F ear gripped Zechariah; Mary felt perplexed; the shepherds were terrified. Angels incited these feelings, as they carried messages to each of the important figures in the Christmas story.

Who are these awe-inspiring beings? Why do angels appear in these prominent roles in the birth of Jesus Christ? What does the Bible, as opposed to myths and lore, tell us about angels?

Angels appear throughout the Bible, as early as in the book of Genesis and many times in the final book of Revelation. Even so, the Scriptures provide very little description of these beings created by God and offer even less of a theological explanation for them, said the Rev. Dr. John Larson, minister at First Presbyterian Church in Natchez.

&8220;Angels are an enigma in the Christian church, coming out of a non-Hebraic background,&8221; Larson said. &8220;And angels as we know them today are probably a construct created by people in the Middle Ages.&8221;

Still, angels have meaning both in the historical and modern contexts, he said. &8220;Angels are messengers of good news or sources of comfort. They are the caregivers of God,&8221; he said. &8220;I think it&8217;s understood in the Scriptures that angels are the servants of God.&8221;

Andrew J. Bandstra, an emeritus professor of New Testament at Calvin Theological Seminary in Grand Rapids, Mich., says in his book, &8220;In the Company of Angels,&8221; that John Calvin &8220;reminds us that when we affirm the existence of angels and study diligently what the Bible has to say about them, we must be careful not to fall into superstition. He meant especially that we ought not to transfer to them the power, honor and glory that belong to God and Christ alone.&8221;

Indeed, the theology of angels is &8220;a little ambiguous,&8221; said the Rev. David O&8217;Connor, pastor of St. Mary Basilica and Assumption Catholic Church. &8220;The role of angels as we understand it is that they are messengers from God. They are bringers of good news in the context of the Christmas story.&8221;

Angels announce the birth

Angels telling the shepherds about the birth of the Messiah demonstrated to them the importance of the message. &8220;It was a momentous event,&8221; O&8217;Connor said. &8220;It had to be made known in this way so that people knew to expect something different.&8221;

The angel made his announcement to the shepherds. Then, Luke 2: 13-14 says, &8220;And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, &8216;Glory to God in the highest heaven and on earth peace among men.&8217;&8221;

To the shepherds, with their fear soon turning to hope, &8220;it was like the joy of heaven being shared with them,&8221; Larson said.

O&8217;Connor said the image of the heavenly host &8220;is almost like a heavenly court joining in the celebration&8221;

Bandstra said the angel&8217;s appearance along with the heavenly host &8220;adds power and glory to the gospel.&8221;

Angels brought good news to Zechariah, who learned that he would become the father of a son, John the Baptist, who, the angel said, would &8220;make ready a people prepared for the Lord.&8221; The Virgin Mary learned from an angel of the miraculous conception by the Holy Spirit. Joseph, who was about to turn Mary away rather than to marry a woman already pregnant, also learned from an angel that the child would be the Son of God.

The nature of angels

&8220;There seems no doubt that God sends messengers,&8221; O&8217;Connor said. &8220;I have a very strong conviction that God communicates with us, but not necessarily through angels. In a sense, the messenger role can be accomplished without the external role of angels.&8221;

Larson agreed, saying &8220;when the church didn&8217;t take the Holy Spirit seriously, angels took on that role. Now perhaps they are not needed as much.&8221;

That does not mean that angels do not exist. Both clergymen said the existence of angels in biblical times tells something about God&8217;s universal love for creation. &8220;Angels tell us that he loves all of his creation and takes the initiative in communicating his messages to us. How he does that today may vary,&8221; O&8217;Connor said.

Bandstra, in his book, points out that angels are indeed created by God and are not all-powerful or present everywhere. Rather, they are where God tells them to be and doing what he bids them do.

Furthermore, all the Christmastime choirs of angelic little girls to the contrary, the Bible refers only to male angels although &8220;there seem to be no male and female in the angelic world,&8221; Bandstra said.

O&8217;Connor said, &8220;I have a great sense that we couldn&8217;t theologically say the angel appeared in a particular form, but that still brings us to the fact that God sends messengers to fulfill his purpose.&8221;

The Rev. LeRoy White, pastor of several churches in Natchez and nearby Louisiana, said many people have the wrong vision of angels as winged beings flying around the universe.

&8220;An angel is someone God chooses to use. God has sent messages in many ways, including the angels Gabriel and Michael and the cherubim and seraphim, who had different roles. God sent angels to do special things. Someone warning you not to do something that could harm you also may be an angel,&8221; White said.

In the Middle Ages, St. Augustine said &8220;angels are spirits, but it is not because they are spirits that they are angels. They become angels when they are sent.&8221;

Angels and ordinary folk

That God chose ordinary people to visit through his angels in the announcement of Christ&8217;s birth is important to note, Larson said. It is the same with the biblical prophets.

&8220;The prophets and the messengers come to the fringe people long before appearing to the establishment,&8221; he said. &8220;God tends to work on the fringe of society. God works against the societal norm. For us today, the question is whether it is speaking to us. We&8217;re the establishment. We ought to listen more clearly to the words and be shaken by them.&8221;

Further, the decision to send angels to shepherds and ordinary people such as Mary and Joseph shows God&8217;s love for every man, O&8217;Connor said.

&8220;It is a message to the powerful and important people that God would choose the ordinary in carrying out his mission. That also is carried out throughout Christ&8217;s ministry, the dignity of every person based on their personhood and not on what they own or had access to,&8221; O&8217;Connor said.

White said shepherds were people of lowest standing. &8220;No one paid shepherds any attention. This was a way to keep Satan from preventing the plan of God from taking place. They were looking all over the place for this baby. Satan would never have thought God would send His Son to this little couple from Nazareth. He came poor so we could be rich.&8221;

Are they our guardians?

People in biblical times believed in guardian angels, as many people also do today. When an angel came to Joseph after baby Jesus was born and said, &8220;Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him,&8221; it was in the spirit of the guardian angel.

O&8217;Connor said the concept of the guardian angel is a lovely one, showing &8220;God has special care of every person and sends one of his special attendants to watch over them. This concept is very reassuring for children and maybe also for adults.&8221;

Bandstra writes of biblical references to guardian angels. He reminds readers, however, that guardian angels do not act on their own but always according to God&8217;s will.

His research leads him to conclude, &8220;if believing that a particular angel has been assigned for your personal and perpetual security gives you the assurance of God&8217;s personal care for you, then I see no harm in holding to it. Just remember that it is really God&8217;s care through the angel that gives us security.&8221;

The Rev. Billy Graham in his book &8220;Angels: God&8217;s Secret Agents&8221; cites 1 Corinthians 4:9, &8220;We are a spectacle to angels; they are watching us,&8221; and writes, &8220;Our certainty that angels right now witness how we are walking through life should mightily influence the decisions we make. God is watching, and His angels are interested spectators, too.&8221;