Marrow Man
Drunk with Powder
I am curious about the origin of certain superstitious ideas that Christians have about angels.
The first is the idea that when good people die, they go to heaven and become angels. This is actually a fairly common folk belief, unless I miss my guess. Does anyone know where this originated? Venturing a guess, I'm thinking it might have something to do with a bad reading of Matthew 22:30: "In the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven."
The second is a peculiar one that I just ran across not too long ago (I read it in an obituary in the paper, written by the son or daughter of the deceased). It is the belief that either 1) the souls of children are angels in heaven prior to being born or 2) the souls of children simply live in heaven prior to being born. I know that Origen believed in the pre-existence of the soul, but this belief seems to be a bit different (and more sentimental in nature than anything else).
Any ideas? And have any of you come across these beliefs in your congregations?
The first is the idea that when good people die, they go to heaven and become angels. This is actually a fairly common folk belief, unless I miss my guess. Does anyone know where this originated? Venturing a guess, I'm thinking it might have something to do with a bad reading of Matthew 22:30: "In the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven."
The second is a peculiar one that I just ran across not too long ago (I read it in an obituary in the paper, written by the son or daughter of the deceased). It is the belief that either 1) the souls of children are angels in heaven prior to being born or 2) the souls of children simply live in heaven prior to being born. I know that Origen believed in the pre-existence of the soul, but this belief seems to be a bit different (and more sentimental in nature than anything else).
Any ideas? And have any of you come across these beliefs in your congregations?