Johannes Marck’s Marrow of Christian Theology, Didactic-Elenctic IX

CHAPTER IX

Of Angels

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I. The name angel is more a name of office than of nature, denoting a messenger or legate. In place of it, the names spirits, gods, sons of God, thrones, powers, etc., are elsewhere used.

II. The name angel is often given to Christ: Acts 7:30, 38, ὤφθη αὐτῷ ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ... ἄγγελος Κυρίου ἐν φλογὶ πυρὸς βάτου [there appeared to him in the wilderness... an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush], etc.; who is also called the Angel of the Divine Face, Isa. 63:9; the first Interpreter-Angel, one among a thousand, Job 33:23; the Angel of the Covenant, Mal. 3:1; the Angel in whose midst is the name of Jehovah, Exod. 23:21; Archangel, 1 Thess.—

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—4:16. It also denotes any messenger, especially of God: James 2:25, ὑποδεξαμένη τοὺς ἀγγέλους [having received the messengers]; Mal. 3:1, “behold, I send My messenger,” etc. But here it is used for ministering spirits, both good and evil.

III. It is clear from nature probably—especially by the operations of energumens—and from Scripture altogether irrefutably, that angels exist. The Sadducees, however, deny this: Acts 23:8. Since they received the Scriptures, they seem not to have admitted the permanent subsistence of these beings after their apparitions, or only their operations.

IV. They are defined as complete spiritual creatures, specially destined for the ministry of God. That they are created is clear from Ps. 104:4, “who maketh His angels spirits”; Col. 1:16–17, “for by Him were all things created,” τὰ πάντα δι᾽ αὐτοῦ καὶ εἰς αὐτὸν ἔκτισται... καὶ τὰ πάντα ἐν αὐτῷ συνέστηκε [all things were created by Him and for Him... and by Him all things consist]. Also from Gen. 2:1, since they also belong to the host of heaven: Luke 2:13, “and suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God,” etc.

They were created most probably on the first day, with the highest heaven to which they belong, from the rejoicing at the foundation of the earth: Job 38:6–7, “when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy.” Most certainly they were not before the beginning of Moses, which is so universal that whatever precedes it is eternal: Ps. 90:2, “before the mountains were brought forth, or ever Thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, Thou art God”; Eph. 1:4, “as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world,” etc. The Socinians, however, wish otherwise from Job 38:6–7—

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—where the subject is not the first production of the mass, but the adornment of the earth.

V. Because they were created, they are also finite in essence, faculties, gifts, duration, and number; indeed also in presence, in some certain and definite place. Although Scripture assigns their ordinary dwelling partly to heaven and partly to hell: Matt. 18:10, οἱ ἄγγελοι αὐτῶν... βλέπουσι τὸ πρόσωπον τοῦ Πατρός μου [their angels... behold the face of My Father]; 2 Pet. 2:4, ἀγγέλων ἁμαρτησάντων οὐκ ἐφείσατο, ἀλλὰ σειραῖς ζόφου ταρταρώσας παρέδωκεν [He spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to Tartarus, and delivered them into chains of darkness], etc.

This is wrongly denied by many modern philosophers, who refer all the presence of angels to external operations. These operations, however, are by no means perpetual, nor can they be ascribed to angels who are not present. Meanwhile, it is certain that they are not circumscribed by place in the manner of bodies; hence several can be in the same “where.”

VI. They are created spirits: Ps. 104:4, “who maketh His angels spirits”; Heb. 1:14, οὐχὶ πάντες εἰσὶ λειτουργικὰ πνεύματα [are they not all ministering spirits?]. Thus they are true substances, not bare thoughts. Whether these thoughts be called special or general, although the latter never exist, they are still actions, and so differ from substance and from their own agent.

VII. Hence they are incorporeal: Luke 24:39, πνεῦμα σάρκα καὶ ὀστέα οὐκ ἔχει [a spirit hath not flesh and bones]. Therefore they are invisible: Col. 1:16, τὰ ὁρατὰ καὶ τὰ ἀόρατα [things visible and invisible].

The Socinians object:

1. That they are described as like fire, Ps. 104:4, and as winged, Ezek. 1; Exod. 25:18.

Reply: Such descriptions are not proper but emblematic.

2. That they are said to stand and move.

Reply: The first phrase must be understood of readiness for ministry; and motion must be conceived as fitting spirits—

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—not bodies.

3. That angels were frequently seen.

Reply: Either in imagination, or in a species presented to the eyes, or in a human body temporarily formed elsewhere, or assumed from recently dead or living men.

VIII. Furthermore, as spirits they have intellect, furnished with wisdom both natural and experimental: Eph. 3:10, ἵνα γνωρισθῇ... διὰ τῆς ἐκκλησίας ἡ πολυποίκιλος σοφία τοῦ Θεοῦ [that the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church], and revealed: Rev. 1:1, ἐσήμανεν ἀποστείλας διὰ τοῦ ἀγγέλου αὐτοῦ [He signified it by sending it through His angel]. Yet as their knowledge greatly exceeds ours in mode and objects, so it does not approach divine knowledge, either in mode or in object; since they do not know all things: Mark 13:32, “but of that day and hour knoweth no man, neither the angels which are in heaven,” etc.; nor the thoughts of our hearts immediately and certainly: 1 Kings 8:39, “for Thou, even Thou only, knowest the hearts of all the children of men,” etc.; nor future contingent and free things: Isa. 41:22, 26, “who hath declared from the beginning, that we may know?” etc.; although they sometimes know some of these things by conjectures or by God’s revelation.

IX. They also enjoy free will, by which the evil angels sinned: Jude 6, ἀγγέλους τε τοὺς μὴ τηρήσαντας τὴν ἑαυτῶν ἀρχήν, ἀλλὰ ἀπολιπόντας τὸ ἴδιον οἰκητήριον [the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation]; and by which the good angels promptly obey God: Ps. 103:20, “bless Jehovah, ye His angels, that excel in strength, that do His commandments, hearkening unto the voice of His word,” etc. Hence desire is also attributed to them: 1 Pet. 1:12, εἰς ἃ ἐπιθυμοῦσιν ἄγγελοι παρακύψαι [which things the angels desire to look into].

X. Finally, because they are spirits, they are powerful—

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—Ps. 103:20, “His angels, that excel in strength”; 2 Thess. 1:7, μετ᾽ ἀγγέλων δυνάμεως αὐτοῦ [with His mighty angels]. This is also clear from their works: 2 Kings 19:35, “and it came to pass that night, that the angel of Jehovah went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand,” etc.

This power is truly removed, however, if angels do nothing except will, and if God produces the effect according to their will without any further influence of things, as modern philosophers maintain. In that way, all the works of creation and providence would equally have to be attributed to angels, and Satan’s seduction unto evil could scarcely be understood. When, for this opinion, they object that state and will in angels would otherwise do nothing, they beg the question against common experience. But, however great the power of angels is, they cannot do all things, nor anything against God’s will, nor bend our heart: Prov. 21:1, “the king’s heart is in the hand of Jehovah, as the rivers of water: He turneth it whithersoever He will.” Nor can they perform true miracles: Ps. 72:18, “blessed be Jehovah God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things.” Yet they can do many and stupendous things upon other spirits and upon bodies, the whole reason and manner of which we by no means comprehend.

XI. Since angels are spirits, and were first furnished with many gifts, the image of God is rightly attributed to them; hence they are called sons of God: Job 1:6, 11, etc.

XII. Their office is to minister to God: in the proclamation of His glory, Isa. 6:3, “and one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy is Jehovah of hosts,” etc.; in the declaration of His counsels, Luke 2:10, “for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy,” etc.; and in the execution of those counsels: Ps.—

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—103:20, “that do His commandments, hearkening unto the voice of His word.” Thus, at the Father’s command, they continually ministered to Christ: Heb. 1:6, καὶ προσκυνησάτωσαν αὐτῷ πάντες ἄγγελοι Θεοῦ [and let all the angels of God worship Him]; and they also minister to the church: Heb. 1:14, οὐχὶ πάντες εἰσὶ λειτουργικὰ πνεύματα εἰς διακονίαν ἀποστελλόμενα [are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister?]. For this end they are moved from one place to another, and indeed very swiftly, since they cannot be extended, nor be hindered by a body set against them and repelling them.

XIII. Angels are wrongly divided into Assistants and Ministers, since all minister, and standing by is a symbol of ministry: Heb. 1:14, “are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister?” etc.; Dan. 7:10, “thousand thousands ministered unto Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him,” etc. Thus, with respect to their present state, they are rightly called good or evil; the good are called elect, holy, heavenly, etc. And one of these is known by the proper name Gabriel: Luke 1:19, 26; while the other name, Michael, seems proper to Christ the Archangel: Rev. 12:7.

XIV. These good angels were indeed created good, yet, according to the habitual gifts granted to them, mutable; since many of them actually fell, and man was created liable to fall. But with respect to the divine decree, or preserving grace, it is certain that they could not have fallen.

Objection: No mention is made of grace afterwards added.

Reply: Since no distinction is mentioned in the first creation, it is sufficiently gathered from the event.

XV. Today, however, they have long since been confirmed in goodness, according to Matt. 18:10, οἱ ἄγγελοι αὐτῶν... βλέπουσι τὸ πρόσωπον τοῦ Πατρός μου [their angels... behold the face of My Father]—

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—and according to the description of the blessedness promised to us: Matt. 22:30, ἰσάγγελοι γάρ εἰσιν... ὡς ἄγγελοι τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐν οὐρανῷ εἰσιν [for they are equal unto the angels... as the angels of God in heaven].

Objection 1. The sons of God took the daughters of men: Gen. 6:2.

Reply: Angels are not meant, but the Sethite seed.

Objection 2. They are not pure in God’s eyes: Job 15:15.

Reply: This indicates a holiness dependent upon God, and not to be compared with the divine holiness.

XVI. They were not confirmed by the grace of the Mediator; because He was given only to men: 1 Tim. 2:5, εἷς γὰρ Θεός, εἷς καὶ μεσίτης Θεοῦ καὶ ἀνθρώπων [for there is one God, and one Mediator between God and men]; nor did He assume angels: Heb. 2:16, οὐ γὰρ δήπου ἀγγέλων ἐπιλαμβάνεται [for verily He took not on Him the nature of angels]; nor, since they did not sin, did they need a Mediator.

Objection 1. They subsist through Christ: Col. 1:17.

Reply: As God, who preserves them along with all other things.

Objection 2. They are subject to Christ: Phil. 2:9.

Reply: As Lord, who uses their ministry.

Objection 3. They are reconciled through Christ: Eph. 1:10; Col. 1:19–20.

Reply: Either the blessed heavenly beings are spoken of; or the reconciliation of angels with men is denoted. Therefore the grace of confirmation came to them, according to eternal election, through their own obedience, by force of a gracious covenant, such as God had also entered into with Adam in his integrity.

XVII. Their office is the ministry of God, but not in perpetual prefecture over certain regions or men, to each of whom the Papists assign their own guardian angels; since Scripture assigns God’s varied ministry to all of them: Heb. 1:14; and several angels to one man: Ps. 91:11, “for He shall give His angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways”; 2 Kings 6:17, “and behold, the mountain was full”—

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—“of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha,” etc.; and one angel to many: Isa. 37:36; 2 Kings 19:35, “and the angel of Jehovah went out, and smote,” etc.

Objection 1. Angels are assigned to little ones: Matt. 18:10.

Reply: Not single angels to single children, but they are said to be ministers even of little ones.

Objection 2. An angel is ascribed to Peter: Acts 12:15.

Reply: This was said by men, not by the Holy Ghost; and they seem to have understood some apparition. Indeed, there was there a special case of necessity.

Nor are they set in a particular intercession for men, founded upon their own merits, as the Papists again wish; since Christ is our one παράκλητος [advocate], 1 John 2:1, and angels neither die, nor know our necessities as Christ does.

Objection 1. We read of angels interceding: Job 33:23; Zech. 1:12; Rev. 8:2–3.

Reply: Everywhere Christ alone is meant.

Objection 2. Tobit 12:12, 15 is an external testimony.

Reply: The book is apocryphal; nor does the angel there, who once falsely said that he was a man, deserve further credit.

XVIII. Angels indeed ought to be venerated, by regarding them as God’s ministers: 1 Cor. 11:10, διὰ τοὺς ἀγγέλους [because of the angels], and by imitating them: Matt. 6:10, “Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven,” etc. But we must not subject ourselves to them servilely, since believers have one Lord only: 1 Cor. 8:5–6, “for though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth,” etc.; nor must we affect them with religious honor or invoke them, as the Papists do and teach—

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—against general passages: Matt. 4:9–10, Κύριον τὸν Θεόν σου προσκυνήσεις, καὶ αὐτῷ μόνῳ λατρεύσεις [thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve]; Gal. 4:8, τότε μὲν οὐκ εἰδότες Θεὸν ἐδουλεύσατε τοῖς μὴ φύσει οὖσι θεοῖς [then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods], etc.; and special passages: Col. 2:18, μηδεὶς ὑμᾶς καταβραβευέτω... ἐν θρησκείᾳ τῶν ἀγγέλων [let no man beguile you... in worshipping of angels]; Rev. 19:10, ὅρα μή... τῷ Θεῷ προσκύνησον [see thou do it not... worship God], etc.

Objection 1. Examples of angelic adoration are found: Gen. 18; 32; Rev. 1:4, etc.

Reply: Here either Christ or the Holy Ghost is adored.

Objection 2. Paul makes an adjuration: 1 Tim. 5:21.

Reply: This differs greatly from invocation.

Objection 3. The great excellence of angels requires this.

Reply: By no means, since that excellence is not infinite.

XIX. The number of good angels is great: Dan. 7:10, “thousand thousands ministered unto Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him”; Matt. 26:53, πλείους ἢ δώδεκα λεγεῶνας ἀγγέλων [more than twelve legions of angels], etc. There is undoubtedly a most excellent order among them, both from the names “hosts” and “principalities,” and from God’s fixed constitution in the church: 1 Cor. 14:33, 40, οὐ γάρ ἐστιν ἀκαταστασίας ὁ Θεός... πάντα εὐσχημόνως καὶ κατὰ τάξιν γινέσθω [for God is not the author of confusion... let all things be done decently and in order].

But what that order is, we do not know. Those are curious trifles which the Papists have concerning three classes and nine orders of angels from the supposed offspring of Dionysius the Areopagite, against Paul, Col. 2:18, ἃ μὴ ἑώρακεν ἐμβατεύων [intruding into those things which he hath not seen]; especially since the same angels can have several names, and more than nine such names are read in the Scriptures, or all the same are joined together in some one passage.

XX. Their ordinary dwelling is heaven; from there, however, they are sent in various ways throughout the world for God’s services, without any diminution of their happiness.

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XXI. Other angels are evil, called demons, unclean spirits, etc.; among whom one chiefly stands out under the name Satan, serpent, Beelzebub, etc. But the title Lucifer does not refer to him: Isa. 14:12 speaks of the king of Babylon.

XXII. These were not created evil, which is repugnant to God and to Gen. 1:31: “and God saw every thing that He had made, and, behold, it was very good.” Yet they were made mutable good, and not long after the beginning they fell away: John 8:44, ἐκεῖνος ἀνθρωποκτόνος ἦν ἀπ᾽ ἀρχῆς [he was a murderer from the beginning]; 1 John 3:8, ἀπ᾽ ἀρχῆς ὁ διάβολος ἁμαρτάνει [the devil sinneth from the beginning].

XXIII. The source of their evil is their voluntary fall, of which 2 Pet. 2:4 treats: ἀγγέλων ἁμαρτησάντων οὐκ ἐφείσατο [He spared not the angels that sinned]; and John 8:44, “he was a murderer from the beginning,” καὶ ἐν τῇ ἀληθείᾳ οὐκ ἔστηκεν [and abode not in the truth], etc.

XXIV. The time of this fall is uncertain. Yet they fell before man; but not before Moses’ beginning, since they did not yet exist; nor before the six-day work was finished, since then all things were still very good: Gen. 1:31.

XXV. The species of their sin is not certainly known. Yet it is probably held:

1. That it was pride, because by this Satan seduced man, and Paul seems to denounce the judgment of the devil upon the proud: 1 Tim. 3:6, μὴ τυφωθεὶς εἰς κρίμα ἐμπέσῃ τοῦ διαβόλου [lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil].

2. Or that it was envy toward men, because their seduction—

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—is first mentioned, and he is called a murderer from the beginning: John 8:44; and still continually seeks their destruction: 1 Pet. 5:8, ὁ ἀντίδικος ὑμῶν διάβολος... ζητῶν τίνα καταπίῃ [your adversary the devil... seeking whom he may devour].

XXVI. Their punishment, which they have long borne, is that they were thrust down from heaven into Tartarus: 2 Pet. 2:4; Jude 6. Yet, by divine dispensation, they are frequently sent out upon the earth and into the lower heaven. They have also been deprived of the divine image: not with respect to spiritual essence, or all knowledge, since their craftiness is great, 2 Cor. 11:3; nor with respect to a certain external appearance of good, which they can counterfeit, 2 Cor. 11:14, αὐτὸς ὁ Σατανᾶς μετασχηματίζεται εἰς ἄγγελον φωτός [Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light]; nor with respect to power, which remains great in them: Matt. 12:29, “how can one enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man?” etc. But they are deprived of the beatific vision of God, true holiness, and joy: 1 John 3:8, ὁ διάβολος ἁμαρτάνει [the devil sinneth]; James 1:19, καὶ τὰ δαιμόνια πιστεύουσι καὶ φρίσσουσι [the devils also believe, and tremble]. Their power also under the New Testament has been greatly diminished by Christ: Col. 2:15, ἀπεκδυσάμενος τὰς ἀρχὰς καὶ τὰς ἐξουσίας... ἐθριάμβευσεν [having spoiled principalities and powers... He triumphed over them]; Heb. 2:14, καταργήσῃ τὸν τὸ κράτος ἔχοντα τοῦ θανάτου, τουτέστι τὸν διάβολον [that He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil]. But the completion of their punishment will come on the last day, most grievous intensively and extensively: Matt. 25:41, “depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.”

XXVII. This state of the angels is irreparable, not because of inflexibility of nature, nor because of the species of the sin, but from God’s counsel—

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—to demonstrate His severity in all of them, while He willed to have mercy on many men.

XXVIII. In all things they must obey the divine nod, even when they torment the impious or vex the godly, as appears in Job. Hence they are not to be feared with distrust, but we must watch and fight bravely against them.

XXIX. Their number is very great, whence the names kingdom and legion: Matt. 12:26, “if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself,” πῶς οὖν σταθήσεται ἡ βασιλεία αὐτοῦ; [how then shall his kingdom stand?]; Luke 8:30, “what is thy name? And he said, Legion.” But that they constituted a third part of all the angels cannot be proved from Rev. 12:4, where the third part of the stars of heaven is cast to the earth by the dragon, since there men are denoted by the stars.

XXX. There is order among them, as the titles prince and angels teach: Matt. 12:24; 25:41. Whether this flowed from the first incitement to the fall, or from some other source, cannot certainly be said. Their infernal dwelling has already been noted.

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