Do Angels Have Wings?

Did you know? The Bible mentions heavenly creatures over 370 times. In this, the terms used are angels, archangel, seraphim, and cherubim. Regardless, this shows that these spirit beings play an important role in the lives of Christians . However, the Scriptures do not give many details about their actual appearance.

What do angels look like? Do angels really have wings? If so, why do they have them? These are questions often asked by people, especially believers who want to learn more about these rather mysterious creatures. As Christians, we are happy to share with you our knowledge about angels. 👼🏼

In this article you will find:

• The definition of angel

• Angels according to the Bible

• Reasons Why Angels Have Wings

• The apparitions of angels

• The importance of angels watching over us

Let’s get straight to the point!

The definition of angel

Before seeing why angels have wings, it is first necessary to understand their essence. Etymologically, the term angel comes from the Greek " angelos " which means maleak in Hebrew and messenger of God in French. Angels are creatures of God just like us and everything that exists. On the other hand, our Lord gave them more knowledge, but also more power and more mobility than we humans. As messengers, their main mission is to transmit the Creator's orders to the world .

Angels are therefore ambassadors of the Father whose glory in heaven is intimately linked to that of God himself and Jesus Christ. It should be noted that an angel is a pure spirit . In other words, he does not have a physical body. That said, many biblical characters have already seen or heard angels, but we will come back to that later. This is also why the true nature of angels has always been confusing. In any case, they are spiritual beings in the service of God . The only question left is whether they are really winged beings or not.

Angels according to the Bible

Angels were created before the physical world we live in. As already stated before, they are spiritual beings totally devoted to our Lord. They have never committed the slightest sin and in this sense, they do not need Salvation, unlike us. They are administrative spirits that God sends to serve on our behalf, we who need Redemption. Moreover, as followers of God, we can wear Christian jewelry representing an angel to show our gratitude to these spiritual creatures who watch over us.

How many angels are there?

There is every reason to believe that these spirit creatures exist in great numbers, for some biblical passages mention “myriads” of angels. Revelation 5:11 even states that “their number was myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands.”

The appearance of the angel according to the Bible

The vast majority of artists depict angels as winged beings. But let's note that this is not a biblical image . At the risk of repeating ourselves, an angel is a pure spirit, which means that it does not need a physical body. Just as it does not need feet to walk, it does not need wings to fly. In the Scriptures, these superior beings are represented in human form most of the time. But this does not necessarily mean that they actually look like us.

According to Ezekiel, angels are endowed with beauty and splendor beyond anything we can conceive. They are perfect creatures in every way. All the physical problems we encounter such as injuries, illnesses, aging, and even death do not concern them in any way. In addition to being extremely beautiful, they remain young at all times and do not die. Often, an angel appears as a young man dressed in pure white and shining with light . Sometimes, he takes the form of lightning. However, it is not mentioned that he has wings .

Some angels do have wings

Although the Bible often mentions angels, only the cherubim and seraphim are described as winged creatures. To be more precise, the cherubim have 2 wings , while the seraphim have 6. It turns out that these are the two highest orders of angels in the heavenly hierarchy. But there is no indication that other angels such as the thrones, dominions, virtues, and the archangel have wings. In a word, some angels mentioned in the Bible do have wings, but most of them do not.

The Angel according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church

The Catholic religion has a rather special definition of the angel that allows us to see more clearly the nature of this spiritual being. According to Saint Augustine, the word "angel" designates precisely the function and not the nature. He defines this supraterrestrial creature as a spirit that works for God as an angel , in other words, as a messenger. Angels are thus, servants and messengers of our Lord . They are intelligent with will, and are spiritual and immortal creatures.

Now let's see if angels actually have wings or not:

Reasons Why Angels Have Wings

If everyone associates angels with beings with wings, it is because this is how painters, sculptors and all other artists specializing in Christian art have always drawn them for many centuries. However, this was not the case during the first centuries of the Middle Ages. At that time, angels were represented as young men with perfect physiques. So, what caused this remarkable metamorphosis?

Wings to differentiate angels from men

The biblical characters who met angels such as: Daniel, Hagar, Jacob, Manoah's wife and Matthew, could not give a very precise description of their appearance. Ezekiel gave more precision by defining them as perfect beings , but without going into details. Apart from Matthew who describes the appearance of the angel as lightning, all the others speak of young men. Thus, artists represented angels precisely as young men during the first centuries of the Middle Ages.

Then, taking into account the fact that some angels like seraphim and cherubim have wings, artists simply decided to make it a generality to differentiate these celestial creatures from men in their works . Gradually, this became a kind of normality and everyone ended up believing that wings are an integral part of the morphology of angels without exception.

Angels and the comparison with birds 🕊️

The first depiction of a winged angel dates back to the 4th ^century . It is found on the sarcophagus of a prince in Sarigüzel, Turkey. Since then, artists have started using the symbol of wings to represent these spiritual creatures . It is true that they wanted to differentiate angels from men by giving them wings. But this great change in religious art is strongly linked to the spiritual symbolism of birds . Why? Simply because, unlike angels, birds are also perceived as messengers or envoys.

Let us recall the time of Noah! When the flood was over after 220 days of sailing, Noah sent out a bird to scout the area. The bird went back and forth, because the earth was not yet clear of water. Noah then released the dove, which did not find a dry place to rest its feet and returned to the ark. Noah tried again after a week and the bird returned this time with a fresh olive branch in its beak. Noah then realized that the water level had decreased. A week later, he released the dove again and it did not return. This marked the end of the ordeal.

In the New Testament, Matthew, Mark, and Luke all mention that the Holy Spirit appeared in the form of a dove at Jesus' baptism. In some way, all of these passages influenced artists to depict angels with wings. So, even though a good majority of angels are wingless, it is still a great way to symbolize their function as God's messengers .

The apparitions of angels

Since angels are spiritual beings , they do not have physical bodies and are not limited by the laws of our universe. They have this in common with God even though they do not have the divine attributes of eternity (they were created), omniscience, omnipotence and omnipresence. But it is not because we do not see them that they are not present. As spirits, they are visible in the kingdom of God, but not on our universe with our eyes.

But given the disbelief of some humans, an angel may find himself obliged to take a human form to become visible when he has an important divine message to convey. This was notably the case of the angel Gabriel when he announced the Incarnation of Christ to the Virgin Mary . This is also why their visible form can change (young man or lightning), because it is only a facade, a way to make themselves heard more easily.

Biblical characters who saw or heard angels

Besides Mary and Ezekiel, angels have appeared to other biblical characters, to name a few: Lot, Abraham, Jacob, Elijah, Gideon, Manoah's wife, Nebuchadnezzar, Zechariah, Joseph, and the shepherds. Angels took different forms to manifest their presence, but most of the time, they are not winged beings . They are simply described as perfect, often dazzling creatures.

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Angels are spirit beings who watch over us

You have been able to discover through this article that angels are perfect , incorporeal and immortal spiritual beings. Normally, we cannot see them, but sometimes they take on a human appearance or the form of lightning to transmit a message from God more quickly. Moreover, they are above all messengers of God . In the Bible, angels do not have wings, except for seraphim and cherubim. However, painters and sculptors specializing in Christian art often represent them as winged beings to distinguish them from humans. And since they have the same function as birds (messengers), the wings represent this common point between the two. Angels serve our Lord on our behalf . And even if we cannot see them, we can show our faith in their existence and their power by wearing a jewel in the image of an angel .

We hope that you now understand why angels have wings, or rather, why they are often depicted as winged creatures. Now, if you too wish to share your faith in the angels who exist for the good of humanity, you can wear a religious jewel representing the angel Saint Michael who is none other than the most symbolic archangel angel of the Christian religion .