The Angels of God

Abstract This chapter establishes the creator-created, eternal-temporal distinction that is foundational for Augustine’s theology. This distinction forms the basis for his reflections upon the creation account of Genesis, in which he attempts to locate creation of the angels. But it also defines the problem that the angels are to help solve, namely, how humans are to know and love God in the remoteness of God’s eternity. For Augustine, angels are created wisdom, enlightened in their love of God, perfected at the beginning of their creation, always beholding the Father’s face. As perfected intellectual spirits, angels possess a knowledge of creation in God that allows them to oversee all of creation. In this administrative role it is the angels’ responsibility to be God’s external, volitional mode of providence for the whole cosmos, seeing in God through their ceaseless contemplation what ought to occur in God’s creation and carrying it out as required. For Augustine, the primary goal of this angelic office is to testify to the incarnation of the Son of God, not only with miracles and theophanies, but also by working through human institutions, most notably in their administration of the Holy Scriptures themselves.