An angel, as defined in Webster's dictionary, is a spiritual being that is employed by God to communicate with human kind.  Angels are defined as ministering, messenger, or guiding spirits.  Since there are no irrefutable evidence to prove in the existence or non-existence of angels, knowledge about them are based upon legends, theological beliefs, philosophical interpretations, and phenomenological experiential reports.

According to angel researcher Sophy Burnham, the mystery of angels has been part of most cultures in the world and has been part of the development of some folklore and theological beliefs.  The belief in angels has been carried through ancient history and Judaic, Christian, and Islamic lore and has influenced each other's religious faith.

Angel researcher Terry Lynn Taylor believes that angels are of interest for everyone regardless of their religious belief, race, or nationality and that angels have been around long before any religion was formed.  According to a 1988 Gallup poll, 50% of the U. S. people, age 18-49, believe in angels.  The percent of believers in angels drops to 36% for individuals over 50 years old.  The poll also reflected that 74% of teenagers believe in the existence of angels.

As children, many of us became aware of or began to believe in angels.  Taylor has reported that many times children are aware of angels without parents or others imparting them with the knowledge of the possible existence of angels.  Children find the presence of angels to be comforting and reassuring when facing childhood fears.  This personal, satisfying belief in angels, tends to continue to guide and comfort the individual throughout her or his life and is believed to guide her or him from death into afterlife.

Many human encounters with angelic beings are accepted by the experiencer without any sense of its theological or philosophical meaning.  Theological reasoning accepts the reality of angels, through faith, and provides the religious dogma to support this belief.  Philosophical reasoning does not require the belief that angels exists, just the acceptance that it is possible for them to exist.

According to Adler, in order to separate the "facts" of angelology from legend and folklore of personal experiences and stories, the study of angels must be examined from a theological and a philosophical position.  The interpretation of the existence of angels is based upon the difference in theological beliefs regarding the reality of the existence of angles and the philosophical interpretation of angels possibly being objects of thought.  The separating the two interpretation allows for both individuals with or without religious-spiritual beliefs to accept the possibility of the reality of angels.  Religion-spiritual interpretations of the existence of angels is based upon faith.  The philosophical acceptance of angels is based on the possibility of their existence as incorporeal entities or "minds without bodies."

A theological belief in angels requires the believer to accept the possibility that there is higher order of existence than human life.  However, philosophical theories can express beliefs that are not based upon a theological belief, according to philosopher Mortimer Adler, therefore providing possible explanations for angelic encounters that involve agnostics, atheists or individuals who do not believe in the existence of angels.  Agnostics think that it is impossible to know whether there is a God and atheists believe that there is no God.  For an agnostic or atheist, a belief in angels can be as difficult to accept as is a belief in God.

The theological acceptance of angels differs dependent upon religious beliefs.  The monotheistic religions of Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Islam share the beliefs of a tripartite universe consisting of a Heaven, Earth, and Hell which is populated by angels, humans, and demons.  This is in contrast to the monistic beliefs of Hindus, the Jains, and the Buddhist.  Most eastern religions have no belief in angels as messengers.  This function is believed to be performed by reincarnated holy sages or incarnations of deities.  In most western religions, which are based on prayer, angels act as messengers of God.

Philosophers such as Thomas Aquinas and Adler have presented arguments that support the possibility of the existence of angels and their ability to have an impact on the human experience.  By allowing for the possibility of the existence of angels, philosophy has made it possible for non-believers in spiritual life to believe in the existence of angels.  According to Adler, the acceptance of the possibility of the existence of an incorporeal substance allows for the conclusion that angels do exist.

The belief in angels is not universal.  According to the 1988 Gallup poll, over 50% of the adult U. S. population do not believe that angels exist.  Thomas Aquinas believed that the failure of some individuals to believe in the possibility of angels is a result of an their inability to differentiate between sense-perception and imagination, from one perspective, and intellection or understanding, from another.

A belief in angels ultimately becomes a personal belief.  Individuals can come to believe in angels through philosophical reasoning or theological faith, but their ultimate unwavering belief in angels may only come from personal encounters with angelic beings in their life and/or during an altered state of consciousness, such as a near-death experience.  Through these encounters with angelic beings, experiencers may find a new aspect to their life.  To the believers in angels, angels do exist.  Not necessarily in the images that artists and sculptors have portrayed them, or in the personages that writers have depicted them, but in the essence of angelic believers' impression of their encounter with their angelic spiritual guides.

References:

Adler, M. J. (1982).  The angels and us.  New York: Macmillan Publishing.

Aquinas, T.  (1960).  The pocket Aquinas.  Bourke, V. J. (Ed.).  New York: Washington Square Press.

Burnham, S.  (1990).  A book of angels.  New York: Ballantine.

Burnham, S.  (1991)  Angel Letters.  New York: Ballentine Books

Gallup, G. & Castelli, J.  (1989).  The People's Religion.  New York:  MacMillan Publishing.

Godwin, M.  (1990).  Angels: an endangered species.  New York: Simon & Schuster.

Graham, B.  (1986).  Angels, angels, angels, angels - God's secret agents.  Waco, TX: Word Books.

Koran - 3rd Edition.  (1970).  (N. J. Dawood, Trans.).  Baltimore:  Penguin Books.

New Testament.  (1971).  The living bible.  Wheaton, IL:  Tyndale House.

Old Testament.  (1971).  The living bible.  Wheaton, IL:  Tyndale House.

Ronner, J.  (1985).  Do you have a guardian angels?.  Murfreesboro, TN:  Mamre Press.

Taylor, T. L. (1992, June).  Angels watching over me - How angels help children to feel safe.  Whole life times, p. 15.