The First Fall of the Angels and the Origin of Sin

Sometime before the creation of man, one of the angels rebelled against God and led other angels in a massive revolt against Him. The name of this angel is Lucifer. He has been given other names as well. He is commonly called Satan.

Pride was the first sin. It was because of pride that Lucifer rebelled.

How has Lucifer, that rose in the morning, fallen from Heaven! He that sent orders to all the nations is crushed to the Earth. But thou saidst in thine heart, I will go up to Heaven, I will set my throne above the stars of heaven: I will sit on a lofty mount, on the lofty mountains toward the North: I will go up above the clouds: I will be like the Most High. But now thou shalt go down to Hell, even to the foundations of the Earth. (Isaiah 14:12-15, LXX)

Lucifer in his pride wanted be like God. He wanted to rule the universe. In Ecclesiasticus it says:

The beginning of man’s pride is to depart from the Lord; his heart has forsaken his Maker. For the beginning of pride is sin, and the man who clings to it pours out abominations. Therefore the Lord brought upon them extraordinary afflictions, and destroyed them utterly. (Ecclesiasticus 10:12, 13, RSV)

In Proverbs, it says:

Pride goes before destruction, and folly before a fall. (Prov. 16:18, LXX)

Lucifer led a rebellion in Heaven against God because of his pride and that resulted in his downfall. He was cast out of Heaven along with one third of the angels.

And there appeared another wonder in Heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.  And his tail drew the third part of the stars of Heaven, and did cast them to the Earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. And she brought forth a Man Child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her Child was caught up unto God, and to His throne. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days. And there was war in Heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in Heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the Earth, and his angels were cast out with him. (Rev. 12:3-9)

The fallen angels are called demons.

According to St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Lucifer (or Satan) was an archangel.

The devil then is the first author of sin, and the father of the wicked: and this is the Lord’s saying, not mine, "that the devil sinneth from the beginning" (I John 3:8; St. John 8:44): none sinned before him. But he sinned, not as having received necessarily from nature the propensity to sin, since then the cause of sin is traced back again to Him that made him so; but having been created good, he has of his own free will become a devil, and received that name from his action. For being an Archangel he was afterwards called a devil from his slandering: from being a good servant of God he has become rightly named Satan; for “Satan” is interpreted "the adversary." And this is not my teaching, but that of the inspired prophet Ezekiel: for he takes up a lamentation over him and says, "Thou wast a seal of likeness, and a crown of beauty; in the Paradise of God wast thou born" (Ezek. 28:12,13, LXX): and soon after, "Thou wast born blameless in thy days, from the day in which thou wast created, until thine iniquities were found in thee." (Ezek. 28:15) Very rightly hath he said, "were found in thee;" for they were not brought in from without, but thou didst thyself beget the evil. The cause also he mentions forthwith: "Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty: for the multitude of thy sins wast thou wounded, and I did cast thee to the ground." (Ezek. 28:16,17, LXX) In agreement with this the Lord says again in the Gospels: "I beheld Satan as lightning fall from Heaven." (St. Luke 10:18) Thou seest the harmony of the Old Testament with the New. He when cast out drew many away with him. It is he that puts lusts into them that listen to him: from him come adultery, fornication, and every kind of evil. Through him our forefather Adam was cast out for disobedience, and exchanged a Paradise bringing forth wondrous fruits of its own accord for the ground which bringeth forth thorns. (Catechetical Lectures, Lecture II, paragraph 4, by St. Cyril of Jerusalem, 318-386 A.D., vol. 7, pp. 8-9, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)

God did not create any of the angels to be sinful. He did not create sin. The angels that followed Lucifer, like Lucifer, sinned out of their own free choice. They chose to sin. Sin is the absence of good. It is not an addition to one's nature. It is a subtraction from what God created. When Lucifer and his angels sinned, they lost the original beauty of holiness that God had given them.

Note also that the angels, being rational, are endowed with free-will, and, inasmuch as they are created, are liable to change. This in fact is made plain by the devil who, although made good by the Creator, became of his own free-will the inventor of evil, and by the powers who revolted with him, that is the demons, and by the other troops of angels who abode in goodness. (An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, Book II, chapter 27, by St. John of Damascus, 645-750 A.D., vol. 9, part 2, page 40-41, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)

But if this is so, they say, whence comes evil? For it is quite impossible that evil should originate from goodness. We answer then, that evil is nothing else than absence of goodness and a lapsing from what is natural into what is unnatural: for nothing evil is natural. For all things, whatsoever God made, are very good (Gen. 1:31), so far as they were made: if, therefore, they remain just as they were created, they are very good, but when they voluntarily depart from what is natural and turn to what is unnatural, they slip into evil.

By nature, therefore, all things are servants of the Creator and obey Him. Whenever, then, any of His creatures voluntarily rebels and becomes disobedient to his Maker, he introduces evil into himself. For evil is not any essence nor a property of essence, but an accident, that is, a voluntary deviation from what is natural into what is unnatural, which is sin.

Whence, then, comes sin? It is an invention of the free-will of the devil. Is the devil, then, evil? In so far as he was brought into existence he is not evil but good. For he was created by his Maker a bright and very brilliant angel, endowed with free-will as being rational. But he voluntarily departed from the virtue that is natural and came into the darkness of evil, being far removed from God, Who alone is good and can give life and light. For from Him every good thing derives its goodness, and so far as it is separated from Him in will (for it is not in place), it falls into evil. (An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, Book IV, chapter 20, by St. John of Damascus, 645-750 A.D., vol. 9, part 2, page 94, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)

God did not want those angels to sin, nor does He want us to sin.

He hath commanded no man to do wickedly, neither hath he given any man licence to sin. (Ecclesiasticus 15:20)

For Thou art not a God that desires iniquity; neither shall the worker of wickedness dwell with Thee. (Psalm 5:4, LXX)

Sin originated with one of God's creatures, Lucifer, but it never came from God Himself.

Steve

Bibliography

Ante-Nicene Fathers, edited by Alexander Roberts, D.D. & James Donaldson, LL.D., volumes 1-10, Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody, Massachusetts

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, edited by Philip Schaff, D.D., LL.D., volumes 1-14, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., Peabody, Massachusetts

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, edited by Philip Schaff, D.D., LL.D. & Henry Wace, D.D., volumes 1-14, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., Peabody, Massachusetts

The Creation of the Angels

Sometime before the creation of the stars, God created the angels. God said to Job:

When the stars were made, all My angels praised Me with a loud voice. (Job 38:7, LXX)

According to the Genesis account, God created the stars on the fourth day of creation. (Gen. 1:14-19) So, angels were created prior to that time.

In Ecclesiasticus, it says:

Wisdom hath been created before all things, and the understanding of prudence from everlasting. (Ecclesiasticus 1:4)

Blessed Augustine, commenting on this verse of Scripture, says:

For although we find no time before it, for wisdom was created before all things (Ecclesiasticus 1:4), — not certainly that Wisdom manifestly co-eternal and equal unto Thee, our God, His Father, and by Whom all things were created, and in Whom, as the Beginning, Thou createdst Heaven and Earth; but truly that wisdom which has been created, namely, the intellectual nature (Ecclesiasticus 1:4), which, in the contemplation of light, is light. For this, although created, is also called wisdom. But as great as is the difference between the Light which enlighteneth and that which is enlightened, so great is the difference between the Wisdom that createth and that which hath been created; as between the Righteousness which justifieth, and the righteousness which has been made by justification. For we also are called Thy righteousness; for thus saith a certain servant of Thine: “That we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” (II Cor. 5:21) Therefore, since a certain created wisdom was created before all things, the rational and intellectual mind of that chaste city of Thine, our mother which is above, and is free (Gal. 4:26), and “eternal in the heavens” (II Cor. 5:1) (in what heavens, unless in those that praise Thee, the “Heaven of Heavens” (Psalm 148:4), because this also is the “Heaven of Heavens,” which is the Lord’s) — although we find not time before it, because that which hath been created before all things also precedeth the creature of time, yet is the Eternity of the Creator Himself before it, from Whom, having been created, it took the beginning, although not of time, — for time as yet was not, — yet of its own very nature. (The Confessions of St. Augustine, Book XII, chapter 15, paragraph 20, by Blessed Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D., vol. 1, pp. 180-181, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)

According to Blessed Augustine, this verse is talking about the creation of the intellectual nature, which occupies the Heaven of Heavens. This intellectual nature contemplates the Light of God and becomes light. This, in my opinion, is talking about the angels. According to Ecclesiasticus 1:4, then, God created the angels before He created anything else.

It appears, indeed, that even before this world an order of things existed of which our mind can form an idea, but of which we can say nothing, because it is too lofty a subject for men who are but beginners and are still babes in knowledge. The birth of the world was preceded by a condition of things suitable for the exercise of supernatural powers, outstripping the limits of time, eternal and infinite. The Creator and Demiurge of the universe perfected His works in it, spiritual light for the happiness of all who love the Lord, intellectual and invisible natures, all the orderly arrangement of pure intelligences who are beyond the reach of our mind and of whom we cannot even discover the names. They fill the essence of this invisible world, as Paul teaches us. “For by him were all things created that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers” (Col. 1:16) or virtues or hosts of angels or the dignities of archangels. (The Hexaemeron, Homily I, paragraph 5, by St. Basil the Great, 329-379 A.D., vol. 8, p. 54, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)

Some, indeed, like Gregory the Theologian, say that these were before the creation of other things. He thinks that the angelic and heavenly powers were first and that thought was their function. Others, again, hold that they were created after the first heaven was made. But all are agreed that it was before the foundation of man. For myself, I am in harmony with the theologian. For it was fitting that the mental essence should be the first created, and then that which can be perceived, and finally man himself, in whose being both parts are united. (An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, Book II, chapter 3, by St. John of Damascus, 645-750 A.D., vol. 9, part 2, page 19, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)

Since the angels are light and derive their light from contemplating light, I think that God created them in His image and likeness.

They are secondary intelligent lights derived from that first light which is without beginning, for they have the power of illumination; they have no need of tongue or hearing, but without uttering words they communicate to each other their own thoughts and counsels. (An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, Book II, chapter 3, by St. John of Damascus, 645-750 A.D., vol. 9, part 2, page 19, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)

He created them in wisdom.

How great are Thy works, O Lord! In wisdom hast Thou wrought them all: the Earth is filled with Thy creation. (Psalm 103:24, LXX)

They are created wisdom. (Ecclesiasticus 1:4) God created them to be objects of His love. (Wisdom 11:24) He also created them for Himself (Col. 1:16) and for His glory. (Ecclesiasticus 42:17)

The angels are created spirits. In the 103rd Psalm it says:

Who makes His angels spirits, and His ministers a flaming fire. (Psalm 103:4, LXX)

Being spirits, they are made of a substance, but that substance is not the divine essence.

When we speak of the angels, we say that they are bodiless beings. From a human standpoint, they do not have bodies, but from God's standpoint they do have bodies.

An angel, then, is an intelligent essence, in perpetual motion, with free-will, incorporeal, ministering to God, having obtained by grace an immortal nature: and the Creator alone knows the form and limitation of its essence. But all that we can understand is, that it is incorporeal and immaterial. For all that is compared with God Who alone is incomparable, we find to be dense and material. For in reality only the Deity is immaterial and incorporeal. (An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, Book II, chapter 3, by St. John of Damascus, 645-750 A.D., vol. 9, part 2, page 19, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)

Although they are bodiless, they are capable of eating our solid, material food. (Gen. 18:1-8; 19:1-3) They even have food of their own that they eat and we are able to eat it as well.

Yet He commanded the clouds from above, and opened the doors of Heaven, and rained upon them manna to eat, and gave them the bread of Heaven. Man ate angels’ bread; He sent them provision to the full. (Psalm 77:23-25, LXX)

They are also capable of procreating with humans. (Gen. 6:1-4) They even procreate among themselves, but they do not marry. St. Gregory of Nyssa wrote:

Now here again the true answer, whatever it may be, can be clear to those only who, like Paul, have been instructed in the mysteries of Paradise; but our answer is as follows. When the Sadducees once argued against the doctrine of the resurrection, and brought forward, to establish their own opinion, that woman of many marriages, who had been wife to seven brethren, and thereupon inquired whose wife she will be after the resurrection, our Lord answered their argument so as not only to instruct the Sadducees, but also to reveal to all that come after them the mystery of the resurrection-life: “for in the resurrection,” He says, “they neither marry, nor are given in marriage neither can they die any more, for they are equal to the angels, and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection.” (St. Luke 20:35,36) Now the resurrection promises us nothing else than the restoration of the fallen to their ancient state; for the grace we look for is a certain return to the first life, bringing back again to Paradise him who was cast out from it. If then the life of those restored is closely related to that of the angels, it is clear that the life before the transgression was a kind of angelic life, and hence also our return to the ancient condition of our life is compared to the angels. Yet while, as has been said, there is no marriage among them, the armies of the angels are in countless myriads; for so Daniel declared in his visions: so, in the same way, if there had not come upon us as the result of sin a change for the worse, and removal from equality with the angels, neither should we have needed marriage that we might multiply but whatever the mode of increase in the angelic nature is (unspeakable and inconceivable by human conjectures, except that it assuredly exists), it would have operated also in the case of men, who were “made a little lower than the angels” (Psalm 8:5, LXX; Heb. 2:7), to increase mankind to the measure determined by its Maker.

But if any one finds a difficulty in an inquiry as to the manner of the generation of souls, had man not needed the assistance of marriage, we shall ask him in turn, what is the mode of the angelic existence, how they exist in countless myriads, being one essence, and at the same time numerically many; for we shall be giving a fit answer to one who raises the question how man would have been without marriage, if we say, “as the angels are without marriage;” for the fact that man was in a like condition with them before the transgression is shown by the restoration to that state. (On the Making of Man, chapter 17, paragraphs 2-3, by St. Gregory of Nyssa, 331-395 A.D., vol. 5, p. 407, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)

This is a painting of the Virgin Mary with the Christ Child and St. John the Baptist. It was painted by Francois Boucher and is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Notice the baby angels in the painting. Photo courtesy: Metropolitan Museum of Art

There is evidence in the Sacred Scriptures that angels procreate. The Archangel Raphael claimed to have a father whose name is Ananias the Great. (Tobit 5:12) St. Paul said that there is an innumerable company of angels. (Heb. 12:22) Such a vast number of angels is most likely the result of billions of years of procreation.

This is a drawing of angel children. There is very good reason to believe that angels, like humans, procreate and have children.


Since they procreate, they apparently exist in both genders as male and female. In Zechariah, there is a vision of two women who have wings.

And I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and, behold, two women coming forth, and the wind was in their wings; and they had stork’s wings: and they lifted up the measure between the earth and the sky. (Zech. 5:9, LXX)

In the annotations of the Orthodox Study Bible, it says that these winged women are angelic women.

Just as there are male angels, so are there female angels.

Although angels eat food and procreate, they are immortal. (St. Luke 20:36)

Angels can speak human languages, but they also have their own language that they use among themselves. (I Cor. 13:1)

This is a picture of an angel child writing at a desk. There are the tongues of men and also the tongues of angels. (I Corinthians 13:1)

The angels are responsible for protecting God's people and helping them.

The angel of the Lord will encamp round about them that fear Him, and will deliver them. (Psalm 33:7, LXX)

For He shall give His angels charge concerning thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up on their hands, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. (Psalm 90:11,12, LXX)

Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation? (Heb. 1:14)

They also are responsible for inflicting God's judgments.

Let them that seek my soul be ashamed and confounded: let them that devise evils against me be turned back and put to shame. Let them be as dust before the wind, and an angel of the Lord afflicting them. Let their way be dark and slippery, and an angel of the Lord persecuting them. (Psalm 34:4-6, LXX)

There be spirits that are created for vengeance, which in their fury lay on sore strokes; in the time of destruction they pour out their force, and appease the wrath of Him that made them. (Ecclesiasticus 39:28)

In the Bible, there are nine choirs of angels mentioned.

Moreover, as that most holy, and sacred, and gifted theologian, Dionysius the Areopagite, says, All theology, that is to say, the holy Scripture, has nine different names for the heavenly essences. These essences that divine master in sacred things divides into three groups, each containing three. And the first group, he says, consists of those who are in God’s presence and are said to be directly and immediately one with Him, viz., the Seraphim with their six wings, the many-eyed Cherubim and those that sit in the holiest thrones. The second group is that of the Dominions, and the Powers, and the Authorities; and the third, and last, is that of the Rulers and Archangels and Angels. (An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, Book II, chapter 3, by St. John of Damascus, 645-750 A.D., vol. 9, part 2, page 19, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)

The angels consider God's people to be their brothers and sisters. (Tobit 5:12; 6:10; Rev. 19:10)

Although we can talk to the angels, they rarely talk to us. We should honor them since we are a little lower than they are. (Heb. 2:7) We must never worship them because they are creatures that God has created.

In the Orthodox Church, there are prayers that we pray to angels. These prayers contain formal requests that we make to the angels. Prayer is a form of communication. It is not necessarily an act of worship. We are supposed to offer our prayers to God as worship. We offer our prayers to the angels to ask for their help or to honor them since they are in closer communion with God than we are. We are not supposed to offer prayers to angels as worship. They do not even want us to worship them. (Judges 13:16; Rev. 19:10)

Steve

Bibliography

Ante-Nicene Fathers, edited by Alexander Roberts, D.D. & James Donaldson, LL.D., volumes 1-10, Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody, Massachusetts

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, edited by Philip Schaff, D.D., LL.D., volumes 1-14, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., Peabody, Massachusetts

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, edited by Philip Schaff, D.D., LL.D. & Henry Wace, D.D., volumes 1-14, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., Peabody, Massachusetts

Do Angels Have Children?

I have noticed statues of female angels. I saw one recently in a department store. I have also noticed pictures of female angels. I browsed the internet on this subject and found out that several people have blogged about this subject. Some believe that angels exist in both genders, male and female. Others say that angels are sexless beings. I have decided to enter into the controversy and give my opinion on the subject. When I was in college, I remember seeing a picture by an artist in an art book. It had baby angels in it. The subject of this painting was a Christian theme. I asked an art professor about it and he told me that some people believe that angels procreate. Well, I, out of curiosity, have done my own research on the subject and I think that angels exist in both genders, male and female, and they do procreate. I know about the passage in the Gospels where it says:

For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in Heaven. (St. Matt. 22:30)

Some quote this verse in defense of their theory that angels are sexless beings. Others interpret this to mean that Christ was talking about Levirate marriages since the Sadducees had posed a question to Him involving brothers marrying their brother's widow "to raise up seed" for him. According to them, they say that Christ was not saying that there will not be any marriages in the resurrection, but that there will not be any more Levirate marriages. When I first had this view explained to me, I agreed with it and adopted it as my interpretation of this passage. Now, however, I disagree with that for the following reasons. One, Levirate marriages have already ceased in this present age. The only people that I have heard that still practice this are some Jews and some Mormons. Secondly, angels have never had any need for Levirate marriages. They are immortal. They do not die. No angel has ever needed to marry his deceased brother's widow to "raise up seed" for his deceased angel brother. Thirdly, the Church Fathers unanimously interpret this passage to mean that marriage will cease to exist after the resurrection of the dead. So, it is clear in my opinion that angels do not marry. However, they might not marry, but that does not mean that they do not procreate. I agree with what I read another gentleman said in his blog on this subject. He said that they probably have some other system besides marriage. He pointed out that animals procreate without marriage. Although they may have some other system besides marriage, I think that it is an intelligent system that is suitable for intelligent beings. I do not think that they procreate like animals do. Animals procreate with just about any other animal, including siblings, offspring, and parents. I do not think angels do such things. They probably have some system for regulating who they procreate with. They probably have some rite for legitimizing heterosexual relationships although it is still not a marital relationship. Now, here are my reasons for believing that there are female angels. For one thing, all of the higher life forms exist in both genders, male and female. Only amoebas, other one-celled organisms, and some lizards procreate without sexual intercourse. Angels are higher life forms. Actually, they are higher than us. God created man "a little lower than the angels." (Psalm 8:5, LXX; Heb. 2:7) It is only after the general resurrection of the dead that resurrected righteous men will become "equal unto the angels." (St. Luke 20:36) In the Hebrew text of Isaiah 34:14, it says:

There shall the lilith repose, and find for herself a place to rest. (Isaiah 34:14, NAB)

The annotation in the New American Bible says:

Lilith: a female demon thought to roam about the desert. (Annotation for Isaiah 34:14, New American Bible)

In the "Biblical Cyclopedic Index" of the Open Bible, it says:

night creature: Lit. “Lilith,” taken to be a female night demon in later Jewish mythology.

Nelson's Topical Bible Index says:

Lilith -- an evil female demon in Babylonian mythology. (p. 384, Nelson's Topical Bible Index)

Enhanced Strong's Lexicon says:

“Lilith”, name of a female goddess known as a night demon who haunts the desolate places of Edom. (Strong's Hebrew #3917, Enhanced Strong's Lexicon)

The New Revised Standard Version even capitalized the word Lilith in this verse to indicate that Isaiah was speaking about a person named Lilith.

There too Lilith shall repose, and find a place to rest. (Isaiah 34:14, NRSV)

So, if there are female demons, then there are female angels. Demons are fallen angels. They followed Satan and left God.

And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. (Rev. 12:9)

They are destined for eternal damnation in Gehenna.

Then shall He say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. (St. Matt. 25:41)

In the Shepherd, a book that St. Athanasius the Great classified with the Ecclesiastical Books of the Bible,* St. Hermas of the Seventy Apostles speaks with two ladies. I believe that these ladies he was talking to were female angels. St. Athanasius said that this book is a good book to be used with catechumens. His list of Canonical and Ecclesiastical Books was accepted by the Quinisext Council (692 A.D.) in its Second Canon.

In Zechariah 5:9, there is mention made of women with wings. I think they were female angels.

As for angels procreating, there is the passage in Genesis 6.

And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the Earth, and daughters were born unto them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. And the LORD said, My Spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. 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 which were of old, men of renown. (Gen. 6:1-4)

In the Hebrew text of Job, angels are called "sons of God." (Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7) According to The Catholic Encyclopedia's article on angels, most codices of the Septuagint say "angels of God" in this Genesis passage instead of "sons of God." The most ancient interpretation of this passage is that angels fell into the sin of lusting after human women and married them and had children with them. Their offspring were giants. I do not think that they were giants like in the Greek myths. I think that they were just tall people like a lot of basketball players are. Goliath, according to the Septuagint text of First Samuel was four cubits and a span in height. (I Sam. 17:4, LXX) That is about 6 foot 8 inches. I know that the Hebrew text says 6 cubits and a span, but 4 cubits and a span seems to be more probable. The Hebrew text may have been corrupted. But then, Og King of Bashan's bed was 9 cubits by 4 cubits. (Deut. 3:11) That is 13 foot 6 inches by 6 foot. He was the last of the remnant of the giants. (Deut. 3:11; Josh. 12:4) (The Septuagint agrees with the Hebrew here.) He would, of course, have been shorter than his bed. Maybe his dimensions were 12 foot by 4 foot. I would think that he would have had a bed big enough for both him and his wife. Og was also a King of the Amorites. (Josh. 9:10) The Amorites were descendants of Noah's son, Ham. (Gen. 10:6-16) I sort of wonder if Noah, his wife, or Ham's wife had some angel DNA! Another reason I believe that angels procreate is found in Tobit.** Actually, there are two reasons I find in this book for believing that angels procreate. The first reason is Asmodeus. He was a demon who lusted after Sara. He killed her first seven husbands before they could consummate their marriage with her. (Tobit 3:7,8; 6:13,14) I think that Asmodeus was capable of having sex although he was a demon -- a fallen angel. The other reason I believe that angels procreate is that the Archangel Raphael told Tobit that he is Azarias the son of Ananias. I do not believe that he lied to Tobit.

Therefore when he went to seek a man, he found Raphael that was an angel. But he knew not; and he said unto him, Canst thou go with me to Rages? And knowest thou those places well? To whom the angel said, I will go with thee, and I know the way well: for I have lodged with our brother Gabael. Then Tobias said unto him, Tarry for me, till I tell my father. Then he said unto him, Go and tarry not. So he went in and said to his father, Behold, I have found one which will go with me. Then he said, Call him unto me, that I may know of what tribe he is, and whether he be a trusty man to go with thee. So he called him, and he came in, and they saluted one another. Then Tobit said unto him, Brother, shew me of what tribe and family thou art. To whom he said, Dost thou seek for a tribe or family, or an hired man to go with thy son? Then Tobit said unto him, I would know, brother, thy kindred and name. Then he said, I am Azarias, the son of Ananias the Great, and of thy brethren. (Tobit 5:4-12)

The names, Raphael, Azarias, and Ananias are derived from Hebrew -- a human language. St. Paul spoke of "the tongues of angels" in his First Epistle to the Corinthians. (I Cor. 13:1) His actual names are probably not Raphael or Azarias. His father's name is probably not Ananias. They are probably just Hebrew forms of their actual names, just as Juan is a Spanish form of John. Some say that Ananias is another name for God and that Raphael was telling Tobit that he was a son of God. I do not believe that Ananias is another name for God because Ananias is the name of one of the Seventy Apostles who is the first bishop of Damascus. He baptized St. Paul. (Acts 22:12-16) I do not think that any pious Jew or Christian would name his child after God. There are some who have named their children Jesus, but Jesus is a human name. It is derived from the Greek form of a Hebrew name found in several places in the Old Testament. Joshua is called Jesus the son of Nave in the Septuagint. The author of Ecclesiasticus is Jesus the son of Sirach. The High Priest during Zerubbabel's days is Joshua. He is called Jesus in the Septuagint. Ananias is another human name. It is the name that the Archangel Raphael called his father when he was talking to Tobit. If Raphael has a father, then angels do procreate. Another reason I believe that angels procreate is found in St. Mark's Gospel. One of the angels at the tomb was a "young man." (St. Mark 16:5) The Greek word translated "young man" is neaniskos. A neaniskos is younger than a neanias. I think that the word, neaniskos, means "teenage boy." If there are angels with different ages, then it is reasonable to say that some angels came about after others. Angels probably do procreate. In the Epistle to the Hebrews, it says that there is an innumerable number of angels. (Heb. 12:22) God created man as two individuals first, male and female (Gen. 1:26-28). It is reasonable to believe that God also created angels as two individuals, male and female, too. However, I think that He probably did that for each of the orders of angels. There are nine choirs or orders of angels mentioned in the Bible: seraphim, cherubim, thrones, dominions, principalities, authorities, rulers, archangels, and angels. (Isaiah 6:2; Gen. 3:24; Eph. 6:12; Col. 1:16, I Thess. 4:16; Heb. 1:13) Anyway, I agree with the famous Seventeenth Century Baroque artist, Peter Rubens. There are baby angels.

This is "The Assumption of the Virgin Mary."
Notice the baby angels in this painting by
Seventeenth Century Baroque artist, Peter Rubens.

Steve

* But for greater exactness I add this also, writing of necessity; that there are other books besides these not indeed included in the Canon, but appointed by the Fathers to be read by those who newly join us, and who wish for instruction in the word of godliness. The Wisdom of Solomon, and the Wisdom of Sirach, and Esther, and Judith, and Tobit, and that which is called the Teaching of the Apostles, and the Shepherd. But the former, my brethren, are included in the Canon, the latter being [merely] read; nor is there in any place a mention of apocryphal writings. But they are an invention of heretics, who write them when they choose, bestowing upon them their approbation, and assigning to them a date, that so, using them as ancient writings, they may find occasion to lead astray the simple. (Letter XXXIX, par. 7, by St. Athanasius the Great, 296-373 A.D., vol. 4, p. 552, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)

** Tobit is one of the Ecclesiastical Books of the Old Testament. The 24th Canon of the Council of Carthage (419 A.D.) accepted it into the Canon of Holy Scripture. The Second Canon of the Quinisext Council accepted the Canons of this Council of Carthage. The Quinisext Council is ecumenical. St. Polycarp, a disciple of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian, quoted from Tobit in his Epistle to the Philippians. (See chapter 10, Polycarp's Epistle to the Philippians, vol. 1, p. 35, Ante-Nicene Fathers. The quote is from Tobit 4:10 or 12:9.) St. Polycarp was also Bishop of Smyrna. I do not think that any of the apostles or their successors would have allowed a man who was ignorant of the Holy Scriptures to become a bishop.

Bibliography

Nelson's Topical Bible Index, published by Thomas Nelson, Inc., Nashville, TN, copyright 1995

Enhanced Strong's Lexicon, copyright 1995, Woodside Bible Fellowship

New American Bible, copyright 1976, Catholic Publishers, Inc, A Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc., Nashville, TN

The Open Bible, copyright 1983, Thomas Nelson, Inc., Nashville, TN

Ante-Nicene Fathers, edited by Alexander Roberts, D.D. & James Donaldson, LL.D., volumes 1-10, Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody, Massachusetts

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, edited by Philip Schaff, D.D., LL.D., volumes 1-14, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., Peabody, Massachusetts

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, edited by Philip Schaff, D.D., LL.D. & Henry Wace, D.D., volumes 1-14, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., Peabody, Massachusetts