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 angel. Likewise we frequently meet with the phrase" the angel set over a certain thing." In Midrash-Koheleth (on Eccles. x. 7) the following passage occurs:" When man sleeps, his soul speaks to the angel, the angel to the cherub." The intelligent reader will find here a clear statement that man's imaginative faculty is also called" angel," and that" cherub" is used for man's intellectual faculty. How beautiful must this appear to him who understands it; how absurd to the ignorant!

We have already stated that the forms in which angels appear form part of the prophetic vision. Some prophets see angels in the form of man, e.g.," And behold three men stood by him" (Gen. xviii. 2): others perceive an angel as a fearful and terrible being, e.g.," And his countenance was as the countenance of an angel of God, very terrible" (judges xiii. 6): others see them as fire, e.g.," And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire" (Exod. iii. 2). In Bereshit Rabba (chap. l.) the following remark occurs:" To Abraham, whose prophetic power was great, the angels appeared in the form of men; to Lot, whose power was weak, they appeared as angels." This is an important principle as regards Prophecy; it will be fully discussed when we treat of that subject (chap. xxxii. sqq.). Another passage in Bereshit Rabba (ibid.) runs thus:" Before the angels have accomplished their task they are called men, when they have accomplished it they are angels." Consider how clearly they say that the term" angel" signifies nothing but a certain action, and that every appearance of an angel is part of a prophetic vision, depending on the capacity of the person that perceives it.

There is nothing in the opinion of Aristotle on this subject contrary to the teaching of Scripture. The whole difference between him and ourselves is this: he believes all these beings to be eternal, co-existing with the First Cause as its necessary effect; but we believe that they have had a beginning, that God created the Intelligences, and gave the spheres the capacity of seeking to become like them: that in creating the Intelligences and the spheres, He endowed them with their governing powers. In this point we differ from him.

In the course of this treatise we shall give his theory as well as the theory of Creatio ex nihilo taught in Scripture.

CHAPTER VII
WE have already explained that the term" angel" is a homonym, and is used of the intellectual beings, the spheres, and the elements: for all these are engaged in performing a divine command. But do not imagine that the Intelligences and the spheres are like other forces which reside in bodies and act by the laws of nature without being conscious of what they do. The spheres and the Intelligences are conscious of their actions, and select by their own free will the objects of their influence, although not in the same manner as we exercise free will and rule over other things, which only concern temporary beings. I have been led to adopt this theory by certain passages in Scripture: e.g., an angel says to Lot:" For I cannot do anything," etc. (Gen. XiX. 21): and telling him to deliver himself, the angel says:" Behold I have accepted thee concerning this thing" (ver. 21).