Despite the many claims of diminished faith that have plagued Europe, a new poll from the U.K.-based Bible Society shows that 32 percent of British citizens still believe in angels — almost identical to the 31 percent who said the same in 2010.
Overall, women (39 percent) are more likely than men (26 percent) to express belief in the spiritual beings’ existence, according to a recently commission survey by the Bible group.
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Furthermore, and perhaps more interestingly, 11 percent of women and 8 percent of men said they have either “seen or heard an angel.”
The Bible Society, which has called for people to share their own purported encounters with angels, offered up one story from a woman named Margaret Jones from Lancashire, U.K., who claims she has had two specific experiences with angels — one of which purportedly unfolded at her church 20 years ago while she was singing in a choir.
“I felt the pressure of what seemed like a human hand touching my own. As I was standing on the edge of the choir I assumed that the lady, Deborah, who had been playing the organ, had come over to join us; so thought nothing of it,” Jones told the Bible Society. “The hand then left mine and a few moments later I opened my eyes and was surprised to see that Deborah was still sitting at the organ – she wasn’t there beside me.”
It was after service that a fellow congregant reportedly told Jones that an angel was next to her and had touched her hand. And that wasn’t Jones’ only reported experience with an angel, as she said she also saw two angels standing over her husband as he slept in their bed.
“I was awake and just lying there then they appeared: two beautiful beings with wings dressed in white. What struck me most was that their hair was golden – it shone – they were just beautiful,” she said. “Then they disappeared through the headboard. This always makes me laugh as it sounds silly, but they really did.'”
With the Christmas season upon us, angels have been a topic of discussion of late, with some pondering whether they are real and whether they’re still active in the modern era. In fact, it’s a subject that Rabbi Jonathan Bernis — a well-known leader in Messianic Jewish ministry for more than three decades — recently tackled during an interview with Faithwire.
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“You can’t read the scriptures … without seeing lots and lots of angels and things that are unseen … taking place in the unseen world,” he said. “(An) angel is simply a messenger, and they’re all around us, and they’re constantly fulfilling God’s word, serving his people, protecting his people, bringing important messages to his people.”
Listen to his comments below:
And while some might dismiss the existence, presence and acts of angels in the modern era, Bernis said they are “just as important and real today” as they were in Bible times, warning that society has “been blinded by a materialistic, western mindset” — one that is “not the worldview of the scriptures.”
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