Mr. J. Yes, Father; and I have often seen them pictured as beautiful figures with wings.
Father S. But they have no wings; they have not even a body which could support wings. They are pure spirits resembling God much more closely than a human soul, which is also a spirit.
Mr. J. But why are angels pictured with a body and with wings?
Father S. Well, they could not be represented at all without a body; we cannot picture an invisible spirit. Then, angels have frequently been sent as messengers of God to men, at which times they appeared in a human form. They are represented with wings to convey better the idea of how they pass from heaven to earth and of the swiftness with which they carry out God’s wishes.
Mr. J. If the devils are fallen angels, they have no bodies either?
Father S. No; though they are often represented as hideous figures, with horns, cloven feet, etc. Of course, the devils have become as hideous and deformed by their fall as the angels have become beautiful and god-like by their loyalty to God. Hence devils cannot be pictured too ugly.
Mr. J. When you say angels are pure spirits, that doesn’t give me a very definite idea of them.
Father S. Well I’ll try to be more definite. Angels are persons, made in such a way by their Creator that they do not need and do not have bodies. They are persons because they are individuals highly endowed with intellectual powers and free will; and since there is nothing material in their make-up, they are purely spiritual persons.
Persons of this kind reflect the perfection of their Author more clearly than do any other creatures and are capable of sharing His happiness through knowledge and love.
The fact is that some of the angels attained that happiness and some failed. God does not force such happiness on His free creatures. He seeks their choice by testing their loyalty. At the beginning of their lives, all the angels were tried and the outcome determined whether their everlasting careers were to be spent happily associated with God or separated from and opposed to Him. Some, disregarding His will in this matter, and with proud thoughts of independence, chose to part company with God but the majority cast their lot with their Maker. The result was the devils of hell and the angels of heaven. All are angels, but some are faithful, some fallen.15
Mr. J. Did they all have an equal chance?
Father S. Yes, all the angels had an equal chance. They were created sinless with the opportunity of attaining life in heaven, the liberty of the sons of God and the happiness that was their divinely appointed goal. Their fall came when they deliberately chose a state that has come to be hell. For it was then that the punishments of hell were first prepared. Fixed in their determination to be separated from God, they are fixed in their opposition to Him and all His plans, even for men. Hence they strive to separate men from God with all the efforts that God permits them to exert.
By their loyal obedience, the angels of heaven deserved to be familiarly associated with their Maker and to secure forever their share of His life and happiness. In heaven they have a willing part in His plans to lead each and every one of us to that same happy state by their prayers, by acting as His messengers to men, and serving as our guardians (Ps 91:11, Heb 1:14).
Mr. J. I never gave much thought to any possible interest they might have in me.
Father S. As a matter of fact, the invisible world of angels is lined up for and against us. Our Guardians cannot compel us to do good, but they help us, especially when it is humanly impossible for us to help ourselves. Our tempters solicit us to sin in ways that the evil world about us and the evil inclinations within us can never use, but they never compel us to do wrong. This is why Saint Peter tells us: “Be sober, be watchful! For your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, goes about seeking someone to devour” (1 Pt 5:8). This explains the temptation of our first parents by the devil in the disguise of a serpent, to which we shall refer in our next instruction.
Instruction 2
The Fall of Man and original sin
Father S. Well, Mr. Jackson, have you had any difficulty in accepting what you were taught in the last instruction?
Mr. J. No, Father; only I was impressed by what you said about the fallen angels — the poor devils, who have lost heaven for good.
Father S. It does seem sad, but it was all their own fault. They knew what would be the consequences of their rebellion, and possessing free will, could have chosen to obey the Almighty. They surely could not have expected to be rewarded, and rewarded eternally, for rebellion against their Creator, their only Lover, the One Who drew them out of nothingness, clothed them with beauty and offered them happiness indescribable in His own heavenly home. Eternal reward had no alternative but eternal separation from God; if they could not have heaven, they must be excluded from heaven, which is the worst torment of hell.
The Almighty dealt quite similarly with the first human creatures He made; that is, He tested their loyalty with a promise of heaven for fidelity and a threat of hell for disobedience. We shall take this up presently. According to the Bible (Gn 1-5), God made the universe and all it contained in six days, beginning with purely material things, followed by the lower kind of living things, then by animals, and finally by man, who was to have only a temporary home here below. His final destiny, like that of the angels, would be heaven; but like the angels, he would receive it only as a reward for service. God could deal honorably with man in no other manner and still leave him what he is, a free being.
Mr. J. Was the whole structure of the universe really formed in six days?
Father S. Not likely. Most experts in the interpretation of Sacred Scripture are inclined to support geologists who contend that the word “day” used by Moses, could not have been the brief period spanned by twenty-four hours. Not that God could not have produced all in six days or even six seconds, but they say facts are against the literal “day.”1 We measure our days from sunrise to sunrise, but, according to the Bible, the sun was not made until the fourth day. The word “day,” as used by Moses, in the absence of a better word, may have covered a very long period of time. The Church does not oppose this view.2 What we wish to note is that man, who appeared on the scene, differs from all other living creatures of the visible world in this, that he was made to serve God here and win for himself eternal happiness with God hereafter.3 Speaking of the creation of man, after all material things were formed, the Bible says that the Almighty created him after His own image (Gn 1:27), which refers chiefly to the soul, because God does not have a body. Man’s soul is like God in this, that it is a spirit, immortal, and endowed with understanding and free will.4
Mr. J. Do not scientists hold that man’s body evolved from an ape?
Father S. Some hold that, but offer no convincing proof. They say that an ape’s body is similar in construction, but that does not mean anything. Since man has been on earth for thousands of years, why are there still apes? All should have evolved into human bodies long ago. But the most renowned scientists have discarded the “ape” theory. Even if the evolutionists were right, we are not contending that man differs so much from the animals as to body, but as to soul. Our very conversation proves the spirit within our bodies. Every effect shows the nature of its cause. Our thoughts, whether expressed in word or not, are spiritual; they certainly are not material, for they cannot be seen or handled. Therefore their source, the soul, must be spiritual. And a spirit cannot die (Wis 3:1-4). It is not made of parts into which it can dissolve or corrupt. Hence, whether God made Adam’s body out of the earth or not, matters little. The Bible says, and reason proves it, that God breathed into his body a living soul, a spirit that would ever live, and hence excel in value the whole material creation. This fact itself explains why God should have so interested Himself in man.5
Mr.