The Hum of Angels

This title appealed to me because I have always believed in the guiding hand of angels and wanted to learn more. In THE HUM OF ANGELS: Listening for the Messengers of God Around Us, Scot McKnight gives a Biblical basis for belief in angels and their role.

His main question is that if angels exist, and most of us believe in them, then why are we not more aware of it? He compares them to hummingbirds. Once we learn to pay attention, we are able to tune into them. I'm not sure I believe that reasoning. I believe that God decides if and when we experience them.

The book really shines in compiling many of the Biblical references that show what angels do. For example, the good angels come to console, instruct, guide, announce, fight, intercede and worship. I would recommend this book to anybody who is interested in angels. However, the McKnight is repetitious and often confusing, in that he plays the devil's advocate and then comes to the proper conclusion. A better book is Angels of God by Mike Aquilina.

As a Catholic, I am used to asking my guardian angel to guide, protect, and pray for me. I thought it funny that Scot McKnight includes many Catholic ideas about angels from the Church Fathers, like what goes in Mass, but doesn't like the idea that there's a personal angel for each of us, even though it's Biblical.

Thanks to Blogging for Books for a review copy. This is cross-posted to Amazon.

And in related stuff, check out Distracted Angels, Max's ad for safe driving. He didn't make the final cut he was hoping for (thinking outside the box for scholarship $$$) but I thought it both creative and funny and better than some of the other ads.