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In recent years
there has been much interest in the supernatural and especially on the
powers of angels and demons. From the days of the Exorcist, a film which
dealt with the practice of exorcism by the Roman Catholic Church, people
were awakened to the reality of the devil and that his evil works are
very real in the world. At the time the film was very frightening and
shocking with hideous, blasphemous and gruesome details. Many people
were reported to had been taken ill on seeing the film, which probably
added to the high level of interest and curiosity; a curiosity for the
unknown world of spirits and an unusual interest in the devil. Since
then hundreds of films have come off the conveyer belt dealing with the
supernatural and evil forces: each trying to be more frightening that
the last. The majority were just cheap and silly productions, though
some tried to approach the subject of the devil through scripture, but
all fell short of the truth because the scriptures were interpreted
though rational western minds and the film industry's need to exaggerate
with the intent to shock. The more frightening the film, the more
appealing it was to the public, the more cash in the industry's pockets.
But even though the
films were not religiously correct, they did bring people face to face
with the question of whether there was an ongoing spiritual battle
between the forces of evil and the forces of good. People needed to know
more and emphasis was now turned from the demons to the angels and their
protective powers. A whole industry developed cashing in on the good
powers of the angels and even fortune tellers who once used tarot cards
for their false predictions turned to using angel cards, angel coloured
rays and supposedly angel healing powers; these being more appealing
than the older methods which many people associated with evil.
With such
interest in angels and demons, and many fantasies and myths that
surround them, we need to know what Scripture and the Church teaches on
these entities. To begin, demons need not be mentioned because they too
are angels that fell from the grace of God and from being angels of
light became angels of darkness.
Angels are heavenly creatures created by God before the creation of the
material world and man. Our Symbol of Faith says: "I believe in One God
the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and of all things
visible and invisible." The invisible world was God's first creation,
the material world his second creation and third and last God created
man which is both spirit and material.
In the Book
of Genesis it says that: "in the beginning God
created heaven and earth". The word heaven has been understood by
some of the Fathers of the Church as meaning the invisible heaven; the
world of angels and not the firmament which is part of the material
world and therefore created later.
We do not
know exactly when the angels were created although it is believed that
they were created at the same time as heaven or just after. It is
logical to say that as the earth was created before man as a ready
habitation for him, so also heaven was created first before the angels
as a ready habitation for them. From scripture we know that the angels
were created before the stars for it says in the Book of Job:
“When the stars were made, all Mine angels praised
Me with a loud voice.” (Job 38:7)
Angels vary
between themselves according to rank and illumination. St. Dionysius the
Areopagite, a disciple of the Apostle Paul says that there is a
spiritual hierarchy of the heavenly bodiless powers. There are nine
ranks of angels which are known to us from scripture, which are divided
into three groups of three. The first and highest group and those that
stand closest to God consists of angels known as the Six-winged
Seraphim, the many-eyed Cherubim and Thrones. The second group are known
as Dominions, Powers and Authorities and the third group as
Principalities, Archangels and Angels.
Many Church
fathers like Sts. Ignatius the God-bearer, Gregory the Theologian, John
Chrysostom, Gregory the Dialogist, John of Damascus and others all agree
that the ranks of angels are nine. We know the names of these ranks
through Holy Scripture. The existence of angels and archangels is
witnessed throughout Holy Scripture. The Book of Genesis, Exodus and the
Psalms mention the Cherubim, The Book of Isaiah the Seraphim. The other
ranks of angels are known to us from the Epistles of St. Paul to the
Romans, Ephesians and Colossians. That these names refer to created
beings is clear from the Epistle to the Colossians which says:
"For by him were all things created, that are in
heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be
thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were
created by him, and for him." (Colossians 1:16)
It is
possible that there are also other ranks that are not known to us. St.
John Chrysostom and others were of the opinion that there were numerous
and unimaginable other ranks of angels that inhabit the heavens. This
they based on Paul's letter to the Ephesians where he says that the
Father raised up Christ: "and set him at his own
right hand in the heavenly places, Far above all principality, and
power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only
in this world, but also in that which is to come." (Ephesians 1:
20-21) From this we understand that there are names that are unknown to
us now, but in that future time will be revealed to us. These ideas,
however, are regarded by the Church not as dogma, but as personal
opinions which may or may not be true.
So what are
angels, what is their nature, why were they created, what is their
purpose in relationship to God and what is their purpose in relationship
to man? Let's begin with what are angels and what is their nature.
As pure
spiritual beings, the angels don't have a material body and therefore do
not have bodily needs. They are sexless, in other words, because they
have no body they are neither male nor female and cannot multiply nor
have any such desire. They do not decay or die and, as with the creation
of man, they also were created in God's image with the gift of free will
and independence, having the possibility to choose between obedience or
disobedience to God.
St. John of
Damascus says of the angels: "An angel is an intelligent essence and
rational, in perpetual motion, with free-will, bodiless, ministering to
God, having obtained by grace an immortal nature: and the Creator alone
knows the form and limitation of its essence. But all that we can
understand is that it is spiritual and bodiless. An angel is spiritual
and bodiless in relation to us, but when compared to God who alone is
incomparable, the angel is found to be dense and material. For in
reality only God is bodiless and spiritual.
The angel,
as a created nature is subject to change for only God is unchangeable.
Thus an angel like man created with intelligence, free will and subject
to change, has the power to either abide or progress in goodness or to
turn towards evil.
But unlike
man who, because of the weakness of his body, has the possibility to
repent, an angel, because he has no body, is not disposed to repentance.
It is the body that makes repentance possible in man, the angels having
no body makes repentance impossible for them. But even though they have
the power to move towards evil, they do not change easily: they are more
steadfast in faith and obedient to God than man and as we shall see
later, after the fall of Lucifer, they have remained forever steadfast
in holiness and goodness and can no more fall into sin. Thus the angels
were not created as perfect beings. They are changeable and like man are
continually moving towards perfection, continually moving upwards to
learn and understand God's never ending glory. They have the possibility
to be perfect by continually partaking in the grace of the Holy Spirit,
which is the source of their holiness. In other words they are not holy
by nature, because then they would be identified with the Holy Spirit,
they are holy because of their communion with holiness.
Angels
receive their light and holiness from God. They do not constitute of
themselves a source of light and holiness, but receive the light and
holiness from the Holy Spirit. Thus they are called secondary lights and
the higher ranks of angels transmit this light to the lower ranks and to
men.
The angels
are immortal, but like the soul of man which also is immortal; this
immortality is not by nature, but through the grace of God. All that has
a beginning also has an end: only God is without beginning and without
end. Only God is truly eternal, or rather above the eternal for as the
creator of time he is not under the dominion of time, but above time.
Angels can
move from place to place at great speeds, but as created beings, they
are circumscribed, they are not omnipresent, in other words they are not
in two places at the same time. When they are in Heaven they are not on
earth: and when they are sent by God down to earth they do not remain in
Heaven. Also as spiritual beings they cannot be restricted by walls and
doors.
Angels are
the most perfect spirits, superior to man in their spiritual powers; but
even they, like all creation; are bound by their limitations. Their mind
has a much more exalted quality than that of the human mind and in power
and strength they transcend all earthly authorities. (II Pet. 2:11)
Their strength is witnessed at the Resurrection when the angel, with
ease, rolled the stone away from the tomb, yet would have needed many
human hands to move it. They have no need of tongue or hearing, but
without uttering words they communicate to each other their own thoughts
and counsels.
The nature
of an angel is higher than the nature of a man, but as King David says
in the Psalms concerning what man is to God: "Thou
madest him a little less than angels, thou hast crowned him with glory
and honour and thou hast set him over the works of thy hands: thou hast
put all things under his feet." (Psalm 8:5) Angels were created
as ministering spirits as the Apostle Paul writes:
"Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them
who shall be heirs of salvation?" (Heb. 1:14). Thus for now their
nature is higher than the nature of man but when the time is fulfilled
man will be exalted above the angels.
Angels have
their limitations. Holy Scripture tells us that they do not know the
depths of the essence of God, which is known only to the Spirit of God:
"The things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit
of God" (I Cor. 2:11). They do not know the future, which is also
known only to God: " But of that day and that hour
knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven." (Mark
13:32) The angels are also incapable of fully understanding the mystery
of redemption, which they "desire to look into"
(I Pet. 1:12) but cannot. They are even incapable of knowing all human
thoughts (Kings 8:39), and cannot perform miracles on their own but only
by the will of God. "Blessed is the Lord, the God
of Israel, Who alone doeth wonders" (Ps. 71:19).
So why did
God create the angels? God did not create the angels for his own needs,
but out of his immeasurable love and goodness so that they might share
and partake of his divine blessedness. They see continuously the face of
God and this is their nourishment.
The main
work of the angels is to continually hymn the glory of God, but also to
serve the events of divine economy concerning the material world and
care for the salvation of man. The name angel means messenger and refers
to their ministry as messengers of God to the human race. It is believed
that some stand before the great God while others are set in command of
elements, the heavens, the world and all that is within it. Each angel
has received under his control and protection some particular part of
the universe. According to the vision of the Prophet Daniel, there are
angels to whom God entrusts the fate of the kingdoms and peoples of the
earth (Dan. chapters 10-12). Based on the Book of Revelations, it is
believed that certain angels are set in charge of the kingdom of nature
for example it says: : "And I heard the angel of
the waters say . . ."; "I saw four angels standing on the four corners
of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should
not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree;": Rev.
7:1 : "And another angel came out from the altar,
which had power over fire". Rev. 14:18
We do not
know the numbers of the angels, but Holy Scripture depicts them as
innumerable. When the Prophet Daniel saw the Ancient of Days in a
vision, he saw that "thousand thousands ministered
unto Him, and ten thousands of myriads attended upon Him" (Dan.
7:10).
Imagine all
mankind, from Adam to the present day. Great is their multitude, but it
is small in comparison with the angels, whose numbers are greater. From
the parable of the lost sheep, it is interpreted that the angels are the
ninety-nine sheep, whereas the human race is the one lost sheep. By the
greatness of a place one can judge the numbers of those who dwell in it.
The earth we inhabit is a mere dot in the heavens, thus the heaven that
surrounds it must have a much greater number of inhabitants. As is has
greater space, the heavens of heavens hold their innumerable number.
I mentioned
that the angels are divided into three groups: those belonging to the
lowest hierarchy being the principalities, archangels, and angels. It is
these angels that are closest to man and who watch over the world,
protecting and guarding every kingdom and principality, every province
and people, every tribe and nation. Each place has its angel as guardian
and governor.
In
Revelations we also read of "the seven spirits
which are before God's throne" (Rev. 1:4) and later we are told
that these seven angels are the angels of the seven churches. According
to tradition these seven are the Archangels. The Archangels are called
the great heralds of good news, announcing to men great and wondrous
things. They deliver prophecies to men and enlighten them so that they
may know and understand the will of God. Scripture has revealed the
names of four of these archangels as Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael and
from the Hebrew masoretic text Uriel. Certain traditions and sources
also give the names of the other three but they are not in agreement
with each other.
Michael,
meaning he who is like unto God, is mentioned by name in the Book of
Daniel (Dan. 10:13; 12:1), in the Epistle of Jude (Jude 1: 9), and
Revelation (Rev. 12:7-8). He is mentioned as the archangel and in the
Book of Joshua he reveals himself as "the chief
captain of the host of the Lord" (Joshua 5:14)
Gabriel,
meaning "Man of God" is mentioned by name in Daniel, but especially in
the Gospel of Luke where he announced to Mary that she had been chosen
to give birth to the Saviour of the world.
Raphael
meaning "help of God" accompanied Tobit for many days and revealed
himself saying "I am Raphael, one of the seven
holy angels, which present the prayers of the saints, and which go in
and out before the glory of the Holy One." (Tobit 12:15)
Both the Old
and New Testaments are full of references to angels and how they
interact with the world and men. From the New Testament alone an angel
announced the birth of John the Baptist to Zacharias; and as already
mentioned Gabriel announced the birth of the Saviour to the most holy
Virgin Mary. An angel appeared in a dream to Joseph. A mighty host of
angels sang the glory of Christ's nativity; an angel announced the birth
of the Saviour to the shepherds and stopped the Wise Men from returning
to Herod; angels ministered to Jesus Christ during His temptation in the
wilderness; an angel appeared to Him in the Garden of Gethsemane; angels
announced His Resurrection to the myrrh-bearing women; and at His
ascension angels proclaimed, His second coming. Angels loosed the bonds
of Peter and the other Apostles (Acts 5:19) and again of Peter alone
(Acts 12:7-15); an angel appeared to Cornelius the Centurion, telling
him to send for Peter who would instruct him in the word of God (Acts
10:3-7). An angel announced to Paul that he was to appear before Caesar
(Acts 27:23-24) and lastly the Book of Revelation is full of the vision
of angels and is the foundation of the Revelation of St. John.
The Orthodox
Church believes that every person has his own Guardian Angel. Our
Guardian Angel helps and protects us in every step of our life; he
suffers with us and guides us in the spiritual life. The Lord himself
said that each of us has a guardian angel when he said:
"Take heed that ye despise not one of these little
ones, for I say unto you, that in heaven their angels do always behold
the Face of My Father Which is in heaven" (Matt. 18:10). When it
is time for our soul to leave this world, our guardian angel accompanies
and protects us until we reach the throne of God. Of course these things
happen if we believe, love and honour the angels. We can drive away our
guardian angel and lose his protection by leading an evil life. The
Church has many prayers directed towards our guardian angel and all
angels in general: from the service of Little Compline the last prayer
of the day is a prayer to our guardian angel and says: "O Holy Angel,
guardian of my wretched soul and miserable life. Do not thou forsake me
a sinner; neither do thou depart from me because of mine intemperance."
During the Divine Liturgy reference is made to the angels many times.
Beginning with the Little Entrance the Priest prays that at the entrance
the angels may also enter the Sanctuary to co-celebrate with us. The
hymn Holy God, Holy and Strong, Holy and Immortal is the hymn of the
angels as heard by the Prophet Isaiah. At the Great Entrance we sing the
Cherubic hymn and say: Let us who mystically represent the Cherubim and
chant the Thriceholy hymn to the life-giving Trinity, now lay aside all
earthly care. That we may receive the king of all. Invisibly attended by
the angelic hosts. Alleluia. After the Entrance the priest prays "For an
angel of peace, faithful guide and guardian of our souls and bodies, let
us entreat the Lord." Before the consecration of the Holy Gifts again we
sing the angelic triumphal hymn "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of Sabaoth"
and at the dismissal we call upon the protection of the heavenly
bodiless hosts.
There is
much more we can say on angels, but we need time to also look at the
dark angels called demons.
God created
only angels of light, but as mentioned earlier, they were created with
free will and independence. They were free to be obedient to the will of
God or to rebel and be disobedient.
Lucifer or
Eosphoros as he is known in Greek and whose name means light-bearer was
a mighty and beautiful angel, either an Archangel or Cherubim according
to the Book of Ezekiel which says: "From the day
that thou wast created thou wast with the cherub: I set thee upon the
holy mount of God... Thou wast perfect in thy days from the day that
thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee... Thine heart hath
been lifted up because of thy beauty; thy knowledge hath been corrupted
with thy beauty: because of the multitude of thy sins have I cast thee
to the ground." (Ezekiel 28:12-18)
He was one
of the most perfect and radiant of angels, as his name implies. He had
been richly endowed by the Creator and should have ever held his eyes on
the Lord, but instead he concentrated his attention on his own
perfection; he fell in love with it and was seized with pride. By doing
this he left the path of truth, which united him with the Source of Life
and Light, and entered the path of destruction. He forgot that he owed
all to God, that all his perfections were the gift of God. He ascribed
them to himself, and so seemed exceedingly great to himself. He was so
blinded by the idea of his own greatness and considered, "is there any
who is equal to me? Is there another angel equal or even God himself?
Thus he said to himself "I am divine, I myself am a divinity!" In his
self conceitedness he rose up against the Lord and with him also a third
of the angels who were loyal to him. This information is received from
Revelation which says "And his tail drew the third part of the stars of
heaven, and did cast them to the earth (Rev 12:4)
The Prophet
Isaiah says of Lucifer's arrogance: "How is
Lucifer fallen from heaven, that rose up in the morning! He is crushed
unto the earth that sent light to all the nations. But thou hast said in
thy mind, I will ascend into heaven, I will set my throne above the
stars of heaven: I will sit upon a lofty mount toward the north: I will
go up above the clouds; I will be like the Most High". (Isaiah
14: 12-14)
In our
earthly language there was a war in heaven. The holy Chief Commander
Michael, the faithful servant of the Lord, appointed by God as general
and commander over the entire assembly of the nine angelic orders
together with his angels fought against Lucifer and his angels. The Book
of revelation again informs us of this war saying:
"And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the
dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither
was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast
out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the
whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast
out with him." (Rev: 12:7-8)
Christ says
of the fall "I beheld Satan as lightning fall from
heaven." (Luke 10:18).
Orthodox
tradition says that when Lucifer and his angels fell, the Archangel
Michael gathered all the ranks of the angels and cried aloud: “Let us
stand upright, let us stand with fear”, in other words, let us attend
not to fall with the devil and his angels and from that time the angels
remained steadfast in their loyalty and obedience to the will of God and
with a special grace of God have remained steadfast in holiness and
goodness and can no more fall into sin.
Lucifer and
his angels, having fallen from the grace of God and the source of their
light and radiance became dark angels. From thereafter Lucifer was
called the devil from the Greek word diavolos meaning divider, and Satan
a Hebrew word meaning "enemy." His angels were called demons and
although the etymology of the Greek term daimones means spirits and
doesn't specifically refer to evil spirits, it has come to mean the
fallen angels.
The fall of
Satan and his demons must have taken place after the creation of the
world, but before the creation of man. The space between heaven and
earth, the whole expanse of the air, which is visible to us under the
heavens, serves as the dwelling for the fallen angels. The holy Apostle
Paul calls the fallen angels "the spirits of
wickedness under the heavens", (Eph. 6:12) and their chief
"the prince of the powers of the air".
(Eph. 2:2)
Having lost
their place in heaven they also lost their bright beauty and became as
frightful beasts. Cast down and beaten, the love they once had for God
was turned to hatred and from that moment on their only purpose was to
oppose and sabotage whatever is from God and whatever God favours. The
holy angels are nine ranks, but some say that they were originally ten,
the tenth being Satan and his fallen angels. It is also said by some
that God created man to take the place of the fallen rank. This
certainly would have made Satan envious and revengeful, but man was not
created as a ministering angel. God created man so that man may sit by
his right side and rule with him. God created man so that man may become
a god by grace. God's plan for man was to be superior to that of the
angels. Satan wanted to sit at God's side and be a god and for this he
was cast out of heaven, but now God created another being who was
destined to do just that. Envious of God's love for man, man became the
object of Satan's hatred and deployed the force of his hatred to destroy
him. He had not the power to destroy man bodily so he craftily sort out
to bring man's downfall, to make him, like himself, disobedient to God.
You all know the story of man's fall from paradise, how in the guise of
a serpent Satan tempted Eve to disobey God's command not to eat of the
tree of knowledge of good and evil saying that God lied to them when he
told them that if they eat of it they would surely die. Satan played on
their innocence and succeeded in bringing man down to his level, but
with a difference. Satan disobeyed God through his own free will from
within himself; man on the hand did not discover evil by himself; he
disobeyed God because he was tempted from without by the devil. Because
of this God gave man the opportunity to repent and ask for forgiveness.
The result
of man's fall was expulsion from paradise and death, but unlike Satan's
fall, God put into motion a plan to save man and return him to paradise.
Thus the battle between Satan and God, between Satan and man continues
with Satan and his army of demons opposing man's return to his original
homeland.
But how does
the Devil wage war on man? Many of the films mentioned in the beginning
portray the devil with supernatural powers that can kill man at an
instance, control and cause havoc with nature and destroy nations.
Angels have indeed super powers, but these powers can only be used
according to God's bidding. If the Devil was free to use his angelic
powers he would have done so by now and we would all be dead. God does
not allow Satan to use these powers although Satan can influence others
to do his bidding. Directly Satan cannot harm man bodily unless God
allows it. The only way for the devil and his demons to attack humans is
through temptations. Man acts through his senses and feelings. The enemy
is aware of this and through lies and deceits, by stimulating the
thoughts and feelings he tempts people into willingly giving their
consent to sin. But whatever temptation the devil hurls at us, it is
never above our power to resist it. He cannot violate our independence
and cannot offend our free will. The devil's power is not forced upon
us, but always depends upon our freedom. If we give in to temptations we
alone are responsible. We are free to say no to the devil and yes to God
or vice versa. The fathers of the Church say that man is never left
alone. If for example he departs from the grace of God, he becomes
subject to satanic influences. If our bodily members are not being used
by Christ as armour, they are used by the devil with man's consent and
cooperation.
But even
though the devil cannot violate our free will, the presence of evil
spirits among us presents a real and constant danger. That is why the
Apostle Peter extols us: "Be sober, be vigilant;
because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about,
seeking whom he may devour" (1 Peter 5:8). And Paul says:
"Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be
able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against
flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the
rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in
high places." (Ephesians 6:11-12)
A Christian
should never forget that God's grace can protect him from evil forces.
He must, however not take God's protection for granted; he must invoke
God's help. How? Through constant prayer and fasting, participation in
the Sacraments, devoted meditation, regular Bible reading, keeping the
commandments especially the commandment to love the Lord thy God with
all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy strength, and with all
thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself; these are the weapons against
temptation from demons. The inclination of the individual toward sinful
desires is not sin in itself, but it is a weakness which needs
protection; it is a weakness which evil spirits try to exploit. The
Christian prays constantly to our Father to lead us not into temptation
and to deliver us from the evil one. We on the other hand should not
freely expose ourselves to temptations by using drugs, pornography or
loose living, which are the products of sinful thinking. The Christian
should be alert, day and night, to ward off the evil temptations that
surround him. A Christian should not blame others or God when yielding
to temptation for as James says in his Epistle:
"Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot
be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is
tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when
lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is
finished, bringeth forth death." (James 1:12-16)
The
Christian should not always blame Satan when he himself opens the door
wide open to him. Without the will of man Satan cannot win his desire to
tempt him, either to do bad or to become alienated from God. Man can
invoke the Grace of God and His blessings to fight and win against evil.
If one is not strong and submits to the desires of temptation, evil can
easily "possess" him. If one permits evil spirits to develop and
progress through indifference and a compromising attitude toward moral
standards, then he can easily become influenced and "possessed" by evil.
If one does not discriminate between good and evil and right and wrong,
he can easily become "possessed" by evil. If one lacks faith in God and
through this lack creates an emptiness in his heart and soul, he can
easily become "possessed" by evil and be filled with certain "demonic"
forces which will direct him in all he does.
From
scripture we know that angels have appeared to people and conversed with
them. They do not appear with wings as most people mentally conceive
them, but as men. The wings in religious art are symbolic of their
speedy flights from place to place. Demons have also be known to appear
to people often appearing as angels of light or as saints deluding
people into thinking that they are worthy of such angelic visions. We do
not have time to look in depth on these visions but next week we will
continue with this subject looking at angelic and demonic visions,
ghosts and demonic possession and if and how the church performs
exorcisms.
Before
finishing for today there is something that should be said concerning
people's beliefs on angels. Many people believe that angels are the
spirits of human beings who after living good and righteous lives have
earned their wings and are transformed into angels, or babies that have
passed over and because of their innocence become beautiful little
cherub angels. This belief has been encouraged by that old Christmas
classic "Its a wonderful life" where Clarence got his wings after
stopping George from contemplating suicide. Also in recent years many TV
programmes have portrayed departed people as angels. This concept is
also a belief of the Mormons. For us Orthodox Christians this idea is
ludicrous and even demeaning. Not that angels are undignified, but God
did not choose to become a ministering angel; he became a man and in so
doing he raised man higher than the angels. Also angels have no bodies,
but we believe that in the general Resurrection our souls will be
reunited to our bodies. To believe that angels are the spirits of men is
to betray this belief because angels have never had and will never have
a body.
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