Religious Themes in Film

Lesson 7: City of Angels: Angelology

City of Angels allows us to explore the fascinating theme of angels, their mission, and - most especially - their relationship with humans.

The Mission of Angels

The film City of Angels (and the German film that it is based on, Wings of Desire), presents the story of an angel who, falling in love, desires to become human. The film gives us the opportunity to delve into a brief study of angels, their roles, and their interaction with humanity. Take some time to read the first few chapters of Jean Danielou’s The Angels and their Mission to get a feeling for the extent of angelology.

On God's Payroll

Although contemporary spirituality has seized on the angels in the role of guardian angels, traditionally the angels that are assigned to protect humans are actually a small minority of the total heavenly hosts. As Danielou’s book demonstrates, there is an angel for all corporeal things (Danielou, 4). In fact, although the Bible talks much about angels, very little, if any, is in reference to guardian angels in the sense of angels that are friends to human beings. And so, little to none of this lesson will be about guardian angels, despite their popularity.

Instead, we’ll concentrate mostly on the angels as messengers, because that is the literal meaning of their name: messengers. Note the other angel-cum-human character in City of Angels has the last name of Messenger. As well, the angel Seth innocently says that it his job: “I am a messenger.”

We’ll start with a general overview of the angels’ main roles, and then analyze the film in terms of how angels might view human beings based on biblical tradition. Finally, we’ll touch on what angels DON’T like about humanity.

In the Hebrew Bible, the Israelites consider angels the perfect examples of how humankind should worship God. Take Isaiah’s vision of the seraphs in Isaiah 6:

Seraphs were in attention above him; each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.

The angels at the highest levels of heaven are in constant eternal praise of their maker. A sense of this is given in City of Angels when the angels gather at the beach for every sunrise and hear song.

The “holy, holy, holy” is a common element of many Christian services. During that song, the congregation is mimicking the angels. While humankind may sing “holy, holy” for two minutes on a Sunday service, the angels sing this song forever.

The angels, as well, bring messages from God to human beings. Note, however, that these “messengers” are much different from guardian angels. While it is true that sometimes the angels are helpful and protect human beings (take the story of Hagar and Ishmael, Gen. 21:8 – 20, and when the angels minister to Jesus in the desert, Mk 1:13), more often they bring messages that people will have to struggle with.

Imagine being a virgin Hebrew girl and being told by an angel that you will become pregnant (and thus risk being ostracized by your society and perhaps even put to death, Luke 1:26). Imagine being a Hebrew man with a family of your own and being told by an angel that your destiny was to marry a pregnant teenager. (Mt 1:18)

Although the angels sometimes bring Good News, as they do to the shepherds in Mt 2:10, the point to remember is that the angels are on God’s payroll. They work for Him. They do not work for human beings as some sort of celestial body guards. They bring God’s message and God’s plan for human beings. Many times, as when an angel takes away Zecharaiah’s ability to speak in Mt 1:5-20, it doesn’t seem like they are working in people’s best interest at all.

We’ll revisit this point again when we examine the movie The Prophecy in the final lesson.

Guides and Death Dealers

Angels also serves as guides. In some stories, they guide Moses up through the heavens to receive the Torah (even if they resisted him at first). The Angels guide the holy family to Egypt, then to Galilee, in Mt. 2:13-33, in order to save them from King Herod. The angel Gabriel guides Muhammad through his Miraj, or his Night Journey.

Another role of Angels is that of judges and prosecutors. In traditional stories of the Garden of Eden, it is Gabriel who escorts Adam and Even out of paradise. In these roles, they carry out God’s will even if it seems to go against human morality. Take the Angel of Death at the first Passover who kills every first born of the Egyptians in Ex 12. In 2 Sam 24, the Angel of Death turns his talent against the Israelite people and kills scores.

The angels are also heralds, as we have already seen in the case of the angels and the shepherds after Jesus birth. They will also blast their trumpets to signal the End Times (note the trumpet that the angel Gabriel carries around in The Prophecy.) The idea that the angels will herald the end of the world is especially strong in Islam.

Finally, there is some evidence for guardian angels. They minister to Jesus after his time in the desert. Twelve legions of angels are ready to take his defense when Jesus Christ is arrested in Mt 26:53 .

An ancient, yet still living, religion of Iran, called Zoroastrianism has a much more defined theology for guardian angels. In Zoroastrianism, everybody has a fravashi – a preexisting soul that is lonely to be with humans. These fravashi are very similar to the modern idea of a guardian angel in that they are the friends of humans and they warn, counsel, and protect the human that they are assigned to. Perhaps we get our modern idea of guardian angels from Zoroastrianism, which has always been a known influence on the evolution of Jewish and Christian beliefs.

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