Angels: A History is not a history book. Neither is it a theology book. Rather, Angels: A History is a narrative collection of historical, cultural, and religious facts about the immaterial creatures we commonly call angels. According to the author, Professor David Albert Jones, it is also supposed to be ‘an examination of some of the implications of angels: why people find the idea of angels attractive, helpful, or consoling; why they remain so powerful in modern culture; and thus what angels may tell us about ourselves’ (p. xiii).
This small book opens with two chapters that chronicle how several of the world's major religious traditions – Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Zoroastrianism, and Hinduism – have come to understand and to depict spiritual creatures. Not surprisingly, there is much overlap among the stories, beliefs, and images of angels from the religions that claim descent from Abraham, who himself is said to have encountered angels as his honored guests (cf. Gen 18:1–5). In contrast, Jones suggests that we should not use the word ‘angel’ to name the spiritual creatures spoken about and depicted by Zoroastrians and Hindus, because these spirits do not play the role in these traditions that angels play in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam (p. 13).
Chapter Three titled, ‘What is an Angel?’ covers two basic questions of angelology: when were angels created? what are they made from? Here, Jones takes his lead from the Angelic Doctor, Saint Thomas Aquinas, because ‘Thomas's treatise remains perhaps the most sophisticated attempt to give an account of what a purely spiritual creature would be like’ (p. xiii). Angels are pure spirits without bodies: ‘They are not born and do not die. They do not eat. They neither get fat nor lose weight’ (p. 50). In the end, angels are radically different from human beings. Nonetheless, as Jones correctly acknowledges, talk about angels was frequently – and still is – an indirect way of talking about human beings (p. 52).
The four chapters that follow address different features of angels. First, what does it mean to say that angels – the word angel means messenger in Hebrew, Arabic, and Greek – are spirits who carry messages from God? Angelic messengers are found throughout the sacred writings of the Abrahamic religions. They bring messages ‘from God for human beings about how to live and how to find peace with God’ (p. 65). Next, Jones considers the role of angels as ministering spirits. For Jews, Christians, and Muslims, angels accompany human beings at different points in their lives. They announce the birth of significant individuals, they guard the living, and they minister to the dying. Therefore, ‘the figure of the guardian angel links the believer's trust in God's providence throughout life with his or her hope in God's mercy beyond death’ (p. 82). The book then explores angels as the heavenly beings who were seen ascending and descending Jacob's ladder (cf. Gen 28:11–12). Here Jones recounts different accounts of the celestial hierarchies and angelic orders rooted in the speculations of Dionysius the Areopagite. He also draws attention to the role of the angels in liturgies of the Temple and the Church. Finally, the book summarizes what is known about the fallen angels, the evil and unclean spirits we commonly call demons. For Jews and Christians, demons are angels who have sinned. In contrast, for Muslims, demons are not angels but are a third kind of being called djinn. Nonetheless, all three religions do acknowledge the existence of Satan, an adversary and tempter, who is the enemy of the human race. His primary activity is to tempt human beings to do what is evil. Not surprisingly, in the Koran, Satan is known as the whisperer.
The final and eighth chapter of Angels: A History returns to a central theme of the book, that reflection on angels can illuminate aspects of human existence and of human societies. For Jones, angels not only highlight moments of human significance but also bear witness to the overlooked significance of human life (p. 135). However, he also notes that they ‘teach us to be suspicious of easy rationalism, whether of a secular or a religious kind. The world is not tidy, and it is neither fruitful nor honest to tidy it up artificially’ (p. 139). Thus, angels ‘help show up the mystery of it all’ (p. 139).
As I noted above, Angels: A History is neither a history book nor a theology book. It is neither, because historical and theological investigations are necessarily critical works, which make reasoned judgments about their subject matter. Jones explicitly does not do this. He writes: ‘This whole book is about angels, but for the most part it seeks neither to prove nor to disprove the existence of angels, neither to assert or to debunk’ (p. xiv). Thus, the book remains a narrative collection of facts. In my mind, it is significant because it reveals the distinctively religious provenance of the angelic creatures so beloved in secular societies.
However, the book's intentional disregard for intellectual engagement with its subject matter leaves the reader with a hodgepodge of information that is sometimes incomplete or incoherent. Take Jones's proposal that the word ‘angel’ not be used to name the spiritual creatures spoken about and depicted by Zoroastrians and Hindus, because these spirits do not play the role in these traditions that angels play in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. His suggestion raises an interesting question: is an angel a kind of spiritual creature or a function that a spiritual creature assumes? As Jones will explain, for the Abrahamic religions, angels are spiritual creatures, pure intellects without bodies, who often act as messengers for God (pp. 44–53). If this is true, then should we not be able to call all personal spirits, regardless of their religious citizenship or role, angels? And if not, why not? No adequate explanation is given. The text is incomplete.
To cite an example of incoherent reasoning: Jones rightly acknowledges that in our post-Christian societies there is a tendency to portray angels predominantly as female, a tendency not present in earlier centuries. However, he then goes on to claim that this gradual shift from male to female portrayals ‘seems to confirm the suggestion of the feminist thinker Michèle Le Dœuff, that once some category becomes devalued and loses its philosophical status then it starts to become regarded as feminine. Angels are as popular as ever, but they are not so intellectually respectable as they once were. As they are taken less seriously and command less cultural respect, so men portray them as female’ (p. 36). There is no evidence to support this assertion. Hollywood now routinely portrays presidents of the United States as women. Does this mean that American presidents are taken less seriously and command less cultural respect today than they did a decade ago? Overall, more rigorous thinking that explores the phenomenon of angels using both faith and reason would have significantly improved this little book.
