Introduction

Meteorologists, evolutionists, cosmologists, psychologists, sociologists and others tell us what reality is. They like to describe the future by extrapolating predictions from the recent (or distant) past. They describe the past in terms of the present nature of existence.

 

Whether or not they are accurate in their descriptions of reality, scientific truths change from year to year. So it's safe to say that they are often not accurate. Many experts find it easier to say there is no God than to believe there is. This is knowledge they will never have access to (Breslov.org.). This also applies to an invisible spiritual world with angels and demons, which is connected to the above-mentioned reality.

 

It has been written before about angels as protectors of the nations. Both Christian and Jewish Bible scholars have paid attention to this. Some examples of Christian theologians are Origen (185 - 253/254), Calvin (1509 - 1564) and Jean Daniélou (1905 - 1974)(1). Some examples of Jewish rabbis are Rashi (1040 - 1105), Yisroel ben Eliezer (1698 - 1760) and (-Menachem Mendel Schneerson (1902 - 1994).

 

There is a difference between the Christian and Jewish explanations about the free will of angels in general and therefore also of the angels of the nations.

 

The purpose of this article is to show the views from the Christian and Jewish interpretation. It begins with a general description of this and then focuses on the angels of the nations.

 

Questions

1. What are angels and what are the functions of the angels of the nations?

2. Do angels and also the angels of the nations have free will or not?

 

Analysis

 

Christian vision

According to Catholic teaching, angels are spiritual beings created by God. They are considered persons because they have intelligence and free will. Angels have no body and are immortal. The good angels serve God, praise Him and act as His messenger and protect the believers (KRO-NCRV).

 

Angels have free will, which is incomparably stronger than human free will. According to the church, angels have no purpose as opponents of the devil, but are created by and for Christ. The Church venerates the angels and prays with them to God. The angels cooperate in everything that is good for humans. (Angelology – Wikipedia, The Only Biblical Foundation, June 2024).

 

Christian tradition holds that angels have free will and can choose for or against God. There is an important difference between angels and humans in connection with this choice: If angels choose to go against God, that choice is irrevocable. While for people the possibility of repentance and conversion remains until they die (Wikipedia).

 

Angels of the nations

According to the tradition of the Eastern Orthodox Church, angels (2) are assigned to all nations in the world. These angels assert themselves as the national consciousness. They are outside of time and space, but are constantly present in the history of their nations.

 

The "nation" is considered a metaphysical category and is not a human product. The nation is connected to the mysterious angel. The influence of which is manifested in national history (Alexander Dugin, Metaphysics of National Bolshevism, 1996).

 

St. Thomas Aquinas taught, as did many Fathers and scholars in the Church, that every country has its own guardian angel. In fact, St. Clement of Alexandria goes so far as to state that entire “regiments of angels are distributed among nations and cities” (cf. Father Pascal Parente, The Angels, p. 119 and website Opus Angelorum, 2016).

 

Calvin writes from the Reformed view: “Thus Daniel indicates, according to the angel of the Persians and the angel of the Greeks, that certain angels are ordained and destined as governors over kingdoms and landscapes” (Institutions, The First Book, p.78, by J.H. Landeweer, 1977).

 

Nations and their cultures are ruled by intermediate beings called gods or angels and who are subject to the God of the Bible: the God of Israel (F. de Graaff. When gods die, the crisis of Western culture, second edition 1970 ).

 

Jewish vision

Perhaps, to make a distinction, the robot can be compared to an angel. An angel is sometimes depicted as a supernatural human being with six wings, but the concept is much broader. Nothing in this world, whether an entity or an event, has an counterpart in the spiritual world. There is also nothing down here on earth that does not have an “Overseer”. This is an angel. The angels direct and bring about various concepts according to the decree of God (Moshe Luzatto, "Derech HaShem", p. 143, Aryeh Kaplan edition, 1997)

 

Every force of nature also has an angel. Angels are heavenly beings with special tasks, without free will (Rabbi Raphael Evers Robots, golems and angels, 2018).

 

As written, angels do not have free will. They are, it seems, pre-programmed to serve God. While man is given the freedom to be obedient to God or not and to choose between good and evil. As such, the mitzvot (3) that must be observed by man are of far greater value than the service of the angels (Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, De Tanya 17).

 

However, they do have free choice in carrying out their mission. Just like people, they are responsible for a right or wrong outcome. The angels can also be mistaken (Ask the Rabbi (Chabad.org. , 12-29-2015).

 

Can angels sin?

However, they can only sin in carrying out their mission by making mistakes or reaching levels of revelation where they do not belong (Chabad.org).

 

Angels of the nations

What is a Guardian Angel of the Nation? (Brit Am, Appendix Daniel 10). It is appointed by the Almighty. It's a good power in principle, but has its own built-in limitations.

 

The angels of the non-Israelite nations are against Israel and Judah. Even good people in such countries will have an innate anti-Israeli tendency.

 

The Guardian Angel represents the cultural and unitary uniqueness of the said nation and represents it, so to speak, in the Heavenly Councils. The angel reflects an inner soul of the people he represents.

 

Every nation has its own guardian angel (Moshe Luzatto, "Derech HaShem", p. 143, Aryeh Kaplan edition, 1996). The rule of the national guardian angel is less strict and direct than that of God Himself. It is as if God has distanced Himself from the nation and is ruling them through intermediaries.

 

Conclusion

In Christian culture, the angels of the nations have a will of their own. They may disobey God. An example is Psalm 82. The angels allow sinful behavior and injustice in their nation. A judgment from God is the result. Sooner or later there will be negative consequences (4) for their nation (Dr. F. de Graaff, When gods die, 1969 and anno domini 1000-anno domini 2000, 1977).

 

Even though Christianity is a world government, the influence of the angels of the nations is still present. Indications can be recognized in Eastern Orthodox Christianity and Western Christianity (Dr. F. de Graaff, anno domini 1000 – anno 2000, 1977}.

 

Judaism teaches that angels have no will of their own (Judaismonline, 2009). God exalts and degrades nations with their angels (Rashi commentary, Jewish Bible chabad.org. and the Zohar, Part III). When a nation sins grievously, it weakens its angel. The reverse also applies. If a nation does not sin, it strengthens its angel (Chaim Luzzatto, The Way to God, translated by Arey Kaplan, 1996). God punishes the angel first and then the nation (Isaiah 24:21). Other spiritual powers and nations then, for example, take over the power and position of the nation in question. We see examples in history where great empires have collapsed or become weak.

 

In both the Christian view and the Jewish view the result is basically the same. Both the angel and the nation are punished.

 

Closing

In the West, the “clash of civilizations” theory has become taboo, but the rest of the world believes in it and acts on it. The West must arm itself to defend its principles – democracy, the international legal order – against its enemies, writes historian Gert Jan Gelimg EW, November 23, 2023).

 

When the American political scientist Samuel Huntington published his thesis on the clash of civilizations in the 1990s, he was heavily criticized. After the Cold War, cultural and religious identities are the main source of conflict, Huntington argued. The world would consist of clashing civilizations, such as Western, Eastern Orthodox, Chinese and Islamic civilization. Most conflicts occur on the borders of these civilizations.

 

Criticism of Huntington came mainly from academics and intellectuals. His message would be too absolutist about civilizations. He would portray Islam and the Islamic world too negatively and underestimate the importance of religion and culture. After 9/11, this way of thinking reemerged, in a less than positive way, and mainly associated with the war on terror and the Iraq war. This theory has now faded into the background among many political leaders, scientists and intellectuals. At least in the West.

 

Metahistorically it means that not only are there looming conflicts between the mentioned nations and their cultures, but also in the heavenly realms there are conflicts between the angels of their nations.

 

Finally, a reflection

A summary of the Report of the Scientific Council for Government Policy (WRR, June 7, 2024) gives the following picture.

 

The Netherlands will have to make painful choices to survive in an increasingly turbulent and grim world order. In the report, the WRR has shown that it is learning to deal strategically with new power relations in the world order. With new arenas in which the game is played and with the increased significance of very different views on the game than ours.

 

Dutch and European players must realize that the game in the world has quickly become very grim and erratic. That development continues. There is therefore no room for procrastination and naivety. The learning process to survive and compete in this game will require a lot of effort, money and resilience.

 

The Netherlands will not always be on the winning side and will occasionally be confronted with pain and setbacks. However, it will have to fully meet the challenges of the fragmenting world order if it does not want to lose its resilience, prosperity and values.

 

 

 

(1) The 20th century French Cardinal Jean Daniélou describes the angels and their mission according to the Church Fathers. Yes, the Jewish people received God's special revelation in the Bible: “But this does not mean that the other nations who lived before the coming of Christ were completely deprived of divine help and excluded from the entire preparation process. He says that according to the Church Fathers, part of the truth was known to the pagan peoples and would later be recognized and adopted by Christianity, the wisdom of Roman law, the philosophical truths arrived at by Plato and Aristotle. All this came to them through the providence of the one God who acted through the ministry of the angels. Remarkably, Daniélou says, according to Origen, this applies even to the 'secret and occult philosophy of the Egyptians and to the astrology of the Chaldeans', and even to 'the claims of the Hindus relating to the science of the Most High God (Tom Hoopes, author of The Rosary of Saint John Paul II and The Fatima Family Handbook. He is a writer at Benedictine College in Kansas).

 

2. The angel, as a heavenly being, functions as “God's thought.” Which translates into mysticism, religion and culture. The angel revealed himself in 'divine' kings, great heroes, predecessors and saints. The angel is not dependent on man. After the fall of monarchical dynasties, the angel can incarnate in organizations. For example in a class or even in a party.

 

3. The 613 mitzvot (precepts, singular mitzvah) is a list of commandments and prohibitions that, according to religious Jews, God gave them through the Torah (the first five books of the Bible) (Wikipedia).

 

4. The demise of a nation or the loss of dominance in world politics.

 

 

 

The angels of the nation (5), dr. H. Dubbelman