Those beautiful white and gold angels you see on Christmas trees were originally monsters. At least, that is the claim made by scholar Esther Hamori in her book God’s Monsters. Hamori writes that angels “have acquired the soft-edged glow of a Hallmark card, but are some of the deadliest shapeshifters in a universe teeming with bizarre figures”.
Hamori, a scholar of the Jewish and Christian scriptures, demonstrates how angels in the biblical tradition destroy entire towns, unleash plagues, lead armies, and sometimes wield swords.
