An angel: a lesser or greater created being than a human?

[DJR]

Isn't the supernatural order higher than the natural order?  And, therefore, the angels belonging to the supernatural order would be higher than Man?  Both Man and angels are quasi-eternal, but angels are so in their entire nature, and man is so in his soul only. Indeed, do we not pray - to St. Michael most famously - for the intercession of angels?

Yes, we pray for the intercession of the angels, but we also pray for the intercession of the saints, and the Blessed Virgin par excellence. 

And, of course, we worship a Man.  You can't get much higher than that.

You are related by blood to God Himself.  He is your distant cousin.  No angel could ever make that claim.  It's quite amazing if you meditate on it:  "I have a distant relative who is God."

Interesting topic.

[Historian]

Both Man and angels are quasi-eternal, but angels are so in their entire nature, and man is so in his soul only.

"quasi-eternal"? What does that mean? We have immortal souls, and after the Resurrection immortal bodies.

[Arun]

I have heard it said that the wicked angels revolted and fell in reaction to a trial given to them by God. Just as men are tried, so too were the angels; their trial was the knowledge that God would become a created being - a man, no less. And as such, being True God and True Man, the angels would then have to bow before a creature which was a lower creation than they were, so to speak.

[DesperatelySeeking]

Both Man and angels are quasi-eternal, but angels are so in their entire nature, and man is so in his soul only.

"quasi-eternal"? What does that mean? We have immortal souls, and after the Resurrection immortal bodies.

Quasi-eternal means "once created, it exists eternally"; as opposed to "eternal", meaning "having always existed".  Only God is uncreated and therefore eternal.

[JamieF]

"Being by nature higher than man and much closer to God, the Angels receive more of His light, that is, a greater power of understanding, infused ideas, mind-pictures representing external objects, the spiritual and material creatures of this universe." - http://www.tanbooks.com/index.php/page/s...ct_id/421/

[SouthpawLink]

Aside from God, the only creature greater and more excellent than the angels is the Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of both Angels and Saints. Unless I'm mistaken, she alone is worthy of the veneration of hyperdulia.

[Historian]

Both Man and angels are quasi-eternal, but angels are so in their entire nature, and man is so in his soul only.

"quasi-eternal"? What does that mean? We have immortal souls, and after the Resurrection immortal bodies.

Quasi-eternal means "once created, it exists eternally"; as opposed to "eternal", meaning "having always existed".  Only God is uncreated and therefore eternal.

Isn't it easier to use "immortal" instead of some pseudo-theological term?

[DesperatelySeeking]

Both Man and angels are quasi-eternal, but angels are so in their entire nature, and man is so in his soul only.

"quasi-eternal"? What does that mean? We have immortal souls, and after the Resurrection immortal bodies.

Quasi-eternal means "once created, it exists eternally"; as opposed to "eternal", meaning "having always existed".  Only God is uncreated and therefore eternal.

Isn't it easier to use "immortal" instead of some pseudo-theological term?

If it's easier for you, go ahead and use it.

[Alyosha]

    1 Corinthians 6:3 - Know ye not  that we shall judge angels...
    But, of course this could be assumed to mean the fallen angels;  Yet the true saints in heaven, in glorified bodies, certainly are exceptional in a way that no angel could be, having triumphed over the burden of a fleshly body,which angels never were troubled by.  INTERESTING!

[SCG]

I have heard it said that the wicked angels revolted and fell in reaction to a trial given to them by God. Just as men are tried, so too were the angels; their trial was the knowledge that God would become a created being - a man, no less. And as such, being True God and True Man, the angels would then have to bow before a creature which was a lower creation than they were, so to speak.

That's how I understand it too. Angels were created in God's image. Being pure spirits with greater intelligence and power, I think they are a higher nature. Man's dignity comes in that he, too, was created in God's image and has an immortal soul. His dignity was raised when God himself became man to save him. There was no need for God to become an angel to save the fallen angels, because - being superior creatures - when they chose to rebel their wills were fixed and irredeemable.