Quote:
Originally Posted by Evangelical
Angels and humans are actually more similar than we may think.
A human is a human spirit in a human body (Job 32:8).
An angel is a human or human-like spirit without a physical body (Hebrews 1:14).
For some reason God decided to create human or human-like spirits without bodies, and these are the angels. I will avoid saying that we become angels or that angels become humans, because I don't believe that. But I do believe angels and humans are more or less the same thing, just in a different form.
I use the word "human or human-like spirit" tentatively to describe angels, as we can never be sure. Are there different kinds of spirits? But I believe the bible shows that angels are more human than not:
1. angels find humans attractive and can appear physically to have relations with humans (Genesis 6:1-2). This must be because the angel is also human.
2. That the angels are human spirits is the reason that angels can easily take the form of a human and appear like any one of us (Hebrews 13:12).
3. Fallen angels (demons) will seek out human bodies to possess, and if they cannot find one, they might settle for an animal (Matt 8:28-34).
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Interesting points you gave. Yet we are not just "in different forms".
Besides the examples about the Burning Bush and Sodom I gave below, also consider their other abilities, including making people mute and blind, sending disasters over the earth (Revelations) and, at times, having appearances so great that people wanted to worship them.
They are made as ministering spirits for us (Hebrews 1:13-14). They are not our counterparts, even if they share some similarities. They are clearly more than just bodyless people.
People have a lot in common with certain apes. But that just makes them similar, not the same.
I think the question we need to ask is: "What makes us humans?". A soul? A spirit? A body? All of them? Or that we are made in God's image? What else? If we can define a human then we can decide whether angels fit that criteria, otherwise they are merely similar, and (in my opinion obviously) not just bodiless humans.