Billions of angels
Fr. Paul Stein
If you asked what species President George Washington is/was, the answer would be: human. If you asked what species the Archangel Michael is, the answer would be: Michael. As humans, we are soul-bodies, part physical and part spiritual. Yet, our awareness is dominated by the physical universe in which we live. For that reason – just as we think of labradors, poodles, and shelties as all examples of the species we call “dog” – we incorrectly think of archangels, cherubim, and seraphim as examples of the species called “angel.” To the contrary, each angel is its own species, and the term “angel” is a description of what that creature does. Angelos, in the original New Testament Greek, means “messenger.”
As soul-bodies, we can distinguish between the organizing principle of our humanity (the soul) and the material principle of our humanity (the body). Without a soul, you don’t really have a human being, you merely have a corpse. Without a body, you don’t really have a human being, you merely have a ghost. An authentic living human is the unity of soul and body.
While one human body is usually different than another – for example, Sara is 5’2” and Susan is 6’3” – they theoretically don’t have to be. If you could be cloned down to the last molecule, your clone would have the same body as you, down to the last neuron in the brain. It just wouldn’t be you; it would be a different person. The reason is that each soul is unique.[1]
If you think of a human as the unity of body and soul, then we can both distinguish one human being from another as individual persons, yet at the same time group them as one kind of species, homo sapiens, as in contrast to dog, cat, or elephant. Human bodies can be similar to each other, yet human bodies are not the same as dog bodies. In contrast, angels are pure spirits, they do not and have never had bodies; they are a completely different kind of creature(s). As pure spirits, there is no material principle to an angel at all. Thus, “angel” isn’t a type of species.
Similar to how each human soul is unique, each angel as a pure spirit, is unique. In effect, each angel is its own species.[2] Thus, while we group all angels together as we do humans, cats, and dogs, it is best to appreciate the fact that the angelic world is a massive world of individual, unique spirits. A starting point for understanding the angelic realm is to distinguish between what different groups of angels do. For example, guardian angels protect humans. Archangels are leaders among them who: fight against fallen angels (St. Michael), announce messages from God (St. Gabriel), or bring healing (St. Raphael).
A further point for understanding is that some angels are more powerful than others. For example, seraphim are more powerful than guardian angels. Such power is not physical, such as a bear being able to overpower a wolf. It is more like one human having more “brain power” than another. Bishop Fulton Sheen once described angels as being like “pure minds;” this applies very much to what angels do.
Since each angel is its own species, there are, in effect, billions of species of angels. While scripture doesn’t give a number, it does give indications that there are many of them:
“Thousands of thousands ministered to Him, and ten thousand times a hundred thousand stood before Him” (Daniel 7:10).
Then Jesus said to him, “…Do you think that I cannot call upon my Father and he will not provide me at this moment with more than twelve legions of angels?” (Mt 26:52-53).
While you can calculate what twelve legions would equal (at about 5,000-6,000 per legion), the biblical point is that there are many of them. One can infer that, if each human being has a guardian angel, and presuming that one angel only guards one human instead of four or a hundred at a time, then there must be at least 8 billion angels working on the planet right now.
Thousands of thousands ministered to
Him, and ten thousand
times a hundred thousand
stood before Him
What This Means For Us
God is the Creator; his glory is infinite. We see the manifestation of his infinite glory in the multiplicity and variety of creation. In terms of flowers, we not only have roses but also daffodils, orchids, daisies, etc. So too, God’s glory is reflected in an immense angelic realm where each angel is unique. It helps us appreciate how much God rejoices in his creation and that he is attentive to each one of us.
Footnotes
[1] Even with identical twins, who have the exact same DNA, their bodies are slightly different from each other, including a slightly or vastly different neuron arrangement in the brain.
[2] The term “species” properly belongs to the biological/physical world. I use it here to help the reader understand what an angel really is.
For Further Reading On This Topic
