There is slightly more information about
cherubim in the Christian Bible. But nowhere in the Bible
are they described as flying, winged babies. In fact,
cherubim are for the most part in the Bible referred to
merely as ornaments - on the ark of the covenant, on
temple walls and doors, or on curtains and veils.
In Genesis the Christian god places two or
more cherubim on or around the eastern part of the garden
of Eden. There is no description of them, and the only
reason that they are placed there (along with an
independantly rotating/flaming sword) is to help 'keep
the way of the tree of life'. We can safely say that if
they were living, physical entities resembling humans in
size (or greater) they are no longer there - they would
have been found by now, perhaps they were killed in
Noah's flood.
In Exodus and the First book of Kings
cherubim are mentioned as large figures made of olive
wood - covered in gold, as images on walls and doors,
images woven into curtains, and images incorporated into
the borders and onto the plates of the ledges of the
'molten sea'. We also learn from the Second book of
Chronicles that the images of cherubim have feet.
In the Second book of Kings Hezekiah says
that God dwells between cherubim.
Up to this point in the Bible it cannot be
construed that cherubim are corporeal creatures.
Nevertheless, when Psalms and Ezekiel are reached the
nature of cherubim takes a decided turn. In Psalms 18:10
it is given that cherubim can fly and that they are of a
sufficient stature to carry God him/herself around, or
conversely God is minuscule enough to ride around on
board a cherub. We are not told if cherubim have a little
tail-fin which sports a little Israeli Airlines logo.
According to Ezekiel cherubim are living creatures which
have heads, can stand, have at least one fireproof hand,
have wings that make a sound, and can grow hands
underneath their wings. Also, cherubim have visited the
holy mountain of God at least once and have walked up and
down it, from which we can conclude that they have two
functioning legs. Ezekiel's last unique reference to
cherubs says that images of them can have two faces - of
a man and a lion.
The only reference to cherubim in the New
Testament recalls the images of them on the ark of the
covenant.
Angels
There is a greater amount of detail
regarding angels in the Bible. Most of which is quite
mundane - the greater majority of the given attributes of
an angel can quite easily be applied to any normal human
being without controversy.
It is interesting to expound on the supposed
supernatural nature of angels. Although angels seem to
exist in Heaven, they are obliged to use a ladder to
clamber up and down to and from that place. There are two
kinds of angels (those that are allies of God and those
that are allies of the Devil) and those aligned with God
are capable of, and commit mass-murder. It appears that
angels can fly - but only when they are in Heaven. It is
also stated that there is an innumerable amount of
immortal angels. There is only one named archangel -
Michael. Angels are capable of transmuting water to make
it a special kind of healing water (which surprisingly is
not always effective). Apparently the Heaven that angels
existed in was above or near a planet that was shaped
like a tetrahedron - they were able to stand on it's four
corners - and the atmospheric chemistry of this angular
planet was sufficiently dense to enable them to grab hold
of large enough chunks to restrict the movement of the
remainder of the atmosphere. It's spooky, but that planet
was also call 'the earth'. It is reported that angels are
on occasion not averse to wearing clouds and donning
rainbows and sometimes have faces that shine as bright as
the sun. Angels can have flaming feet. One wonders if an
angel's firey feet would be extinguished by the water
they are capable of standing on. Angels are
linguistically supreme, presumably they are able to
converse with the dragons that they fight. Angels have a
disturbing sense of humour - they like to feed humans
little books which give the poor recipients indigestion,
but make the little books taste nice to eat. An unnamed
angel keeps the key to a bottomless pit. Angels are sent
by Jesus. Angels have loud voices which sometimes
resemble that of God's.
Another surprising skill shown by angels is
the ability to 'stand in the sun' - therefore they are
able to withstand incredible radiation effects, light-bendingly
strong gravitational forces, and a surface temperature of
anywhere between 5,780 K and 1,000,000 K. It can also be
deduced that an angel's organs of vision (there is no
reference to any angel having eyes in the Christian Bible)
can withstand the solar luminosity equivalent of FOUR
TRILLION TRILLION one hundred watt light bulbs. Given the
special ability to 'stand in the sun', angels must also
be made of a substance as yet unknown to science - in
close proximity, the temperature of the sun would
instantly vaporize any known material.
For completeness I will include the more
human aspects of angelic existence.
Angels can speak, have feet and can eat, sit
and stand. They carry and use swords, staffs and sharp
sickles - with their hands. It is reported that angels
issue curses, can have secret names, can be evil and
appear in dreams. Angels can move medium sized rocks and
lift and throw millstones. They have little books and can
write. As well as wearing clouds and rainbows, angels
routinely wear white linen clothes and sometimes wear
golden girdles. There are at least seven angels who know
how to play the trumpet. Angels like to burn a little
incense, they have loud voices. Angels are not
particularly law-abiding - they know how to spring people
from jail, undo chains and open gates. They can have a
terrible countenance, instill fear in people and know how
to destroy them, but on the other-hand they experience
joy every time a sinner repents. At least one angel is
called Gabriel (I cannot find a reference in the Bible
that shows Gabriel to be an archangel, but I am willing
to be enlightened). Angels are messengers and ask
rhetorical questions and sometimes appear in human guise.
Angels have a heirarchy and are mighty.
Conclusion
It has been shown - from the Bible - that in
the case of cherubim they are mostly reported as human
image constructions or ornaments. That in the case of
seraphim the evidence is too scarce for them to be a much
of a worthwhile consideration.
So what have we learned from the above, from
what is actually contained in the Bible about angels?
Well, the idea of personal guardian angels, flying babies
angels, cherishing, caring angels, angels-of-mercy and
such-like is not shown. They are, however, shown to be
mostly quite ordinary - and possess many human attributes.
After all, there is nothing too unique about the ability
to be a mass-murderer, play the trumpet or climb a ladder
- many Christians have possessed these skills over the
last 2000 years. Angelic paranormal 'skills' would seem
to be born of the ignorance of the writers of the
Biblical texts, ignorance of physics and a well
established agenda of population control. I put it to any
reader of this page that noone has ever seen or
experienced an angel, seraphim, or cherubim outside of
their own imagination. And even if they were to say that
they have personally witnessed any manifestation of such
a being will be unable to prove conclusively, as a matter
of fact, otherwise.
(Below is my reference list of known
attributes of angels. It has been culled from my KJV HTML
Bible.)
Old Testament - Angels
1. Genesis 16:09-16:12 - Angels have the ability to speak.
(At least in ancient Hebrew)
2. Genesis 19:02-19:03 - They have feet and can eat.
3. Genesis 28:11 - They climb up and down ladders to get
to and from Heaven.
4. Exodus 3:2 - Angels can appear to people from in or
near non-burning, burning bushes.
5. Numbers 22:23 - They carry and use swords.
6. Judges 5:23 - Angels issue curses.
7. Judges 6:11 - Angels can sit.
8. Judges 6:21 - They have hands and can carry a staff.
9. Judges 6:22 - They have faces.
10. Judges 13:06 - Angels have a terrible countenance.
11. Judges 13:18 - They can have secret names.
12. 2Samuel 24:16 - They destroy people.
13. Kings 19:05 - Angels can touch things.
14. 2kings 19:35 - Angels are not above killing 5180
Assyrians in one go.
15. Psalms 78:49 - Thay can be evil.
16. Zechariah 1:11 - Angels can stand.
New
Testament - Angels
17. Matthew 1:20 - They can appear to people in dreams.
18. Matthew 25:41 - There are two kinds of angels - God's
angels and the Devil's angels.
19. Matthew 28:02 - Angels can move medium sized rocks.
20. Matthew 28:03 - The have a countenance like
lightening and their clothing is white.
21. Matthew 28:04 - Angels instill fear in people.
22. Mark 12:25 - They live in Heaven.
23. Luke 1:19 - One of them is called Gabriel.
24. Luke 1:26-1:38 - Angels are messengers.
25. Luke 15:10 - Angels experience joy every time a
sinner repents.
26. Luke 16:22 - They can carry things.
27. Luke 20:36 - Angels don't die.
28. John 5:04 - They can interact physically with water
to make it a special healing water.
29. John 20:12 - They ask rhetorical questions.
30. Acts 5:19 - Angels are not above springing folks from
jail.
31. Acts 12:07 - They know how to undo chains.
32. Acts 12:10 - Angels can open gates.
33. 1Thessalonians 4:16 - There is a heirarchy of angels.
34. 1Thessalonians 4:16 - Angels have voices that can be
similar to God's.
35. 2Thessalonians 1:07 - Angels are mighty.
36. Hebrews 12:22 - There is an innumerable amount of
angels.
37. Hebrews 13:02 - Angels somtimes appear in the guise
of humans.
38. Jude 1:09 - There is an archangel called Michael.
39. Revlations 5:02 - Angels can have loud voices.
40. Revelations 7:01 - They know where the four corners
of the earth are.
41. Revelations 7:01 - Angels are able to hold the wind.
42. Revelations 8:04 - They burn incense.
43. Revelations 8:07 - They know how to play the trumpet.
44. Revelations 8:13 - When they are in heaven they can
fly.
45. Revelations 10:01 - Angels can wear clouds and have
rainbows on their heads.
46. Revelations 10:01 - They can have faces that shine as
bright as the sun.
47. Revelations 10:01 - Angels sometimes have feet made
of fire.
48. Revelations 10:02 - They have little books.
49. Revelations 10:04 - Angels can write.
50. Revelations 10:08 - Angels can stand on water.
51. Revelations 10:10 - Angels are not above giving
humans little books to eat, but make them nice to taste,
even though the little books, when eaten, give humans
indigestion.
52. Revelations 12:07 - They fight with dragons.
53. Revelations 14:06 - Angels can speak every language.
54. Revelations 14:07 - They carry sharp sickles.
55. Revelations 15:06 - Angels wear white linen and
golden girdles.
56. Revelations 18:21 - They can lift and throw
millstones.
57. Revelations 19:17 - Angels can stand in the sun.
58. Revelations 20:01 - Angels have the key to the
bottomless pit.
59. Revelations 22:26 - They are sent by Jesus.
Old
Testament - Cherubim
1. Genesis 3:24 - Some Cherubim know where the eastern
section of the garden of Eden is.
2. Exodus 25:20 - There are two gold cherubim carved
small enough to fit on the ark of the covenant. They have
wings, and faces.
3. Exodus 26:01 - Images of cherubim are woven into
curtains.
4. 1Kings 6:23 - Large cherubim can be made of olive
wood, covered in gold.
5. 1Kings 6:29 - Images of cherubim can be carved into
walls.
6. 1Kings 6:32 - Images of cherubim can be carved into
doors, and can be covered with gold.
7. 1Kings 7:29 - Images of cherubim can be incorporated
into the borders of a 'molten sea'.
8. 1Kings 7:36 - ...and onto the plates of the ledges of
the 'molten sea'.
9. 2Kings 19:15 - Hezekiah says that God dwells between
cherubim.
10. 2Chronicles 3:13 - Images of Cherubim have feet.
11. Psalms 18:10 - God is small enough to ride on a
cherub. Cherubs can fly.
12. Ezekiel 10:01 - Cherubim have heads.
13. Ezekiel 10:03 - Cherubim can stand.
14. Ezekiel 10:05 - Cherubim wings make a sound.
15. Ezekiel 10:07 - Cherubs have at least one hand, which
is fireproof.
16. Ezekiel 10:08 - Cherubim can grow hands under their
wings.
17. Ezekiel 10:20 - Cherubim are living creatures.
18. Ezekiel 28:14 - Cherubs have been to the holy
mountain of God at least once and walked up and down it.
19. Ezekiel 41:18 - Images of cherubs can have two faces,
a man and a lion.
Old
Testament - Seraphim
1. Isaiah 6:02 - Seraphim sit above God's throne.
2. Isaiah 6:02 - Seraphim have six wings, two of which
can cover a seraph face, two to cover the feet and two to
fly.
3. Isaiah 6:03 - Seraphim are capable of speech.
4. Isaiah 6:06 - Seraphim are capable of using tongs to
carry hot coals.
5. Isaiah 6:07 - Seraphim can lay a hot coal on someones
mouth which will take away iniquity and purge sin.
"Look,
you can either accept science and face
reality, or you can believe in angels and
live in a childish dreamworld." - Lisa
Simpson
