The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1909-12-31
9bort 9ermro,rs
For
G5unnap Dalf-Dour
Theme:
ANGELS.
r. r. 1.
BY THE REV. WALDO A. AMOS.

W. r. r 1.
BY THE REV. WALDO A. AMOS.
+ + +
Text: Matthew 4:6: "He shall qlve
Is angels charge concerning thee and
- their hands they shall bear thee up
- at any tlme thou dash thy foot
ia@inst stone"
One evening when the poet Shelley
was at University College, Oxford, he
nd fellow student named Hogg be-
anle engaged in warm discussion
It the dinner table as to the compare
We merits of German and Italian lit
nature. The discussion was carried
IN with great ardor for an hour or
ore, Shelley defending the Italian
writer's, and Hogg siding with the
Germans. Then it was proposed that
'he disputants should continue their
debate in Shelley's rooms. On reach
ing his study the poet turned to Hogg
and said: ITO tell you the truth, I
have no knowledge of the italian Ian
gu7ge, and I know absolutely nothing
bout Italian literature" Hogg con-
'eSsed a like ignorance of the Ger
0nn language and literature, and
iere the discussion ended.
Let us begin, then, by saying frank-
y that you don't know anything a! nut
'ngels, and neither do /. There have
2een times during the course of his
ory when people thought that they
new a great deal about them. The
medieval scholiasts, for example,
'eam to have had inside information
which enabled them to give the most
detailed account of the nature and
habits of angels. Even as recently as
1878 Mr.. Duke, of London, publish
Cd book on "The Nature and EN-
Payments of the Holy Angels" Sew
eral years ago one Of the sculptors en-
gagged in decorating the new cathedral
in New York was brought to book
when his chisel produced woman an
gel. for any one who knows anything
ut all knows that all angels are of the
male persuasion. Apparently, condi-
lions in Heaven are somewhat differ
mt from what they are in this world.
For among the "angels I have known"
'overal have been of the gentler sex.
lIa whole attitude, however, which
""0mpts man to write a book on the
- ire and employment of the angels.
= seriously to discuss the question Of
'hoir sex, finds scant sympathy at the
resent day. Nowadays we regard
.he angels of Scripture as part of the
ooatry of religion; we regard them as
products of the poetic imagination,
who give expression to their hopes
and fears in song and verse; we as
sociate them with shepherds and star
lit nights and with "the storied land
across the Syrian Sea-" Consequently,
We resent any attempt on the part of
the theologian to reduce the angels
to terms of dull prose; we resent any
attempt such as that of Father Rack
ham to determine what speech is cur
rent in the world beyond, for we know
that the speech of the angels is poe
try. the language of the heart, and
that that language is universal, know
ing naught of accent, gender, mood or
tense
While the angels are the peculiar
province Of the poet, we prosaic folk
may, however, apply our scientific
method to what the world has thought
about angels. We must Study histori-
cally the gradual development of the
idea of angels without feeling that we
are rushing in where poets fear to
tread. Our word angel is derived from
the Greek word meaning a messenger
who conveys Gods words to men. In
the later books of the Old Testament
and in the New Testament we find the
influence Of the Persian religion, with
which the Jews had come into contact
for several hundred years. we find
archangels, Michael, Gabriel and Rap
hael with Persian names. The back
ground of the Bible, the background
OF the Masters mind, is the popular
thinking of the day, and consequently
we find in our Scriptures this celestial
company adapted by the Jews from
the poetry and religion of Persia. In
cluded in this heavenly hierarchy were
guardian angels, and recording an
gels, angelic messengers, in ancient
times, as in our own time, we're the
products of the poetic imagination.
When 1 say that the angels are part
of the poetry of religion, l do not
mean that they are unreal. The
things Of poetry are more real than
the things Of prose. The angels are
the products of the imagination. but
we must remember that the imagina-
tion is no airy and playful thing. 1t
Is that deep and essential faculty
which in a Newton leaps from the
falling apple to the movements Of the
stars in their courses; 1t is that ideal
izing faculty which In Darwin wings
it's daring flight from a few observed
phenomena to a universal process Of
evolution. There are angels, then,
guardian angels. recording angels, and
angels who carry to and fro the mes
sagos OF God. Swedenborg, che philos'