« Previous Post | Next Post »
« Previous post in category | Next post in category »

Theology: Angels and progress

[Print] | [PDF] | [Email]

Thoughts from what Jim Jordan calls the “deep weird”:In Revelation, the angelic elders give up their crowns at the outset, and at the end of the book the saints are enthroned for a thousand years. Revelation depicts a transition from angelic to human government.

Angels, Scripture tells us, are somehow related to physical processes – winds and storms and so on.

What if the transition from angelic to human government of creation didn’t happen all at once? What if it’s still going on?

Maybe magic worked up to the sixteenth century because certain spheres of creation were still under angelic control, and humans had ways of accessing their powers; maybe medievals saw “fairies” (= angels) in the woods; maybe astrology had something to them for a time. Maybe the universe actually “worked” differently under angelic command than it does now.

Over time, more and more of creation is being handed to human beings. Once, we needed angels to send instantaneous messages across the globe. Now we can do it ourselves, and the angels kick back for a well-deserved rest. Once, we needed black or white magic (demons/angels) to levitate, but now O’Hara launches thousands into space every hour, and the market in flying broomsticks has accordingly collapsed.

Weber would be right: The world has been disenchanted. Perhaps that’s nothing to mourn. Perhaps that’s the way things ought to be.

posted by Peter J. Leithart on Tuesday, June 17, 2008 at 2:22 pm

Permission is given to use material on this site, provided the source is cited, blog entries are republished in full, and the author is notified in advance.

« Previous Post | Next Post » « Previous post in category | Next post in category »

Theology: Angels and progress

« Previous Post | Next Post »
« Previous post in category | Next post in category »