Angels: God’S Wingless Messengers

By Dr. Kenner E. McKie

There has always been a confusion with angels and other heavenly beings, such as cherubim, seraphim, and other creatures. The women with stork-like wings that Zechariah saw was unlikely an angel. For an angel was with Zechariah at the time as well as the fact that the women were not messengers like angels were. Furthermore, cherubim, which are bearers and guardians of those precious things pertaining to Gods glory are no more messengers than seraphim, which express the glory of God in his throne room. And while demons were angels at one time, it is either highly unlikely that they are winged, and if they are, then it is not an inheritance of their angel origin. And so it is with great regret (as with all great truths) that I state that angels indeed do not have wings. However, while this may excite some sense of confusion or disappointment at our own conception of angels, just remember, angels can be just as effective without wings as with them. And besides, I doubt one should go about erasing all the artwork of angels with wings, for it seems to comfort us to see them with those splendid soft white feathery wings even if theyre not true.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Dec 14, 2017
• ISBN: 9781543472196

Dr. Kenner E. McKie

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Copyright © 2018 by Angels. 769194

ISBN:    Softcover    978-1-5434-7220-2

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Rev. date: 12/14/2017

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Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1 What are Angels: In the Bible and in History

Chapter 2 How Angels Came to Have Wings

Chapter 3 Reasons as to Why Angels Are Not Winged Things

Chapter 4 Examples of Other Beings that are Confused with Angels in the Bible

Conclusion

Works Cited

Introduction

One of the most obscure and perhaps shadowy topics that one can investigate is that of angels. These beings, which have captured the minds and hearts of people throughout the ages, are found in religious texts, legends, myths and even fairy tales. Indeed, one can hardly sift through a collection of sympathy cards at the local store, sentimental or religious artwork or even album covers in a music store without seeing some depiction of angels. Their very image seems to inspire a sense of security, safety and tranquility. They are often associated with the departure of the soul and presented as guides to one’s heavenly eternal dwelling place.

One of the more salient associations most have with angels is their connection with religion. For, most of the world’s religions have some form of angelic beings included into their doctrine. Whether it is as a protector of the divine realms or some messenger that stands between the Will of God and the part that humanity plays in it. Most people in Western countries that have grown up around Christianity remember various Christmas plays that portray the Angel of the Lord descending down to the shepherds in the fields at night. And the Angel, with its commanding presence, inspired fear in them so that it had to remind them not to be afraid.

This story of Christmas and the Angel of God brings to mind many of the images that one has of angels. As mentioned, the depictions of them on sympathy cards, works of art, album covers and innumerable other sources of either classical or pop iconic themes usually have one similarity to them; they are winged. Indeed, the idea of angels with wings as almost tautologous. The presence of angels assumes a being with wings. It’s as natural as a tiger with a tail, an elephant with a trunk or a fish with fins. And yet, the clear difference between these examples is that these are of animals; biological species. Angels, however, in contrast to this, are not an identifiable species. No one has managed to capture one in flight, pin its wings down and attach it to some examination table. In fact, it is highly unlikely that such a situation would be possible. Angels, after all, appear and re-appear as out of thin air. It is doubtful that such a situation is possible.

To further this point of investigating the nature of angels, clearly they are a speculative species of beings: For to know of their existence is to believe in them. There is no empirical evidence of them and are therefore outside the spectrum of science; or at least normative and generally accepted scientific investigation. Many would say that they are fancies, the product of unbridled imagination and the creation of an era that accepted myth and superstition as fact. And while many people believe in angels, and one recent study found that most Americans believe in angels, the evidence of their existence is ultimately unfalsifiable.¹ In other words, one has to believe in their existence as opposed to being aware of their existence.

If one is to admit that they exist, based on either eyewitness accounts, their necessity based on some ontological system stemming from a philosophical perspective, or on the authority of one’s religion, their appearance, therefore, is limited to that; mere appearance. One cannot, as stated earlier, analyze them in the normal sense. So, the only way in which one can understand them and know more about them is based on either eyewitness accounts or the authority of scripture and the descriptions provided by their involvement in religious history. With this in mind, the general perception is that of a human-like creature sporting a majestic and glorious pair of wings. But, is this an accurate depiction of them? What do they really look like and what are the actual accounts of their appearance in history?

From the Judeo-Christian perspective, the Holy Bible has numerous references to the presence of angels and their interaction with mankind. In the Bible, accounts of individuals sighting angels and being visited by them is rather common; particularly by those that God is seeking to communicate His will to. The narrative of Christianity, in particular, with the Christianization of Rome and subsequent Medieval Europe, was the foundation for art and literature that reflected the Christian story along with the characters of the Bible; this included angels. However, what one will find is their depiction as being winged humans that descend upon earth as a bird descends down from the sky in which it is flying. This begs the question of how accurate this is in contrast to their portrayal in the Bible; or in other words, does the Bible portray angels as having wings, and if not, why is it the case that subsequent portrayals, secular and religious, are of them being winged? And so, this is where the discussion starts.

Chapter 1

What are Angels: In the Bible and in History

The image of angels are most common and a majority of people would be willing to say they have seen an image of one in art, literature, at church or wherever. However, what precisely they are and what they have been described as in the Bible, including other religions, and in history, is another thing. Depictions of these beings and how they make one feel had been a staple of everything from religious platitudes to advertising ploys. And while their true definition and believed nature had been distorted over the centuries, nevertheless, there is a veritable mountain of information on what Christianity and many authorities in history concerning angels.

It is important to understand when approaching the Biblical record of events involving angels, that the scriptures make mention of the word angel about 203 times and the word angels about 94 times.² In these passages about angels, the individuals writing accounts for their own experiences with God and the manner in which these angels are involved.³ Going back to as early as Abraham, angles had been visiting mankind, but what sort of creatures are they? Are they like ghosts that hover in some ethereal presence? Are they rather like some species of aliens that possess grotesque or terrifying features that would literally shock one to death? Or do they possess features that defy imagination? All of these are good questions and point to some of the earliest fascinations one could have with angels. More specifically, the introduction to these ubiquitous and almost mythical beings goes further back than even nursery school.

In virtue of the earliest introductions to the topic of angels, children often acquire endearing and meaningful impressions of these creatures early on. Children that are brought up in even a casually religious home are reminded to say their prayers before they go to sleep. And in the course of the prayer, the child is encouraged to invoke the protection of angels in some form or another. In his encyclopedia on angels, author Richard Webster describes the situation eloquently.

My maternal grandmother was a rather forbidding woman. One of her major tasks in life was to improve the behavior of her grandchildren. Whenever we did something wrong, even something as simple as picking up the wrong implement to eat with, she would say, ‘people who are nice to know always know which fork to use.’ Breaches of etiquette were a horrendous sin. To this day I can hear her saying, ‘people who are nice to know…’ followed by whatever it was we children were supposed to do. Fortunately, I can also recall some of her more tender moments. She enjoyed sitting on the bed at night, teaching me children’s prayers and traditional rhymes, such as, ‘Matthew Mark Luke and John, Bless the bed that I lie on, Four angels to my bed, Four angels round my head, One to watch, and one to pray, And two to bear my soul away."⁴

The sense that angels are associated with some of