Are there any other creatures that have the ability to know and love others on at least the level that human beings are able to? Christian tradition, basing itself on the scriptures, has held that there are. The creatures in question are known as ‘angels’. Those angels who refused to love God but chose self-love instead are known as ‘devils’, since they are now eternally hostile to God and God's plans.

Angels

The word ‘angel’ comes from the Greek angelos, a word that means ‘messenger’. The ‘angel of the Lord’ or malak Yahweh means ‘the messenger of the Lord’. The idea of ‘angels’ has its roots, then, in the conviction of ancient Israel that God communicated with human beings.

Old Testament

At times the ‘angel’ or ‘messenger’ referred to seems to be none other than God appearing in visible form. Examples of this can be found in Genesis 16:7 & 13, Genesis 22:11, Exodus 3:2 (the burning bush) and Judges 2:1. Such a view of angels may well be the oldest, and it has been surmised that it has its roots in the conviction that people cannot see God's face and live (Exodus 33:20). If that is so, then (so it is argued) God creates a visible form within which to appear to people.

At other times – and certainly in later, more developed beliefs about angels – the messengers are conceived of as distinct from God. However, this way of thinking about angels conceives of them primarily as part of God's heavenly court and not simply as messengers. As king and lord, God was pictured as being surrounded by heavenly courtiers, just as an earthly king was surrounded by his earthly courtiers. They may continue to be sent by God to perform certain tasks (for example Psalms 34:7; Job 1:6, where the angels are called in for a debriefing). But they are also occupied in simply praising God (for example Psalms 103:20). Psalms 29:1 calls them ‘Sons of God’.

An interesting group of heavenly beings mentioned in the Bible are the cherubim and seraphim. Cherubs were winged creatures, and were often represented as animals with human faces.