Oh yes, the memes are circulating!
They show terrifying “biblically accurate angels” that look like four-headed, six-winged beasts, or like massive wheels inside of wheels, all covered with eyes.
“Be not afraid!” the memes gleefully taunt!
There’s only one problem. None of these are biblically accurate angels.
It’s not just that the artwork usually doesn’t match what the Bible describes. It’s that the Bible never says these creatures are angels.
It is true that traditional Christianity has built up a whole hierarchy of angels that includes these creatures. But if it’s biblically accurate angels you’re looking for, none of them qualify.
When the Bible mentions angels, if it describes them at all, it says they are men.
In other words, biblically accurate angels look exactly like people.
And no, they don’t have wings.
Biblically accurate angels don’t have wings
Where did the idea that angels have wings come from?
Here’s one passage in the Bible that people point to:
Saint Michael Vanquishing Satan, by Raphael
As I looked, a stormy wind came out of the north: a great cloud with brightness around it and fire flashing forth continually, and in the middle of the fire something like gleaming amber. In the middle of it was something like four living creatures. This was their appearance: they were of human form. Each had four faces, and each of them had four wings. Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the sole of a calf’s foot, and they sparkled like burnished bronze. Under their wings on their four sides they had human hands. And the four had their faces and their wings thus: their wings touched one another; each of them moved straight ahead, without turning as they moved. (Ezekiel 1:4–9, italics added)
There you have it! Angels with wings!
WRONG!
Nowhere does Ezekiel call these creatures “angels.” Here, he calls them “living creatures.” In Ezekiel 10, he calls them “cherubim.” That’s the Hebrew plural for “cherub.” (The cute little winged babies in classical artwork are not biblical cherubs.)
There is not a single passage in the Bible that describes any angel that has wings.
Biblically accurate angels are not four-headed beasts
The same passage from Ezekiel says that these living creatures have four faces. Here’s how it continues:
As for the appearance of their faces: the four had the face of a human being, the face of a lion on the right side, the face of an ox on the left side, and the face of an eagle; such were their faces. Their wings were spread out above; each creature had two wings, each of which touched the wing of another, while two covered their bodies. Each moved straight ahead; wherever the spirit would go, they went, without turning as they went. In the middle of the living creatures there was something that looked like burning coals of fire, like torches moving to and fro among the living creatures; the fire was bright, and lightning issued from the fire. The living creatures darted to and fro, like a flash of lightning. (Ezekiel 1:10–14, italics added)
If you saw a creature like this, you probably would be very afraid.
But Ezekiel never says they are angels.
Biblically accurate angels are not wheels covered with eyes
Let’s keep going in Ezekiel 1:
As I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel on the earth beside the living creatures, one for each of the four of them. As for the appearance of the wheels and their construction: their appearance was like the gleaming of beryl, and the four had the same form, their construction being something like a wheel within a wheel. When they moved, they moved in any of the four directions without veering as they moved. Their rims were tall and awesome, for the rims of all four were full of eyes all around. When the living creatures moved, the wheels moved beside them, and when the living creatures rose from the earth, the wheels rose. Wherever the spirit would go, they went, and the wheels rose along with them, for a living spirit was in the wheels. When they moved, the others moved; when they stopped, the others stopped; and when they rose from the earth, the wheels rose along with them, for a living spirit was in the wheels. (Ezekiel 1:15–21, italics added)
First, notice that there are not three or four wheels. There is “a wheel within a wheel.” Two wheels. And if you see artwork that has a big eye in the middle of the wheels, that’s not biblical either. And the wheels do not have wings, as some artwork would have it. It’s the living creatures that have wings, not the wheels.
Didn’t I say the artwork usually doesn’t match what the Bible describes?
But mainly, nowhere does Ezekiel call these creatures “angels.” Instead, he says:
As for the wheels, they were called in my hearing “the wheelwork.” (Ezekiel 10:13)
And just to round things out, “thrones” and “powers” and “principalities” are also never called angels in the Bible. That’s traditional Christian mythology, not biblical accuracy.
Biblically accurate angels look like men
Abraham and the Three Angels, by James Tissot
Angels do appear many times in the Bible. But they never have wings, four heads, or big wheels covered with eyes. Often, they apparently look so ordinary that the person who saw them doesn’t even bother to describe them. “Angel” literally means “messenger.” These were messengers sent by God—and they looked exactly like people.
The Bible doesn’t leave us guessing about this. In the places where it does say what these “messengers” are, it calls them “men.” For example (italics added in all cases):
The two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. He said, “Please, my lords, turn aside to your servant’s house and spend the night and wash your feet; then you can rise early and go on your way.” They said, “No; we will spend the night in the square.” But he urged them strongly, so they turned aside to him and entered his house, and he made them a feast and baked unleavened bread, and they ate . . . But the men inside reached out their hands and brought Lot into the house with them and shut the door. And they struck with blindness the men who were at the door of the house, both small and great, so that they were unable to find the door. Then the men said to Lot, “Have you anyone else here? Sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or anyone you have in the city—bring them out of the place. (Genesis 19:1–3, 10–12)
Then the woman came and told her husband, “A man of God came to me, and his appearance was like that of an angel of God, most awe-inspiring; I did not ask him where he came from, and he did not tell me his name, but he said to me, ‘You shall conceive and bear a son. So then, drink no wine or strong drink and eat nothing unclean, for the boy shall be a nazirite to God from birth to the day of his death.’” Then Manoah entreated the Lord and said, “O my Lord, I pray, let the man of God whom you sent come to us again and teach us what we are to do concerning the boy who will be born.” God listened to Manoah, and the angel of God came again to the woman as she sat in the field, but her husband Manoah was not with her. So the woman ran quickly and told her husband, “The man who came to me the other day has appeared to me.” Manoah got up and followed his wife and came to the man and said to him, “Are you the man who spoke to this woman?” And he said, “I am.” (Judges 13:6–11)
So the man who was standing among the myrtle trees answered, “They are those whom the Lord has sent to patrol the earth.” Then they spoke to the angel of the Lord who was standing among the myrtle trees, “We have patrolled the earth, and the whole earth remains at peace.” (Zechariah 1:10–11)
In the New Testament, the angel(s) at Jesus’ empty tomb is(are) referred to as an angel in Matthew 28:2–7 and as two angels in John 20:11–13, but as a man in Mark 16:5–7 and two men in Luke 24:4–8.
Because angels look just like people, the letter to the Hebrews says:
Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it. (Hebrews 13:2)
Biblically accurate angels are people
So . . . what do “biblically accurate angels” look like?
They look exactly like people.
That’s because they are people. See the articles linked below.
But first, here’s a bit of good, clean, non-angelic fun!
For a follow-up article, please see: “Are Angels Sexless Beings?”
For further reading:
- What is the Biblical Basis for Humans becoming Angels after they Die?
- What is the Source of the Belief that the Deceased become Angels?
- Who Are the Angels and How Do They Live?
- What Happens To Us When We Die?
- The Afterlife: It’s Not as Different as you Think!
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Lee Woofenden is an ordained minister, writer, editor, translator, and teacher. He enjoys taking spiritual insights from the Bible and the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg and putting them into plain English as guides for everyday life.
Spiritual Insights for Everyday Life 
I once heard that the analogy of wings is because angels are multi dimensional beings, that is, they can travel to different dimensions. They can for instance be in the Earth, though they’ll not be seen and, as their frequency don’t match with the Earth’s frequency, they’ll be absolutely imaterial while here. What do you think of these claims? Thank you. Josué.
Hi Josué,
This “multi-dimensional being” thing is mostly just buzzwords. Angels are not multi-dimensional beings. They are spiritual beings. In other words, they are made of spiritual substance rather than physical matter, and the world they live in is also made of spiritual substance, not physical matter. This isn’t “another dimension.” It’s a different level of reality.
Spiritual things cannot be sensed by our physical senses. However, we can see angels if our spiritual senses are opened. Spiritual senses can sense material things, but most of the time angels don’t see the physical world because their mind is in a spiritual state in which material things don’t appear to them. If necessary, though, angels can see material things.
Things flow in one direction, from God to spirit to matter, and not in the other direction, from matter to spirit to God.
Ok. But wether you call them “spiritual” or “multi-dimensional” isn’t it the same thing? They can travel to the Earth, to the world of spirits, and to each of the layers of heaven and hell. Not that they will desire to do so, but technically, they can. And aren’t they present with us when we are dying and still in the Earth? So, they travel to the Earth more often than we imagine. Same for demons.
Hi Josué,
If people use the word “dimensions” colloquially, I don’t have a big problem with it. It’s just another way of saying that the universe has many levels. Some of those levels are material, some of them are spiritual, and some of them are divine.
However, if you drill into it too closely, the word “dimensions” does not do a good job of describing the real nature of those levels. They are not like physical dimensions, of which there are three that we can perceive, plus time, which is sometimes considered to be a fourth dimension. These three dimensions plus time form a field in which the physical universe unfolds. They are not levels of the physical universe. They are all on the same level.
Taking the word “dimensions” too seriously risks confusing dimensions with levels. The universe is not multi-dimensional. The spiritual universe has analogs of the same three dimensions plus time that the physical universe has. They are not spatial or temporal. Rather, the three spatial dimensions relate to different elements of love on the spiritual level of reality, and the one temporal dimension relations to ongoing experience and growth in knowledge and understanding on the spiritual level of reality.
These dimensions are entirely distinct from the many levels that form the universe. That’s why I think of “dimensions” as a slang buzzword rather than as an accurate description of the multi-leveled nature of the universe.
Hi Josué,
Another way that the word “dimensions” can confuse us is the idea that angels must “travel to the earth” to visit us, as if they transferring themselves into a different dimension. That’s not how it works. Angels and spirits are already present with us all the time. It’s just that we’re not usually aware of it, and most of the time, neither are they.
However, sometimes a more conscious awareness of that presence is needed, either on their side or our side or both. In that case, there is no traveling involved. Rather, there is simply an opening of the awareness of the angels and/or of our awareness so that we can perceive the presence that has been there all the time.
This is what happens when angels “visit” us. They don’t travel anywhere. They are still right where they’ve always been. It’s just that we become consciously aware of them, and they become consciously aware of us.
It is true that angels can travel around heaven, the world of spirits, and even hell. But that does not involve traveling through different dimensions. It involves moving through various layers, and moving around within the various layers. This means it is travel within the dimensions of the spiritual world, just as travel here on earth is travel within the dimensions of the physical world.
So again, if we use the word “dimensions” colloquially, as slang, it’s not a real problem. But if we want to think clearly and accurately about it, that’s not the right word to use.
Are you saying they just stay in the spiritual level they’re entitled to? But then this part of interaction between the material and spiritual worlds get a little confusing. I’m not a huge fan of the idea of ghosts either, but so what do we do, dismiss the entire phenomenum? Maybe you have an article written about ghosts, which I would like to read. Thank you.
Hi Josué,
Angels are spiritual beings. This means they are literally made of spiritual substance, which is not the same as physical matter. They cannot “travel” to the physical world because that would require becoming physical, which they are not. Angels are not multi-dimensional beings. They are not both spiritual and physical. They are spiritual.
If anything, we on earth are “multi-dimensional beings” in the slang sense of that term: we have both a physical body made out of physical matter and a spiritual body made out of spiritual substance. When we see angels, we se them with our spiritual eyes, not with our physical eyes. Our physical eyes are not capable of seeing spiritual things.
When angels visit us, our spiritual senses are briefly opened, usually while our physical senses are still open (unless it’s a vision or near-death experience). This means that we see the angel superimposed on ordinary physical reality, as if the angel were sitting in our living room.
But really, the angel is still “at home” in the spiritual world. We’re just getting a brief glimpse into the spiritual world. It’s not “ghosts.” It’s a brief opening of our spiritual senses. That’s why people who see angels may turn around, and find that the angel is gone. They no longer see the angel because the brief opening of their spiritual senses has ended.
It is possible for angels and spirits to have a more “physical” interaction with the physical world, but this is rare, and it still doesn’t involve angels or spirits becoming physical. Rather it involves their influencing physical matter from the spiritual world, which is possible to do (but not the other way around). This is why spirits can at times move physical objects, and interact with physical objects. Even then, though, the angels or spirits do not leave the spiritual world. They are still seeing and interacting with the physical world from their place in the spiritual world.
Swedenborg does say that when we die, we take with us a “border” (Latin: limbus) “made of the finest substances in nature.” This does seem to have some function in making it possible for angels and spirits to stay connected with the physical universe. However, it is not an actual physical body. It is only a “medium” or means of connection between the spiritual and the physical. It also apparently serves as a sort of “skin” for the spiritual body to give it fixity. Swedenborg doesn’t say much more about it than that, and it’s always been something of a mystery exactly what this “limbus” is.
This whole phenomenon of angels interacting with people on earth is very complex. But at the basic level, angels do not travel or materialize in the spiritual world. They operate on the material world from the spiritual world. Usually this happens through the spiritual senses of the person who encounters them. But sometimes it can happen by directly influencing material objects from the spiritual world. However, as I said, that is rare, and is allowed only in extraordinary circumstances.
OK. As I see it, it’s kind of what is portrayed in the movie “The Others” with Nicole Kidman. It’s a movie from the early 2000’s, but it’s still very interesting to watch nowadays.
Hi Josué,
I haven’t seen that movie, so I can’t comment on it.
Even if angels don’t have wings by default, could they still have them show up if they want?
Hi K,
I suppose they could, but they wouldn’t be much use, since angels can fly without wings if they want to. Wings do have a spiritual significance, which is why heavenly beings sometimes appear with wings.
My Grandmother said she was visited by my grandfather after he passed, She mentioned that he sat down on the bed with her, and she could feel the bed depress. If angles aren’t physical on our plain of existence, how was she able to feel his presence physically?
Hi tammi85,
Yes, I have heard others tell similar stories, and I don’t doubt that they are true. Most likely, your grandmother’s spiritual senses were briefly opened so that she could feel your grandfather’s presence. This can include “physical” things happening such as the bed being pressed down. The spiritual realm is just as solid and real as the physical realm.
It is also possible, though, that your grandfather affected the physical bed from the spiritual world. Either one of these could have happened. Usually there is no photographic or physical evidence of what happened, so it’s hard to tell the difference.
What really matters is that your grandfather let your grandmother know that he is still alive, and still with her.
About Genesis 19:1-3, 1-12… Maybe the “two angels” should be translated “the two messengers”? Then again, “man of God” in the other verses and “angel of God” suggests that they were not living humans, right?
Also, neither the Hebrew Adam nor the Greek Anthropos is ever used to describe angels, are they?
Hi World Questioner,
No, the Hebrew and Greek gender-neutral terms are not used to describe angels. Only words that mean “man,” as in a male human being.
About the translation, as long as you’re aware that “angel” and “messenger” are the same word in the original language, it’s not a problem to translate them either way. But to be literally accurate, it should indeed be translated “messenger” rather than “angel.” They’re still angels. But they’re angels who are serving as messengers from God.
In New Church theology, even though angels are naturally in humanoid form (hopefully not stuck in it 24-7), can they gain access to thinking vastly more powerful than what people in this world are capable of? Like on par with a supercomputer or beyond: able to solve complex equations instantly, able to run complex simulations as “concretely” as a computer, etc?
It kinda sucks being limited to dull, slow way of thinking where math can be slow and hard. Where computers and artificial intelligence can be relied on for aiding thought like a handicapped person relies on a wheelchair or crutches to get around.
Also there’s the claim that angels cannot interact with the physical without, by definition, being part of the physical. But I guess that non-physical angels can still interact with the physical if the “supernatural” or “magic” is possible?
Hi K,
In general, what is physical cannot sense or interact with what is spiritual, but what is spiritual can sense and interact with what is physical.
Having said that, angels don’t usually sense and interact with the physical world. They have their own lives to live in the spiritual world, which is much brighter and more beautiful than the physical world. Looking into the physical world would feel dark and confining to them. What they do interact with is the minds and hearts of people still living in the physical world. Even this is mostly unconscious, but it can become conscious if need be. This is when people feel that they have been visited by angels. They feel that they have been visited by angels because they have been visited by angels. Not physically, but in their mind, which is their spirit. In rare instances an angel might be allowed to directly affect something physical, such as bringing about healing in a person’s body, but this is not something that happens every day, especially in our often materialistic and secularized world.
Even though angels have no interest in interacting with the physical world, there are many physical-minded spirits—who are mostly evil spirits—who do very much want to interact with the physical world. Mostly, this is not allowed. But in some instances, especially when people on earth are open to it and thereby open up pathways for spirits to act into the physical world, it can happen. This is where stories of hauntings and poltergeist come from, if they are not mere fakes. But these incidents are rare because in general spirits are mostly not allowed to see or interfere with the physical world. However, when it does happen, yes, it would be identified by people on earth as “magic” or “the supernatural.”
Hi K,
Yes. Swedenborg talks about earthly thinking compared to spiritual thinking being like living in dark shadows compared to living in bright light. He says that an angel can think out in a minute things that people on earth couldn’t think out in an hour. He says that the ratio of spiritual thought to earthly thought is like a thousand to one, or even a million to one.
From these statements, you can draw your own conclusions about just how much more fast and powerful our spiritual thinking will be in the spiritual world compared to our material thinking here on earth.
I think angels could shapeshift or appear in other forms, like that one boy who appeared as a dove in a spiritual experience story Swedenborg wrote in the Conjugal Love book. So angels could temporarily look like (or at least appear as) “biblically accurate angels”, but I doubt they’d want to look like that for long, if at all.
I could see them having or projecting temporary wings and halos (at least like a sort of holographic image) to appeal to cultural expectations, or for fun though.
Hi K,
I presume this is possible, since various angels and evil spirits appear in different forms from a distance through mere correspondences. If we can engage in cosplay and more and more in virtual reality in which we play avatars, I presume the ability to do so would be much more highly developed and seamless in the spiritual world. But as you say, it would be temporary. You can’t play the game forever.
Could angels, one way or another, manifest in the physical in places that would be lethal to mortals, such as on the surfaces of suns, inside neutron stars, or even within the event horizons of black holes?
I think so, as otherwise that would be a pretty lame and limited afterlife, and there is that Bible story about the angel(s) with those 3 guys in that fire, unharmed.
Hi K,
Angels don’t “manifest in the physical,” even though it often appears as if they do. When angels appear to people on earth, it happens, not by the angels taking on a physical presence, but by the witnesses’ spiritual eyes being opened enough to be able to see the angels with their spiritual eyes while still seeing the physical world around them through their physical eyes. The result is that the angels are seamlessly integrated into the physical surroundings of the people who see them, even though the angels are spiritual, not physical.
In the case of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fiery furnace, the angel wasn’t physically in the furnace with them, but was seen through the onlookers’ spiritual eyes. That is, if this event even took place literally. Not every miracle in the Bible actually took place as described. For example, it is not possible for the sun to stand still in the sky as described in Joshua 10:12–14.
Angels would not manifest on the surface of suns, in neutron stars, or within the event horizons of black holes because there are no people there. Angels have no interest in physical things. To them, the sun of our world is intensely dark and black. Angels are interested only in the spirits of people on earth, meaning their thoughts and feelings.
However, if, theoretically, angels manifested in or near those intense astronomical objects, it would have no effect upon them whatsoever. Angels are made of spiritual substance, not physical matter. Physical matter and energy have no effect on them.
In the spiritual world, angels do have their limits, just as we humans have our limits in the physical world. Just as we could not survive on the surface of the sun, so angels could not survive on the surface of the spiritual sun, which is the first emanation of love, wisdom, and power from God. The energy there would be far too intense for them. It would vaporize them just as the physical sun would vaporize our physical body if we got too close to it.
But it wouldn’t be possible for angels to reach the surface of the spiritual sun anyway. Angels are finite beings, and the spiritual sun is one step down from infinity. Angels can’t get anywhere near it. Even here in our physical solar system, the sun is one of the hardest places to get to. It’s much easier to get to Pluto than it is to get to the surface of the sun. This may seem counterintuitive, but it is true. In the spiritual world, for all practical purposes it is infinitely hard to get to the surface of the sun.
Angels are not gods. They are human beings living in the spiritual world.
Still, under divine protection they can withstand forces that would destroy ordinary human beings. For example, under divine protection they can enter into the most diabolical areas of hell when those areas are getting out of control, and reduce the evil spirits there back to order. It would be like an unarmed person walking right into the headquarters compound of a Central American drug cartel and neutralizing everyone there even though the place is bristling with beefy guys toting machine guns.
“The energy there would be far too intense for them. It would vaporize them just as the physical sun would vaporize our physical body if we got too close to it.”
But if that were to somehow happen, and as discussed earlier, they would just “respawn” instead of be permanently gone?
“Angels are not gods.”
But they also are not as limited and weak as mortals are in the physical either?
PS: And of course, angel “superpowers” can come from God?
Hi K,
Angels could not get close enough to the spiritual sun to get vaporized. For all practical purposes, it is infinitely far from them, even though it sits in their sky and looks similar to our sun.
If you think about it, our sun does not look like it is 93,000,000 miles from us. It looks like it’s right there in the sky, a few miles away. There is a similar illusion for angels in the spiritual world. The spiritual sun looks and feels like it is very close to them, right up in the sky, when in fact it is so far away that they could never reach it. This reflects the spiritual reality that there is an infinite distance between us and God because God is infinite and we are finite, and yet God is very close to us, and even within us, because God bridges the difference and distance between God and us.
The fact that the finite can never reach the infinite is the spiritual reason that angels can never get close to the spiritual sun. God reaches out from the spiritual sun to us, but we cannot reach out from ourselves to the spiritual sun. Our relationship with God is by accepting God’s love, wisdom, and power into ourselves, similar to our relationship with the physical sun, which is to accept its light, warmth, and power into our earth and our body. The sun sends its rays to us; we don’t send anything to the sun. (Yes, I know, the Parker Solar Probe, but even it, with all its hefty shielding, has to keep its distance to avoid being destroyed.)
And yes, angels are more powerful in their realm than we are in ours. As for “superpowers,” angels can fly without the need for wings; they can scatter thousands of evil spirits with a glance or a shake of the fist; they can hurl whole spiritual mountains into the sea if those mountains are mountains of pride inhabited by egotistical spirits; and so on.
And yes, their “superpowers” come from God. If they think even for one second that any of this power is their own, they instantly become as weak as babies.
So like how light is always moving 1 c faster than an observer moving slower than light (no matter how much or fast the observer is accelerating), the spiritual sun is always infinite distance away no matter how close a spiritual observer is moving?
And as asked earlier, if a spirit body is somehow destroyed anyway, God could “respawn” that body, with that spirit’s mind being the same rather than a copy?
Hi K,
Yes, it doesn’t matter how fast an angel moves toward the spiritual sun. To reach it, the angel would have to travel at infinite velocity, which is not possible for a finite being. (But it would be the spiritual equivalent of velocity and distance, since space and time as we know them do not exist in the spiritual world.)
The answer to your second question is still the same as before: An angel’s body could not be destroyed.
In hypothetical theoretical theory, if an angel were vaporized, God could reconstitute the angel. God is omnipotent.
But in reality, it can’t happen because God won’t allow it to happen. Omnipotence is not lawless. It acts according to laws, which are what give it its power.
One of those laws is that God has given us eternal life. We humans, whether we become angels or evil spirits, can never die. Being vaporized would be dying. It’s not possible because we have—or at least have the capability of having—a mutual, conscious relationship with God. Any being that has this capability can never die. That’s what “eternal life” means.
For animals, it’s different. They do die. And I believe that in the spiritual world, God can reconstitute animals who have died in the physical world. See:
Will We See our Pets Again in Heaven?
Animals do not have the ability to have a conscious, mutual relationship with God. This means that unlike humans, they can die permanently. They do not have eternal life. But if a human being holds an animal, such as a beloved pet, in his or her heart, I believe God will create the corresponding spiritual animal for the pet’s owner in heaven, if the owner wants to see the pet again. It will not be a continuation of the consciousness of the pet on earth. But it will be such a perfect match that even the pet’s owner will not be able to tell the difference, and will swear that pets go to heaven. (“See! Lee was wrong!” they’ll crow! And I won’t bother arguing with them. 😀 )
However,, if the pet’s owner, now an angel, loses interest in a pet, that pet will cease to exist. It will be “vaporized.” But if the owner later remembers the pet, and wants to see it again, it will reappear. God will “respawn” it.
For humans, though, being vaporized as angels and then being reconstituted by God is a pure hypothetical. In reality, it just can’t happen.
Destroying an angel’s (spiritual) body would mean destroying that angel’s mind, memories, thoughts, feelings, and so on. Physically, memories are stored in the brain, apparently through synapses connecting various neurons to one another in intricate, unique patterns. Spiritually, an angel’s memories would similarly be stored in the angel’s spiritual brain. Destroying the angel’s body, including its brain, would destroy the angel’s mind and memory. It would be a cessation, not only of the angel’s body, but of the angel’s mind.
In the spiritual world, the mind and body are indelibly connected. They cannot be severed. It’s different from our physical body, which can be severed from us, and we will continue living in the spiritual world, in our spiritual body. That’s because our physical body is just an extra add-on that isn’t essential for human life. It is required to start a human life, just as a womb is required to start a human life. But once a human being is living in the spiritual world, the physical body isn’t required any more than the womb is required once a baby has been born.
Our real body is our spiritual body. It is a direct expression of our mind, and it perfectly reflects and acts from our mind. Separating our mind from our spiritual body would be like pulling the foundation out from under a house. The house would collapse into rubble. Destroying an angel’s body would mean the death of the angel. Once again, God has given us eternal life, and will never allow us to die once we have entered the spiritual world.
And once again, omnipotence isn’t arbitrary. It acts according to definite rules, which is what gives it its power. On this, see the section titled “5. God as all-powerful is unconvincing” in the article:
God Is Unconvincing To Smart Folks? – Part 2
And also the section titled “What is omnipotence?” in the article:
God: Puppetmaster or Manager of the Universe?
This is just a longer way of saying the same thing I said before: An angel’s body cannot be vaporized. Just as the knife was pulled away each time the suicidal man tried to stab it into his chest, so anything that would vaporize an angel’s body would be stopped before that could happen.
Thanks again for replies.
Like I said, I prefer the arrangement of the afterlife where the mind is a so-called energy being of pure thought, and that can manifest in a variety of forms in the spiritual, but usually manifests in a human form reflecting the character. I think such an arrangement allows a spirit to be more in the image of God, where The Father is incomprehensible, but The Son is in human form.
An analogy of such an arrangement would be me operating an avatar in a virtual reality simulation, except the virtual reality simulation is very much real, and the me operating the avatar is pure mind. Instead of being like a foundation being pulled out from under a house analogy, such a pure mind would be like some holo-projector instead of a foundation. A holo-projector that can project a hologram of a house, and the hologram can be solid-feeling, sorta like Star Trek TNG holograms, and that the holo-projector could get feedback from.
Hopefully such an arrangement is how it really is, rather than the arrangement I have already expressed dislike of: angels being stuck as literal spirit flesh (ew). The former arrangement sounds much safer and superior to me than God holding off the spiritual body being destroyed, the destruction of which can mean permadeath just like in metaphysical naturalism (atheism).
BTW I think angels in the New Church afterlife can travel at infinite velocity (the equivalent of it anyway), or in other words teleportation, as they are described as suddenly appearing in experience of Swedenborg. I assume if an angel tried to teleport to the sun from God, he would find the sun still infinitely far away from the teleportation destination. Like a person in this life trying to reach a rainbow.
Hi K,
Oftentimes when angels appear in the spiritual world they are still in their home community, but are appearing elsewhere over a distance. When they actually do travel, they’re still traveling a finite “distance” in a finite amount of “time.”
In the spiritual world, “distance” is change of state in people’s loves or feelings, whereas “time” is change of state is people’s thoughts or understanding. Spiritual space is a representation of states of love. Spiritual time is a representation of states of understanding.
When angels and spirits travel, it involves changing their state of mind. Specifically, it means changing their emotional state to match that of their destination. This can’t be done instantaneously. It takes some “time,” meaning some change in their thinking and accumulated intellectual experience as well. This is why even for angels, infinite, instantaneous travel is not possible.
Besides, traveling at infinite speed would make it possible for angels to be everywhere in the universe at once, which is possible only for God.
Could angels still manifest to the physical in a way that is like teleportation?
BTW I think it is possible to travel at infinite velocity and not be everywhere at once: instantly changing location (teleportation). And from the perspective of a photon, travel is instantaneous, yet the universe isn’t filled with light from one photon.
And even if one could be everywhere at once, that still would not be near the omnipresence of an omnipresent God, as He is also at every moment in time, as well as omnipresent in the spiritual world?
Hi K,
Time is a slippery thing. However, even if traveling at the speed of light feels instantaneous, it is not. It takes time for light to travel from one point to another. Hence the speed of light. Even if someone traveling on a ray of light from the sun to the earth might feel like it is happening instantly, it is actually taking eight minutes. It’s just that the eight minutes feels like no time at all to the person traveling on the ray of light. Light does not travel at infinite speed.
Similarly, in the spiritual world, Swedenborg may say that an angel is “instantly” present, but in reality, there is a transition that takes place. Swedenborg is not being literal here. He’s saying that it happens so quickly that it feels instantaneous. Angels, also, do not travel at infinite speed, because they are finite beings.
About angels manifesting in the physical, again, angels don’t actually manifest in the physical. They no longer have a physical body. They do apparently retain some “border” of “the finest things of nature,” according to Swedenborg. No one quite knows what to make of this. Perhaps it is the means by which angels and spirits apparently can in some instances manipulate physical objects, according to some people. But as for physically appearing in the material world, that’s just not how angels operate.
In the New Church afterlife, if angels are forever stuck in a mere human existence, could they at least have so-called simulation-like or virtual reality-like experiences where they can experience incomprehensible existence after being in the afterlife for an unfathomable amount of spiritual equivalent of eons? Like spiritual spacetime with a gargantuan number of dimensions (way beyond 3D, 4D, 5D, etc), and being in forms inconceivable to Earthling minds?
Of course, even with a sharp exponential increase in mental capabilities, it would still take forever to reach infinity, and finite is never infinite.
Hi K,
I don’t accept your characterization of angels as being “forever stuck in a mere human existence.” There is nothing “mere” about human existence.
Speaking of infinity, the infinity (God) that it would take forever for us to reach is human. That is the source of our lesser level of humanness. Throughout the unfathomable amount of spiritual equivalent of eons, in which we are becoming forms inconceivable to Earthling minds, we are continually becoming more unfathomably human, because we are continually moving closer to the transcendent humanity of God.
In heaven, we are not stuck in the slow, heavy human existence of Earthlings. In heaven, our humanity goes beyond anything earthly minds can conceive.
I see being stuck in guts and blood with a wad of meat for a brain as limiting, while you see such as divine, so different views on the same mode of existence, I guess.
Anyway, could angels experience modes of existence outside the equivalent of 3D spacetime in bipedal mammalian form at least in simulation-like or vision-like experience? Like being orbs of light in 4 dimensional space (4D as in adding an extra spatial dimension to 3D, not 3D + time here) in such simulation or vision?
Hi K,
Spiritual substance is not like physical matter. The spiritual body is not made of “guts and blood with a wad of meat for a brain.”
As for your question, since we’re approaching the ability to do these sorts of simulations here on earth, I would presume that people in the spiritual world are already way ahead of us.
The question you would ask people is “What image most comes to mind when we think of angels? Beautiful, shiny beings with white feathered wings and amazing powers? This is how angels are traditionally depicted in Western art, but what the Bible teaches is different.” Or how would you say it?
Hi World Questioner,
The common view of angels as shiny winged creatures is based on the spiritual symbolism of wings, which represent spiritual truth. But actual angels don’t have wings. They are fully human in appearance.