Angels-ANGELOLOGY

Angelology—the study or science of angels—is a term usually reserved
for more elaborate theories or theologies of angels. It would be appropriate
for example, to refer to Thomas Aquinas’s systematic speculations
on angels as an angelology.
With foundations in biblical angel narratives, two Western Christian
angelological traditions developed during the Medieval period.
Drawing upon the extensive angel lore in the pseudepigraphal writings
(e.g., the Book of Enoch), one tradition was characterized by a
focus on the traits of specific named angels, both good and evil. The
other tradition was marked by philosophical reflections on such issues
as whether or not angels have bodies and the functions of the various
choirs of the angelic hierarchy as laid out by Dionysius. The systematic
treatment of angels in Aquinas’s Summa Theologiae is representative
of this latter tradition.