Theological Outlines • by • Francis J. Hall

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August 10, 2005

Ch. XIII. Q. 78 The Existence of Angels

The doctrine that the hierarchy of created beings includes a vast host of non-corporeal agents possessing the personal attributes of rational intelligence and freedom, and fulfilling certain functions in the universal order, is one to which the Church has always been committed; and its rejection involves important consequences.1

2. This doctrine is so generally taken for granted, and so frequently in evidence, in all parts of Holy Scripture 2 that to reject it is to weaken exceedingly the arguments for receiving biblical teaching concerning spiritual things as having divine authority. Moreover, the open acceptance of angelic doctrine by our Lord, both by word and by casting out of devils, is necessarily determinate for those who acknowledge Him to be divine Revealer. The theory that He practiced accommodation implies that He was capable of crystallizing superstitious error, and the supposition that He Himself erred is neither required by recognition of His human limitations nor consistent with the scope of His prophetic mission.3

3. Naturalistic forms of thought explain the sense of remoteness and the atmosphere of unreality which make belief in the existence of angels so difficult in this age. But the habit of disregarding; whatever eludes investigation by physical methods, allowable though it be for specializing purposes, cannot be defended when spiritual realities are in question.4

4. The physical account of nature contains gaps which cannot be bridged without, taking account of spiritual factors. For example, the widely accepted theory that the substratum, so to speak, of matter is an ether, which is at once absolutely continuous and so elastic as to offer no perceptible hindrance to moving bodies, involves difficulties which would apparently be much relieved if we regarded this hypothetical ether as a meeting point between the physical order and the working of spiritual agents.5

5. Because the disorders which in Scripture are referred to demoniacal possession are susceptible of accurate description in terms of medical science, it does not follow that demoniacal agency must be denied. This appears when we note that, if devils can disturb our bodily functions, the disorders that result must be those, and only those, to which the human organism is naturally liable. That is, they will be subject to pathological description. Our own wills frequently set in operation the physical antecedents of natural diseases, which shows that personal agency cannot be excluded in explaining the disorders in question merely because they are susceptible of scientific diagnosis.6

6. Without denying the possibility of communications from departed human spirits, we may reasonably consider that instances of spiritualistic communication which are not fraudulent—and recent investigations appear to prove that there are many such—can usually be more adequately accounted for by the agency of devils than by that of discarnate human spirits. If devils are the real agents, the supernormal knowledge of our personal affairs which they display is quite natural. And
the low tone which characterizes spiritualistic communications, often conspicuously inconsistent with the known characters of the persons who are said to be speaking, points to the demoniacal hypothesis.7

7. If false, the belief in angels is superstitious and spiritually disturbing. If true, it determines the view which we ought to take of human life and destiny in important particulars. In either case is the question of its truth or falsity a negligible one. The functions ascribed to angels in Scripture make this clear.8

Posted by AKMA at August 10, 2005 11:19 AM

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