Systematic Theology, by Louis Berkhof - New Leaven

it is quite evident that philosophy can neither prove nor disprove the existence of
angels. From philosophy, therefore, we turn to Scripture, which makes no deliberate
attempt to prove the existence of angels, but assumes this throughout, and in its
historical books repeatedly shows us the angels in action. No one who bows before the
authority of the Word of God can doubt the existence of angels.
C. THE NATURE OF THE ANGELS
Under this heading several points call for consideration.
1. IN DISTINCTION FROM GOD THEY ARE CREATED BEINGS. The creation of the angels has
sometimes been denied, but is clearly taught in Scripture. It is not certain that those
passages which speak of the creation of the host of heaven (Gen. 2:1; Ps. 33:6; Neh. 9:6)
refer to the creation of the angels rather than to the creation of the starry host; but Ps.
148:2,5, and Col. 1:16 clearly speak of the creation of the angels, (comp. I Kings 22:19; Ps.
103:20,21). The time of their creation cannot be fixed definitely. The opinion of some,
based on Job 38:7, that they were created before all other things, really finds no support
in Scripture. As far as we know, no creative work preceded the creation of heaven and
earth. The passage in the book of Job (38:7) teaches, indeed, in a poetic vein that they
were present at the founding of the world just as the stars were, but not that they
existed before the primary creation of heaven and earth. The idea that the creation of the
heavens was completed on the first day, and that the creation of the angels was simply a
part of the day’s work, is also an unproved assumption, though the fact that the
statement in Gen. 1:2 applies to the earth only would seem to favor it. Possibly the
creation of the heavens was not completed in a single moment any more than that of the
earth. The only safe statement seems to be that they were created before the seventh
day. This at least follows from such passages as Gen. 2:1; Ex. 20:11; Job 38:7; Neh. 9:6.
2. THEY ARE SPIRITUAL AND INCORPOREAL BEINGS. This has always been disputed. The
Jews and many of the early Church Fathers ascribed to them airy or fiery bodies; but the
Church of the Middle Ages came to the conclusion that they are pure spiritual beings.
Yet even after that some Roman Catholic, Arminian, and even Lutheran and Reformed
theologians ascribed to them a certain corporeity, most subtle and pure. They regarded
the idea of a purely spiritual and incorporeal nature as metaphysically inconceivable,
and also as incompatible with the conception of a creature. They also appealed to the
fact that the angels are subject to spatial limitations, move about from place to place,
and were sometimes seen by men. But all these arguments are more than counter-
balanced by the explicit statements of Scripture to the effect that the angels are
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