Angels with wings are taken for granted. Traditional and popular art almost always shows them with wings. But the Bible doesn't exactly describe angels as actually having wings. Seraphim and cherubims and creatures around the throne of God are described as having wings. But they are different heavenly beings than angels.

On the other hand, God is frequently described in Scripture as having wings. But traditional and popular depictions of God seldom if ever show him with wings.


Why do we think angels have wings?

HEY TOM WETMORE

THIS is a very good question??????
maybe they use then for speed travel???

the angel that came to DANIEL when he
was praying can down fast

but then the angel at SODOM AND GOMORRHA
when they came no mention of wings

but the could have hidden their wings

so I AM not really sure on this one

dgrimm60

And we almost never see angels with the four different faces of four different beasts, as described in Ezekiel. And covered in eyes. I want my angels freakier and more alien looking, as they no doubt are, rather than Aryans with wings.

HEY BRAVUS

the eyes and 4 faces
but in EZEKIEL Chap 1 ver 6 it says
4 faces and 4 wings....also in EZEKIEL
Chap 1 ver 11 it talk about 2 wings
touching one another and 2 wings covering
their bodies

now was EZEKIEL really describing angels
are was this just symbolism like JOHN
wrote in REVELATIONS....

just thinking


dgrimnm60

I think your correct dgrimm60.

pk

As I understand it, Ezekiel was describing something for which he didn't identify as even being angels. There are parts of what he described as being cherubims which I think popular understanding and depiction show as being essentially angelic in form rather than the bizarre, alien creatures that surrounded the throne of God.

But here is a thought that I have also considered about the idea of wings on angels. I think that angelic beings are capable of transmogrification or shape-shifting into any visible form that serves the mission they are assigned to do. When they appear, it would be in whatever form that matches what will meet the need or understanding of who they are appearing to. Given the perception of heaven as being a place "up there" and the messenger role between "up there" and down here, the best way for God to explain that sort of "travel" through the air to ancient people was to describe his messengers as having feathered wings just like the only thing known to man that could do such a thing - birds. So angels have wings like that. That was good enough then to explain how they got from down here to up there.

If the angelic travel actually required physical travel over vast distances at the warp speeds necessary, those birdlike feathers would have burned up on re-entry! And if travel goes through space I don't think flapping wings in the vacuum of space would function very well. Perhaps if God's first opportunity to introduce such a being was after mankind had invented airplanes, rockets and space travel, angels would have had jet packs...

If symbolic, perhaps it was to leave poor old Ezekiel so awestruck that God was way beyond anything he could have imagined. What Ezekiel saw certainly surpassed and exceeded anything the pagans could come up with as their gods... And maybe it served that purpose - My God is way more awesome than your god!

HEY TOM WETMORE

I agree with you that Angels can turn
into any form they need to... and if they
have wings they can hide them from our
eyes....and I can see your point about
explaining to the way about Angels way
of travel to the ancient people...

but I E.G. WHITE talks about angels
with wings???? not sure were????


dgrimm60

I think that EGW did "see" wings. Would she have recognized those beings as angels in any other form? What if the angel had appeared to her in the form of a talking banana? Do you think she would have undestood it to be an angel?

Not only did angels have wings ... but Ellen White had wings.

In Adventist Home [on page 543 she said in one vision she was given wings to visit other worlds].