Popular Beliefs About Angels That Are Not In The Bible

Photo by Gaston Roulstone on Unsplash

When you picture angels, you likely imagine winged beings with halos and cherubic features — common artistic depictions that many accept as biblical truth. However, these popular representations often lack biblical foundation.

Many widely held beliefs about angels, like those about hell, aren’t found in the Bible. While we envision ethereal, graceful spirits, biblical accounts describe them as either fearsome or completely ordinary beings.

Cherubs Are Babies

Biblical cherubs bear little resemblance to the chubby babies we imagine. Ezekiel 1:5–8 describes them as formidable creatures:

And in the fire was what looked like four living creatures. In appearance their form was human, but each of them had four faces and four wings. Their legs were straight; their feet were like those of a calf and gleamed like burnished bronze. Under their wings on their four sides they had human hands. All four of them had faces and wings.

The baby-like image originates from Cupid in Roman mythology, later adapted during the Renaissance.

All Angels Have Wings

Contrary to popular belief, not all biblical angels have wings. Some appear as ordinary humans. In Genesis 18–19, three men visit Abraham…