Angels are usually depicted as God's servants adorned with angelic faces and fluffy wings, but in some books of the Bible, angels began appearing atop Christmas trees across the United States. It depicts a much different and more frightening being.
Pastor Kira Austin-Young and her doll-maker husband Michael Schubach hatched the idea of creating their own series of Biblical angels to help take the heat out of the cabin during the pandemic.
“Especially in the world we're in right now, when things seem kind of scary and weird, I think it's like a scary, weird angel talking to people,” Austin-Young said.
The Bible has little to say about what angels actually look like. Much is left to interpretation, giving rise to the typically white and blonde messengers of God most commonly seen in church and Renaissance art.
The book of Revelation at the end of the Bible and some of the Old Testament books of the prophets are some of the few parts that delve into exactly what a soldier of God should be, but they are not as beautiful as the average churchgoer. there is no. I think so.
“Some have six wings and their eyes cover the wings. Some have multiple animal heads,” Austin-Young said.
“I think one of the great things about the Bible and the Bible is how strange it is and how real it is.”
Social media and pop culture are full of different interpretations of these “biblical angels,” who appear in drawings, tattoo inspiration, and even makeup tutorials.
One of Austin-Young's favorite depictions of the Annunciation, in which the Archangel Gabriel tells Mary that she is going to conceive and give birth to the Son of God, follows: Written by Henry Ossawa Tanner. Gabriel is depicted as nothing more than a vague light shape, with no clear humanoid features or even a physical form.
“It makes me think again, 'What would it be like if an angel approached me?'” she says.
“If it's someone you don't know, or if it's a strange creature, or if it's this kind of manifestation of God's message to you. … It could be anything.”
Esther Hamori, professor of Hebrew Bible at Union Theological Seminary, explains the important difference between angels and other “supernatural species” mentioned in the Bible, such as seraphim and cherubim.
“This shows that people think the Bible contains much more strange things than is often taught,” Hamori wrote.
“The Biblical heavens are filled with strange and terrifying characters. The Bible says that God has an entourage of monsters.”
People often confuse God's angels with God's catalog of other mystical creatures, but Hamori is still a fan of the Biblically accurate angel trend.
According to a 2023 survey, about 7 in 10 U.S. adults believe in angels. Poll by Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Yet there has never been a consensus on what they should be, or even what they actually are.
