The Doctrine of Angels

By Larry Dixon

Larry Dixon is a graduate of Emmaus Bible College and is Professor of Church History and Theology at Columbia Biblical Seminary and School of Missions in Columbia, South Carolina. He attends Woodland Hills Community Church in Columbia. This is chapter eight in a series of articles entitled Back to the Basics: A. Fairly Serious Survey of the Fundamentals of the Faith. A. complete survey of all ten areas of Christian faith is found in Dixon’s book DocTALK: A. Fairly Serious Survey of All That Theological Stuff (Christian Focus Publications, 2002).

Introduction

“I have made a covenant with God that he sends me neither visions, dreams, nor even angels. I am well satisfied with the gift of the Holy Scriptures which give me abundant instruction and all that I need to know both for this life and for that which is to come.” (Martin Luther) 

“Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?” (Hebrews 1:14) (NIV) 

“For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.” (Psalm 91:11–12) 

We are told that as spiritual spectators, “Even angels long to look into these things.” (1 Peter 1:12b) 

“Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.” (Hebrews 13:2)

The Contemporary Fascination with Angels

Guideposts magazine several years ago introduced its Procession of Angels book series, suggesting that the purchaser could receive from the books “encounters with the divine.” People magazine’s December 22, 1997, issue featured a cover story that reported several dramatic episodes of humans experiencing angel visits. Celebrities receiving entertainment awards publicly credit their “spirit guides” for their success. Many other examples may be given of angelphilia, today’s love of angels. The contemporary question for many today is not the medieval query about how many angels can dance on the head of a pin, but how one may contact, converse with, and “hug” (really!) one’s guardian angel. We need to heed the Apostle Paul’s warning to the Colossians about “the worship of angels” (Col. 2:18). And we must recover a biblical sanity about these spiritual creatures.

The Biblical Truth about Angels [1]

Angels are unembodied, personal, spiritual beings. Psalm 8:5 refers to man being created “a little lower than the heavenly beings.” Matthew 22:30 indicates not that human beings will become angels in heaven, but will “be like the angels in heaven.” [2] Job 38:7 tells us that “the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy” at God’s creatorial acts. Angels, at times, seem to major in rejoicing, for Jesus tells us that when a sinner repents, there is “rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God” (Luke 15:10). As the late Paul Little said, “When a sinner comes to Christ, there is a pep rally in heaven!”

There is no reason to believe that angels (as creatures) are omniscient, omnipotent, or omnipresent, but they do possess intellect, emotions, and will. Both the Hebrew and Greek terms for “angel” mean “messenger.”

There are two general classes of angels: fallen and unfallen. The unfallen angels are those who did not join Lucifer in his rebellion in heaven (as some scholars understand Ezekiel 28 and Isaiah 14). This class of angels is sinless (they are described as “holy” in Mark 8:38 and “elect” in 1 Timothy 5:21) and appear to be organized in various ranks (“archangels,” “angels,” “principalities,” “authorities,” “powers,” etc., see passages such as Rom. 8:38; Eph. 1:21; Col. 1:16; 2:10; and 1 Pet. 3:22). The Bible seems to indicate that they are innumerable [3] (Deut. 33:2; Ps. 68:17; Dan. 7:10; Matt. 26:53; Heb. 12:22; Rev. 5:11). The cherubim appear to be a special class of angels whose job it is to protect or guard (note their responsibility toward the tree of life in the Garden of Eden, Gen. 3:24; they are also seen in the decorations of the mercy seat, the lid of the ark of the covenant, Ex. 25:17–22).

Only two unfallen angels are referred to by name: Michael (who is called an “archangel” in Jude 9; cf. Dan. 10:13; 12:1; Rev. 12:7) and Gabriel (appears to Daniel, see Dan. 8:16–26; 9:21–22; Luke 1:19 records Gabriel’s appearing to John the Baptist’s father Zechariah and to the virgin Mary in verse 26).

Unfallen angels are portrayed in the Bible as engaged in a number of ministries. They stand in God’s presence and worship Him (Ps. 89:7), they rejoice in God’s works of creation (Job 38:7) and of redemption (Luke 15:10), and they guide the affairs of nations (Dan. 10–12). They even appear to watch over particular churches (Rev. 1:20), although the use of the term “angels” may here refer to pastors. Numerous passages indicate that angels assist and protect God’s people (1 Kings 19:5—providing food for Elijah; Ps. 91:11–12—guarding God’s servant; Dan. 6:22—shutting a hungry lion’s mouth to protect Daniel; Matt. 4:11—ministering to Jesus after His temptation in the wilderness; Matt. 18:10—fulfilling a special charge over children; Acts 12:8–11—rescuing Peter from Herod’s prison). Although a common Christian belief, there is no conclusive evidence that each Christian has a personal “guardian angel” assigned throughout life.

Scripture also indicates that angels neither marry nor die (Matt. 22:30; Luke 20:35–36). They have been seen by human beings (Gen. 32:1; John 20:12), but humans are strictly warned not to worship angels (Col. 2:18). They escort the believer who dies to glory (Luke 16:22) and will gather together God’s elect at the end of time (Matt. 24:31). Scripture seems to indicate that there is no salvation available for angels (Heb. 2:16). As spiritual spectators, angels “long to look” into the spiritual blessings we humans enjoy (1 Pet. 1:12; cf. 1 Cor. 4:9). Angels will carry out God’s judgment against the wicked at the end of time (Matt. 13:24–30). [4]

Isn’t It Demonic?

Once the devil told Luther he was a great sinner. “I knew that long ago,” replied Luther, “tell me something new. Christ has taken my sins upon himself, and forgiven them long ago. Now grind your teeth.” [5] The devil and his minions do more than simply grind their teeth. They are described in Scripture as “wicked” (Matt. 12:45), “unclean” (Matt. 10:1), and “evil” (Acts 19:13), and quite capable of perpetuating false gospels (Gal. 1:8). We do not know how many fallen angels there are, although some suggest that Lucifer (= the Devil) took a third of the angels with him in his rebellion (Rev. 12:4). [6] They also seem to belong to various ranks (Eph. 6:12; “rulers” and “authorities”), with Satan as their leader (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11).

Satan and his demons oppose the will of God and seek to destroy man’s temporal and eternal welfare. Their opposition can come in the form of demonic possession or oppression (for example, Mark 1:23ff), tempting humans to sin (Gen. 3:1ff), inspiring false teachers in their heresies (1 Tim. 4:1; see especially Gal. 1:8), etc.

Concerning the power of demons, the Scriptures teach that: [7]

1. They know Christ and recognize His supreme authority. In Matthew 8:29 Jesus confronts two demon-possessed men and the demons cry out: “What do you want with us, Son of God?” The demons know the identity of the Son of God.
2. They know true believers and obey the authority of Jesus’ name. In Matthew 10:8 Jesus tells His disciples that they are to “drive out demons.”
3. They know their fate to be that of eternal torment. Matthew 8:29 records the demons as saying to Jesus, “Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time?” The implication here is that they think Jesus has jumped the eschatological timetable for their judgment!
4. They enter and control the bodies of both human beings and beasts. Mark 5:8 gives us the story of the Gerasene demoniac. Jesus commands the demon: “Come out of this man, you evil spirit!” We learn in verses 11–13 that the demons beg Jesus for permission to enter into a herd of pigs.
5. They can bring physical infirmities. Matthew 9:33, for example, tells about a demon-possessed man who could not speak. After Jesus had cast out the demon, “the man who had been mute spoke.”
6. They inflict mental maladies. The account of the Gerasene demoniac indicates the man’s insomnia, rages, and acts of self-mutilation (Mark 5:4–5).
7. They produce moral impurity. Matthew 10:1, as well as other texts, refers to demons as “evil spirits.”

The Danger of Christian Fiction

For many Christians, the novels of Frank Peretti (This Present Darkness, Piercing the Darkness, etc.) are consumed not as engaging fiction, but as doctrinal fact. The effect of such works, says one critic, is not always positive:

Motivation to pray has increased exponentially in response to the vision of demonic hordes, locked in celestial combat with angels of light, swords clashing, wounds oozing black blood, with prayer the decisive factor determining whether the forces of good triumph over—or fall victim to—the satanic darkness. [8]

Nowhere in the Bible is the Christian told to pray to provide “prayer cover” for the good angels, assisting in their cosmic battles! One is reminded of Martin Luther’s comment:

The devil has no better way to conquer us than by leading us away from the Word and to the Spirit…. But one should hold fast to the Word and not concede the Spirit to people apart from the Word. [9]

Forgetting Two-third’s of Your Enemies

The Bible teaches that the Christian has three enemies, not just one. Our enemies are the world (James 4:4), the flesh (ourselves, Eph. 2:3), and the devil (1 Pet. 5:8). It appears that each generation of Christians is tempted to focus on one enemy to the exclusion of the other two. [10] When I was a young believer, the primary enemy of the Christian was THE WORLD! “The world” took the form of “rock” music (the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Monkees) which my spiritual leaders warned me to avoid at all costs. I didn’t, which probably explains many of my persisting difficulties!

At this particular point in church history it appears that Western Christianity believes that the only enemy of which we must be aware is the devil. This fixation on our supernatural enemy has given rise to a phenomenon of books on “spiritual warfare;” by last count over 400 books have been published on this subject in the 1990s! In his book Three Crucial Questions about Spiritual Warfare, Clinton Arnold challenges us to “get the upper hand on [demons] before they get it on us.” [11] He evaluates such aspects of contemporary spiritual warfare as “demolishing strongholds,” “demon possession,” “binding the strong man,” SLSW (“strategic level spiritual warfare”), “warfare prayer,” “territorial spirits,” “spiritual mapping,” “identificational repentance,” the “genealogical transmission of demons,” “deliverance ministries,” “power encounters” versus “truth encounters,” etc. Some of the claims made by spiritual warfare writers are alarming. Peter Wagner, for example, declares that warfare prayer “helps bring about effective evangelism” and can increase receptivity to the gospel “virtually overnight.” [12]

C.S. Lewis reminds us in his classic work The Screwtape Letters that we Christians make two equally serious errors about Satan: we either think about him too much or we think about him too little. Many of us forget that he is like a “roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). The way we Christians often live, we seem to be oblivious that we are on Satan’s list of desirable entrées! I am also reminded of a comment by Thomas Howard a number of years ago when he said that angels are none of our business most of the time.

Chuck Lowe challenges many of the common ideas of spiritual warfare writers. [13] The concept of “territorial spirits,” that is, a class of powerful demons that rule over specific geographical areas, lacks biblical support, he says. He is directly taking Peter Wagner to task, it seems, for Wagner has written:

Satan delegates high-ranking members of the hierarchy of evil spirits to control nations, regions, cities, tribes, people groups, neighborhoods and other significant social networks of human beings throughout the world. Their major assignment is to prevent God from being glorified in their territory, which they do through directing the activity of lower ranking demons. [14]

The practice of “warfare prayer” (especially as manifested in “prayer walks”), that is, the naming and rebuking of spirits in order to reach the world for Christ, also finds scant proof from the Word of God. The Bible provides little evidence of demon taxonomy (classification). Lowe argues that the Bible does not call us to attack ruling demons. In fact, it warns us not to. God has already defeated them in Christ. We are to hold our spiritual ground, not by engaging demons directly (Jude 9 tells us that “even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him, but said, ‘The Lord rebuke you!’”), but through the use of traditional spiritual disciplines. Much of contemporary spiritual warfare literature appears to move us in the direction of animism, a belief in demons occupying objects (such as trees, mountains, religious objects, etc.). [15]

There is much discussion in Christian circles about demon possession, oppression, or influence. Some hold that a genuine Christian cannot be possessed by a demon because he or she is indwelt by the Spirit of God. Others disagree, arguing that if sin can still reside in the Christian, then the possibility of being controlled (not owned) by a demon is very real. My own study of the cases of possession in the New Testament fails to show one clear example of a believer being possessed by a demon.

In his excellent article “The Parts Angels Play,” Thomas Howard reminds us that “It is not for nothing we are told so little in the Bible about angels. They are, if we may speak abruptly, none of our business most of the time.” [16] With great profundity, Howard challenges us to stick to the biblical storyline:

The Bible is the Book with the story in it. You have to follow how the author tells his story. You have to stick with his own emphases. You cannot go tooting off to write your own story and then call it his. And it is surely worth noting that in Bible stories, almost no space is given to the angels. [17]

Robert Lightner, in his book Angels, Satan, and Demons: Invisible Beings That Inhabit the Spiritual World, aptly conveys our concern in this area of doctrinal study:

If even a small portion of the attention given to angels, Satan, and demons today would be given to the spread of the gospel, we would see many more delivered from Satan’s stronghold and entering the family of God. [18] 

While we should not give undue attention to spirits, we must devote ourselves to the Spirit of God. And in our next article we will discuss the “shy” member of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit. We need to acquire a basic understanding of the history of the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, as well as examine the biblical evidence of His personality, deity, and works (in the believer and in the world).

Notes

1. Some of the following information is from George P. Pardington’s Outline Studies in Christian Doctrine (Camp Hill, PA: Christian Publications, n.d.), 113ff.
2. On an Oprah Winfrey show a few years ago, the writer Dannion Brinkley, who claims that he has died twice, stated that “we are not from here. We’re from there (the next life). We are powerful spiritual beings trying to have a human experience here.” For some contemporary angel writers there is a distinct affinity if not commitment to Mormon theology.
3. Lightner tells us that 14th-century cabalists (Jewish scholar-mystics) arrived at the precise figure of 301,655,722! Some scholars would say that there are billions or trillions of angels. See Robert Lightner, Angels, Satan, and Demons (Nashville: Word Publishing, 1998).
4. The “angel of the Lord” appears in several places in Scripture and his name is sometimes used interchangeably with Jehovah. He receives worship, and for this reason some scholars believe the angel of the Lord to be a preincarnate appearance of Christ. For references, see chapters in Genesis such as 16; 18; 22; 32; 48; etc.
5. Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church, 8 vols. (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1910), 7: 336.
6. Some theologians are not certain that demons and evil angels are the same (see Pardington, 122).
7. Material taken from Pardington, 122–123. The article “Your Devil is Too Small” by William D. Eisenhower, Christianity Today, July 15, 1988, is also quite helpful here.
8. Chuck Lowe, Territorial Spirits and World Evangelisation? (Geanies House, Fearn, Ross-shire, Great Britain: Christian Focus Pub., 1998), 10. I highly recommend Lowe’s book as a biblical critique of much of contemporary spiritual warfare doctrines.
9. Martin Luther, Luther’s Works, 54.97.
10. The tendency within “spiritual warfare” to refer to a “demon of lust,” or a “demon of obesity,” etc. seems to confuse two of the Christian’s three enemies.
11. Clinton Arnold, Three Crucial Questions about Spiritual Warfare (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1997), 18.
12. Quoted in Lowe, 24.
13. Some of their ideas are quite bizarre, such as interviewing the demon possessing a person with emotional problems, casting demons out of pets, etc.
14. C. Peter Wagner, Wrestling with Dark Angels (Ventura, California: Regal, 1990), 77.
15. For a serious challenge to the animistic tendency in much of modern spiritual warfare, see Robert Priest, Thomas Campbell, and Bradford Mullen’s “Missiological Syncretism: The New Animistic Paradigm,” in Spiritual Power and Missions: Raising the Issues (editor: Edward Rommen) (Pasadena: William Carey, 1995), 9–87.
16. Thomas Howard, “The Parts Angels Play” (Christianity Today, December 12, 1980, 18–21).
17. Ibid., 20.
18. Nashville: Word Publishing, 1998, 176.