Angels

[Earl]

Beautiful heavenly beings, or vile murderous savages?

People tend to see Angels as God's messengers, bringing good tidings to simple folk. Majestic, gentle beings with a halo and pure white wings. Angels are multitude and often seen as God's guardians, protecting people from harm. If this is the case, why don't they protect everyone? If Angels are guardians, who exactly are they guarding?

In Bible stories the Angels are described as saving Lot from Sodom, which indeed they did. Right before destroying the city, everyone in it and turning Lot's wife to a pillar of salt! Nice bunch.

The Angels sent as messengers rarely give good news, one did manage to stop Abraham from killing his son, but only after he'd been hog-tied, placed on the altar and had a knife inches from his throat. Quite a cruel ruse on the face of it. Those Angels and their sense of humour.

An Angel was sent to help Moses lead his people out of Egypt. It "wiped out" all the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites and Jebusites. Single-handedly? Did it drive a Sherpa Tank?

Jerusalem was almost destroyed by the hand of an Angel, and another put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp! They barely let up!

When God unleashed his hot anger, his wrath indignation and hostility towards Egypt, he sent "a band of destroying angels".

Now, the story of Gabriel telling Mary she was to conceive the son of God is almost quite a heart-warming tale. Until you realise Joseph has now become the father of some illegitimate child and is ordered to leave his home and travel for miles with his heavily pregnant wife. Not the kind of news I'd appreciate leading up to Christmas. Even the shepherds were terrified by the sight of Gabriel.

Herod didn't enjoy his encounter with an Angel, who struck him down where he was "eaten by worms", and then died! Death by worm! These Angels are a sadistic bunch.

What ever you do, don't grumble about it:

1 Corinthians 10:10
And do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel.

Of course, the best stuff comes in Revelations. These Angels mean business! real fire and brimstone stuff, Angels holding back the winds and tides, causing tremendous thunder storms and earthquakes, fire mixed with blood raining down to scorch the earth! Angels hurling flaming mountains into the sea and turning it to blood, Angels putting out the sun and destroying the moon. An elite squad of four Angels specially trained to murder a third of the worlds population! BA, Face, Murdock and Hannibal? All done to a wonderful jazz trumpet soundtrack.

I don't know about you, but I'm sensing a theme forming here. These Angels don't sound like the kind of creature I'd like to meet. And let's not forget, Angels don't just reside in Heaven. Many of them moved further south.

[t-v]

Angels could be enitrely miscontrued depending on whose work you refer to. Aristotle referred to angels as "the law of nature". The laws which make the world turn are known as angels by the Maimonides.

...This leads Aristotle in turn to the demonstrated fact that God, glory and majesty to Him, does not do things by direct contact. God burns things by means of fire; fire is moved by the motion of the sphere; the sphere is moved by means of a disembodied intellect, these intellects being the 'angels which are near to Him', through whose mediation the spheres [planets] move....thus totally disembodied minds exist which emanate from God and are the intermediaries between God and all the bodies [objects] here in this world."

Taken from the Guide of the Perplexed.


I think the term guardian angel also derives/is explained by Midrash Bereshit Rabbah...

Thus the Sages reveal to the aware that the imaginative faculty is also called an angel; and the mind is called a cherub. How beautiful this will appear to the sophisticated mind—and how disturbing to the primitive."

There is of course fallen angels... which have been banished from heaven for their disobedience... they may be the ones causing the trouble.

[Fenella]

Being a believer in the Gospels, I don't know a lot about avenging Angels as they don't feature that much there, but I think the idea is that they look after the good and holy people and get rid of the rest. I suppose the idea is that God decided to destroy Sodom because because it was too evil to be redeemed and Lot's wife disobeyed him by looking back.

I always think Revelations is a bit out of place in the New Testament - it certainly seems a bit out of step with the Gospels.

[Earl]

Revelations is the best bit of the story!

The point I was trying to make is, Angels carry out God's dirty work. And are clearly quite an unpleasant bunch, to the extent some even decided to rebel against God.

[THE V0NZ]

My favourites are Charlie's Angels - they're hot!

[Fenella]

I was once told I looked like one of Charlie's Angels, but I think it might have been a lie. Besides, it was one who wasn't very attractive - Tiffany I think.

[SFB]

M*:

Not the kind of news I'd appreciate leading up to Christmas.

Joseph didn't know about Christmas until after!!!

WTF we're doing still celebrating it is anyone's guess.

[Ck]

I'm not keen on anything alive with wings. I worry they'll get stuck in my hair.

[THE V0NZ]

I was once told I looked like one of Charlies Angels, but I think it might have been a lie. Besides, it was one who wasn't very attractive - Tiffany I think.

That must have been a great chatup line;

"Hey luv (hic) - you look like one of Charlie's Angels, no seriously (hic), you know, the funny looking one with thin lips and (hic) no tits. Fancy a shag?"



Fenella 1976

[Fenella]

Well exactly! I think they said the first name they thought of. I was not flattered I can tell you. Huh!