I am interested in Angelology - the study of angels. I don’t want to find simple articles and stuff about angels, but am interested in studying this academically. Are there any colleges or universities or something that have programs in Angelology? There doesn’t seem to be too much study on it today.
Hi, there.
Angels are, indeed, fascinating beings. But be careful in how you study. There is a lot of nonsense out there based on Protestant folklore and beliefs about angels. I don’t know if there is any theological study or program on this–hopefully somebody else may know. I wanted to put my $0.02 in for general knowledge for the thread, things of which you might already know.
One common (and understandable) misconception is that humans who die will become angels in heaven. This is patently false, as angels are purely spiritual beings and have no real body (they take a form of a human body to make it easier for us humans to communicate with them). Humans are *both *spiritual and physical beings. While in heaven as saints, awaiting the General Judgment, we’ll be generally spiritual beings but we will be resurrected in a glorified version of our original bodies.
From the
on newadvent.org on angels*Catholic Library *:
Do we become angels when we die, as some popular songs suggest?
*No. Angels are a completely separate order of beings from men. Angels are pure spirits whose natural state is to be disembodied. Men are only partially spiritual beings whose natural state is to be embodied (Gen. 2:7).
These natural states correspond to the final destiny of the beings in question. Since angels are by nature disembodied (Summa Theologiae, I:50:1, 51:1), they will remain disembodied throughout eternity. Men are naturally embodied, so even though they are temporarily separated from their bodies by death, they will eventually be re-embodied and spend eternity in a physical state (Job 19:25-26, 1 Cor. 15:53; cf. ST III sup.:75:1, 3). This is what we mean when we confess that “we look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come” (Nicene Creed).
The connection between a man and his body is so strong that while dead he is not fully a human being, only a disembodied soul, as Thomas Aquinas taught (ST I:75:4). The soul is so closely united to the body that it is the essential form of the body (this is a defined Catholic doctrine; see Ludwig Ott, Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma, 97). As a result, the body begins to break down when the soul departs; it has lost the essential form that holds it together and keeps it alive (Jas. 2:26).
The notion that a man is a soul contained in a body is a false idea that comes from Plato, who viewed the body as the prison of the soul. We occasionally speak of the body in this way (2 Cor. 5:1-4), but this language is not to be pressed. The twentieth-century philosopher Gilbert Ryle was wrong when he said Christians view man as “a ghost in a machine.” It would have been more accurate to say man is a ghost and a machine.
This makes it clear that expressions of pop culture that imply men can become angels, such as the songs “Johnny Angel” and “Teen Angel” or the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life,” are misleading on this point, whatever their other merits may be. *
Frame any research you do on angels based on this and current teachings, particularly that there are only *three *named angels as taught in Catholicism: Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael. Any other names you encounter are likely based on Judaic folklore or fiction.
Have fun–such research could yield a remarkable bit of insight.
(as is evidenced by my username
lol)