14 Compassion and Forgiveness

14 Compassion and Forgiveness

Call to Worship:

John 11: 32-36
32 When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled.
34 “Where have you laid him?” he asked.
“Come and see, Lord,” they replied.
35 Jesus wept.
36 Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”

For most of my life I have been tormented by my inability to forgive people who have injured me. I am always convicted by the directive to forgive 7 times 7, but also by the seemingly opposite directive not to throw my pearls before swine. A great man once taught me that the meaning of forgiveness is: "to give as before", a very difficult task given that the offender might offend again, regardless of our forgiving feelings. It always seemed to me that to “give as before” meant opening myself up to the possibility of repeated offenses—“if you deceive me once shame on you, but if you deceive me twice shame on me.” And yet Jesus tells us to forgive and forgive and forgive. How do I do that? WHY should I do that?

Well, for one thing, possibly the most important thing, I know that holding on to resentments puts a spiritual weight on myself, the bearing of which constitutes an impediment to my own personal spiritual growth.

In fact, in I.C. Sharma's book, Cayce, Karma, and Reincarnation, we find this knotty little sentence:

"But if we resist wishing ill to our ill-wisher, the negative effect of the mental karma reverts to the originator."

Every negative thought I carry around with me, about somebody else, is a negative burden on myself. I know I need to relieve myself of these burdens of resentment, grudges and wariness, by rising above the situation, by freeing myself of the bad attitude, and trying to see the offending person in the same light in which I saw them BEFORE the offense; but no matter how I swear to myself, in prayer, to greet my enemies with a smile of forgiveness, I continually fail, at the crisis, to live up to the standard of my self-made vows. I have tried many techniques and have failed to change myself. I always swear that my next encounter with the offender will be different, but, on confronting the offender, I keep lapsing into cold, negative, rejecting behavior. The good news is that, recently I have stumbled upon a new technique for changing the way I see the offending person, and this may be the way for me to conquer my cold-hearted ways—I am trying to learn to see my enemy through the eyes of COMPASSION.

The dictionary defines "compassion" as:

"a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering."

The emphasis of this definition on the object of compassion as "one who suffers", shines a new light on the whole subject of forgiveness. Usually, when we cannot forgive, it is because we suffer from offense. Little do we realize that it is the offender who suffers most from his offense, it is he who is unfortunate, and it is he, therefore, who is an appropriate object of compassion. Notice that both "pity" and "forgiveness" reside under this single umbrella.

Compassion is not only a humble mental attitude, putting others' feelings ahead of our own, it is a superior mental perspective as well—it allows us to rise above all petty mundane considerations and view the BIG PICTURE. Compassion relieves us of the fear of mundane consequences by raising us ABOVE the material dimension to a higher mental state. And, of course, don't forget that our most radical exemplar of this higher mind state was Jesus.

One of the qualities of Jesus’ personality I have always so vastly admired was how FEARLESS He was. Jesus was never intimidated by the social forces bent on discrediting Him and destroying Him—and, to the end, He worshipped the divinity of His accusers and forgave them even as they crucified Him. What a guy! I want to be like that.

But I am NOT like that--I still suffer from a raucous cavalcade of petty fears, and endure endless inner dialogues with a cosmic cop, who enables my tendency to express every subtle glint of personal originality with feelings of guilt. My repressive Nazarene upbringing installed in my psycography an area of content that automatically generated feelings of guilt and fear; many things were included in this frontier, but mostly these guilt feelings registered whenever I took the tiniest toe-step outside the limits of the prescribed norm. To my mother, like the most traditional Hassid, every single everyday act was imbued with religious significance, and was therefore the proper domain for her ceaseless accusations and come-uppance. Hell was my homeland and to Hell I would return. Later we will discuss compassion and other human feelings as they are felt in the bowels--it was definitely in the deepest pit of my gut that I felt guilty, rejected and alone. Thus, slave as I am to emotional turmoil, I have seen the the only way for me to get free from my own mental shackles is to rise above them and witness the infinite beauty in every human being in the world, even the ones who have screwed me.

The rest of this sermon will be concerned with digging deeper into the PROCESS of forgiveness through compassion. We begin with a sermon from 1914, given by C.H. Spurgeon, which gives several examples of the compassion of Jesus:

"He was moved with compassion."—Matthew 9:36.

“This is said of Christ Jesus several times in the New Testament. The original word is a very remarkable one. It is not found in classic Greek. It is not found in the Septuagint. The fact is, it was a word coined by the evangelists themselves. They did not find one in the whole Greek language that suited their purpose, and therefore they had to make one. It is expressive of the deepest emotion; a striving of the bowels—a yearning of the innermost nature with pity. As the dictionaries tell us— Ex intimis visceribus misericordia commoveor. (from the depth of pity). I suppose that when our Saviour looked upon certain sights, those who watched him closely perceived that his internal agitation was very great, his emotions were very deep, and then his face betrayed it, his eyes gushed like founts with tears, and you saw that his big heart was ready to burst with pity for the sorrow upon which his eyes were gazing. He was moved with compassion. His whole nature was agitated with commiseration for the sufferers before him."


[Sidebar: This point about deep emotions being felt in the bowels is one that must be emphasized. The experience of feeling in the bowels, that is to say in the body, the feeling of shared experience of another in our physical being (we call this "empathy") is the carnal expression of compassion. Compassion, then, has two components:

1. a spiritual component which is above the sinner, the offender, and
2. a vital component which is the connecting link between the object of compassion and the one who feels compassion.

The flesh, being weak as it is, has exposed us all to unspiritual temptations, but this is also grounds for rejoicing because we may, like Jesus, transcend the limited boundary of our carnal identity, and vibrate sympathetically with our suffering companions, and pity them in our very physical being, thus allowing us to rise above, and enter the spiritual dimension of our relationship.

Back to Spurgeon:]

"This word is not used many times even by the evangelists, yet if you would sum up the whole character of Christ in reference to ourselves, it might be gathered into this one sentence,

"He was moved with compassion." . . .

Was he not moved with compassion when he entered into a covenant with his father on our behalf, even on the behalf of all his chosen—a covenant in which he was to be the sufferer, and they the gainers—in which he was to bear the shame that he might bring them into his own glory? Yes, verily, he was even then moved with compassion, for his delights even then were with the sons of men. Nor did his compassion peer forth in the prospect of an emergency presently to diminish and disappear as the rebellion took a more active form, and the ruin assumed more palpable proportions. 

It was no transient feeling. He continued still to pity men. He saw the fall of man; he marked the subtle serpent's mortal sting; he watched the trail as the slime of the serpent passed over the fair glades of Eden; he observed man in his evil progress, adding sin to sin through generation after generation, fouling every page of history until God's patience had been tried to the uttermost; and then, according as it was written in the volume of the Book that he must appear, Jesus Christ came himself into this stricken world. 

Came how? O, be astonished, ye angels, that ye were witnesses of it, and ye men that ye beheld it. The Infinite came down to earth in the form of an infant; he who spans the heavens and holds the ocean in the hollow of his hand, condescended to hang upon a woman's breast—the King eternal became a little child. Let Bethlehem tell that he had compassion. There was no way of saving us but by stooping to us. To bring earth up to heaven, he must bring heaven down to earth. Therefore, in the incarnation, he must bring heaven down to earth. Therefore, in the incarnation, he had compassion, for he took upon himself our infirmities, and was made like unto ourselves. Matchless pity, indeed, was this!

. . . His tender heart pities all the griefs of his dear people. There is not a pang they have but the head feels it, feels it for all the members. Still doth he look upon their imperfections and their infirmities, yet not with anger, not with loss of patience, but with gentleness and sympathy, "He is moved with compassion."

I am especially interested in the sentence, “To bring earth up to heaven, he must bring heaven down to earth.” Surely the act of rising above the sins of our oppressors, and the sins of our own intolerance involves bringing Heaven down to Earth, and viewing the offense from the Heavenly perspective which negates all significance of the sin and rather glories in the divinity of us all, a divinity either realized or merely potential.

From The Compassion of Christ by Wayne Jackson, we read:

“The saying is proverbial: “People do not care how much you know, until they know how much you care.” There is a measure of truth in that.

Consider the case of Jesus Christ. He was the most forceful, demanding teacher who has ever lived. He was the one who taught that even one’s closest family members must give way to loyalty to him, and that the true disciple must be willing to “bear his cross” for the Master (Matthew 10:34-39). In view of the rigorous nature of the Savior’s requirements, how does one account for his amazing popularity?

For one thing, the evidence supporting his claims was staggering. No honest person could deny it. Beyond that, a strong case can be made that Jesus’ compassion for the lost, as a reflection of his incredible love, made him a most attractive character. 

Our Sympathetic High Priest
There are several words in the Greek New Testament that reveal insights into the marvelous compassion of the Lord with reference to sinful, suffering humanity. Let us think about this for a moment.
The book of Hebrews (4:15) has this exciting passage:

“For we have not a high priest that cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but one who has been tempted like as we are, yet without sin.”

Of special interest is the term “touched.” It translates the Greek sympatheo, from sun (with), and patheo (to feel). Hence, the meaning is to feel with. Our English “sympathy” is derived from this word.

Michaelis notes that the term “does not signify a sympathetic understanding that is ready to condone, but a fellow feeling that derives from full acquaintance with the seriousness of the situation as a result of successfully withstanding the temptation” (Bromiley, 802-803). . .

A truly stunning case of the Master’s tender concern is observed in a circumstance recorded in Mark 3:

Jesus entered a Hebrew synagogue on the Sabbath day. There he encountered a man with a withered hand. The Jews suspiciously watched the Lord, to see whether or not he would heal the man, and thus, in their judgment, violate the sabbath by doing a good “work.” If he did, they would then “file charges.” It has always intrigued me that they anticipated the possibility of a miracle, yet had no interest in the Teacher’s message!
But Christ “knew their thoughts” (Luke 6:8), and understood the effect that sin had wrought in them, and it angered him (Mark 3:5). The Greek term for anger (orge) denotes a deliberate disposition, not an impulsive flash of wrath.

The most unusual thing about this episode, however, is the fact that Jesus was “grieved” over these hard-hearted men; hence, he healed the man’s withered hand in an attempt to soften them!

The original term that is rendered “grieved” (sunlupeo) is found only here in the entire New Testament. The noun lupeo (used 16 times in the New Testament) means sorrow or pain (either of body or mind). But the addition of the prefix sun, makes the term unique in the New Testament. 

Herodotus, the Greek historian, used the word to describe the emotions of certain citizens who offered their condolences to a man whose brother had just died (6.39).
In this passage, Mark seems to be suggesting the sympathetic nature of Jesus’ grief, as he contemplates the fact that these men were their own worst enemies (Vine, 362). What an index into the loving heart of the Son of God!

Perhaps the most dramatic biblical term denoting the idea of compassion is the word splanchnon. Literally, it signifies the intestines. When Judas committed suicide by hanging himself, his body eventually fell to the earth and “his intestines gushed out” (Act 1:18).

But both the Hebrews and the Greeks came to use the term in a figurative sense, for deep feelings of tenderness and compassion — much as when we use the term “heart,” as in, “I love her with all my heart.” There are several instances of where this word is employed to describe Christ’s feelings for the unfortunate.

Christ: “moved with compassion”
Jesus had this emotion for a poor man who was afflicted with the dreaded disease, leprosy (Mark 1:41). The gentleman met Christ, kneeled before him, and begged: “If you will, you can make me clean.” What confidence he had.

The Lord, “moved with compassion,” responded, “I will.” With but a touch of the Savior’s hand the man was instantly cleansed. Someone has aptly commented that it was only on account of the Lord’s compassion that he had a “hand” with which to touch the gentleman!

The purpose of the miracle, of course, was to establish the Messiah’s credibility as a teacher “come from God” (cf. John 3:2). Nevertheless, we must not overlook the fact that Jesus had sincere feelings for this man’s horrible plight.

The Lord is not going to miraculously deliver us from the physical effects of a sin-cursed world. It is noteworthy, though, that as we suffer, we may be assured of his genuine sympathy. 

Christ’s compassion for the people
The term splachnon is used to depict the concerned disposition that Jesus had for the confused Jews as they sought to find direction for their lives.

When the Savior heard the news of the murder of his friend, John the Baptizer, he took his disciples apart into a remote area near Bethsaida. But the multitudes followed after him. Mark says that Jesus “had compassion on them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd” (6:34), and so, he “welcomed them” (Luke 9:11).

Think about it. The Lord set aside his own grief for his murdered cousin, a righteous man of God, to minister to these people who so desperately needed direction in their lives. What a man!"

The foregoing piece emphasizes the healing miracles of Jesus' compassion. But what about forgiveness? How does the healing reflect on the idea of forgiveness? Perhaps the key is in the phrase: "Forgiveness of sins".

The issue of the Divine right to forgive sins figures in the scripture:

Mark 2:5-7
"5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
6 Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves,
7 “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

Obviously, Jesus' claim to be the Son of God includes a claim on the Divine right to forgive sins. Can we, too, claim the same right to forgive the sins of our enemies, and greet them "as before"? Ought we to do this because we know it is the right thing to do, or must we do it because we know about the deal the Father makes with sinners:

Mark 11:25
25 "And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins. "

1 John 1:9
9 "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."
Remember that Jesus' forgiveness is not some some half-hearted vestige, but a real commission of the offense to the so-called "sea of forgetfulness":

Micah 7:19
"He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea."

Hebrews 10:17
17 "Then he adds: "Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more."

How is it possible to completely forget the sins of our enemies? Certainly one way is to realize that every sin we hold against another is a sin we hold against ourselves:

Romans 3:23-26
"For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus."

The act of "forgiving sins" is not unlike the act of "being born again". The newness of attitude that the forgetfulness of sins affords us, is the the newness of life offered to us by the mediation of Jesus Christ between God and Man. To forgive "as before", is the same as being born again, is the same as forsaking the "Old Man" for the "New Man". To live each moment of life in the present, devoid of past and future, is to live in the eternal Now of Infinity.

2 Corinthians 5:17

"17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"

The new Man in Christ learns new strategies for dealing with the sins of others, including this no-nonsense instruction sheet:


Matthew 18:15-18

“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."

This socio-political catechism leaves no room for harboring passive aggressive resentment--it is all about getting things out in the open and defeating the evils of hidden hatreds.

The following article mentions the social context in which the compassion of Jesus was demonstrated:

Jesus and His Tender Compassion, Weldon E. Warnock,
Guardian of Truth XXXVIII No.23, December 1, 1994:

"One of the greatest qualities in the life of Jesus was his willingness to enter into the human situation and to be deeply moved by tender compassion that compelled him to help and to heal. Jesus was never detached from, nor indifferent to human sorrow and suffering. People were never a nuisance to Jesus but an opportunity to serve.

According to Webster, compassion is "to suffer with another; hence, sympathy; sorrow for the distressed or unfortunate with the desire to help" (Webster's New Twentieth Century Dictionary, Unabridged, Second Edition). Webster then gives a poignant statement from South, "There never was a heart truly great and generous, that was not also tender and compassionate."

William Barclay wrote, 

"If there was one thing the ancient world needed it was compassion, pity and mercy." There was no concern for the sick and feeble, no provision for the aged and no feeling for the mentally and emotion-ally disturbed. Christ, however, in his appearance brought love, affection and care to a world of apathy and complacency."

Here are a few more scriptures concerning the compassion of Jesus. We will see that the compassionate acts of Jesus were not only confined to miracle healings, but also to taking care of His followers' physical need for food, and giving spiritual instruction:

Matthew 15:32

"And Jesus called His disciples to Him, and said, "I feel compassion for the people, because they have remained with Me now three days and have nothing to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, for they might faint on the way."

Mark 6:34

"When Jesus went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and He felt compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things."

John 11:34-38

"and said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to Him, "Lord, come and see." Jesus wept. So the Jews were saying, "See how He loved him!". But some of them said, "Could not this man, who opened the eyes of the blind man, have kept this man also from dying?" So Jesus, again being deeply moved within, came to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone was lying against it."

This scripture asks the big question: if Jesus knew He was going to raise Lazarus from the dead, why did He weep? We have previously agreed that it was because of His deep sympathetic resonance with the PEOPLE in His flock. So deep was His love for them, that their pain became His pain even though He, more than anyone, was able to RISE ABOVE IT. So must we rise above the transgressions of our enemies, and glory in the Oneness of ALL including that scumbag on the corner who stole my wallet.

This article by Rudolf Steiner places the idea of "compassion" into the context of generally accepted parameters of spiritual development and evolution, and indicates the price we must pay for holding on to bad feelings. Furthermore, it emphasizes the point, we have been making, that forgiveness of other peoples' sin requires not knowledge of the sinner, but "self-knowledge"--that to forgive another we must first forgive ourselves. Finally, it describes the dangerous thought forms that can invade the higher planes if we bring our petty emotional attitudes before the Heavenly authority:

Secrets of the Threshold – Lecture VIII – Munich, 31 August 1913

"The egoism we develop in the physical world, without being willing to acquire self-knowledge, shows up when it is carried into spiritual worlds. Nothing is so disturbing, nothing can be so bitter and disheartening as to experience the result of our failure to develop love and compassion in the physical world. Ascending into the spiritual world, we are filled with anguish by the selfishness and lack of love we have achieved in the physical-sense world. When we cross the threshold, everything is revealed, not only the obvious but also the hidden egoism that rages in the depths of men’s souls. Someone who with outward egoism frankly insists that he wants this or that for himself is perhaps much less egoistic than those who indulge in the dream that they are selfless, or those who assume a certain egoistic self-effacement out of theosophical abstractions in their upper consciousness. This is especially the case when the latter declaim their selflessness in all sorts of repetitions of the words “love” and “tolerance.” What a person carries up into higher worlds in the form of an unloving lack of compassion is transformed into hideous, often terrifying figures he meets on entering the spiritual worlds, figures that are extremely disturbing for the soul."

This next Steiner quote affirms significance of the term I have spoken of before: "humble pride". As I said above:

"Compassion is not only a humble mental attitude, putting others' feelings ahead of our own, it is a superior mental perspective as well—it allows us to rise above all petty mundane considerations and view the BIG PICTURE."

Rudolf Steiner  – From the Contents of Esoteric Classes – Berlin, 15th May 1908

"Some say that sympathy (compassion, pity) can also come from egoism. That may be the case. Many kinds of sympathy only arise because one doesn’t want to see other people suffer. That’s even a good thing. It’s better for a man to help someone out of egotistical sympathy than not to help him at all. But we must learn to develop a sympathy that stands above egoism, that helps fellowmen because it’s one’s duty to help them."

In conclusion, I wish to reiterate the main theme of this presentation: that compassion and forgiveness are linked, co-active—that one leads to the other. Compassion, the experience of sympathy and a desire to ease the suffering of others, inevitably enables the subject to view the suffering one from a higher mental perspective, and share his pain on one level, while rising above his pain on another level; remember that Jesus wept not because He thought death was a terrible thing, but because His friends did. Viewing reality from a higher mental perspective creates three changes in attitude toward those who trespass against us:

1. that we all are one, and share each others’ pains and joys through inherent sympathy,
2. that the one who offends us only truly hurts himself, and is therefore not deserving of more rejection from us, but is rather worthy of forgiveness, just as we forgive ourselves, and
3. that we are forgiven in direct proportion to our ability to forgive others.

When we fear entering into relationships flawed by past offenses, we must remember that the petty grudges of the present give rise to eternal punishments in the hereafter.

Let us pray: Jesus thank You for Your healing presence in our lives, lives so infected by mundane smallness we too easily forget the largeness of Your love, the depth of Your compassion. Let us day by day become more perfect imitators of Your infinitely patient and tolerant Self. Amen.

13 Angels in Christianity

13 Angels in Christianity

Two weeks ago I gave a presentation on angels as they appear in literature; at that time I suggested the idea that the language of art and the language of angels share so many common features as to be indistinguishable from each other. Last week I gave a cursory survey of angels as they figure into the doctrines and mythologies of many world religions. Today we will explore the role and significance of angels in the Christian cosmography.

There is one thing we must make perfectly clear at the outset, and that is: the fact that angels are described in so many different languages, in many different idioms, and are described in terms of culturally specific stereotypes does NOT mean they are somehow UNREAL. The image may be culturally specific, but the spiritual reality is universal--it is the same for any man on Earth. Indeed the universal presence of angels in the world collective mind does nothing but affirm their existence. I must emphatically attest that angels are real in every sense of the word, including the tangible reality of the physical dimension. Moreover, the interplay of higher and lower dimensions, as it runs through the entirety of creation, can not be more aptly symbolized than by the example of the relationship of angels to Man; angels crowd cosmic space with their benevolent (and malevolent) energies, and influence our thoughts and feelings in every moment of our lives. Thus, directing our attention to them cannot be thought of as less than of supreme importance, in developing our spiritual sensitivities.

In the following presentation we will cite MANY very REAL examples of angelic interaction with Man, and with Jesus.

As usual, we will begin with an overview taken off the internet:
The following is taken from The truth about angelic beings--What does the Bible really teach about angels? by Dr. Paul Eymann:

"Who or what are angels?
The word “angel” actually comes from the Greek word aggelos, which means “messenger.” The matching Hebrew word mal'ak has the same meaning."

[Sidebar: Two weeks ago I failed to emphasize the role of angelic messengers in my discussion of art and angelic language. Clearly, if angels bring us messages from the Divine, then the messages contained in artistic creations must be thought of as messages from Heaven. Again I refer to the idea that I make no distinction between church music and secular music--it is ALL sacred to me.

Back to Eymann:]

"Sometimes, the Bible uses these words for human beings: ordinary people who carry messages ·    prophets
·    priests
·    church leaders
Sometimes, it speaks figuratively of things or events as “messengers”…
·    the pillar of cloud
·    pestilence or plagues

But it usually describes the whole range of spirits whom God has created, including both good and evil angels, and special categories such as cherubim, seraphim, and the archangel.

Angels are mentioned at least 108 times in the Old Testament and 165 times in the New Testament. Hence, there is ample information available in Scripture to allow us to build a foundation for our knowledge of angelic beings.
Origin of angels
The Scripture speaks about the creation of angels, therefore, it is clear that they have not existed from all eternity (Nehemiah 9:6; Psalm 148:2,5). Colossians 1:16-17 explains:

“For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created by Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.”

The time of their creation is never definitely specified, but it is most probable that it occurred in connection with the creation of the heavens in Genesis 1:1. It may be that God created the angels immediately after He had created the heavens and before He created the earth—for according to Job 38:4-7, “the sons of God shouted for joy” when He laid the foundations of the earth."

 The Bible describes the function of angels as "messengers" but does not indicate when the creation of angels occurred. Some Christians believe that angels are created beings, based on (Psalms 148:2-5; Colossians 1:16): "praise ye Him, all His angels: praise ye Him, all His hosts ... for He spoke and they were made. He commanded and they were created ...". The Fourth Lateran Council (1215) declared that the angels were created beings. The Council's decree Firmiter credimus (issued against the Albigenses) declared both that angels were created and that men were created after them. The First Vatican Council (1869) repeated this declaration in Dei Filius, the "Dogmatic constitution on the Catholic faith".

[Sidebar: The question, of WHEN in time the angels were created, has occupied theologians for centuries. It seems dumb to me, because the BEGINNING is a moment OUTSIDE TIME, and is therefore impossible to date. Nevertheless, the number of angels that will fit on the head of a pin continues to be argued in the halls of doctrinal learning and in theological writing. Of especial interest is not so much when the GOOD angels were created, but when the BAD angels were created--this, because the creation of BAD angels coincides with the creation of EVIL.

To add fuel to the fire, so to speak, ha ha, the following excerpt from the Catholic Encyclopedia suggests that Satan may have been pre-ordained to rebel against God, not only FROM the very beginning of Creation, but even BEFORE the beginning. The section has much to say about time and the very instant of creation:

"As might be expected from the attention they had bestowed on the question of the intellectual powers of the angels, the medieval theologians had much to say on the time of their probation. The angelic mind was conceived of as acting instantaneously, not, like the mind of man, passing by discursive reasoning from premises to conclusions. It was pure intelligence as distinguished from reason. Hence it would seem that there was no need of any extended trial.

And in fact we find St. Thomas and Scotus discussing the question whether the whole course might not have been accomplished in the first instant in which the angels were created. The Angelic Doctor argues that the Fall could not have taken place in the first instant. And it certainly seems that if the creature came into being in the very act of sinning the sin itself might be said to come from the Creator."

[Sidebar: Note how this sentence affirms William Blake's theory of contraries,
". . . the very act of sinning the sin itself might be said to come from the Creator."
If that's not a wild suggestion, I don't know what is!

However, remember that we are dealing with a spiritual world in which we encounter paradox at every turn in the road; that no moral imperative can remain untouched or unaltered by the flow of events through a warped window of time; furthermore, remember that Blake insists that it takes positive and negative to make a world, so why should not this characteristic not extend into the domain of the Mind of God; if He made such a world, how could it not?

Back to the Catholic Encyclopedia:]

"But this argument, [that "the very act of sinning the sin itself might be said to come from the Creator"] together with many others, is answered with his accustomed acuteness by Scotus, who maintains the abstract possibility of sin in the first instant.

But whether possible or not, it is agreed that this is not what actually happened. For the authority of the passages in Isaiah and Ezekiel, which were generally accepted as referring to the fall of Lucifer, might well suffice to show that for at least one instant he had existed in a state of innocence and brightness."

The imbroglio of complications surrounding the issue of the fall occurring in the second instant of creation works to support the idea that Satan's function in the cosmogony was an element in the total divine plan from its very inception. If Satan's fall occurred at the very instant of creation then it can be seen, or at least suggested, that the fall of Satan was not an act of pride on the part of the person himself, but was always part of the divine plan in the mind of God before creation. Furthermore this goes to support the idea that, rather than being a rebellious angel, Satan is merely an Angel performing the function for which he was he was created in the first instant by God. It was a dirty job, but SOMEBODY had to do it.


The Wikipedia summary of the subject of angels runs thus:]

CHRISTIANITY
"Just about every sect of Christianity has accepted the angelic beliefs from the Jewish scriptures. There’s further mention of angels are made in the New Testament. It is angels who herald the coming of Christ. In the gospels, it’s an angel that appears to Mary to tell her that she’s with child, and an angel appears to Joseph to tell him that Jesus will be God’s son. It’s also angels that appear to the shepherds in the fields to announce the birth of Christ.

Later Christians inherited Jewish understandings of angels, which in turn may have been partly inherited from the Egyptians. In the early stage, the Christian concept of an angel characterized the angel as a messenger of God. Later came identification of individual angelic messengers: Gabriel, Michael, Raphael, Uriel, and Lucifer. Then, in the space of little more than two centuries (from the 3rd to the 5th) the image of angels took on definite characteristics both in theology and in art.

According to St Augustine,

" 'Angel' is the name of their office, not of their nature. If you seek the name of their nature, it is 'spirit'; if you seek the name of their office, it is 'angel':

from what they are, 'spirit', from what they do, 'angel'" Basilian Father Thomas Rosica says,

"Angels are very important, because they provide people with an articulation of the conviction that God is intimately involved in human life."

By the late 4th century, the Church Fathers agreed that there were different categories of angels, with appropriate missions and activities assigned to them. There was, however, some disagreement regarding the nature of angels. Some argued that angels had physical bodies, while some maintained that they were entirely spiritual. Some theologians had proposed that angels were not divine but on the level of immaterial beings subordinate to the Trinity. The resolution of this Trinitarian dispute included the development of doctrine about angels.

The angels are represented throughout the Christian Bible as spiritual beings intermediate between God and men:

"You have made man a little less than the angels ..." (Psalms 8:4-5).

Thomas Aquinas (13th century) relates angels to Aristotle's metaphysics in his Summa contra Gentiles, Summa Theologica, and in De substantiis separatis, a treatise on angelology. Although angels have greater knowledge than men, they are not omniscient, as Matthew 24:36 points out:

"But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only."


INTERACTION WITH ANGELS

 Hebrews 13:2

"Forget not to show love unto strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares."

The New Testament includes many interactions and conversations between angels and humans.

For instance, three separate cases of angelic interaction deal with the births of John the Baptist and Jesus Christ.

In Luke 1:11, an angel appears to Zechariah to inform him that he will have a child despite his old age, thus proclaiming the birth of John the Baptist.

In Luke 1:26 the Archangel Gabriel visits the Virgin Mary in the Annunciation to foretell the birth of Jesus Christ.

Angels then proclaim the birth of Jesus in the Adoration of the shepherds in Luke 2:10.

According to Matthew 4:11, after Jesus spent 40 days in the desert,

"...the devil left him and, behold, angels came and ministered to him."

In Matthew 28:5 an angel speaks at the empty tomb, following the Resurrection of Jesus and the rolling back of the stone by angels.

In 1851 Pope Pius IX approved the Chaplet of Saint Michael based on the 1751 reported private revelation from archangel Michael to the Carmelite nun Antonia d'Astonac.

In a biography of Saint Gemma Galgani written by Venerable Germanus Ruoppolo, Galgani stated that she had spoken with her guardian angel.

Pope John Paul II emphasized the role of angels in Catholic teachings in his 1986 address titled "Angels Participate In History Of Salvation", in which he suggested that modern mentality should come to see the importance of angels."

[Sidebar: An undercurrent in the background of this remark about reviving modern consciousness of angels goes back to the Church Scholastics of the 1200s who edited church doctrine so as to de-emphasize what they considered to be the dangerously pervasive SUPERSTITIOUS beliefs in the collective mind. Thus the church itself taught us to mystify rather than affirm the presence of supernatural entities present in out daily lives, just because some people went too far and burned a bunch of witches. This is another example of how the CHURCH has consistently thrown the baby out with the bath.

Back to Wikipedia; what follows is a summary of doctrine, concerning angels, of two Christian denominations, the New Church, and the Church of Latter Day Saints:]

The New Church

"The New Church (or Swedenborgianism) is the name for several historically related Christian denominations that developed as a new religious movement, informed by the writings of Swedish scientist and theologian Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772). In the New Church, there is extensive information provided concerning angels and the spiritual world in which they dwell from many years of spiritual experiences recounted in the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg.
All angels are in human form with a spiritual body, and are not just minds without form. There are different orders of angels according to the three heavens, and each angel dwells in one of innumerable societies of angels. Such a society of angels can appear as one angel as a whole. All angels originate from the human race, and there is not one angel in heaven who first did not live in a material body. Moreover, all children who die not only enter heaven but eventually become angels. The life of angels is that of usefulness, and their functions are so many that they cannot be enumerated. However each angel will enter a service according to the use that they had performed in their earthly life.
   
Names of angels, such as Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, signify a particular angelic function rather than an individual being. While living in one's body an individual has conjunction with heaven through the angels, and with each person, there are at least two evil spirits and two angels. Temptation or pains of conscience originates from a conflict between evil spirits and angels. Due to man's sinful nature it is dangerous to have open direct communication with angels and can only be seen when one's spiritual sight has been opened. Thus from moment to moment angels attempt to lead each person to what is good tacitly using the person's own thoughts."

[Sidebar: The idea of angels "using the person's own thoughts" to provide spiritual insight is one of the tricky aspects of this personal experience of angelic communion. Indeed, one of the most daunting issues, encountered by individuals devoted to developing their own spiritual sensitivities, is the problem of how to distinguish thought forms that originate from within their own subjective reality, as opposed to thought forms that originate from OUTSIDE.

The fact is that angels are constantly impressing thought forms on our consciousness—thought forms which we often mistake for our own; when we start intensifying our prayer times with conversations with angels, we sometimes can't distinguish between what WE are thinking and what THEY are thinking. Consequently, the novice will find it difficult to believe in the supernatural character of what he is experiencing; thus, by virtue of his own doubts, he leaves his personal mind field open to invasion by malevolent angels whose purpose is to confound and pervert the otherwise wholesome act of angelic communion. To be sure, the ability to tell the difference between Heavenly and Infernal messages goes hand in hand with what Swedenborg would call "opening the spiritual eye".

To be sure there are telltale signs that enable the experienced devotee to make this distinction, but it takes practice, and it takes many failures before the armor of God is firmly enough in place to permanently ward off Satanic influence entirely.

Back to Wikipedia:

LATTER DAY SAINTS
"ADHERENTS OF THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS (LDS CHURCH) VIEW ANGELS AS THE MESSENGERS OF GOD. THEY ARE SENT TO MANKIND TO DELIVER MESSAGES, MINISTER TO HUMANITY, TEACH DOCTRINES OF SALVATION, CALL MANKIND TO REPENTANCE, GIVE PRIESTHOOD KEYS, SAVE INDIVIDUALS IN PERILOUS TIMES, AND GUIDE HUMANKIND.

Latter Day Saints believe that angels either are the spirits of humans who are deceased or who have yet to be born, or are humans who have
been resurrected or translated and have physical bodies of flesh and bones, and accordingly Joseph Smith taught that

"there are no angels who minister to this earth but those that do belong or have belonged to it."

As such, Latter Day Saints also believe that Adam, the first man, was and is now the archangel Michael, and that Gabriel lived on the earth as Noah. Likewise the Angel Moroni first lived in a pre-Columbian American civilization as the 5th-century prophet-warrior named Moroni.

Joseph Smith, Jr. described his first angelic encounter thus:

"While I was thus in the act of calling upon God, I discovered a light appearing in my room, which continued to increase until the room was lighter than at noonday, when immediately a personage appeared at my bedside, standing in the air, for his feet did not touch the floor.

He had on a loose robe of most exquisite whiteness. It was a whiteness beyond anything earthly I had ever seen; nor do I believe that any earthly thing could be made to appear so exceedingly white and brilliant ...

Not only was his robe exceedingly white, but his whole person was glorious beyond description, and his countenance truly like lightning. The room was exceedingly light, but not so very bright as immediately around his person. When I first looked upon him, I was afraid; but the fear soon left me."

What follows is a complete list of all the New Testament quotations of Jesus referring to angels--it is a short list. There is only ONE New Testament story of a personal encounter of Jesus with angels:

Matthew 18:10:

"See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven continually see the face of My Father who is in heaven.

Matthew 22:30:

"For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.”

Matthew 25:41:

"Then He will also say to those on His left, 'Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels;”

Mark 8:38:

“If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”

Luke 12:8-9:

"And I say to you, everyone who confesses Me before men, the Son of Man will confess him also before the angels of God; but he who denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God.”

Luke 15:10:

"In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

Luke 16:22:

"Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham's bosom; and the rich man also died and was buried.”

Luke 20:36:

". . . for they cannot even die anymore, because they are like angels, and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection."

The single account of Jesus in the presence of angels occurs in the Garden of Gethsemane when Jesus is struggling with the decision to submit to His own crucifixion:

Luke 22:41-43:

"He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, 'Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.'" An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him.”

Just a few minutes later, Roman authorities arrive to arrest Jesus, and one of Jesus’ disciples tries to defend Jesus by cutting off the ear of one of the men in the group. But Jesus responds this way:

Matthew 26:52-54:

"'Put your sword back in its place,'" Jesus said to him, 'for all who draw the sword will die by the sword. Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?"

In a way it is surprising that Jesus mentions angels so few times, if they are so ever-present; but on the other hand, His directive to “pray unceasingly” might be considered to be an indication of His constant contact with Heavenly intelligence.



Back to Wikipedia:

Angels and Guardian Angels in the New Testament
"Many people today are interested in guardian angels and whether or not the Bible teaches that God assigns every person, or every believer, a guardian angel. Although most scholars reject the idea of Guardian Angels, some Bible verses seem to suggest special angelic assignments to individuals, churches and nations:

Matt. 18:10:

“Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.”

In the New Testament, angels appear as the ministers of God and the agents of; and Jesus speaks of angels as fulfilling such functions (Mark 8:38, 13:27), implying in one saying that they neither marry nor are given in marriage (Mark 12:25). Angels are most prominent in the book of Revelation.

Other angelic appearances in Scripture: The angel Gabriel appeared to Mary in the traditional role of messenger to inform her that her child would be the Messiah, and other angels were present to herald his birth. An angel appeared at Jesus' tomb, frightened the Roman guards, rolled away the stone from the tomb, and later told the myrrh-bearing women of Jesus' resurrection. Two angels witnessed Jesus' ascent into Heaven and prophesied his return. When Peter was imprisoned, an angel put his guards to sleep, released him from his chains, and led him out of the prison. Angels fill a number of different roles in the book of Revelation. Among other things, they are seen gathered around the Throne of God singing the "Holy, holy, holy" hymn (Rev. 4-5).

Artistic and Literary Depictions of Angels in Christianity
In art angels are frequently depicted as human in appearance, though many theologians have argued that they have no physical substance. (Hence the frequently recounted tale of Scholastics arguing about how many angels could fit on a pinhead; if angels possess physical bodies, the answer is "a finite number", if they do not, the answer is "an infinite number".) Seraphim are often depicted as six wings radiating from a center — either concealing a body, or without a body.

Beginning in the end of the 4th century, angels were depicted with wings, presumably to convey the idea of swift movement and traveling to and from heaven, or to depict them as spirits. Scholastic theologians teach that angels are able to reason instantly, and to move instantly. They also teach that angels are intermediaries to some forces that would otherwise be natural forces of the universe, such as the rotation of planets and the motion of stars. Angels possess the beatific vision, or the unencumbered understanding of God (the essence of the pleasure of heaven). Furthermore, there are more angels then there are anything else in the universe (although when first written this would have probably not included atoms since atomic structure was not known).

Religious thought about the angels during the middle ages was much influenced by the theory of the angelic hierarchy set forth in the The Celestial Hierarchy, written in the 5th century in the name of Dionysius the Areopagite. The creeds and confessions do not formulate any authoritative doctrine of angels; and modern rationalism has tended to deny the existence of such beings, or to regard the subject as one on which we can have no certain knowledge. The principle of continuity, however, seems to require the existence of beings intermediate between man and God.

Some Christian traditions hold that angels are organized into three major Hierarchies which are subdivided into orders or Choirs, and list as many as ten orders of angels. This is particularly clear in the above-mentioned The Celestial Hierarchy, which gives the names that have become part of tradition: Angels, Archangels, Principalities, Powers, Virtues, Dominions, Thrones, Cherubim, and Seraphim. In this hierarchy, the Cherubim and Seraphim are typically closest to God, while the Angels and Archangels are most active in human affairs. Many of these names come from verses in the Bible which would appear at first to be referencing a literal thing, although retroactively suggesting that they really mention angels can also make sense in the context. For example the verse in Paul "our struggle is not with earthly things but with principalities and powers" (meaning, according to most theologians, the fallen angels of those choirs, used as an example of all the fallen angels).

Some Christian traditions also hold that angels play a variety of specific roles in the lives of believers. For instance, each Christian may be assigned a guardian angel at their baptism (although never defined by the Catholic or Orthodox churches, this is personally held by many church members and theologians). Each consecrated altar has at least one angel always present offering up prayers, and a number of angels join the congregation when they meet to pray. In the story of the 40 martyrs of Sebaste, in which 40 Christian Roman soldiers were made to stand naked on a frozen lake in the snow until they renounced their faith, angels were seen descending from Heaven placing the crowns of martyrs on their heads.

In many informal folk beliefs among Christians concerning the afterlife, the souls of the virtuous dead ascend into Heaven to be converted into angels. However, this belief is not supported by the Bible and theologians are quick to discount it.

Sometimes referred to as “spirit guides” or “guardian spirits”, the use of the term ‘angel’ tends to carry specific Judeo-Christian connotations in western societies that have fallen out of fashion with some. The description of the being is the same, however. No matter what they’re called, it seems that most people in most societies have accepted them as a part of life.”

We can see from all the preceding material that many Christians not only affirm the existence of angels in the abstract, but also attempt to cultivate an active relationship with them, seeking spiritual guidance and power.  When we pray, we think we are addressing the Father or the Son directly, but in light of the foregoing, it is quite possible that we are speaking to the Divine through the mouthpiece of angels.

This is something to consider in prayer, since we like to know who we are talking to when we are on the HELP line. Nevertheless, it is not unreasonable to suggest that our prayers are addressed to God through the medium of angelic intelligence.

On the subject of prayer through angels, here is a remark by Lorna Byrne from: What Is the Relationship Between God, Angelic Beings and Humans?

“How was the relationship between God, angelic beings and humans designed? Why is everyone assigned an angel or multiple angels, are they the lifeline to God?

I see a guardian angel with everyone, regardless of their religion, or whether they believe in angels. I see angels physically, as I see a person standing in front of me, and I have done so every day since I was a baby.

Everyone has only one guardian angel and this angel is with them from before their birth until after they die. This angel never ever leaves them, not even for one moment. I will often see other angels with someone in addition to their guardian angel. These angels come and go and it is their guardian angel who allows them to be there.

The guardian angel is a gift from God and is the gatekeeper of your soul. Your guardian angel is there to help to guide you through life, to help to make you aware that you are more than a physical body that you have a soul and that God is real. One of its most important tasks is to bring your soul home safely to Heaven when you die.

Your guardian angel is a lifeline between you and God. If God didn't give us a guardian angel we would find it much more difficult to connect with Him. Don't misunderstand me. I am not saying that we need to go through angels to reach God -- far from it. I have never in my life prayed to an angel; I pray to God, but I know the angels enhance my prayer.”

We have already made the point that angels attempt to lead each person to what is good, tacitly using the person's own thoughts. Here, with the sentence, “I know the angels enhance my prayer” we encounter the same principle—that Angelic language is an ever-present component of communion with the Divine.

In conclusion, I would like to share this anecdote from the internet article Angels appear as humans by Jim Bramlett:

“This is one of the incidents reported to me. It reportedly happened in the Atlanta, Georgia area, on I-285 near "Spaghetti Junction." I traced the incident from a friend in California California to a United Airlines pilot in Chicago, then to at least 15 others in Atlanta, including a medical doctor.

A lady passed a hitchhiker on the expressway, giving no thought to stopping. But she heard a voice say, "Pick him up." She did not stop, but continued on. But she again heard the voice: "I told you to pick him up." She now felt compelled to go back. She turned off the expressway, then got back on via an access road. She thought it would be unlikely that the person would still be there, but if he was, she would pick him up. To her surprise, the man was still there, so she stopped. He got into the car. They chatted for a few moments, then after a brief pause, the stranger said, "Do you know the Lord Jesus Christ is coming soon?" On hearing that, the woman glanced toward the stranger -- but he was not there. He had suddenly and unexplainably vanished!

She was so shaken that she had to pull off the expressway. After sitting there a few minutes trying to regain her composure, a policeman pulled up behind her, got out of his car, went up to her window and said, "Ma'am, is there a problem?"

She replied, "Officer, if I told you what just happened to me, you wouldn't believe it."

The policeman urged her to tell him anyhow. She described what had just happened. He responded, "Ma'am, normally I would think that you were one of the craziest people I have ever seen, but you are the seventh person today to give me this same report."

I find this to be a charming story, and also a powerful indicator of the kind of strategies angels use to bless us and protect us. I hope that, as I grow spiritually, I can become ever more attuned to the proper frequency on which angels impart wisdom and comfort.

Let us pray: Jesus, thank you—we always thank you, the primary source of all the good things in our lives. Thank you for sending your angels to listen to us, sending You our prayers, and sending back your answers. Let us never lose faith in the communication with the Divine which takes place in every context in which the heart opens to the Divine. Amen.