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Understanding Angels
by Greg Hanson
Society holds a fascination for angels. Peo-
ple want to know: What do angels look
like? Does each person have a guardian
angel? How many angels are there? Is it
possible to see an angel? Is it proper to
pray to angels? Does a person become an
angel after they die?
Everyone has their own opinion about an-
gels. And most have a mental image of
what they think angels look like. They may
even collect ornaments of angels (or ra-
ther, ornaments of their perception of an-
gels).
angels, I found practically nothing in my
library… I soon discovered that little had
been written on the subject in this centu-
ry… I have never heard anyone preach a
sermon on angels.” Which prompted him
to write a book of his own on the subject.
Karl Barth (pronounced “Bart”) is consid-
ered to be one of the most important
Christian thinkers of the 20 th century. As a
theologian and an authority on angels, he
described the topic as the “most remarka-
ble and difficult of all”.
So to clear up some of the confusion, con-
But despite this fascination, there is a lot of sider some of the things angels are not.
confusion and misunderstanding surround-
ing angels. And that’s probably because of
where people turn to get their infor-
What Angels are NOT:
mation.
Like the movies. Angels are portrayed in
films such as “City of Angels” with Nicolas
Cage, “Dogma” with Ben Affleck and Matt
Damon, “Meet Joe Black” starring Brad
Pitt, or even the Christmas classic, “It’s a
Wonderful Life”. Those movies may be
entertaining or even inspiring, but they are
also misleading when it comes to angels.
Television is another source. Touched By
an Angel was a long-running show watched
by many. In the 1980s, Highway to Heaven
starred Michael Landon as an angel trying
to ‘earn his wings’. These may have been
good wholesome shows, but still not the
most reliable sources to teach about an-
gels.
Ancient mythology and antiquated works
of art also contain representations of an-
gels. But unfortunately, they are not por-
trayed very accurately or consistently.
And the result is a pretty mixed-up under-
standing of angels, including a lot of light
and fluffy beliefs drawn from all kinds of
contradictory sources. It’s no wonder
there is so much confusion.
Angels are not cute chubby babies with
bows & arrows.
“Cupid, draw back your bow…” This is one
of the many images of angels. But this im-
age originated from works of art during
the Renaissance, and has nothing to do
with reality.
Angels are not what people become after
they die.
This is one of the more popular beliefs
about angels, but it’s wrong. At funerals
people often make comments such as,
“He’s an angel now,” or, “God needed
another angel in that heavenly choir!” It’s a
sweet thought, but it’s not true. Angels
and humans are completely different crea-
tions.
Angels are not all-knowing, all-powerful, or
all-present.
Those are attributes that belong to God
and God alone. Angels, on the other hand,
are confined by time and space. They are
smarter, more powerful, and faster than
we are, but they are not on par with God.
Angels are not objects of worship.
Some people do worship angels and pray
Even within the Church, there is a lack of
to them. But in his letter to the Colossians,
information about angels. Back in 1975, the the apostle Paul clearly discouraged this
respected evangelist Billy Graham said,
practice. Continued on Page 6
“When I decided to preach a sermon on