In Revelation 2 messages are
sent to "the angel of the church" in various places, or, maybe more
accurately, to these churches via their angel. Who or what is "the angel
of a church"?
Three options have been supported in the history of
interpretation.
They might be human representatives. As far as the Greek
word is concerned, the translation “messenger”
is perfectly acceptable and such messengers need not be supernatural (see,
e.g., Luke 7:24; 9:52). But as envoys they are linked with the sender more than
the recipient. This does not seem to fit the scenario in Revelation 2 very
well.
They might be spiritual
beings, as the translation “angel” suggest. But there is no evidence to
suggest that readers would have been prepared to associate specific angels with
specific churches and the rhetorical force of the messages, with their
commendations and criticisms, is directed to the congregations, not to some
guardian angels.
The third option does justice
to the fact that the actual people of the congregation are addressed. The “angel”
is then the core essence of an entity, its collective spirit.
Here is how T. Scott Daniels, Seven
Deadly Spirits: The Message of Revelation's Letters for Today's Church
(Baker Academic, 2009)
“The angel is a kind of corporate personality created and formed by the members of the church and the surrounding culture but now operating in such a way that it in turns shapes, reinforces, and holds the collective life of that congregation in its grasp.” (page 24)
As he teases this out (on
pages 27-28) Scott Daniels draws on Walter Wink’s influential trilogy on
Powers, especially vol. 2: Unmasking the Powers: The Invisible Forces That Determine
Human Existence (Fortress Press, 1986).
“How are these angels formed? What forces come together to create the angels of the churches? Wink suggests six. [Unmasking the Powers, 73-77] The first is the architecture and ambiance of a church. Buildings, Wink argues, are both an explicit statement about the values, prestige, and class of a community and a force that continues to shape those values into the future. Economic and educational levels are a second force that determines the spirit of a church. Power structures, leadership styles, theological orientations, and attitudes toward authority are a third formational force. The fourth force Wink identifies is the way a congregation handles conflict. Fifth, the nature of liturgy or corporate worship in the church and the way in which spiritual growth is developed and assessed contributes to the emergence of the church’s angel. And finally, Wink argues that the church’s perception of itself and its community profoundly shapes its collective identity. According to Wink, the following questions are vital to how the spirit or angel of a church is formed:How does the congregation see itself? How do others see it? Does membership confer status, or does it indicate a high level of commitment to mission? Is the church inner- or outer-directed? Is it related to its neighborhood or the larger community? Is it self-engrossed, or engaged in struggles for social justice and global peace? Is it evangelistic or nurturing, or both? Is it on speaking terms with its angel and fired by a sense of its divine vocation, or is it a country club, or a haven against the chill of rapid social change? What is the place of spirituality, or prayer and meditation, of the inner journey? Is it easy to “get on board,” to become drawn into the life of the group? What about its history, its traditions, its annual celebrations, its invariant money-raisers and teas? Who have been its heroes and its villains, and what are the skeletons in its closet? [Unmasking the Powers, 76-77]
