"That the term 'angel' is an official title, designating an ambassador or messenger, is clear from the fact that Scripture also calls men, in particular the preachers of God's Word, angels. Mal. 2:7: 'The priest's lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the Law at his mouth; for he is the messenger (malakh) of the Lord of Hosts.' Likewise John the Baptist is called an 'angel.' Mal. 3:1; Matt. 11:10: 'Behold, I send My messenger (ton aggelon mou) before Thy face.' Christ Himself bears the name 'the Messenger of the Covenant' or the Messenger of God kat' exochen {'par excellence'}. Mal. 3:1: 'And the Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to His temple, even the Messenger of the Covenant' (John 3:17, 34; 6:40; Gal. 4:4-6)." (p. 499)

"The question when the term 'angel of the Lord,' used in the Old Testament, denotes the Angelus increatus has already been answered. (See 'The Doctrine of God,' chapter 5.)⁵" (p. 499)

Footnote 5, p. 499: "Gerhard, Loci, locus 'De Creatione et Angelis,' § 37: 'When either the name Jehovah or divine workss or divine worship is attributed in Scripture to an angel, then this Angel must be understood to be the Son of God.'"

"The angels are spirits (pneumata), that is, immaterial beings. Luke 24:39 forbids us to ascribe to the angels even an ethereal coporeity. 'A spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see Me have.' Here we are told that being a spirit is the direct opposite (oppositio adequata) to every form of corporeity, including the glorified form. The same applies to the evil angels: 'We wrestle not against flesh and blood' (Eph. 6:12)... The human bodies in which angels, incorporeal by nature, appeared on certain occasions (see Genesis 18 and 19) were therefore only assumed forms (unio accidentalis), by which the invisible angels rendered themselves temporarily visible." (p. 500)

"The difference between God as pneuma (John 4:24: 'God is a spirit') and the angels as pneumata (Heb. 1:14: 'Are they not all ministering spirits?') is the difference between God as the creator and the angels as finite spirits, finite creatures... As distinct from the immaterial human soul, the angels are complete beings (spiritus completi), while the human soul is a spiritus incompletus, since the body belongs as an integral part to man; soul and body make the complete man." (p. 501)

"Scripture ascribes to them (intellectus) and will (voluntas). The good angels know 'by the Church the manifold wisdom of God' (Eph. 3:10) and gladly minister to them who shall be heirs of salvation (Heb. 1:14). The temptation of Eve (Genesis 3) as well as that of Christ (Matthew 4) by the devil shows that the evil angels likewise possess intelligence and will."

"...Since only God has omniscientia and praescientia, the angels do not know all things and particularily they have of themselves no knowledge of future things. They also do not know the thoughts of men, since this is likewise a perogative of God. 1 Kings 8:39: 'Thou only knowest the hearts of all the children of men.' Baier, II, 111: 'On the hidden thoughts of men the angels can form only a conjectural opinion, based on the signs and effects.'" (p. 501)

"The power of the angels is very great." Cited and discussed: Ps. 103:20; 2 Thess. 1:7; Matt. 12:29; Ps. 91:11-13; Luke 11:21-22. "However, the power of the angels is not unlimited, but is rather at all times subordinate to the power of God." (pp. 501-502)

"In this connection the question has been raised whether the devils can perform miracles. The dogmaticians here make a distinction. The devils cannot perform real miracles, e. g., they cannot created new things, raise the dead, etc., for Scripture ascribes this to God alone (Ps. 72:18). But under God's sufferance and according to His decree the devils can do things which to men appear as miracles. Men lack an all-embracing understanding of the realm of spirits and particularily of the might and ability of the spirits. Scripture expressly states that Antichrist will secure a following among men by 'the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders' (2 Thess. 2:9). And that this occurs according to God's decree is stated in the words that follow: 'For this cause [because they received not the love of the truth] God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.' The dogmaticians distinguish between miraculus and mirabilia seu mira (wonderful or amazing things)." (p. 502)

"The story that angels can and did contract marriages with human beings, which is retold by some modern theologians, is pure fiction. They base this fable on Gen. 6:2: 'The sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.' Scripture, however, names this as a characteristic of the angels, that 'they neither marry nor are given in marriage' (Matt. 22:30)." (p. 502)

"The angels are illocal, that is to say that while they may be at a definite place (as the angel was with Peter in the prison, Acts 12:7), they are, as immaterial beings, independent of space; they occupy no space—they can be in the space occupied by another body....They are not, of course, omnipresent, for at any particular time they are only at some one place. They are, as the dogmaticians express it, somewhere (pou), which 'somewhere' can be determined. A case in point is the human soul. The immaterial soul fills no space, and still we can say where it is. In a lving person it is not outside his body, but 'in him' (Acts 20:10)."

"Even if we do not translate the hesteke in John 8:44 with 'The devil abode not in the truth,' but with 'He stands not in the truth,' the fall is not denied, but presupposed as self-evident. The good angels are those who, when the rest fell, remained good and were by the gracious action of God so confirmed in the good (in bono confirmati) that they can no longer fall away....The evil angels are those who by their defection from God became evil and can nevermore become good (in malo confirmati). The opinion has been voiced in practically every age that also the devils might be converted and saved from eternal damnation; but this opinion is not shared by the devils themselves. They declared Matt. 8:29: 'Art Thou come hither to torment us before the time?' The fire prepared for the devil and his angels is 'the everlasting fire' (Matt. 25:41)." (p. 505)

"We cannot determine the exact time when some of the angels fell. We know, however, that the fall of the angels occurred before the fall of man, since man fell through the seduction of the devil (Gen. 3:1-14). John 8:44: 'He was a murderer from the beginning'; the devil is the anthropoktonos {'manslayer'}. As to the particular sin by which the defection of these angels from God took place, we cannot offer more than a surmise. The majority assume that pride was the original sin.¹³" (p. 505)

Footnote 13, p. 505: "Quenstedt, I, 729: 'We may assume that pride was the first sin of the angels. We make this deduction 1) from 1 Tim. 3:6: "Lest, being lifted up with pride," tuphotheis {'to be blinded by pride or conceit' (Strong's); 'clouded with pride,' from the Greek tuphoo meaning 'to be filled with smoke'} (Vulg.: 'in superbiam elatus), "he fall into the condemnation of the devil," that is, that he may not incur the same condemnation which Satan brought upon himself through arrogance. Thus Chrysostom, Gerhard, and others....2) From the temptation in which Satan undertook to instill the sin of pride into our first parents, the pride of arrogating to themselves equality with God; "Ye shall be," he said, "as gods" [as God]. 3) From his perpetual endeavor to transfer the glory of God to himself....This opinion is approved also by our sainted Luther on Genesis 1. Basilius Magnus, Cyprian, and Bernard join envy with pride.'"

"Because Scripture also speaks of 'elect angels' (1 Tim. 5:21), we may also speak of an election of angels, though Scripture does not define this election in detail. What we do know from Scripture is 1) that the good angels were not elected because of the merits of Christ, since they never became sinners (Heb. 2:16), and 2) that the evil angels were not rejected because of an absolute decree, but solely because of their apostasy (2 Pet. 2:4: 'God spared not the angels that sinned')" (p. 506)

"The functions of the good angels are to praise God...and to be His ministers in the world and in the Church." Cited: Is. 6:3; Luke 2:13; Ps. 103:20-21; Ps. 104:4; Heb. 1:14; Matt. 18:10; Ps. 91:11-12; Luke 16:22. (pp. 506-507)

"Does every Christian have his particular guardian angel? The theologians are not ready to give a definite answer, since passages like Matt. 18:10 and Acts 12:15 ('then said they: It is his angel') are not conclusive. But Scripture teaches very clearly that the angels are deeply interested in all that occurs in the Church. Not only do they admire and adore the mystery of the Redemption..., but they also rejoice over every repenting sinner....{Cited: Luke 2:13; 1 Pet. 1:12; Eph. 3:10; Luke 15:10} Scripture also reveals that the angels are present in the public worship of the Christians (1 Cor. 11:10)." (p. 507)

Other Scriptures cited showing the presence of angels at "all the chief events in the Kingdom of God:" Deut. 33:2; Gal. 3:19; Luke 1:26; 2:11; 24:5 ff. Matt. 13:41 f.; 24:31. Also, their "activity in promoting the welfare of the family and preserving law and order in the State:" Gen. 24:7; Matt. 18:10; Dan. 10:13. (p. 507)

"While modern theologians regard the doctrine of the angels as 'superfuous,' we should rejoice and take comfort in their service and carefully avoid grieving them (1 Cor. 11:10; 1 Tim. 5:21: 'I charge thee before God and the Lord Jesus Christ and the elect angels that thou observe these things'). But we must not render them religious service (cultus religiosus), pray to them, etc., for they are and remain creatures. They themselves protest against it (Rev. 22:8-9: 'See thou do it not')." (p. 507)

"The activities (operationes) of the evil angels are, as we have just said, evil throughout. Scripture describes them, for our information and warning, very clearly and in full detail. All endeavors of the wicked angels are aimed at harming man in his body (Luke 13:11,16: the woman bound by Satan eighteen years), in his temporal possessions (Job 1:22 ff. {w/Job 2:1-7}; Matt. 8:31-32: the herd of swine), and particularily in his soul (1 Pet. 5:8: 'Your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour'). The entire state of unbelief (status incredulitatis)—among heathen nations as well as in external Christendom—is a work of the devil (Eph. 2:1-2: 'And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience'). All who do not believe the Gospel are thinking and doing what the devil wills; they are completely in his power (Acts 26:18; Col. 1:13: 'Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness and hath translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son')." (pp. 508-509)

"It is scriptural to describe the status of all those who do not believe that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sins as obsessio spiritualis {'spiritually possessed'}. We may reserve this term for particular cases and persons, using it to describe an intensified operation of the devil in individuals. But while doing this, we must never forget that every unbeliever is completely in the power of Satan, until God's grace and power delivers him from the power of Satan, until God's grace and power delivers him from the power of Satan and translates him into the kingdom of His dear Son (Col. 1:13). This spiritual possession does not relieve man of personal responsibility (Matt. 25:41), nor does it destroy the free will of man (taken as freedom from coercion), since the unbeliever of his own will rejects the Gospel and gladly does what is evil." (p. 509)

"Bodily possession (obsessio corporalis) presents an entirely different case. Also children of God may suffer this affliction (Mark 5:6, 18, 19; Luke 8:28, 38,39); by it the devil, under God's sufferance, takes possession of a man by personally (kat ousian) dwelling in him, so that the demoniac, bereft of the use of his reason and will, becomes the involuntary instrument of Satan. The human personality no longer functions; the devil in person (autoprosopos) becomes the acting subject. The demoniac is no longer responsible for his actions." (pp. 509-510)

"The activity of the evil angels against the Church is portrayed fully in Scripture. According to Matt. 16:18 'the gates of hell' are continually waging war against the Church, and it is Christ alone who preserves the Church against the onslaughts of the powers of hell. Behind everything that harms the Church are the evil spirits. They bring about the inattention of the hearers of the Word (Luke 8:12: 'Then cometh the devil and taketh away the Word out of their hearts') and the falsification of the divine doctrine, which Christ would have His Church maintain in purity (Matt. 13:25; 1 Tim. 4:1 ff.). Especially the Papacy is described in Scripture as the devil's masterpiece in the Church, 2 Thessalonians 2. We have lost the Biblical judgment on false doctrine if we do not regard it as the work of the devil. Also persecution and oppression of the Church by the State and organizations within the State is a result of the activity of the evil spirits." (p. 510)

"As Satan unceasingly wages war on the Church, so he is also in arms against the divine order of the State and the family. He persuades David to take a census of the nation (1 Chron. 21:1) and Ahab to wage war against the Syrians (1 Kings 22:21-22). It is the devil who forbids to marry (1 Tim. 4:1-2) and who tempts married people to infidelity (1 Cor. 7:5). Scripture also tells us that God uses the evil angels not only to punish the godless (2 Thess. 2:11-12), but also to try the believers, as was the case with Job (Job 1:7 ff.) and the Apostle Paul (2 Cor. 12:7).

"The punishment of the evil angels is eternal torment in the fire of hell (Matt. 25:41)..." (p. 510)