[JessiPollo]

From the above:

The entire tree is the Church, being deification in the Angel of the Lord, the Angel now known as the Incarnate Christ. This does indeed go back to Paradise: the life of Adam and Eve is this same Orthodox Faith known in deification. "The Lord knows those who are His" (2 Tim 2:19).

would also like to emphasize that the incarnate Christ is not an angel. The angels are a distinct creation and are by definition non-corporeal, thus it is not possible for an angel to be incarnate and remain an angel - it would be a violation of his very nature. The Incarnate Christ is true God of true God and fully man as well - no mention of "angels" here.

I realize that this reference may not have been Richard's intent - however, we have to be careful in how we speak of these awesome things so as not to be led astray.

The only father I know of to speak of Christ explicitly as angel is St Justin the Philosopher (second century), who uses this title for the Word at various places. What Fr David has said is important, as far as categories of beings go: the angels are a specific part of the created order, of which Christ as eternal (uncreated) Son is not. He is not an angel; not one of these creatures. But inasmuch as 'angel', as a term, not only refers to the categories of beings ('the heavenly host') but also -- as a descriptor -- to anyone acting as a messenger (which is what the term means), it sometimes does find parlance in the Church's reference to Christ. The Son is angel inasmuch as he is, in the incarnation, the chief messenger of the will of the Father. But this has to be said very carefully, to specify that 'angel' here means messenger, not type of being.

As such, it seems problematic to speak of 'the Angel now known as the Incarnate Christ', as this seems to speak of a type of being: one who is an angel, then becomes incarnate. With the Son, he is 'angel' in his incarnation - in the becoming-human that is the full message and manifestation of the Father's will.

INXC, Dcn Matthew