In the Bible there are many references to angels, and humanity in general has come to regard the term as representing something at least supernatural, if not indeed imaginary. The recorded events in which angels participated are considered by some with superstitious fear and awe; by many with skepticism, as being merely mythical; and by others as allegories. Art has made familiar to our eyes the representation of angels as winged beings clothed in garments of shining whiteness. Poetry has enlarged upon the idea, presenting on the printed page beings like to men, but so far above them as to have won perfection and immortality by their good deeds and uprightness.
But Mrs. Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, with the same directness and simplicity which pervades all of her writings, has set forth in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" a new and appealing concept. On page 298 she gives a definition of angels which includes the following: "Angels are pure thoughts from God, winged with Truth and Love," and on page 581 of the Glossary she further characterizes them as "God's thoughts passing to man; spiritual intuitions, pure and perfect; the inspiration of goodness, purity, and immortality, counteracting all evil, sensuality, and mortality."
This conception of angels provides new light in which to consider the Biblical record of angelic appearances. We learn as students that the East is a land of imagery and figurative speech. Jesus himself spoke in parables on many occasions. The unlearned person, or the child who is seeking knowledge, finds it easy to grasp spiritual truth through the medium of the allegory, the fable, and the parable, while this age-old form of literature and oral legendary appeals with equal strength to the imagination of the cultured and mature thinker. There were doubtless many in the audiences of Jesus upon whose imaginations the storied pictures painted by his words left a more or less lasting impression while they stimulated thought. So the authors of the books of the Bible were only following the literary custom of their time and of all time, for do not the writers of today likewise express themselves in metaphor and simile and other artistic forms?
