100. What are the angels?
Incorporeal spirits, having intelligence, will, and power.
101. What means the name angel?
It means a messenger.
102. Why are they so called?
Because God sends them to announce his will. Thus, for instance, Gabriel was sent to announce to the Most Holy Virgin Mary the conception of the Saviour.
103. Which was created first, the visible world or the invisible?
The invisible was created before the visible, and the angels before men.
104. Can we find any testimony to this in holy Scripture?
In the book of Job God himself speaks of the earth thus: Who laid the corner-stone thereof? When the stars were CREATED, all my angels praised me with a loud voice. Job xxxviii. 6, 7.
105. Whence is taken the name of guardian angels?
From the following words of holy Scripture: He shall give his angels charge over thee, to guard thee in, all thy ways. Psalm xci. 11.
106. Has each one of us his guardian angels?
Without doubt. Of this we may be assured from the following words of Jesus Christ: Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones: for I say unto you, that in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father, which is in heaven. Matt. xviii. 10.
107. Are all angels good and beneficent?
No. There are also evil angels, otherwise called devils.
(A Harmony of Anglican Doctrine with the Doctrine of the Catholic and Apostolic Church of the East, CA 1844 AD.)
COMMENTARY:
This Longer Russian Catechism was employed in the 19th century by Anglican and Orthodox in order to further the unity between the two theological expressions. Few treatments deal with the subject of angelology in a more concise and biblical manner than this section; in it, we see that the two dimensions of creation, the physical and the spiritual, intersect at the realm of Angels. this is most clearly seen in Q. # 106. To see the Anglican view on this topic, we will consider C. S. Lewis' "Screwtape Letters," in the blogs to follow.
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