How do angels fight?

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They fight the same way as we do, except the weapons they use are probably imbued with power…akin to the flaming sword held by the angel at the entrance to Eden.
 
JoeyWarren said:
They fight the same way as we do, except the weapons they use are probably imbued with power…akin to the flaming sword held by the angel at the entrance to Eden.
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I am sure they have biological weapons - pestilence etc. Makes much less mess than nukes and can be targetted to certain people.
 
ltravis said:
I often hear how we are part of a heavenly battle between the good angels and the forces of Satan, and that in the end, with God, the good will triumph. Well, basic question: in spiritual warfare, given they are not corporeal, how exactly do the angels fight up there?

mm what I think of it. bodily sometime real fights sometime debate.

it hard cos u cant see but they all round begin very activly reporting stuff back froth fight real with devil demons sometime sometime just debate sometime devil personally go to God `s place challage him like some sly lawyer using God quotes etc

in spirital DEMEMSION they all are real bodies like man just not in this demsion expect if God will.

certain fallen angels across the line of their demonsion to ours so became our bodies and marry human womans

it mention that Jesus lower his body so it be that of man of flesh

garbrail was jailed by devil for 21 days who kinapped him it was Micheal the cheif to went to garbail`s recuse who was on way to answer Daniel prayer explained after begin free, why his prayer taken so long to be answered.

mentioned the struggle fight between Micheal and Lucfier who waiting for Moses to die. in Jude brief mention how Micheal and Lucifer in struggle to get Moses body(dead to us but poor Moses must be aware of that!) as the time OT saints to go to limbo unlike Gentiles after Christ resscurtion.

they all spiritaul bodies and places that not real or can be seen to us in creation matter but in their own demastion they are as real as us and can see us while we can`t!

now Im feel rather cheated…😉

Gillian
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I do believe that angels do in fact use swords and physical restraint, a lot like how human beings may fight, but they cannot kill each other. I think when an angel’s sword pierces an demon, it is the “sword of the spirit”, or a “double edged sword” (in reference to the symbolism behind one coming out of Jesus’ mouth at Armageddon) I think this causes severe torment and pain upon the afflicted demon. Of course he doesn’t bleed, but I do believe it would be something like, he’d fall to the ground screaming in pain, standing back up to fight, or fleeing, depending on who’s more powerful. I am sure if a holy angel is hurt by a demon, he simply has the option to return to Heaven to be soothed, for it is a WAR, and they must battle demons. Demons go somewhere else to “rest”. Though I am not sure any powerful angel can send them to the pit or not. I don’t think they can.

Remember, angels DO carry swords, for Numbers 23 reads, “When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way with his drawn sword in his hand, the donkey turned off from the way and went into the field; but Balaam struck the donkey to turn her back into the way.”

Matthew 12: 43-45 also tells us, “When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. Then he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation.” (Matthew 12: 43-45) So I do believe angels (which have many ranks) fight as humans do, in their own “physical-spiritual” ways. I recall an account from the Exorcist Bob Larson’s book, he was performing an exorcism and the demon he was exorcising saw a “big” angel behind Bob Larson (giving Bob support, basically). The demon was frightened of this angel because he was “big”, thus possibly indicating more “muscle”, stronger, more able to physically harm the demon, for the demon was afraid. Just some ideas.
 
Hello, just thought I’d drop in on this.

Actually, I’ve wondered about this many times, but the best I can come up with is Peretti’s version in Piercing the Darkness.

Basically that both angels and demons can fight over a person. They do THIS by talking to the person, trying to influence the person to sin or abstain from sin. Angels can’t do anything about this on their own though, humans have to accept God’s (and His angel’s) help. Once they do that, the angels attack, and send the demons to an ‘abyss’. Kind of like an FPS, where they go to his abyss (which they don’t seem to like) but then get out again at some point. And of course, one day they’ll all go to Hell and won’t get out.

That’s the best answer I’ve seen.
 
Kiante said:
Hello, just thought I’d drop in on this.

Actually, I’ve wondered about this many times, but the best I can come up with is Peretti’s version in Piercing the Darkness.

Basically that both angels and demons can fight over a person. They do THIS by talking to the person, trying to influence the person to sin or abstain from sin. Angels can’t do anything about this on their own though, humans have to accept God’s (and His angel’s) help. Once they do that, the angels attack, and send the demons to an ‘abyss’. Kind of like an FPS, where they go to his abyss (which they don’t seem to like) but then get out again at some point. And of course, one day they’ll all go to Hell and won’t get out.

That’s the best answer I’ve seen.
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I think along the same lines and think of this imagery (which is only my guess). I imagine the combat in terms of light and darkness. Jesus is the light with the Father and the Spirit. I imagine the angels as beings of light who carry out the will of God, and their weapon is God’s grace. The demons are beings of darkness.

God sends his grace to use and we either accept it or reject it, through our thoughts and actions. If we accept God’s grace the light is in us and the angel stands before us. the light shines, and all darkness is driven away. If we reject God’s grace (and drive Him out) the light leaves us, and He is more like the sun outside. We then become an obstacle and block God’s grace and light, and a shadow is cast before us. If we walk in that direction we walk where the demons reside. When we repent then, The Lord sends his angel of light who’s mere presence drives the darkness away (because a shadow can no longer exist). Then the light resides in us again.

**Mt 4:16
“THE PEOPLE WHO WERE SITTING IN DARKNESS SAW A GREAT LIGHT, AND THOSE WHO WERE SITTING IN THE LAND AND SHADOW OF DEATH, UPON THEM A LIGHT DAWNED.”

Lk 1:79
To give to His people the knowledge of salvation By the forgiveness of their sins, Because of the tender mercy of our God, With which the Sunrise from on high will visit us,TO SHINE UPON THOSE WHO SIT IN DARKNESS AND THE SHADOW OF DEATH, To guide our feet into the way of peace."

Lk 1:33-36
“No one who lights a lamp hides it away or places it (under a bushel basket), but on a lampstand so that those who enter might see the light. The lamp of the body is your eye. When your eye is sound, then your whole body is filled with light, but when it is bad, then your body is in darkness. Take care, then, that the light in you not become darkness. If your whole body is full of light, and no part of it is in darkness, then it will be as full of light as a lamp illuminating you with its brightness.”**
 
First of all, most of what we “know” about angels is theological speculation, so there are a lot of things we don’t know about angels except that they exist, which is itself known to us through revelation.

In terms of how they battle, I imagine, since angels are purely spiritual beings (and according to a theologian I can’t name now, “angel” is a genus, each it’s own species), they do not battle in any way that would resemble human battles on the war front. That the bible uses poetic and metaphorical language to better illustrate the essential reality of a truth should be obvious (perhaps not so much to fundies, but that’s their deficit, not ours). However, since angels are able to interact with our physical world, it would appear they are able to manifest phenomena that are physical. That isn’t the question, though. The question was, how do purely spiritual beings conduct battle.

But before I offer my own speculation, we must remember that human beings are the unity of the spiritual and corporeal. That means that we should, at least as Catholics, be very familiar with spiritual warfare. It’s something we experience within. It may be seem vague a lot of the time, but at times we may gain crystal clear insight into the way our soul is attacked and the way we defend ourselves against it, with the help of God. The intellect is after all a spiritual “thing” and as such, intellectual and willful resistance to evil is a form of defensive battle. I imagine angelic battle to occur along similar lines as our spiritual battles and struggles with Satan, at least in some essential way.

I say that with reservation because we must remember that angels do not exist in time and space as we do. They exist in eternity, something we cannot comprehend because most of use do not experience eternity. This means that the battle is somehow eternal.

Another speculation is that since angels are spiritual, they are able to perceive reality through pure intellection without having to first perceive through the senses and abstract from them the essence of things. This means they have perfect knowledge of the things they do know. They don’t suffer from the weaknesses of the flesh we do, so their intellection isn’t marred the way ours is.

The problem here boils down to the nature of free will which touches on the mystery of Satan (how can an angel with perfect knowledge and without the weaknesses of the flesh choose against God?). Knowing the answer will give us the answer to what can cause weakness in an angelic being (demons on the whole are weaker than angels by virtue of their evil - evil is some crippling privation of being, after all). If a demon can conquer an angel, an immortal being, it seems to me it must be by somehow tempting the angel into choosing something other than God. But how? How can an angel be tempted? That question is the same as how Satan was able or willing to reject God in the first place. And how do angels conquer demons? What exactly is the constitution of an angel and a demon?

More questions than answers.
 
I grew up believing that angels were spirits in the form of people with wings on their backs. Seriously. Just the other day, I realized that people do not have wings growing out of their backs, that angels are spirits, and they don’t need wings to get around. So - why were they ever presented to us in that way? I have totally believed this all my life.
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If angels can take the form of a human, and fight as a human, and they get killed, they are just going to go back to being the spirit that they always were, anyway, since a spirit can't die. So do they just do that over and over again? Forever? Maybe so. The forces of good and evil never give up, that's for sure. Gee, what a destiny. I wonder if the bad ones ever figure it out and cross over to the other side, or - yipes! - vice-versa. I wonder where these great battles take place? At the battleground between Heaven and Hell?
What if angels are only spirits and do not take any other form. Fine. Then, how does a spirit fight other spirits? Well, we have a soul which is our spirit. Our souls become at odds with our physical natures at times. Sometimes oftentimes. Our body and soul fight it out, so to speak. So, are these fighting angelic spirits disembodied souls? With conscience and reason? They certainly aren’t perfect spirits or there would be no discord in the first place. Are these only spiritual battles - of matters of beliefs, conscience, and ideas? How do spirits wage battles?

Does anyone know of a good Catholic book that addresses this topic?
 
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