© 1995 Meredith Sprunger
© 1995 The Christian Fellowship of Students of The Urantia Book
In modern times mainline Christian theologians have had little to say about angels. The scientific-rational atmosphere of our culture has caused many of the faithful to regard angels as a figment of religious imagination. Like Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny, they are mentioned at Christmas and Easter but are not taken very seriously in everyday life.
Angels, how ever, have made a remarkable comeback, not because of the hundreds of references to them in the Bible, or through the endorsement of clergy, although two decades ago Billy Graham wrote a popular book about angels. The existence of angels has gained credibility primarily because they have been championed by the popular press and books in secular bookstores. Many people have experiences of help and guidance which they attribute to these heavenly helpers.
Christian theology has no systematic view of spiritual cosmology, a higher order of personalities, or life after death. The Urantia Book presents a systematic and credible picture of all of these that makes sense of the entire spiritual universe which must exist if life after death and the Christian concept of heaven have any validity. The description of the many categories of spiritual personalities from the Paradise Trinity to the various orders of angels gives a sense of authenticity and rational order to celestial reality. Guardian angels are assigned to individuals and the description of their responsibilities is a fascinating story.
No doubt because of the contemporary interest in angels, the October, 1994 issue of Theology Today is devoted to the study of angels. Reading these articles written by mainline theologians and comparing them with the orderly and meaningful picture of the mission of angels in The Urantia Book makes them appear threadbare and almost childish. People have a great hunger for this spiritual dimension of reality and, as we have seen, will create it if it is not available in religious institutions. The church desperately needs to discover the enlarged spiritual vision presented in The Urantia Book. When this happens there will be a renaissance in the Christian faith which will be the greatest stimulus to spiritual growth since Jesus’ gospel precipitated W’estern Civilization.