According to a March 2004 Gallup poll, belief in angels and
demons is on the rise, at least in the Unbited States. In 1994, 72%
of Americans said they believed in angels; in 2004, 78% indicated
belief in angels. Belief in the devil has risen even more
dramatically, increasing from 55% in 1990 to 70% in 2004.
Other English-speaking countries are more skeptical, however. In
November 2004, a Gallup poll showed that 56% of Canadians and 36%
of Britons believe in angels and only 37% of Canadians and 29% of
Britons believe in the devil.
Belief in angels is common to Christianity, Judaism and Islam. The
concept of angelic beings is very similar in all three faiths:
angels are spiritual beings who were created by God before the
world was created. Their role is to glorify God, minister to God,
and, especially, act as God's messengers to humans in matters of
great importance (such as the announcement to Mary in Christianity
and the revelation of the Qur'an in Islam). They are also helpers
and guardians of the faithful.
Angels in the New Testament
In the New Testament, angels appear frequently as the ministers of
God and the agents of revelation (Matt 1:20 (to Joseph), 4:11 (to
Jesus), Luke 1:26 (to Mary), Acts 12:7 (to Peter)); and Jesus
speaks of angels as fulfilling such functions (Mark 8:38, 13:27),
implying in one saying that they neither marry nor are given in
marriage (Mark 12:25). Angels are most prominent in
Revelation.
The New Testament takes little interest in the idea of the angelic
hierarchy that developed later, but there are traces of the
doctrine. The distinction of good and bad angels is recognized;
there are names: Gabriel (Luke 1:19), the evil angels Abaddon or
Apollyon (Rev. 9:11), Beelzebub (Mark 3:22) and Satan (Mark 1:13);
ranks are implied: archangels (Michael, Jude 9), principalities and
powers (Rom. 8:38; Col. 2:10), thrones and dominions (Col 1:16).
Angels occur in groups of four or seven (Rev 7:1).
In Rev 1-3 we meet with the "Angels" of the Seven Churches of Asia
Minor. These are probably guardian angels, standing to the churches
in the same relation that the "princes" in Daniel stand to the
nations; practically the "angels" are personifications of the
churches. A less likely view is that the "angels" are the human
representatives of the churches, the bishops or chief
presbyters.
The angel Gabriel appeared to Mary in the traditional role of
messenger to inform her that her child would be the Messiah, and
other angels were present to herald his birth. An angel appeared at
Jesus' tomb, frightened the Roman guards, rolled away the stone
from the tomb, and later told the myrrh-bearing women of Jesus'
resurrection. Two angels witnessed Jesus' ascent into Heaven and
prophesied his return. When Peter was imprisoned, an angel put his
guards to sleep, released him from his chains, and led him out of
the prison. Angels fill a number of different roles in the book of
Revelation. Among other things, they are seen gathered around the
Throne of God singing the "Holy, holy, holy" hymn.
Artistic and Literary Depictions of Angels in Christianity
Angels are frequently depicted as human in appearance, though many
theologians have argued that they have no physical existence.
(Hence the frequently recounted tale of Scholastics arguing about
how many angels could fit on a pinhead; if angels possess physical
bodies, the answer is "a finite number", if they do not, the answer
is "an infinite number".) Seraphim are often depicted as six wings
radiating from a center either concealing a body, or without a
body.
Beginning in the end of the 4th century, angels were depicted with
wings, presumably to give an easy explanation for them travelling
to and from heaven or to depict them as spirits. Scholastic
theologians teach that angels are able to reason instantly, and to
move instantly. They also teach that angels are intermediaries to
some forces that would otherwise be natural forces of the universe,
such as the rotation of planets and the motion of stars. Angels
possess the beatific vision, or the unencumbered understanding of
God (the essence of the pleasure of heaven). Furthermore, there are
more angels then there are anything else in the universe (although
when first written this would have probably not included atoms
since atomic structure was not known).
Religious thought about the angels during the middle ages was much
influenced by the theory of the angelic hierarchy set forth in the
The Celestial Hierarchy, written in the 5th century in the name of
Dionysius the Areopagite. The creeds and confessions do not
formulate any authoritative doctrine of angels; and modern
rationalism has tended to deny the existence of such beings, or to
regard the subject as one on which we can have no certain
knowledge. The principle of continuity, however, seems to require
the existence of beings intermediate between man and God.
Some Christian traditions hold that angels are organized into three
major Hierarchies which are subdivided into orders or Choirs, and
list as many as ten orders of angels. This is particularly clear in
the above-mentioned The Celestial Hierarchy, which gives the names
that have become part of tradition: Angels, Archangels,
Principalities, Powers, Virtues, Dominions, Thrones, Cherubim, and
Seraphim. In this hierarchy, the Cherubim and Seraphim are
typically closest to God, while the Angels and Archangels are most
active in human affairs. Many of these names come from verses in
the Bbible which would appear at first to be referencing a literal
thing, although retroactively suggesting that they really mention
angels can also make sense in the context. For example the verse in
Paul "our struggle is not with earthly things but with
principalities and powers" (meaning, according to most theologians,
the fallen angels of those choirs, used as an example of all the
fallen angels).
Some Christian traditions also hold that angels play a variety of
specific roles in the lives of believers. For instance, each
Christian may be assigned a guardian angel at their baptism
(although never defined by the Catholic or Orthodox churches, this
is personally held by many church members and theologians). Each
consecrated altar has at least one angel always present offering up
prayers, and a number of angels join the congregation when they
meet to pray. In the story of the 40 martyrs of Sebaste, in which
40 Christian Roman soldiers were made to stand naked on a frozen
lake in the snow until they renounced their faith, angels were seen
descending from Heaven placing the crowns of martyrs on their
heads.
Certain Christian traditions, especially the Protestant Reformed
tradition, hold that references to the "Angel of the Lord" are
references to pre-Incarnation appearances of Jesus.
In many informal folk beliefs among Christians concerning the
afterlife, the souls of the virtuous dead ascend into Heaven to be
converted into angels. However, this belief is not supported by the
Bible and theologians are quick to discount it.
