Angels and You预览

Contemporary Encounters with Angels

The Bible is replete with references to angels. Sixteen of the Old Testament books mention them, plus seventeen of the New Testament books. But are angels merely relegated to biblical times?

According to one survey, 75 percent of people around the world believe in angels. More than one out of three of them report having a personal experience with a celestial being – and for 15 percent of them, it happened in a vibrant dream. In fact, that’s what happened to me as a youngster, as I describe in Seeing the Supernatural: an angel appeared to me in a vivid dream and gave a prophecy that came true 16 years later.

Other accounts abound. I once interviewed theologian Roger Olson from Baylor University. “I remember one incident where a little boy in our church, probably ten years old, accidentally opened the door and fell out of the family car while it was driving down the road,” he recalled.

“When they rushed to pick him up, they thought he would be dead, but instead he was just standing there. They said, ‘What happened?’ He said, ‘Well, didn’t you see the man? He caught me.’ There’s no doubt in my mind that an angel caught him.”

Billy Graham offered the account of Scottish missionary John G. Paton, whose home in the New Hebrides Islands of the South Pacific was threatened by a hostile mob intent on burning it down, killing him and his wife. Paton and his spouse prayed intently all night – and as the sun rose, they were surprised to see that the crowd had dispersed.

A year later, the chief of the tribe that had been threatening them became a Christian. One day Paton asked him why they abandoned their plan to attack Paton’s home that night. Replied the chief: “Who were all those men that you had with you there?” Said the missionary: “There were no men, just my wife and I.” The chief insisted there had been hundreds of big men in shining garments and with drawn swords encircling the home.

“Only then,” said Graham, “did Mr. Paton realize that God had sent his angels to protect them. The chief agreed that there was no other explanation.”

In short, if people interacted with angels in biblical days, then why not in contemporary times?Hebrews 13:2 says: “Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing so some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.”

Of course, we should measure any modern accounts of angels against biblical teachings, knowing that anything that’s contrary to Scripture is false. And it makes sense to evaluate the credibility of the individual sharing the story. Do they have something to gain? Is there a materialistic explanation that might account for the phenomenon? Nevertheless, I’ve heard too many compelling accounts of angelic encounters to doubt that angels are real, that they’re among us, and that they care about each of us.

Even skeptics who are suspicious about the inspiration of the Bible but still hold Jesus in high regard should know that he specifically mentioned angels. In Luke 20:36, he said people can no longer die in the afterlife “for they are like the angels.” Here, he confirms their existence, just as the rest of Scripture does in some three hundred other references.

—Lee Strobel

YOUR RESPONSE

1. Have you ever had an encounter with an angelic spirit – or heard a convincing story about someone who did? What was your response? Were you skeptical about the account or accepting – and why?
2. If someone told you a story of personally encountering an angel, what factors would you consider in weighing whether the story is plausible?
3. Have you ever doubted that angelic spirits exist? If so, how did you resolve the issue? What evidence did you consider to be persuasive?