Angelology series
By Jerry Batson, Th.D.
Special to The Alabama Baptist
December is special for several reasons. For one it marks the end of the year. Most importantly for Christians, it brings our annual celebration of Christ’s birth. During the month of celebration, hopefully we will read again the Christmas story in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. Many of us will view a Christmas play or attend a Christmas musical. When we read the story of Christ’s birth we will read about the appearance of angels to Mary and Joseph, as well as to a group of shepherds. When we view a typical Christmas play, some in the play will portray angels, perchance children with costumes having wings and a halo. When we hear a Christmas musical we will hear lyrics that reference angels. When we join in singing a Christmas hymn, we will mention angels such as “Angels We Have Heard on High.”
Narratives of Christ
So what are we to make of the prominence of angels in the narratives of Christ’s coming? For that matter, what are we to understand about the prominence of angels in many biblical passages? For the next few weeks Theology 101 will look at various aspects of the doctrine of angels, or as it is formally termed, “Angelology.”
Angels are referenced in Genesis, the first book of the Bible, as well as in Revelation, the last one. Altogether the activity of angels is recorded in at least half of the 66 books of the Bible. Someone, possessing an eye for details and a mind for statistics, has counted more than 190 references to angels or celestial beings in the Old Testament, as well as more than 90 such references in the New Testament.
God’s dealings with His people
If we confess with the Psalmist (and hopefully we do), “The entirety of Your Word is truth” (Ps. 119:160), then surely we must give attention to the place of angels in God’s dealings with His people. Since most all of us have probably never seen an angel or heard one speaking to us, the subject of angels — their reality and ministries — can be easily ignored. Many of us will have to admit that we have not given much thought or time to angelology or the study of angels. Given the truthfulness and trustworthiness of Holy Scripture, our goal is to think biblically about angels.
Biblical promises
What are we to make of biblical promises about angels, such as Psalm 34:7: “The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him and delivers them”? What are we to think about Zechariah’s repeated reference to “the angel that talked with me” (Zech. 1:9, 14, 19; 2:3; 4:1, 5; 5:10)? Furthermore what about the presence of angels associated with Jesus’ birth and wilderness temptations as well as His resurrection and ascension?
While we may be left with a host of unanswered questions about angels in the world today, it is still good for us to learn all we can concerning what the Bible tells us about their existence and activities. In so doing we want to walk a balanced path through our consideration of angels, neither discounting nor denying their reality nor drifting into what one Bible scholar terms “angelmania,” that is, the error of going to seed over angels, such as worshipping or praying to them. Biblical faith surely confesses all that the Bible tells us about angels, but also is careful not to go beyond what it teaches.
Given the prominence of angels in the Christmas story, December is a good month in which to think about these heavenly beings.
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