ANGELS, PART II
Quotable Quote: “He (God) reaches down to meet us where we are at and doesn’t demand that we climb the ‘stairway to heaven’ in order to grovel before Him.”
I had a wonderful seminary experience. In fact, I spent years getting a Masters in Theology and doing course work toward a doctorate. At one time, I jokingly called myself the oldest living seminarian. I loved the challenge of learning and writing. However, as with many academic pursuits, seminary course work can often be very rarefied and unrelated to a pastor’s day-to-day experience. For instance, I found that congregants often have bible questions that are glossed over in seminary. The average “Joe” or “Jane” wants to know about angels and demons because they appear so often in the New Testament. Yet, I cannot recall one seminary lecture or discussion about these things.
The good news is that Angelology (the study of Angels) was a popular pursuit in Christian antiquity and during the Medieval era. So, we have sources to rely on. While I am not an expert, I know where to find expert input about angels and demons.
In this reflection I am going to pick up where I left off. However, if you have any questions about angels, please let me know and I will do my best to provide an answer in this series.
In Angels, Part I, I made the point that angels do not have bodies but they can appear to us in a bodily form so that we can relate with them. Thomas Aquinas stated it this way, “…by divine power sensible bodies are so fashioned by angels as to fittingly represent the intelligible properties of an angel” (Summa Ia, Q. 51, A. 2 ad 2). Notice that Aquinas says that “by divine power” an angel can fashion a body that humans can sense. So, it is God’s power working through the angel that actually produces the apparition (a supernatural appearance of a person or thing). We see that the bodily appearance of an angel is temporary and for our benefit. This, again, demonstrates the immense love that God has for us. He reaches down to meet us where we are at and doesn’t demand that we climb the “stairway to heaven” in order to grovel before Him.
By the way, angels do not engage in sex while they assume a bodily form. This would be impossible, unnatural, and unholy. Many Christians and, even, bible teachers have believed that “fallen angels” had sex with human women based on Genesis 6:4. Both Augustine and Aquinas taught strongly against this notion based on two things. First, the angelic being would have to be a real human to assume all the bodily functions of a human. There is only one heavenly being who has done this, and that is the Holy Son of God. This was accomplished by divine power. Angels–especially fallen angels–do not have the power to create a true miraculous incarnation. Secondly, an angelic incarnation would be derogatory of and diminish the uniqueness of Christ’s Incarnation. He is the only Mediator between God and man.
Both Augustine and Aquinas agreed that if Genesis 6:4 refers to demonic activity (and that is debatable), then it is referring to demons entering into humans spiritually to possess them. It cannot mean that angelic beings can create real human bodies and assume them.
What have we learned? For one thing, we have learned that the study of angels is an important topic because angels appear all over the place in the Bible. We have learned they are spiritual beings with their own will and intelligence. While they do not have bodies, by God’s power, they can appear to us in a bodily form. Most importantly, the Blessed Angels express God’s care and love for us. Think about it, God has created a whole category of being for the purpose of serving Him and ministering to us. What more do we need to convince us that God is inherently loving.