What does Thomas Aquinas say about angels? The word gospel is peculiar. In most languages, “Good News” closely resembles the Greek euangelion. English is the exception. Gospel comes from the Old English gōdspel (gōd meaning “good,” and spel meaning “news,” “story,” “word,” or “message”).
The word spel once meant both a story and a spell. When an ancient ear heard gōdspel, it heard two things at once: a good story — a good word — and a spell, an enchantment.
They must have called it gōdspel because that is how it felt — a good spell. When they heard the good news, they felt a good spell coming over them. The story and the enchantment were one.
The modern mind has largely lost the sense of the “spell.” For us, a good story is merely information — something coming from the outside in. But for the ancients, the Good Story was good because of how it felt, because it worked its magic from the inside out.
And yet, we rediscover the “spell” every time we hear bad news. Scroll through your news feed for a day, and you will begin to feel bewitched. By the end of the day, you will feel hate, craving, envy, lust, fear, or despair — or all of them at once. Why?
Word and spell are never separate. Every word casts a spell — whether for good or for ill. And yet, the mystery of the spell goes even deeper.
The Greek euangelion consists of eu (“good,” “well”) and angelos (“messenger”). For the Greeks, the angelos — the bearer of the message — was not just a function, but a being, an angel.
When they heard angelos, they heard both meanings at once: a message and the bearer of the message. They did not think, “These are just words.” They were aware that a living, spiritual intellect stood behind the words.
As Thomas Aquinas said:
“Not everyone who is enlightened by an angel knows that he is enlightened by him.”
Every time we hear good news, we are addressed by beings — ministering spirits. The reverse is also true: every time we hear bad news, we are addressed by fallen spirits.
It is either gōdspel or a devil’s spell. There is no neutral ground in the universe. We are either enchanted or bewitched — depending on whom we listen to. Whose stories am I giving my attention to? Words are not labels — they are forces. How I feel reflects the spell I am under.
If I feel unwell, it is likely because I have been listening to the wrong stories — and the wrong storytellers.
As Thomas Aquinas writes:
“The world of pure spirits stretches between the divine nature and the world of human beings; because divine wisdom has ordained that the higher should look after the lower, angels execute the divine plan for human salvation: they are our guardians, who free us when hindered and help to bring us home.”
