Welcome to CR, Tommy Shue!
Being new to the idea of posting my findings of the last 50 years onto a public forum, do I need to provide a personal background to establish credability or just plunge right in?
Credibility? We don' need no stinkin' credibility...
Eh, this is pretty much a earn as you go place when it comes to credibility. Be careful though, there are a few sharks out there like Alex mentioned that do seem to have their logic (among other things) pretty well sorted out.
For example:
If you substitute the phrase"the sky" for the word heaven(ancient Greek-hevn) does it change your perception of what was being said at that time?
Dunno, would have to see what specifically you are referencing, and what the specific definitions are for the Hebrew or Greek word in question (Strong's Concordance invaluable for this). There may be places where what you say holds merit, likewise there may be places where it doesn't...would have to see on a case by case...
In the mindset of the people of Jesus' time only birdscould fly because they had wings.
Umm, yeah, sorta. I mean, the old timers knew about bats and locusts and other flying animals too. And then there's the little issue with Ezekiel's flying "wheel within a wheel" and the chariot that came and took Elijah away.
We all know that angels,or Gods messangers, are pictured with having wings too. Therefore we can assume that they "flew", came down from the sky to deliver their messages.But where were they coming from?
Do we know? *All?* I think within the confines of a modern Western culture you might get away with saying something like this...even then I would hesitate. For instance, do the Chinese view "angels" as having wings? Some of their dragons certainly do, but I don't know about their angels. Considering the Chinese make up about 25% of the world's population, give or take, I think that's a sizable amount to presumptively lump into the fold if they actually don't fit the statement.
What of India? What of aboriginal cultures? How does one account for Pagan cultures?
Now, if you are possibly hinting at the Von Daniken / X-files / "we are being visited from outer space" idea, you are not the first to raise it here.
Of course, I couldn't get any takers any time I ever raised the issue...they all wanted me to put my tinfoil hat away!