Are angels masculine?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Maxirad
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
They have no sex or gender. However, yes, they do appear more what we would term masculine.
 
Strictly speaking, no because they don’t have a gender, but I once heard that in art they should be portrayed as masculine, because they have characteristics (personality wise) which are associated with masculinity and men.
 
Not only are angels not defined by gender but every angel is it’s own species according to popular thought.
 
relative to humans they are better imaged as masculine. Relative to God they are better imaged as feminine. Maybe they will seem more feminine to a glorified human. But then I doubt there is a need to attach earthly images in heaven.
 
Last edited:
Maxirad said:
masculine
Click to expand...
No, but traditionally they are depicted masculine.

If I had to guess, I would think that their true form looks more like this:

(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)

(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)

As opposed to this: (Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)
 
The first image above seems right. Their presence before mortals is always prefaced with, ‘fear not’ and must be a fearful image.
 
No, actually the Church teaches that they do have gender and that masculine. The genderless angels theory is a new age thing which also includes names of angels unaccepted as such by the Catholic Church.
 
(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)

His name is " M I C H E A L "
 
Last edited:
Mary888 said:
No, actually the Church teaches that they do have gender and that masculine.
Click to expand...
Source please?

The CCC states that angels are spiritual and non-corporeal beings. Nothing about their gender.

Fr. Hardon, who is hardly a new age proponent, stated in his “Catholic Catechism on the Angels”:
  1. Is there any distinction of gender among the angels?
No, as Christ foretold regarding the final resurrection of the dead. Speaking of risen human beings, He says, " At the resurrection we will neither marry or be given in marriage but will be as the angels of God in heaven" (Matthew 22:30).
Click to expand...
That’s good enough for me to agree they are genderless.
 
Tis_Bearself said:
Is there any distinction of gender among the angels?

No, as Christ foretold regarding the final resurrection of the dead. Speaking of risen human beings, He says, " At the resurrection we will neither marry or be given in marriage but will be as the angels of God in heaven" (Matthew 22:30).

That’s good enough for me to agree they are genderless.
Click to expand...
Unmarried does not equal nor mean genderless. Following your logic the resurrected people will also be genderless. How about God’s unwed bride Virgin Mary? She is not genderless.
Owning a gender and not doing anything with it is one thing, it is about purity, in this people are like the angels.
 
There were giants in the earth in those days;
and also after that, when the sons of God
came in unto the daughters of men,
and they bare children to them,
the same became mighty men of renown.

Genesis
 
Mary888 said:
How about God’s unwed bride Virgin Mary? She is not genderless.
Click to expand...
Mary conceived and gave birth to a child. She could reproduce. That makes her gender pretty obvious.
Furthermore, Mary was a corporeal being, as was Jesus. They were not purely spiritual like angels.

However, I come back to my original request.
Do you have a source for what you claim about church teaching? Otherwise, like I said, it’s your opinion vs. the Catechism and Fr. Hardon.
 
Last edited:
Angels do not have a sex. We typically refer to them with masculine gendered pronouns, as we do with God, and in Scripture when they present themselves to actual humans they typically take the form of men (I’m not aware of any examples to the contrary), but they are neither male nor female in themselves.
 
Last edited:
One of these questions that have very little meaning in our faith walk. Representations of non-corporeal beings in art are simply ways to make the incomprehensible, comprehensible by the limited human imagination.

As the cliché goes, “not a hill worth dying on”. Or “how many (masculine or feminine) angles can dance on the head of a pin”.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top