Angels

by St. John of Damascus

He is Himself the Maker and Creator of the angels: for He brought them out of nothing into
being and created them after His own image, an incorporeal race, a sort of spirit or immaterial
fire: in the words of the divine David, He maketh His angels spirits, and His ministers a flame of
fire: and He has described their lightness and the ardor, and heat, and keenness and sharpness
with which they hunger for God and serve Him, and how they are borne to the regions above
and are quite delivered from all material thought.
An angel, then, is an intelligent essence, in perpetual motion, with free-will, incorporeal,
ministering to God, having obtained by grace an immortal nature: and the Creator alone knows
the form and limitation of its essence. But all that we can understand is, that it is incorporeal
and immaterial. For all that is compared with God Who alone is incomparable, we find to be
dense and material. For in reality only the Deity is immaterial and incorporeal.
The angel’s nature then is rational, and intelligent, and endowed with free-will, change. able in
will, or fickle. For all that is created is changeable, and only that which is uncreated is
unchangeable. Also all that is rational is endowed with free-will. As it is, then, rational and
intelligent, it is endowed with free-will: and as it is created, it is changeable, having power either
to abide or progress in goodness, or to turn towards evil.
It is not susceptible of repentance because it is incorporeal. For it is owing to the weakness of his
body that man comes to have repentance.
It is immortal, not by natures but by grace. For all that has had beginning comes also to its
natural end. But God alone is eternal, or rather, He is above the Eternal: for He, the Creator of
times, is not under the dominion of time, but above time.
They are secondary intelligent lights derived from that first light which is without beginning, for
they have the power of illumination; they have no need of tongue or hearing, but without
uttering words they communicate to each other their own thoughts and counsels.
Through the Word, therefore, all the angels were created, and through the sanctification by the
Holy Spirit were they brought to perfection, sharing each in proportion to his worth and rank in
brightness and grace.
They are circumscribed: for when they are in the Heaven they are not on the earth: and when
they are sent by God down to the earth they do not remain in the Heaven. They are not hemmed
in by walls and doors, and bars and seals, for they are quite unlimited. Unlimited, I repeat, for it
is not as they really are that they reveal themselves to the worthy men to whom God wishes
them to appear, but in a changed form which the beholders are capable of seeing. For that alone
is naturally and strictly unlimited which is uncreated. For every created tiring is limited by God
Who created it.
Further, apart from their essence they receive the sanctification from the Spirit: through the
divine grace they prophesy: they have no need of marriage for they are immortal.
Seeing that they are minds they are in mental places, and are not circumscribed after the fashion
of a body. For they have not a bodily form by nature, nor are they tended in three dimensions.
But to whatever post they may be assigned, there they are present after the manner of a mind
and energize, and cannot be present and energize in various places at the same time.
Whether they are equals in essence or differ from one another we know not. God, their Creator,
Who knoweth all things, alone knoweth. But they differ from each other in brightness and
position, whether it is that their position is dependent on their brightness, or their brightness on
their position: and they impart brightness to one another, because they excel one another in
rank and nature. And clearly the higher share their brightness and knowledge with the lower.
They are mighty and prompt to fulfill the will of the Deity, and their nature is endowed with
such celerity that wherever the Divine glance bids them there they are straightway found. They
are the guardians of the divisions of the earth: they are set over nations and regions, allotted to
them by their Creator: they govern all our affairs and bring us succor. And the reason surely is
because they are set over us by the divine will and command and are ever in the vicinity of God.
With difficulty they are moved to evil, yet they are not absolutely immovable: but now they are
altogether immovable, not by nature but by grace and by their nearness to the Only Good.
They behold God according to their capacity, and this is their food.
They are above us for they are incorporeal, and are free of all bodily passion, yet are not
passionless: for the Deity alone is passionless.
They take different forms at the bidding of their Master, God, and thus reveal themselves to men
and unveil the divine mysteries to them.
They have Heaven for their dwelling-place, and have one duty, to sing God’s praise and carry out
His divine will.
Moreover, as that most holy, and sacred, and gifted theologian, Dionysius the Areopagite, says,
All theology, that is to say, the holy Scripture, has nine different names for the heavenly
essences. These essences that divine master in sacred things divides into three groups, each
containing three. And the first group, he says, consists of those who are in God’s presence and
are said to be directly and immediately one with Him, viz., the Seraphim with their six wings,
the many-eyed Cherubim and those that sit in the holiest thrones. The second group is that of
the Dominions, and the Powers, and the Authorities; and the third, and last, is that of the Rulers
and Archangels and Angels.
Some, indeed, like Gregory the Theologian, say that these were before the creation of other
things. He thinks that the angelic and heavenly powers were first and that thought was their
function. Others, again, hold that they were created after the first heaven was made.
But all are agreed that it was before the foundation of man. For myself, I am in harmony with
the theologian. For it was fitting that the mental essence should be the first created, and then
that which can be perceived, and finally man himself, in whose being both parts are united.  But
those who say that the angels are creators of any kind of essence whatever are the mouth of their
father, the devil. For since they are created things they are not creators. But He Who creates and
provides for and  maintains all things is God, Who alone is uncreate and is praised and glorified
in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Nature of Angels: Hierarchies and Ministrations

According to the Holy Scriptures, the angels, human beings, and all nature were created by God. With
the words,  “In the beginning God created Heaven and earth” (Gen. 1:1), we have the first indication
that God created the spiritual world. Here, in contrast to earth, a substantial world, this world of spirits
is called Heaven. The angels were already present during the creation of the starry skies, which is
evidenced by the words of God spoken to Job,  “When the stars were created, all My angels sang praises
to Me” (Job 38:7).

On the creation of the angels, Saint Gregory the Theologian expresses the following thoughts: "Since for
the goodness of God it was not sufficient to be occupied only with the contemplation of Himself, but it
was needful that good should extend further and further, so that the number of those who have
received grace might be as many as possible (because this is characteristic of the highest Goodness) —
therefore, God devised first of all the angelic heavenly powers; and the thought became deed, which
was fulfilled by the Word, and perfected by the Spirit … And inasmuch as the first creatures were
pleasing to Him, He devised another world, material and visible, the orderly composition of heaven and
earth, and that which is between them."

Angel in Greek means  messenger. This word denotes mainly their relationship to man. They, as our
elder brothers, reveal to us the will of God and assist us in reaching salvation. Man, from the beginning
of his state in paradise, knew of the existence of the angels. This fact is reflected in many ancient
religions.

It is difficult for us to comprehend the life of the angels and the world in which they live because they
are so different from us. It is known that the angels serve God, carry out His will, and glorify Him.
Belonging to the spiritual world, they are usually invisible to us. "When angels, through the will of God,
appear to those who are worthy, then they appear not as they are themselves, but in a transformed
state, in one that is visible" — explains the blessed John Damascene. In the well-known book of Tobit
(Old Testament), the angel who was accompanying Tobit and his son says of himself :"All these days I
was visible to you, but I did not eat or drink, and only by your eyes was this imagined" (Tobit 12:19).
"Actually," according to John Damascene, "angels are called spiritual and incorporeal only in comparison
with us. For in comparison with God all proves to be gross and material. For only the Divinity is truly
immaterial and incorporeal."

Angels surpass man in all spiritual strength. However, even they, as created beings, bear in themselves
the seal of limitation. Being fleshless, they are less dependent than men on space and time. However,
only God is omnipotent and omniscient. The Holy Scriptures represent angels either descending from
heaven to earth or ascending back to heaven. Angels are created immortal, as is witnessed by the
Scriptures, teaching that they cannot die (Luke 20:36). Nevertheless, their immortality is not a property
of their nature, nor is it unconditional, but, just as the immortality of our soul, it depends wholly upon
God's will and mercy.

Angels, as fleshless spirits, are capable of inward  self-development to the highest degree. Their intellect
is higher than that of man. By their might and power, as the Apostle Peter explains, they surpass all
earthly authorities and governments (2 Peter 2:11). Nevertheless, even their exalted attributes have
their limits. Scriptures indicate that they do not know the depth of the Essence of God, which is known
only to the Spirit of God. (1 Corinthians 2:11 They do not know the future, which is also known only to
God (Mark 13:32). Likewise, they do not wholly comprehend the mysteries of redemption into which
they wish to penetrate (1 Peter 1:12). They even do not know all of man's thoughts (3 Kings 8:39 [Note:
3 Kings in the Slavonic Bible = 1 Kings KJV]). Finally, they cannot on their own perform miracles without
the will of God.

The world of the angels is represented in the Sacred Scriptures as being extraordinarily vast. When the
prophet Daniel saw God the Father in the form of the "Ancient of Days," he also saw  that "A thousand
thousands ministered to Him; and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him" (Daniel 7:10).
During the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem " a multitude of the heavenly host" extolled His coming to earth
(Luke 2:13).

Saint Cyril of Jerusalem says the following: "Imagine how numerous is the Roman population; imagine
how numerous are other barbarian tribes existing today, and how many of them have died during one
hundred years; imagine how many have been buried during a thousand years; imagine all the people,
beginning with Adam, to the present day; there is a great multitude of them. But it is yet small in
comparison with the angels, of which there are many more! They are the ninety and nine sheep of the
parable, but mankind is only one sheep. For according to the extent of universal space, we must reckon
the number of its inhabitants. The whole earth inhabited by us is like a point in the midst of heaven and
yet contains so great a multitude; what a multitude must the heaven which encircles it contain! And
must not the heaven of heavens contain unimaginable numbers? If it is written that `a thousand
thousands ministered to Him; and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him,' it is only because
the prophet could not express a greater number."

In view of such a multitude of angels, it is natural to suppose that in the world of angels, just as in the
material world, there are various degrees of perfection and, therefore, various stages or hierarchical
degrees of the heavenly powers. Thus, the word of God calls some  Angels and some  Archangels (1
Thess. 4:16; Jude verse 9).

The Orthodox Church, guided by the views of the ancient writers of the Church and Church Fathers,
divides the world of the angels into nine choirs or ranks, and these nine into three hierarchies, each
hierarchy having three ranks. The first hierarchy consists of those spirits who are closest to God, namely,
the Thrones, Cherubim and Seraphim. Within the second, the middle hierarchy, are the Authorities,
Dominions and Powers. In the third, which is closer to us, are the Angels, Archangels and Principalities.
Thus, the existence of the Angels and Archangels is witnessed by almost every page in the Holy
Scriptures. The books of the prophets mention the Cherubim and Seraphim.  Cherubim means to be
near; hence it means the near ones;  Seraphim means  fiery, or  filled with fire. The names of the other
angelic ranks are mentioned by the Apostle Paul in his epistle to the Ephesians, saying that Christ is in
the heavens  “far above any Principality, and Authority, and Power, and Dominion” (Ephesians 1:21).
 

Besides these angelic ranks, Saint Paul teaches in his epistles to the Colossians that the Son of God
created everything visible and invisible," Thrones, Dominions, or Principalities, or Powers" (Colossians
1:16). Consequently, when we join the Thrones to those four about which the Apostle speaks to the
Ephesians, that is, the Principalities, Authorities, Powers and Dominions, there are five ranks; and when
to these we add Angels, Archangels, Cherubim and Seraphim, then there are nine angelic ranks.

In addition, some Church Fathers expressed the opinion that dividing the angels into nine choirs touched
only upon those names that are revealed by the word of God but in no way encompasses other names
and choirs of angels that have not been as yet revealed to us. For example, the Apostle John the
Theologian mentions in the book of Revelation mysterious creatures and the seven spirits by the throne
of God: " Grace be to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is coming, and from the
seven spirits who are before His throne" (Apocalypse 1:4). The Apostle Paul in his epistle to the
Ephesians writes that Christ resides in heaven far above the enumerated angels and " every name that is
named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come" (1:21). Thus he hints that in Heaven there
are other spiritual creatures whose names are yet not revealed to mankind.

In the Holy Scriptures, some angels are called by their own names. For example, the prophet Daniel, the
Apostle Jude, and the book of Revelation mention the archangel Michael (Joshua 5:13; Daniel 10:13 and
12:1; Jude verse 9; Revelation 12:7-8). The name  Michael in Hebrew means  Who is like God? In the
Scriptures he is mentioned as  the army of God and is depicted as the main fighter against the devil and
his servants. Usually he is painted with a flaming sword in hand. The name  Gabriel means  strength of
God. Both the prophet Daniel and the evangelist Luke mention Gabriel (Daniel 8:16, 9:21; Luke 1:19-26).
In the Scriptures he is represented as the messenger of God's mysteries. In icons he is painted with a lily
in his hand. The Scriptures mention by name three more angels:  Raphael — Assistance of God, Uriel —
Flame of God, and Salathiel — Prayer book to God (Tobit 3:16 and 12:12-15; 3 Esdras 4:1 and 5:20; 3
Esdras 5:16 [Note: 3 Esdras in the Slavonic Bible = 2 Esdras KJV, or 4 Esdras in Vulgate Appendix]).

What are the tasks of the beings of the spiritual world? Evidently they are designated by God to be the
most perfect reflections of His greatness and glory, with inseparable participation in His blessedness. If
of the visible heavens it is said,  “the heavens proclaim the glory of God,” then all the more is this the
aim of the spiritual heavens. The prophet Isaiah was honored to see  “the Lord sitting on the high
extolled throne, the hems of His vestments filling the whole temple. Surrounding Him were the
Seraphim, each having six wings; with two they covered His face, with two they covered His feet, and
they flew with the other two. And they called to each other and said: Holy, Holy, Holy, the Lord Sabaoth!
The whole world is filled with His Glory'” (Isaiah 6:1-4; Ezekiel ch. 10).

Bishop Alexander (Mileant)