Angels: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions) by Jones David Albert

Author:Jones, David Albert [Jones, David Albert]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2011-10-26T16:00:00+00:00

Angels at the beginning of life

When the three angels visit Abraham, they inform him that, by the time they return next year, Sarah will have given birth to a child, Isaac (Genesis 18: 10; Quran 51: 28). Other births that are announced by angels include those of Ishmael (Genesis 16: 11), Samson (Judges 13: 3), John the Baptist (Luke 1: 13; Quran 3: 39), and, of course, Jesus (Luke 1: 26–31; Quran 3: 45).

These stories of angels announcing a forthcoming birth may have helped give rise to the idea that angels are involved in the conception of every child. This idea can be found in each of the Abrahamic faiths. The Talmud contains a story that every soul that will ever be born was created in the first six days of creation and waits in a heaven called Arabot. ‘At the time of conception God commands the angel who is the guardian of the spirits, saying, “Bring me such and such a spirit which is in paradise.”’

The early Christian writer Clement of Alexandria tells a similar story. He says that the soul is first cleansed in preparation for conception and is then ‘introduced by one of the angels that preside over generation’. Clement explicitly links this idea to the biblical stories of angels appearing to announce the birth of a child.

Islam also makes a link between the origin of each soul and the angels. There is a well-known saying of the prophet that describes the stages of embryonic development. In this case the angel is not present as an agent introducing the soul. The angel is present as a witness. This reflects what has already been said about guardian angels in Islam. Their role is not to intervene, but they are present, keeping a record from the beginning.

The constituents of one of you are collected for forty days in his mother’s womb; it becomes something that clings in that period, then it becomes a chewed lump of flesh in the same period. And the angel is sent to him with instructions concerning four things, so the angel writes down his provision, his death, his deeds, and whether he will be wretched or fortunate. Then the soul is breathed into him.

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