REBUTTAL: 7 Reasons Why Guardian Angels Are NOT Cute, Concocted, Chunky Cherubs that Float on Clouds
I stumbled across this article on Facebook some days ago. A dear Catholic friend of mine shared it and the title was intriguing, so I read it. But as I did, I was grieved. All seven points provided at first glance were true; are true. However, there was NOT.ONE.SINGLE. biblical reference to be seen. Various saints, Church Fathers, and popes are quoted instead. In fact, at one point, the author states, “The witness of Scripture is as clear as the unanimity of Tradition.” No dear, Scripture is not a witness; it is THE final authority. (And just so we’re clear, I mean the 66 canonized books of the Bible.
As for God, His way is perfect; The word of the Lord is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him. (Psalm 18:30, II Samuel 22:31)
The witness of the Word of God is the Spirit of God.
“However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.” (John 16:13)
“But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.” (John 15:26)
And it is this Spirit that witnesses through, say, the words of others. However, if the words spoken do not align with the written Word of God, then the Spirit will not bear witness to them or that person because the Spirit of God only bears witness to the Truth (Jesus, the Word made flesh. See John 1:14.).
There is one portion of this article that does not in any way contain this issue, but I’ll get to that later.
Emboldened are the words of the original article’s author. In regular print are my own.
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How often do you take the time to reflect on the blessing it is to be gifted with an angel to guide us and guard us? As children, many of us prayed The Guardian Angel prayer,* but as adults, we tend to forget the importance and power that the angels can have in our lives.
*Scripture advocates relationship, not ritual. And nowhere does it advocate praying to anyone but Jesus the Christ. See the final point.
New Age spirituality has left many confused as to what angels are, how we can communicate with them, and the power that they have over our lives. It is important to know what the Catholic Church tradition says about Guardian Angels.*
*It is important to know what your particular church, denomination, or fellowship believes so you can compare it with what the Bible says to see if it be the word of man or the Word of God.
Here is a list of things you should know about Guardian Angels to keep you from following misguided beliefs.
©Giovanni Gerolamo Savoldo [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
1. THEY ARE REAL.
The Catholic Church didn’t just make up Guardian Angels to help little children feel safe at night. Guardian Angels are real. “The existence of the spiritual, non-corporeal beings that Sacred Scripture usually calls ‘angels’ is a truth of faith. The witness of Scripture is as clear as the unanimity of Tradition.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church 328) There are countless examples of angels throughout Scripture. They ministered to everyone from shepherds to Jesus himself.
“When tempted, invoke your angel. He is more eager to help you than you are to be helped! Ignore the devil and do not be afraid of him; he trembles and flees at the sight of your guardian angel.” (St. John Bosco)
Angels do NOT minister to “everyone.” They are ministering spirits and minister to the godly, to all whom God sends them. But there are many as the Old Testament illustrates who were warned, judged, attacked, and even destroyed by angels of the Lord. And while that is certainly part of ministry, it is definitely not the type of ministry the author is referring to.
That said, I could list SEVERAL passages in Scripture proving the existence of angels, but I’ll just list three:
Bless the Lord, you His angels,
Who excel in strength, who do His word,
Heeding the voice of His word.
Bless the Lord, all you His hosts,
You ministers of His, who do His pleasure.
(Psalm 103:20-21)
And of the angels He says: “Who makes His angels spirits And His ministers a flame of fire.” (Hebrews 1:7, quoting Psalm 104:4)
Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels. (Hebrews 13:2)
©Franceschini, Marcantonio via Wikimedia Commons
2. WE ALL HAVE ONE.
“Beside each believer stands an angel as protector and shepherd leading him to life.”(St. Basil) Guardian angels are not something that we have to share. They are so valuable to our spiritual well being that God has blessed us all with our own. “Great is the dignity of the human soul, since each one of them has from the very outset of his life an Angel deputed to safeguard him.” (St. Jerome)
This is true. And while Scripture doesn’t go into great detail on guardian angels or “watchers,” see this very telling passage in the Book of Acts:
So, when he had considered this, he came to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose surname was Mark, where many were gathered together praying. And as Peter knocked at the door of the gate, a girl named Rhoda came to answer. When she recognized Peter’s voice, because of her gladness she did not open the gate, but ran in and announced that Peter stood before the gate. But they said to her, “You are beside yourself!” Yet she kept insisting that it was so. So they said, “It is his angel.” (Acts 12:12-15)
Children also especially have their own guardian angels.
“See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.” (Matthew 18:10)
Personally, my belief is that God provided so little information about the nature and roles of angels so that we don’t become fascinated with them in an ungodly fashion, so that we don’t worship them.
© Alexander Louis Leloir via Wikimedia Commons
3. THEY LEAD US TO HEAVEN (IF WE LET THEM).
“Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?” (Hebrews 1:14) Our Guardian Angels protect us from evil, assist us in prayer, lead us to choose good, and represent us before God. They are able to act upon our senses and our imaginations, but not our will. They cannot chose for us, but encourage us in every way possible to choose what is true, good and beautiful.
Okay, my bad. So there’s ONE biblical reference in this entire article. And, I admit, used in context. Angels do operate and minister on our behalf as the writer of Hebrews states. Also, angels very literally lead us to Heaven after death.
“So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom.” (Luke 16:22)
©Bernardo Strozzi via Wikimedia Commons
4. THEY NEVER LEAVE US.
“Dear friends, the Lord is always near and active in human
Now I see here what the pope was trying to say, but it is inherently flawed. While we are assigned guardian angels, they do not remain with us at all times. Namely, when we sin. This is called grieving the Holy Spirit which, by default, automatically grieves our angels too.
And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. (Ephesians 4:30)
The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him, And delivers them. (Psalm 34:7)
Also, when you offend your angel, your angel can pronounce and execute a judgment against you. But I’ll let Perry Stone preach on that for now…
© Ludovico Carracci via Wikimedia Commons
5. YOUR GUARDIAN ANGEL IS NOT YOUR GREAT GRANDFATHER.
Contrary to popular belief and what we might often say to console those who have lost a loved one, angels are not people who have died. Angels are spiritual creatures with an intelligence and a will created by God to glorify Him and to serve Him for eternity.
This is 100% true. Angels cannot become humans and humans cannot become angels. Thus, when you see something that appears to be your dearly departed loved one, it is actually a familiar spirit, not a (godly) angelic spirit. I believe these familiars to be the fallen version of guardian angels since their duties are often similar, yet turned on their head. And as the author alluded to, angels (of light) are a very common occurrence in the New Age. Under that guise, in addition to being called angels (probably to those with a Christian upbringing), they are also called spirit guides and familiars. You may hear more about this in Robin Harfouche’s testimony.
©Guido Reni via Wikimedia Commons
6. NAME YOUR PETS, NOT YOUR GUARDIAN ANGEL.
“Popular devotion to the holy angels, which is legitimate and good, can, however, also give rise to possible deviations . . . [such as the] practice of assigning names to the holy angels [which] should be discouraged, except in the cases of Gabriel, Raphael, and Michael whose names are contained in Holy Scripture” (Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy 217 found at Catholic.com)
There is actually no scriptural foundation for “devotion to holy angels” and can and does very often lead to devotion to unholy angels a.k.a. angels of light. Now, that said, we can appreciate the angels, and marvel at them, admire the handiwork of the Lord in creating and fashioning them. And angels, I’m sure, all have names, like we do. I doubt most of us will find out what those names are though. So unless an angels tells you its name, don’t bother assigning one.
And the Angel of the Lord said to him, “Why do you ask My name, seeing it is wonderful?”* (Judges 13:18)
Unless telling you their name aids in their holy purpose or the trustworthiness of their errand, you’ll most likely never known unless you make it to Heaven or God decides to reveal it to you.
*The Angel of the Lord in this passage is more than likely the preincarnate Christ Himself, appearing to Manoah and his wife much like He appeared to Abraham and Sarah for a very similar errand. And in addition to the “My” being capitalized, in Isaiah 9:6, the prophet calls Jesus’ name “Wonderful.”
© "Ángel de la Guarda". Licensed under Public Domain via Commons
7. THEY ARE NOT CUTE CHUNKY CHERUBS THAT FLOAT ON CLOUDS AND PLAY HARPS--THEY ARE POWERFUL SPIRITUAL BEINGS THAT BATTLE FOR YOUR SOUL.
“Christ is the center of the angelic world. They are his angels: “When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him.” (CCC 331) Angels are superior to man because although they are sent here to serve us, they are constantly in the presence of God. They are endowed with many spiritual powers and capabilities that humans are not given. Don’t think of your angel as a cartoon character. They stand beside you to protect, defend and guard you.
“You are amazed that your guardian Angel has done you such obvious favours. And you should not be amazed, that is why our Lord has placed him beside you.” (Saint Josemaria Escriva)
I take no issue with anything to this point. As aforementioned in Psalm 103:20, these are those “who do His word, Heeding the voice of His word.” And Gabriel gives a similar testimony of himself:
And the angel answered and said to him, “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and was sent to speak to you and bring you these glad tidings.” (Luke 1:19)
Now here’s the major part of this piece that takes the
You can ask your Guardian Angel to intercede on your behalf – and you should! Many are unaware of the help that we have been given through these spiritual creatures. Remember, our heavenly Father wants to do everything He can to help us spend eternity in His Kingdom. However, we must choose to use all that He supplies us with in order to fully obtain the graces needed to enter Heaven. Let your Guardian Angel lead you deeper
NO. NO. NO. NO. If this author means angels can fight on our behalf--which she has already established--then yes. They can. However, she seems to be saying here that angels can receive our prayers for us, and they most certainly cannot!! This is found nowhere in Scripture, yet is a consistent theme throughout the erroneous Catholic teachings. Catholicism teaches that dangerous devotion, reverence, prayers, and worship may be rendered to Mary the “mother of God” as they call her (God, has no
For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all… (I Timothy 2:5-6)
The only One we should be directing our prayers to is the one Who died for us, ALL of us. Our angels are interested in us, but they are dedicated to Him and they are loyal to the Word of God above all else. The Apostle Paul said,
Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshiping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind… (Colossians 1:18)
If you’d like to learn more about fallen angels, please check out my eBook, The Origin of Demons!
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