got randomly passed down within humanity. Demons, seeking their lost knowledge preyed on humans. (although those that did found themselves into weak insificant creature while the decree was there) It changed when the leader of the forces of chaos killed god.

[ReynaSingh]

it's fascinating to see the ways that translation can vastly change the meaning of a text, but underneath the language that we dress our ideas in, there could very well be a singular universal truth

[thedragondemands]

Morgoth lusted after the Flame Imperishable and sought the Creator's Secret Fire, and so he sowed discord amongst the harmony of the Music

[rami_ungar_writer]

As a Jewish person, you picked up our philosophy pretty well. Yeah, The Accuser isn't a specific angel. More like a roll some angels play from time to time. They make great prosecutors, though.

[kimberlyterasaki]

I think there's also an interesting argument that as modern generations move away from organized religion, Lucifer and many Devil-like figures have become less antagonistic and more anti-heroic. The Lucifer TV show and Hazbin Hotel both portray Lucifer as a rebel who was unfairly punished by the universe for daring to question the way things are.
Similarly, Lilith has become a bit of a feminist icon, having refused to marry and submit to Adam and being punished for it, much like how generations of women have been punished by the church.

[suzannestrickland]

I am loving watching the pantheon come together.

I also think you did a pretty good job of covering this topic.

As always, I look forward to more

[RictusHolloweye]

Storm of the Century had a great line regarding Job and the trials he was put through.

Something about Job asking for an explanation and God replying "I guess there's just something about you that pisses me off".

[stacylitwin]

Love the videos separately, never even considered having both Dr Z & Dr McT together and ever since it has been a balm to my soul, keep 'em coming

[Chaotic-Toast]

One of my favorite books series, His Dark Materials culminates in a full-on war in what the book calls The Kingdom of Heaven, which is full of angels, god (the Authority as he’s called) and all the heaven stuff except for the actual dead humans. The Kingdom of Heaven’s is attacking the newer, less authoritarian Republic of Heaven.

So it almost flips the concepts of good and evil in the monotheistic abrahamic sense on their head while poking at the real-life harm that the church has had in history

[The.Crystal.Clods.]

There are still practicing Zoroastrians alive today, kinda weird to have it grammatically spoken of in past tense.

[lapispyrite]

This came out at just the right time. I’ve recently been working on writing a creation myth for my fantasy world, and I’ve been delving into Hebrew to try and understand the meaning of lots of the terms we use nowadays in Christianity

[Bubblesthewitch]

As a practicing pagan if I met someone who worked with your pantheon I would be terrified of them. Also Emily’s side of the list is so much more unhinged.

[Just_Some_Guy_with_a_Mustache]

Gotta admit, Moiya and Emily are amassing very interesting dodgeball teams.
Moiya: "I think I'll go with Hippolyta."
Emily: 'Oh? Well I pick Jesus."