Truth About Angels

By Thomas Colburn

The Truth About Angels delves into every aspect of angels (good and bad), including among many questions whether they have bodies, whether they reproduce or can die, and whether they are the only alien (not of this earth), species that God has created.
If you’ve ever wondered about angels, or whether the Bible allows for the possibility of other creations out there somewhere, Truth About Angels is a must read.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Sep 7, 2020
• ISBN: 9781716727665

Book preview

Truth About Angels

Some Good, Some Bad

A real species not of this world

______~***~______

Pastor Tom Colburn

Also by Tom Colburn

Shattered Window

Target of the Fire

Trouble in High Places

End Time Prophecy Unsealed

(non-fiction)

Through the Wraths

Published through Lulu.com

Raleigh, North Carolina

Copyright 2020 – by Thomas Colburn

All Rights Reserved

Unless otherwise noted, all scripture is taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE (registered), Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

ISBN – 978-1-71672-766-5

Printed in the United States of America

I dedicate this book to my daughters Jessica, Jennifer, Angela, Paula and Misha who—like every man’s daughters—are my angels.

Cover design by Misha Colburn.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 - Introduction

Chapter 2 - Can Angels Reproduce?

Chapter 3 – Can Angels Die?

Chapter 4 - Do Angels Eat?

Chapter 5 - Do Angels Have Bodies?

Chapter 6 – How Do Angels Travel/Transport Themselves?

Chapter 7 – Are Angels and Man God’s Only Creations?

Chapter 8 – What was God’s Original Plan?

Chapter 9 – Satan and the Fallen Angels

Chapter 10 – Can we Talk to Angels?

Chapter 11 – The End of the Story

Bibliography

Chapter 1

Introduction

Are there alien species out there somewhere? It’s a tantalizing question, and not just for the much maligned (and pejoratively dubbed), tin foil hat enthusiasts of Area 51 fame. It’s a question worth asking even for Bible-based Christians.

While many would assert the Bible appears largely silent on the issue of life in the galaxies’ wild blue yonder, it certainly does not preclude the possibility. In fact, it indeed does speak definitively of at least one alien species (alien being defined as not human and not indigenous to this planet), the angels. They are a real species and they are definitely not of this world. Isn’t that the very definition of alien in this context? So who are the angels and are they the only alien species out there?

Let’s start with who the angels are. The first question to answer is where did they come from?

A common belief in Christendom holds that angels were each created from scratch, so to speak, similar to the first human, Adam. It is thought that they (angels), do not have the capacity to reproduce. It is further typically taught (in Christian circles), that humans in the afterlife will likewise be unable to reproduce. If this is true, how do we know it? If not, why is it taught?

As for why it is taught by today’s religious leaders, that’s simple. It’s tradition. Today's Christian leaders teach what they were taught, and their teachers in turn imparted what they had been instructed, and so forth back through many decades and centuries. But traditions—although many are good and worthy to be cherished—are not always of God.

Church leaders are sometimes admonished in the Bible for putting traditions of men above the laws of God (e.g.  Mark 7:7-8; Col 2:8). This is true even when the genesis of the tradition has its seed in a law of God. The Pharisees’ rules regarding Sabbath-keeping come to mind. Sabbath-keeping is the 4th Commandment in God’s Ten Commandments to Moses, but the Pharisees added all kinds of onerous rules that were not of God’s making. Nevertheless, those added rules became part of the Sabbath-keeping tradition at least for the Jews at that time.

That said, just because something is church tradition doesn’t make it untrue. The much derided Pharisees of Jesus’ time taught many truths even while sometimes hypocritical when not adhering to the rules of those truths themselves. When it comes to judging the truth of traditions, it’s best to be like the Bereans mentioned in Acts 17:11 who were examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things are so (NASB).

So where did angels come from? The short answer is simple: They were created by God just as man was. But as to whether each and every angel was created individually (in the manner God created Adam and Eve), or whether He created a couple and they went on to reproduce like humans is not explicitly answered in the Bible. Nevertheless, we have hints.

Chapter 2

Can Angels Reproduce?

The reason typically given for the belief that angels can’t reproduce comes from  the words of Jesus as recorded in Luke 20:34-36, And Jesus answering said to them, The children of this world marry and are given in marriage, but they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world and the resurrection from the dead 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 (KJV).

At first blush that sounds pretty convincing, right? People in the resurrection will be equal to the angels and not marry, ergo angels don’t marry. Well, not so fast.

First of all, if we take this passage completely literally (and out of context), we could easily and reasonably conclude only virgin women and celibate men can obtain that world. Why? Well, it doesn’t say those who obtain that world will  no longer  be  able  to marry, it says those which shall be accounted worthy to obtain (future tense), neither marry nor are given in marriage. If we take the words literally it is reasonable to conclude the state of permanent singleness (if not celibacy), is a prerequisite to being accounted worthy. And if we assume the worthy are only those 144,000 redeemed of the Lord spoken of in Revelation 14:1-5, they are indeed celibate men who had not defiled themselves with women for they are virgins (Rev 14:4, ESV).

That interpretation, however (if applied to all people who receive eternal life in the kingdom rather than just the 144,000), would seem to contradict numerous other Bible passages which indicate some married people will be accounted worthy. The Apostle Peter comes to mind. Matthew 8:14-17 and Luke 4:38 speak of Peter—also called Simon—having a mother-in-law, thus he was married. I think most Christians expect to see Peter in the Kingdom. How about Abraham, Moses and David? They were all married. So we must allow for the less literal (but biblically contextually consistent), rendering that there is no marriage after the resurrection for those humans who obtain it, and that God’s angels don’t marry. But this does not speak to reproduction.

Whoa! What am I saying? Am I suggesting angels fornicate and get pregnant? No, of course not. Well, certainly not angels who are in Heaven. But there are more options here. We don’t want to assume too much without seeing the big picture.

Matthew 22:29-32 is a correlative text (each of the synoptic gospels—Matthew, Mark and Luke—often cover the same events), to the passage in Luke cited above. It too says nothing about reproducing. Jesus was answering a question about a lady who had husbands (widowed each time), and then died herself. The question posed to Jesus was whose wife she would