User talk:SouthWriter/sandbox/An atheist's objections/@comment-1777104-20100811005701

Red, your referencing Aquinas gets out of my league. I am only a theologian and philosopher in my spare time. However, I think I can shed a little light on the angel vs. human discussion. I won't go into all the references, but generally speaking angels (literally "messengers") were created to do just what God tells them to do. A finite number of angels seem to have all been created at the same time. They seem to last forever, but never have children. Humans were created to listen and make independent decisions based on a "god-like" quality similar to that by which He created the universe. They are different than angels because they are physical rather than spiritual in nature. These physical bodies are subject to injury, and after the fall to decay.

Sometime after their creation, some of the angels decided that they did not wish to do what they were told, and a third of them "fell" out of the fellowship which was in heaven. Their leader was Lucifer, one of the chief angels. The Bible only names three angels - Gabriel, Michael, and Lucifer. Lucifer is called "the Adversary" (Satan) after he turns against God. It is Lucifer who had a part in tempting Eve, one of two humans created by God. Anyway, after the fall of Satan and his followers, the other angels proved to be obedient to their calling. The rebellion was the turning point among angels. Apparently no more angels will fall.

With humans, a similar thing happened, but when they fell, their natures were changed, and they passed that down to their children. Humans, by nature, now make choices, what we call "free will." There is a lot of discussion as to just how "free" that will is, but suffice it to say the basic nature of mankind is to be selfish, and thus to choose to disobey God whenever it is convenient. That is how humans are different from the angels that serve God. Those angels serve God with unquestioned obedience. Lucifer/Satan gives his orders to his followers, but it is unknown whether these underlings always obey. But its a sure bet that what they do will seldom be what God has told them to do.

I hope this attempt has been helpful. Whole books have been written about this. And arguments still fly about the details.