Do Angels Exist?

Almost 70% Of Americans Believe In Iconic Messengers Of Hope, But Not All Angels Are The Supernatural Kind

(CBS)  No big shock that this time of year angels are everywhere. But what might surprise you is how many Americans think angels are real: A protector and comforter on the job in the form of a personal guardian. Our Cover Story is reported by Tracy Smith:

---

They're a critical part of any Christmas pageant, like the one at New York's Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church.

Angels only announce the birth of Jesus ("Do not be afraid"). And those halos and wings make the kids playing them look pretty darn cute.

This time of year, angels are among us in a big way. You could say it's their high season. They play a starring role on just about every Christmas tree. A magnificent example at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art is filled with Neapolitan figures from the 18th century.

Angels are often seen with flowing robes, like the ones at the Crystal Cathedral in Orange County, California. Others wear little more than wings (as in Victoria's Secret's version).

But what exactly are angels, anyway? And are they real?

Smith asked some children adorned in angel costumes: "Do you believe in angels?"

"Yes," said Gillian.

Why?

"I don't know."

When asked what angels do, Catherine answered, "I've got no idea."

"They sort of look like humans except they always wear white and they have wings," said Kaelin.

"They are close to God," said 9-year-old Alex, "and if you believe in God then you believe in angels."

A recent survey by the Pew Forum found 68 percent of Americans say they do believe in angels. To be more precise, they either "completely agree" or "mostly agree" that angels (and demons) are active in this world.

"I would like to believe that there are angels," one woman told us. "I like the idea that there are people watching over us."

Another woman said, "I'm sure that I have been protected by some."

One man said, "Everyone has a guardian angel, whether they believe it or not."

Two other men were more circumspect: "I definitely believe there's a spiritual force out there, but until they show themselves I'm going to have to go with a 'maybe.'"

And another said, "I have to say that I haven't seen one yet so I wouldn't believe in one until I did see one."

"I think the power in the idea of angels is that angels can change people's lives," said Edward Grinnan, the editor of Guideposts, the inspirational magazine where readers often share stories about their own angel encounters.

"Angels are emissaries from heaven," Grinnan said, "and they bring comfort and they give hope. And wherever people find comfort and hope in their day, I think they can see that at least in part as an angelic experience."

In fact, Guideposts found that so many people had angelic experiences that in 1995, they created a separate bi-monthly magazine called Angels on Earth.

"You know, we talk about seeing angels everyday and people do see angels in the everyday," said editor Colleen Hughes (left).

"Why is it the majority of Americans believe in angels?" Smith asked.

"Because too much stuff happens to us that we can't explain," said Hughes. "There are coincidences that we're willing to chalk up to coincidence, and there's too much that we aren't, because we have this feeling that it was something else."

Tom Elliott and his son Zack believe they met an angel at a San Francisco Giants baseball game. Zack's a huge Giants fan, just like his dad, and his dad's dad (whom they called "Pa").

"I said someday we'll be able to see a game together, the three of us, the three generations," Tom said.

But Pa died before they ever got the chance. They were still in mourning when a friend offered Tom two tickets to a game. But when they got to the box office, the tickets couldn't be found.

"We backed away from the window, kind of looked at each other in total despair, not really sure what we were gonna do," said Tom.

That's when a stranger approached:

"He said, 'I've got 2 tickets for you here,'" Tom recalled. "'I want your young son to see the game,' and he just handed us two tickets. And as we looked down at the tickets, he turned around and walked away. Before we could barely even say 'thank you.'"

But there's more to the story. The seats were some of the best in the house, right above home plate - and there were not 2, but 3 of them. In a sold-out stadium, one seat stayed empty the entire game.

"I said, 'Man, what a great seat like that and a great game and nobody sat there?' And then Zack turned to me."

"I said, 'Dad, someone was sitting there the whole time.' We got to finally watch a game with Pa. That was the best game possible."

"Is it possible that the guy who gave him the tickets could have just been a nice guy, not an angel?" Smith asked.

"Well, Tracy, what I would ask you is, 'Does it matter?'" Grinnan said. "I mean, it's the interpretation of Tom and his son that really does matter. And to them, that man was an angel. He performed an angelic deed, if you will. And his actual origins I don't think are as relevant as the effect that that deed had on those two people."

Of course, there are those who think angels are as real as Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Earlier this month, atheists put a sign up next to a nativity scene at a state building in Washington that read in part, "There are no angels."

But there's no denying we have a long history with these winged creatures - real or imagined.

For Ines Powell at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan, angels exist in many cultures.

She showed us one angel that came from a palace in what is now Iraq, built around 850 B.C.

The very word "angel" comes from the Greek word for messenger.

"Eros is also a little person who moves from heaven to earth, who kind of brings down to earth his mother's wishes," Powell said. "So this little figure is sometimes very good, brings love between people."

There are angels in Judaism and Islam, and winged figures in Buddhism and Hinduism.

"The idea is that they are the messenger of the gods," Powell said.

In pop culture, angels tend to be the "guardian" variety. The most famous movie angel is probably Clarence from "It's a Wonderful Life," who earned his wings helping out George Bailey, played by Jimmy Stewart.

On TV the hit show "Touched By an Angel" ran from 1994-2003. Martha Williamson was the executive producer.

"I know what people like to hear about angels, because 24 million people watched 'Touched By an Angel' for nine years," she told Smith. "And what they responded to was the fact that an angel was a messenger from God who brought healing, who brought encouragement, who sometimes brought some correction. Always brought comfort and truth."

And retailers know angels bring in big bucks. Want to touch an angel? Try a snow globe, an ornament, a DVD, a puzzle ...

You can even own your own angel statue for $400.

Still, especially around the holidays, the very idea of angels can serve to inspire even some of us less halo-worthy creatures here on Earth.

Take the "angel trees," a holiday tradition for the Salvation Army. Written on each tag is the name of a needy child and a wish, so folks can buy a gift, and become (in a sense) angels themselves.

"Whenever I find people who inspire me and people who motivate me and people who comfort me, I'm touching an angel in some way, or being touched by an angel as the TV show said," said Grinnan. "So, I think angels occur in your life as frequently as you want to look for them."

Some maybe it's a good time to celebrate angels, whatever form they take.

[wghene]

Chapter 1: Before the Old Testament,? Old Testament Stories, 6



God lives in heaven. He is our Heavenly Father. We lived in heaven with him. We lived with him a long time. He taught us many things.


Matthew 6:9; D&C 93:29




In heaven we did not have flesh-and-blood bodies. We had spirit bodies. Our spirit bodies looked like the flesh-and-blood bodies we have now. We were the spirit children of God.


Hebrews 12:9; D&C 77:2; Abraham 3:22




One day Heavenly Father talked to all his children. He said he would make an earth for us. He said we could go to earth. He said we must go to get flesh-and-blood bodies.


Abraham 3:23?24; Hebrews 2:14


God said we would be tested on earth. We should obey his commandments. But God would not make us obey him. We could choose. We would come back to heaven and live with God if we obeyed him.


Abraham 3:26; D&C 29:36?39




God chose some spirits to help him on earth. They were righteous. He knew they would obey his commandments. They would be prophets and leaders.


Abraham 3:23




God said one of his sons would save the people on the earth. He would go to earth and die for all of us. God?s son, Jesus Christ, said he would go to earth and die for us. He would obey God.


Alma 22:13; Abraham 3:27; Moses 4:2




Then another son spoke. His name was Lucifer. He said he would go to earth. But he wanted God?s power. God chose Jesus Christ. Lucifer was angry.


Moses 4:1; D&C 29:36; Abraham 3:28




Lucifer talked to God?s children. He wanted us to obey him. He said he would make us be good. We could not choose. He would bring us all back to heaven.


Moses 4:1, 3




Many spirits followed Lucifer. Lucifer and these spirits did not obey God.


D&C 29:36?37


God was very sad. He sent Lucifer and the spirits who followed Lucifer out of heaven. They could not have flesh-and-blood bodies. They could not go back to heaven. Lucifer would lead them. His name would be Satan or the devil.


D&C 76:25?27; 29:37; Revelation 12:9

[nothappyatall]

Posted by FloydZeppd

You and I both know our sin nature.

Posted by Providence_7"

Thats YOUR version of things,''sin'' is a xtian reich concept, so *YOU* sin cause *YOU* believe in that fairy tale, dont include the rest of us in your fairy tale of *WE*


"Hezekiah prayed and the lord god sent an angel and poof those 185,000 men were no more!

Posted by Providence_7"

Got any PHOTOS of that RICK? no proof beyond your book of fables means that figure is fabricated and far fetched, the entire world population in the year 1 AD is estimated by authorities and published to be between 200-300 million people. Your erroneous figure would have been nearly 10% of the entire world''s population

[nothappyatall]

"no I am not any of those people. If you check out past posts you can verify it.
Posted by Providence_7"

Yeah right Rick, same ''in your face'' right wing garbage over and over and over posted here, same M.O., same language, same, same, same, not even very creative any more losing or abandoning the ''Providence_D'' alias used all summer and creating Providence_7 wow thats hard for us figure out!

(SNIP)
Posted by IamHungry68

Hungry; the jerk is known on these forums by maybe a 1,000 alias''- all of them terminated by CBS or lost, he creates dozens of new accounts a week to come in here pretending to be a NEW person, but these alias'' that suddenly appear are not new and they ALL start right off on this religious krap, he is so predictable its legendary. His real name is Rick Miesse and he has an even more laughable youtube page full of the same buybull krap foisted on us here, but the funny part is he posted there that "athiests" on youtube BLOCKED him from contact, so it looks like he was a pain in the azz over there too, but they were able to shut his face up. Pretty much every Sunday after he worms outta church full of his gospel garbage he comes here to spew the hours sermon on this NEWS site to an unwilling unwitting captive audience who time and time again tell him to f off and like sewer gas he keeps coming back with the same krap.
Heres his laughable youtube page, he has all of 16 subscribers since Aug/2006 LOL

youtube.com/user/singinrick

Have fun.

[providence_7]

That is not far from the reality of the situation. I have the freakvannies tell me all of the time that because Jesus died for their sins, he gave them a free lifetime pass to keep on sinning and they don''''''''t have to actually do anything to improve themselves in the eyes of their god.

Posted by FloydZeppd at 11:39 AM : Dec 21, 2008

You and I both know our sin nature.
And you and I know we will do what we want when we want.
So you know that our nature does wrong when it wants to.
So a christian who is born again now has a new nature helping him. So they are learning to walk by Gods Spirit and not in the self direction!

[providence_7]

I mock and spit on your god LOL where was your loving ''''god'''' when hitler killed 9 million jews- his ''''chosen'''' people, wow, if that''''s being ''''chosen'''' who needs enemies, ya got one right there!!!


With the same argument you are telling me Hitler did no wrong because you say there is no God.

[providence_7]

Posted by newster1 at 09:41 PM : Dec 22, 2008

No I am not any of those people. If you check out past posts you can verify it.

[nothappyatall]

Hezekiah was threaten by an army of 185,000 men strong and their king, who also mocked god they were going to destroy Hezekiah and all the people! Hezekiah prayed and the lord god sent an angel and poof those 185,000 men were no more!

Posted by Providence_7 (Rick Miesse) singinrick, Providence_D, Truthword_08, jerkaboner, jankebenz and 1,000 other alias'''')

I mock and spit on your god LOL where was your loving ''god'' when hitler killed 9 million jews- his ''chosen'' people, wow, if that''s being ''chosen'' who needs enemies, ya got one right there!!!

[nothappyatall]

When we start to experience terrifying events in this world many of you who have shunned religion and criticized it will wish you had believed. Then it will be too late for you but you will have brought it all upon yourself. You will reap what you have sowed.

Posted by junglejimy12

Do us a favor jimmyjimbob, jump off the nearest 6 story building so you can leave US and jump into jezus'' lap that much quicker and spare us the bullchit and scare tactics, you are like the auto mechanic who warns a woman driver that if she doesnt immediately replace somthing on her car the engine will blow up.

[nothappyatall]

why is this article on a "News" site? This is not news.

Posted by ers58"

Gotta ask the same question, this belongs on the Jerry Springer site, Oprah, National Enquirer or the Weekly World News tabloid

[nothappyatall]

1)is the earth round?
2)Is it wrong to kill?
3)Do you need love?
4)Do you know god?
Posted by Providence_7 (Rick Miesse) singinrick, Providence_D, Truthword_08, jerkaboner, jankebenz and 1,000 other alias'')

1)Earth is round, but according to your book of death its FLAT and the church taught that it was FLAT which was why people for eons till Columbus were afraid they would fall off if they sailed to the horizon. Columbus DIDNT fall off and that was the end of the church''s SCAM on that which was a scare tactic and to keep the dumb sheeple stupid and under control.

2)Killing is justified in a number of situations, "wrong" or "right" is only a point of view on how and whom is involved and the circumstances, culture etc.
i.e. it is WRONG to kill a sacred cow in India, but in the US it''s Bar-B-Cue fare, it sis WRONG to hang a dog and bar b Cue it in your L.A. back yard, but in China it is a delicacy and "right". In the 1850''s it was "right" to own slaves here, in the 1950''s it was WRONG and illegal.

3) nope, got it
4) which one? there''s hundreds of imaginary figures, may as well worship a brick wall.

[providence_7]

Hezekiah was threaten by an army of 185,000 men strong and their king, who also mocked God they were going to destroy Hezekiah and all the people! Hezekiah prayed and the Lord God sent an angel and poof those 185,000 men were no more!

[nothappyatall]

LAUGHABLE!!!!

You discredit Leviticus, Exodus, Deuteronomy but SWEAR that Genesis is an exact science, and then YOU claim that someone ELSE cherry picks?!?!?

ROFLOL!!!!

Posted by IamHungry68

Hungry; the jerk is known on these forums by maybe a 1,000 alias''''- all of them terminated by CBS or lost, he creates dozens of new accounts a week to come in here pretending to be a NEW person, but these alias'''' that suddenly appear are not new and they ALL start right off on this religious krap, he is so predictable it''''s legendary. His real name is Rick Miesse and he has an even more laughable youtube page full of the same buybull krap foisted on us here, but the funny part is he posted there that "athiests" on youtube BLOCKED him from contact, so it looks like he was a pain in the azz over there too, but they were able to shut his face up. Pretty much every Sunday after he worms outta church full of his gospel garbage he comes here to spew the hour''''s sermon on this NEWS site to an unwilling unwitting captive audience who time and time again tell him to f off and like sewer gas he keeps coming back with the same krap.
Here''''s his laughable youtube page, he has all of 16 subscribers since Aug/2006 LOL

youtube.com/user/singinrick

Have fun.

[providence_7]

When George Bailey, from -Its A Wonderful Life- movie, was on the bridge begging Clarence, an Angel, to take him home nothing happens. It was only when George, played by Jimmy Stewart, cries out to God to take him home that it began to snow and George was back home!

Pray to God so he can answer that you want to know him by asking Jesus to be your sin bearer then calling on Jesus to save you!

[providence_7]

Is the earth round?
Is it wrong to kill?
Do you need love?
Do you know God?
God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself!

[nothappyatall]

Angels do exist and I''''ve spoken with one. However they don''''t refer to themselves as angels. They call themselves Orlings. Read my post at
http://spamcity

Posted by astra1955"

What drug were you on when you thought you were communicating with this? it wasn''t LSD or meth was it?

[providence_7]

That is not far from the reality of the situation. I have the freakvannies tell me all of the time that because Jesus died for their sins, he gave them a free lifetime pass to keep on sinning and they don''''''''t have to actually do anything to improve themselves in the eyes of their god.

Posted by FloydZeppd at 11:39 AM : Dec 21, 2008

You and I both know our sin nature.
And you and I know we will do what we want when we want.
So you know that our nature does wrong when it wants to.
So a christian who is born again now has a new nature helping him. So they are learning to walk by Gods Spirit and not in the self direction!

[nothappyatall]

hy is this article on a "News" site? This is not news.

Posted by ers58"

Gotta ask the same question, this belongs on the Jerry Springer site, Oprah, National Enquirer or the Weekly World News tabloid

[janewebbpage]

We were disappointed that Earl from Saving Grace was not in your Sunday Morning segment on Angels. He is our favorite!

[ryannester]

Hah! I was one of the "Two other men" who were more circumspect. "I definitely believe there''s a spiritual force out there, but until they show themselves I''m going to have to go with a ''maybe.''" - that''s my line. They left out the other point I made that in today''s environment with problems overseas and in our own economy it helps to believe someone is watching over us.

[allenaus]

The other side: A belief in the Bible is required.
The fallen angels are gigantic and their appearance is difficult to understand. This is not the roman image of a baby with wings or some beautiful lady in white. They were of a nature which is frightening to view. Enoch and Ezekiel give accurate descriptions of the Holy Angels true appearance. Even the Holy Angels changed their form for our purpose. The gargoyle statues are probably more authentic than the traditional depictions of the fallen angels. The Book of the Cave of Treasures says they have been stripped of their apparel, and they go naked and have horrible faces.
Once fallen their sole intent was to pervert all of God''s creation proliferating fear and trembling. Their *** children, the nephilim, inherited this purpose and carried it out to the maximum. All those horror films and literature have a basis in Truth. Eating people alive,drinking their blood and creating monsters. They manipulated the gene pool and created horrific beings and animals. Enoch says they committed all imaginable abominations.