Angels in the Bible: From Symbolism to Realism

The question of angels in the Bible goes far beyond the artistic representations that popularized winged figures. Biblical theology distinguishes between the sensible symbol and the personal reality that it expresses. This article examines the originality of biblical thought on angels from three complementary perspectives—the theological, the Christological, and the ecclesiological—grounded in the testimony of Jesus, of the apostles, and of the patristic tradition.

From Symbolism to Realism: The Biblical Question of Angels between the Allegorical Risk and the Affirmation of Personal Reality in Twentieth-Century Exegesis

If we look at Sacred Scripture, we see the plurality of elements concerning angels. In this moment of synthesis we do not intend to repeat particular statements, but to draw from the texts the truths that are constant and fundamental for the Bible, and to answer the question raised at the beginning about the symbolic or real value of angels.

These conclusions are the result of the awareness that the problem of angels still remains open between two unacceptable extremes: the error of the past, which consisted in taking every biblical statement as doctrinal, and that of today, which regards all passages as having merely a symbolic value, as importations of cultural data.

What is the functional aspect of angels?

Servants of God’s Saving Plan: Heb 1:14 and the Ministerial Function of Angels in the Anthropological Perspective of Scripture

The discourse on angels fits within the anthropological perspective according to which the Bible speaks of God not directly to reveal who they are, but to show what they do for men. Not who God is in Himself, but who He is for us. That being so, the sending of angels constitutes a moment of lively interest, of the pathos that God has for the world.

That is why we read in Heb 1:14: “Are not the angels, all of them, ministering spirits sent to serve those who are to inherit salvation”? In other words, we are speaking expressly of “service for salvation”.

The Theological Perspective: The Angel of YHWH in the Old Testament and Divine Mediation in Salvation History

This service of the angelic figure to God’s plan is already present in the primitive conception of the angel of YHWH. The impossibility, in certain texts, of distinguishing between an angelic figure and the divine reality—that is, the indefinability of the angel—attests, on the one hand, to the divine presence and bears witness to His transcendence and, on the other, to His loving presence.

From the beginning and throughout the whole unfolding of salvation history, the angel keeps the divine presence alive, awakens attitudes of adoration, praise, and thanksgiving through interventions that help individuals and institutions, such as the promulgation of the law, and conveys the greatness and omnipresence of YHWH, who is enthroned upon the cherubim.

Next, the angels are described as taking part in the heavenly liturgy. They invite men to direct their lives toward the Eternal One, with whom they bring men into contact, together with the divine gifts and secrets, by means of mediation. They transmit the divine will to men, present prayers, and adore God.

The names of the angels, rather than expressing their individuality, communicate a quality of God, such as His strength (Gabriel: Lk 1:19, 26) or His uniqueness (Michael: Rev 12:7; Jude 9). They reveal and convey, particularly in the New Testament, the reality of God as spirit, power, glory, and light, in which they participate without exhausting it.

To look is to be filled with what one looks upon.

The face of the martyr and the face of the angel shine with the glory of what they behold.

The Christological Perspective: The Angels in the Mystery of Christ, from the Annunciation (Lk 1:30) to the Resurrection and the Apostolic Ministry

Every New Testament discourse on angels must be seen in this close connection with the Christ event: in relation to the coming and departure of Christ, to His subsequent work in the Church, and to His return in glory. God’s plan of salvation finds its fullness in Christ. This is prefigured in the taking up of the role of Moses, appointed through the angel as ruler and deliverer of the people (Acts 7:30-38), and in the function of the law, judged at times positively (Acts 7:38), at times in its limited character (Gal 3:19; Heb 2:2).

In the mystery of Christ, the angels perform an enlightening function for Mary (Lk 1:30ff.) and for Joseph (Mt 1:20), for the shepherds (Lk 2:13), and for Zechariah (Lk 1:11, 19), making them capable of a conscious response and of immediate action.

The angels are present when contact is established between God and men; the angels appear at less clear moments of Revelation, such as the mystery of the Incarnation, the Resurrection, and the return of Christ.

They continue that explanatory function of the ancient human mediators, since “there is no longer any prophet, and there is none among us who knows how long” (Ps 74:9). From this perspective, the almost total absence of angels during the public life of Jesus, “the one mediator between God and men” (1 Tim 2:4), is understandable. They serve Him at the beginning of His life (Mt 4:11) and comfort Him at the end (Lk 22:43; cf. Jn 1:51), signaling the continual and mysterious assistance of the Father, who, if called upon, would not delay in sending Him more than twelve legions of angels in time of need (Mt 26:53).

When time changes qualitatively through the resurrection of Christ, which anticipates the eschaton, the angels reappear to reveal the new situation—“He is not here; he has risen”—the new life, to all men.

The Ecclesiological Perspective: The Angels in the Service of the Early Church in Acts 5:20 and the Question of Their Personal Nature

The service of the angels to Christ continues in the service of the Church and within the Church. An angel frees the apostles from prison, inviting them to preach to the People (Acts 5:20); he does not disappoint Peter’s trust when Peter is snatched from the hand of Herod (12:11); he collaborates in the evangelization of the excluded (8:26-29) and of the pagans (10:3); he gives assurance that there will be a tomorrow (27:23), to which Paul was called to bear witness with his life, even before the angels (cf. 1 Cor 4:9). What is said about individual men is evidence of what happens with the “little ones”, who always have intercessors before the Father (Mt 18:10). This collaboration in the historical journey of men will continue until the judgment of the world carried out by Christ arrives.

The question that has so often been asked returns at this point: does this aspect of service exhaust the nature of the angels, or does it come from real beings?

Are the words about angels the expression of a truth about God as a person supremely loving toward men and worthy of receiving their adoration and prayers, or do they also rise to the dignity of a person?

Are Angels Real Beings or Pure Symbol? The Position of Biblical Theology

Are they identified with their message, being exhausted in it, or are they bearers capable of announcing new messages?

The body of biblical texts makes the second part of the question certain.

Angels as Real and Personal Beings: The Biblical Foundation in Heb 1:14 and 1 Tim 3:16

A person is understood, in a general sense, as a free being, capable of dialogue with God and with men. Once the existence of angels as real beings is admitted, the existence of good spiritual beings, in full friendship with God and solicitous for the good of men, becomes almost a postulate for the understanding of the faith. We are speaking of the testimony that the Bible gives about the existence of angels, not of descriptions of men’s experiences of angels, even though the two aspects are connected.

Old Testament Continuity in the Statements about Angels: From the Angel of YHWH to Intertestamental Jewish Angelology

The uninterrupted and peaceful acceptance of a faith in angels over the centuries is of great value in itself. Such certainty constitutes a fact that is anything but negligible. In saying this we are not taking into account a purely quantitative datum, such as the multiplication of biblical texts that speak of angels. We are assessing a fact: the continuity in the development of a mentality amid the growth of revelation and contact with other peoples, different in religion and culture.

A comparison proves significant: the content of the personality of the “angel” is different from purely symbolic theological categories such as glory, cloud, and face. In eschatological contexts, the mention of angels has a different value from that of certainly symbolic elements such as the trumpet, the fire, the sign of the Son of Man, and the cloud.

It is a mistake to expect from the Old Testament direct information about concepts foreign to it, such as “nature” and “pure spirit”. The “spiritual”, on the other hand, is fundamental to the religion and theology developed outside the Old Testament.

Appearing and disappearing suddenly, for example, coming from heaven, refusing food (Judg 13:16; Tob 12:19), and belonging to the heavenly court are elements that reveal a conception which regards them as standing in a particular relationship with the heavenly sphere and as messengers different from ordinary men, without, however, connoting their spirituality.

The clear inferiority of the angels with respect to Christ confirms their nature as mediators, ready to carry out the will of God, whose glory, light, and spirit they reflect and for whom they stand out through praise and adoration, in such a way as to involve the universe (cf. Rev 5:11-13); this thus becomes a call and an invitation to all men.

A balance between the symbolic and the real value of the angels can be expressed in these terms: The angels are fundamental in the work of help, salvation, guardianship, and protection, and in the closeness of God, who directs, guides, and provides in situations that are often without help or hope, by means of things that become perceptible and can be experienced through this messenger. The angel is above all a messenger who carries out a mission from his Lord as His servant. He is an expression of the ever-new fact, experienced by Israel and by its devout, that God’s help here in this world reaches the trusting and faithful man everywhere.

The Originality of Biblical Thought: The Angel of YHWH and the Distinction of Spirits in the Development of Old Testament Theology

The original aspects of the doctrine on angels are greater than those of the other subject, the devil and the demons. Indeed, the figure of the angel of YHWH, which predates the exile and extends into the New Testament texts, is typical of the Bible. In the apocalyptic texts, the description of angelic figures is sober compared with the fantasies of the apocrypha. Above all, the Bible discerns what comes from other literatures and harmonizes the doctrine of angels with the development of revealed truth about God and man.

The Testimony of Jesus and the Apostles on Angels: Mt 18:10; Lk 15:10; Acts 12:15 and the Synoptic Tradition

When a belief is peacefully accepted, it is difficult to find arguments in contemporary writings that prove the obvious. That is why simple indications of a reflective acceptance take on great value.

In His reply to the Sadducees, who deny the resurrection and the angels (Mt 22:30), Jesus connects the traditional data about the angels with His teaching on the resurrection. If the angels did not really live a life with God different from that of men, Jesus’ argument would lose its force, and He would have deceived His adversaries and the crowds. Analogous arguments can be made regarding the announcement of His return (Mt 16:27) and His appeal to the angels as a reason to respect the “little ones” (cf. Mt 18:10: See that you do not despise any one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.).

To argue that Jesus did not want to take away the general belief, but to let men discover for themselves, over time, that angels belong to a cosmological element, neither respects the value nor exhausts the intentionality of the texts. The author of Hebrews finds himself, then, facing an exaggerated cult of angels that overshadows the primacy of Christ. He would have made his task easier by denying their existence, instead of limiting their value and taking the difficult path of distinguishing between incorrect and valid claims. These signs of a somewhat reflective acceptance of angels are connected with truths of faith such as the resurrection, the primacy, and the return of Christ.

The Mention of Angels among the Truths of Faith: 1 Tim 3:16, Heb 1:14, and Rev 19:10 in the Definition of Angelic Nature

The pre-Pauline hymn quoted in the First Letter to Timothy (1 Timothy 3:16: And without any doubt, great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, was justified in the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached to the Gentiles, was believed in the world, was taken up in glory.), the “mystery of godliness”, that is, Christ, includes among its fundamental moments or salient points “the appearance to the angels”. A beautiful antithetical parallelism contrasts, two by two, the six moments of the life of Jesus proposed as objects of faith: flesh/spirit, angels/nations, world/glory. The realism of the other elements, and particularly of the proclamation, leads us to go beyond a purely symbolic exegesis, whatever the context of the manifestation to the angels may be (the Easter appearances or unspecified moments).

In this context, both the description of angelic nature in Heb 1:14 and the analogous one in Rev 19:10; 22:9 gain in value from the use of the same verb that connoted the appearances of Christ and of the angels: “he was seen” (ōphthē) (Lk 1:11; 22:43; Acts 7:35 and Lk 24:34; Acts 13:31; 1 Cor 15:5-7), and consequently also “came in” (Lk 1:28) and “appeared” (Lk 2:9; Acts 27:33), producing in man a “vision” (Lk 1:22; 24:23). The reality of the appearances of Christ lends a certain character of event to the appearances of the angels as well, which are placed within the general category of epiphanies.

Angels as Models of Union with God: The Contemplative Dimension in Biblical Theology and the Patristic Monastic Tradition

The presentation of angels in an attitude of praise and adoration of God is constant and appears in different contexts and styles:

The historical-midrashic (Lk 1:13-14: “But the angel said to him: Zechariah, do not be afraid, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth”).

The homiletic (Heb 12:22-23: “on the contrary, you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, with its thousands of angels. You have come to the joyful gathering of God’s firstborn sons, that is, of those who have their names written in heaven”).

The exhortative (Mt 18:10: “Take care not to despise a single one of these little ones! For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my heavenly Father”).

The doctrinal (Rev 5:11-14: “And I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders. And their number was millions of millions and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice: Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and thanksgiving. And I heard every creature that is in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, and those that are in the sea, and all things that are in them, saying: To him who sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb, be thanksgiving, and honor, and glory, and power forever and ever. And the four living creatures said: Amen. And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped him who lives forever and ever”). 

The nonexistence of these acclaimed beings would cancel out man’s striving toward the divine world, and the reason for the glory of having drawn near to countless angels, distinct from the “church of the firstborn” (cf. Heb 12:23), would disappear. The texts would lose the force of their exhortative value.

Open Questions: The Existence of Angels as Personal Beings and the Limits of Contemporary Biblical Exegesis

It can be said that the problem of angels remains open in many respects:

The need to explore further the existence of angels as personal beings through an in-depth study of the biblical texts.

To compare biblical doctrine with extrabiblical literatures, highlighting the scope of its originality.

To reflect on the nature of “pure” spirituality and immortality.

For the theologian’s research, angelic questions must determine the participation of the servants of salvation in the divine life. Moreover, the questions dealt with in the preconciliar manuals must be subjected to critical examination, today in the light of angelic psychology and knowledge, affective life, and methods of communication.

For the biblical scholar, the fact that the problem remains open means above all a reference to the Catholic tradition, within which the Bible must be read.

To explore more deeply the role of the angels and of Mary in salvation history, consult the encyclical Redemptoris Mater of John Paul II, which discusses the Annunciation and the dialogue between Gabriel and Mary.

Further your studies: explore Mariology, Marian Theology, Marian apparitions, and the Postgraduate Program in Mariology.

See our complete guide to Catholic Angelology.