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Summary
- Scripture never shows a holy angel falling in love with a person, and Jesus says the risen “neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven” (Matthew 22:30).
- Angels care for people as God’s servants: Hebrews calls them “ministering spirits,” and there is joy among them “over one sinner that repenteth” (Luke 15:10).
- The Catholic Catechism teaches that “From infancy to death human life is surrounded by their watchful care and intercession,” the Orthodox morning prayer asks the guardian angel to “Pray to the Lord for me,” and John Calvin doubted one angel for each believer but held that all the angels watch over us.
- Genesis 6 is read three ways: “the sons of God” were angels (1 Enoch, Justin Martyr), the line of Seth (Augustine), or rulers (later rabbinic tradition, as Rashi records it).
- Scripture names no angel of love; in the Book of Tobit, Raphael guides Tobias to his marriage with Sara and says he came “by the will of God,” and the romantic angel stories come from film, Wim Wenders’ Wings of Desire (1987) and its remake City of Angels (1998).
- If you feel pursued or troubled by a spirit, talk to a pastor or priest you trust, and see a doctor if you see or hear things that frighten you.
Bibliography (Click to show)
- King James Version: Genesis 6:1–4; 18:1–2; 19:1; Job 1:6; 38:7; Psalm 91:11; Matthew 18:10; 22:23–30; Mark 12:25; Luke 15:10; 20:35–36; Acts 12:15; Romans 8:38–39; Hebrews 1:14; 2:16; 13:2; James 4:7; 1 Peter 1:12; Revelation 22:8–9. BibleGateway. Douay-Rheims (1899 American edition): Tobit 3:7–8, 3:24–25; 5:5; 7:1; 8:1–4; 12:15, 12:18. BibleGateway.
- Catechism of the Catholic Church 328–336 and 350–352 (the angels), vatican.va; 120 (the canon of Scripture), vatican.va; 1673 (exorcism and illness), vatican.va.
- Orthodox Church in America, Morning Prayers, “To the Guardian Angel”, oca.org.
- John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion 1.14.7, tr. Henry Beveridge, Christian Classics Ethereal Library.
- Church of England, Articles of Religion (the Thirty-nine Articles), Article VI, churchofengland.org.
- The Book of Enoch (1 Enoch) 6–7, tr. R. H. Charles, pseudepigrapha.com.
- Archie T. Wright, “1 Enoch 1–36: The Book of Watchers: A Review of Recent Research,” in The Origin of Evil Spirits, revised edition (Fortress Press, 2015), publisher’s excerpt.
- Justin Martyr, Second Apology 5, tr. Marcus Dods and George Reith, New Advent.
- Augustine, The City of God 15.23, tr. Marcus Dods, New Advent.
- Rashi on Genesis 6:2, Sefaria.
- Tim Regan-Porter, “Wings of Desire (The Criterion Collection),” Paste, 10 November 2009, pastemagazine.com.
- City of Angels (1998), directed by Brad Silberling, Apple TV catalogue entry, tv.apple.com.
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