“gods and UFOs”: A Review of Within Grasp: My Evolving Journey Discovers More Truths Beyond the Bible by W. Wallace Wagner, Jr.
(Creative Short Book Writers Project, 2022). ISBN: 979-8351885292 At 423 pages, Within Grasp is a considered, detailed exploration of the possibility (probability?) that what was termed God in the Old Testament (and various books that were deemed “apocryphal” or otherwise unworthy [undesirable?] of what became the Bible) was actually extraterrestrial beings advanced enough to appear to humans as god-like . This thesis calls to mind Arthur C. Clarke’s third law that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. Using numerous approaches: his own close reads of biblical passages; interviews with reverends, ex-military, spiritual practitioners, and lay people; and the complete texts of the Gospel of Thomas, Book of Enoch, Gospel of Mary, and Apocalypse of Baruch (the latter of which comprise roughly half the book), Wagner presents a compelling case. He also graciously leaves a great deal for us to work through on our own. Although the matter at hand is c...