Are angels real?

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > Are angels real?

Sharkie: Feb 4, 2013; by Fluffdaddy

I don't know. Probably not. But I'm willing to look at the evidence. Regardless of whether they are or are not real, what do they look like and what kind of powers do they have? Which religion got closest to being right about them?

itt tell me about angels and how do I find out what my guardian angel looks like, if I have one.

# ¿ Nov 20, 2022 22:49

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# ¿ May 22, 2024 09:29

Sharkie: Feb 4, 2013; by Fluffdaddy

Nelson Mandingo posted:

There is very limited evidence of anything supernatural. It's 99% mostly anecdotal or wishful thinking and there is too much we simply don't understand.

A good example of the 1% my (very atheist) psychology professor's wife had a twin sister. He was about to get into bed and his wife jolted awake completely horrified, saying her sister was in trouble when they lived across the nation from each other. She frantically called and it turned out her sister was having a minor heart attack at that very moment. Completely unexplainable and unbelievable unless he personally witnessed it.

But there is probably some kind of deep mechanism we simply don't understand yet. There is likely an explaination for everything. Your guardian angel probably doesn't exist.

I've heard about this kind of stuff happening before from family members. I don't know what it is either.

Private Cumshoe posted:

ya ur mom OP

This is sweet, thank you.

Epic High Five posted:

OP there is almost certainly no shortage of spiritually active people in D&D who would be happy to contribute to a discussion here but you're going to need to give a little more for them to work off of, such as what brought you to ask or your relevant background/experiences. It's a huge, huge topic. On the subject of guardian angels I recommend Revolt of the Angels by Anatole France, or if you just need a quick summary it is that they are deeply heretical and probably not the sort of thing anything gains by by having around in their life.

Well I'm just curious about angels and wanted to learn and talk about them. But I guess where do guardian angels come from, what do we believe about them and why, that's a good place to narrow it down!

# ¿ Nov 21, 2022 03:26

Sharkie: Feb 4, 2013; by Fluffdaddy

Ghost Leviathan posted:

Are ghosts real? Are satyrs real? Is Slenderman real?

If faith is important to you, trying to poke at the idea of 'proof' isn't going to help.

I'm not, I literally just want to learn about angels and read a discussion by people who know about them, because life is hard and it's a nice thing to read about.

For example I just read about St. John of Bosco, who reportedly had an angelic bodyguard in the form of a grey dog named Grigio!

quote:

John Bosco (1815-1888), popularly known as Don Bosco, was an Italian Roman Catholic priest - and declared a Saint some 40 years after his death. The good priest devoted his life to helping the disadvantaged youth, and was hated by many evil people who wanted him dead.

One dark evening in 1852 as Father Bosco walked through the deserted streets of Turin, in northern Italy, a big grey dog approached him. At first the priest was scared but quickly realized the dog was friendly as he gently greeted him with a wagging tail. The dog walked alongside Father Bosco and when they arrived at the gate to his home the dog trotted away.

That was the first of many encounters the two had when the priest would walk at night. The dog, who Father Bosco named Grigio (the Italian word for grey), would appear out of nowhere then disappear when the priest safely reached his destination. On two occasions Grigio fought off attackers by knocking them to the ground, and on another occasion the dog's fierce look and savage growls were enough to scare a mob of assailants away.

One night Father Bosco was determined to go out to attend to an urgent matter despite his mother's pleas to stay home. As the priest approached his gate he saw Grigio lying in front of it. He was happy to see the dog thinking he would follow him but Grigio would not budge or let Father Bosco go pass him. The priest's mother told him if he wasn't going to listen to her he should at least listen to the dog, who had more sense than him. Father Bosco stayed and about 15 minutes later he learned that some dangerous men were waiting down the road to kill him.

As long as the persecution lasted, Grigio was there to protect Father Bosco, and when the danger passed he stopped coming. For years Grigio was not seen, until one night in 1866 when the priest went to visit a friend. As he walked down the dark road he remembered a couple of guard dogs were close by and wished Grigio was with him. At once the big grey dog appeared at his side. They headed to his friend's farmhouse and when the two guard dogs came after them Grigio scared them away. They made it to the friend's house safely and Grigio laid in a corner of the room while the priest and his friend dined. Later, when Father Bosco turned around to offer Grigio some food, the dog was no longer there. This time his disappearing act was not just trotting away, he left a home with the door and windows shut. This was the last encounter Father Bosco had with Grigio.

When Father Bosco was asked to give an opinion on the nature of the grey dog "...he admitted that the dog was a creature worthy of note in his life. Although saying that the dog was an angel would have certainly made people laugh, nevertheless he had to admit that he was not a common dog. Don Bosco often thought about the origin of that dog and he admitted that he had been a true gift from Providence."

It was also supposedly spotted a hundred years after his death. I'm willing to put Grigio in the "probable" category because why not.

Sharkie fucked around with this message at 13:04 on Nov 21, 2022

# ¿ Nov 21, 2022 12:59

Sharkie: Feb 4, 2013; by Fluffdaddy

Archonex posted:

Probably explains the slander in the bible too, if it turns out it was slander. The whole burning children alive thing comes to mind. Never even heard actual certifiable proof it happened (and if it did, there's evidence that suggests it only happened in times of extreme cataclysm and desperation. Basically a last ditch effort to get their gods to stop killing them by offering a portion of their own flesh and future to them.) that hadn't come from a Christian apologist or Roman/Grecian apologist looking to excuse the razing of Carthage (and conflating the two due to Carthage originally being a Phoenician colony) that wasn't highly suspect and extrapolating at the very best.

Alternatively, bank on your guardian angel being a kick rear end Marvel Thor type I guess?

Thanks for this post! But unfortunately it does look like the sacrifice of children did happen. https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2014-01-23-ancient-carthaginians-really-did-sacrifice-their-children It looks like we've found lots of remains treated in the same way as sacrificial animal remains.

Also I'm not a huge Thor fan so pass.

H.R. Hufflepuff posted:

Well, it's certainly not the new good thread

You should post something then! Surely you've had thoughts about angels at some point or another. Angels are useful for thinking with. So share them if you want to.

edit: Now here's an angel I'd be happy to have as a guardian angel, very cool.

Mughal Empire, 1700s

Sharkie fucked around with this message at 00:52 on Nov 22, 2022

# ¿ Nov 22, 2022 00:49

Sharkie: Feb 4, 2013; by Fluffdaddy

Jaxyon posted:

Can we discuss other demigods/supernatural creatures in here?

Or is this an angels only thread?

Ok but let's keep things celestial.

Carmant posted:

Angels are real
But they don't always have wings
They surely bring joy
But they don't always sing

Angels are real
If you take a hard look
There are angels all around you
They catch all the crooks

Yes, Angels are real
They're our boys in blue
Who keep us all safe
There is nothing more true

Thank you for reading. Please like and share to all your friends if you support the police.

Incorrect. When cops die you can clearly see their little red demon souls with horns getting dragged down into hell.

# ¿ Nov 22, 2022 01:12

Sharkie: Feb 4, 2013; by Fluffdaddy

Jaxyon posted:

Are fairies and harpies real?

Yes, and yes.

# ¿ Nov 22, 2022 01:57

Sharkie: Feb 4, 2013; by Fluffdaddy

Epic High Five posted:

In a more abstract sense, angels are messengers of God and the domain of personal relationships with man is reserved to God who is three parts. An angel in such a role can either be heretical (encroaching upon the domain of God, likely driven by hubris) or little more than a messenger. One may as well have a guardian postal worker.

I don't get this part. Surely people can have personal relationships with each other, right? So why can't angels, I don't know why that would be heretical. People can help each other, God can help people, but angels can't?

Koos Group posted:

Guardian angels are not heretical though, at least in the Catholic Church. Thomas Aquinas believed in them and multiple popes have made reference to them.

If you have any sources I could read, throw them in the thread please! It looks like Aquinas said "On this road man is threatened by many dangers both from within and without, and therefore as guardians are appointed for men who have to pass by an unsafe road, so an angel is assigned to each man as long as he is a wayfarer." which sounds like a guardian angel and not heresy so that's neat.

# ¿ Nov 23, 2022 01:59

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# ¿ May 22, 2024 09:29

Sharkie: Feb 4, 2013; by Fluffdaddy

Based on the evidence I have decided YES angels are real:

Evidence:

# ¿ Dec 6, 2022 02:53

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > Are angels real?