FURTHER REFLECTIONS ON GUARDIAN ANGELS AND THE ROLE OF THE HOLY GHOST When the author circulated his paper on Mormon notions regarding guardian angels for comment prior to submitting it to Yale Professor Harold Bloom, at whose request it had been written, his returned missionary daughter wrote back questioning the paper's assertion that a family guardian angel may at times be the agent bringing answer to a family-specific prayer. She said that it was her understanding that it was the Holy Ghost who answered prayers. Of course she was right. That what missionaries and Sunday School instructors teach. But Mormon teachings are in fact a bit more complicated than that. Let the reader first reflect on the doctrine of Name Titles. An agent can deliver a message (under instructions and authority) in the name of higher authority. "What I the Lord have spoken . . whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same." (D&C 1:38). Brigham Young in a sermon preached in the Salt Lake Tabernacle once said, "Some would have us believe that God is present everywhere. It is not so. . . . Our Father in Heaven does not visit every place in person to guide . . . people: he never did and never will: but . . . he sends when and where he pleases, giving [his agents] credentials and missions. . . ." (JD 6:345). Early leaders of the Church indeed taught (don't let this shock the reader too much) that by reason of this doctrine the President of the Church was "as God" to the Mormon people. Heber C. Kimball said (Journal of Discourses 2:221) "Brigham Young is our President, Prophet and Leader. . . his voice to this people is the voice of God." The author has been taught since childhood that the Holy Ghost, as third member of the Godhead, is thus administrative leader by delegation of an extensive team acting under God's name and authority. Of course the person of the Holy Ghost (the author has argued elsewhere that at present this is the person known in the pre-mortal existence as Michael, who during life was Adam -- or, more clearly designated, the Second Adam) can either visit an individual in person, even dwelling briefly in that person's body -- or merely transmit his message through the medium of the Spirit of God (not to be confused with the H.G. Himself) which we're told fills the immensity of space and which is the channel through which God (Elohim, the entire Council, or any agent acting in God's name) can be in immediate contact with any individual or corner of His realm). Such message may be confirmation of the Gospel message or any other truth (most of us are familiar with this work of the H.G. through missionary experience); can consist of new revelation; bring comfort in affliction; or help us recall something we already know just at the moment we need it (while a student the author used to utter a silent prayer before tests, as taught be his parents, not infrequently having the experience of being aided at such moments when he initially could not remember the answer to a specific question). So a guardian angel can (and the author is persuaded often does) act as agent of the Holy Ghost to carry out any number of transactions. As described in the Angeology paper, this is often, if not always, the case in matters of family specific questions. The author is aware of an individual who went through an almost simultaneous series of overwhelming family, career, and financial setbacks. He'd read in the scriptures of people in similar circumstances spending hour after hour in continuous prayer (for examples see Alma 5:46 and Alma 26:22), but had never himself prayed before for longer than necessary to express thanks and ask the Lord's routine blessing on him and his affairs. But in these crushing circumstances he found himself spending a couple of nights on his knees in the garden behind his house. When it hurts bad enough, one can pray like Alma. After the second such night he returned to his bed (3 a.m. - 4 a.m. ?), hardly having gotten under the covers than to see a glowing halo of light gathering near the foot of the bed. In recounting the story, he said that in place of the agony he'd been feeling, there entered into his soul a spirit of peace and calm that all would be right and life still held blessings. The communication -- which took place without specific words, was however quite explicit -- and though the presence never materialized sufficiently to be recognized, my friend experienced the distinct feeling/understanding/assurance that it was his father who was standing at my side. Possibly the individual was not quite righteous enough to withstand the full glory of his angel. But he remembered thinking how appropriate it was that it was his father, who had helped him over some hard spots during his growing up years, who was sent to answer his prayers for help in this time of special need. In the author's own family there is the story of how, when his great grandfather lay dying with the family gathered about his bed, he said, "Annie, Annie, you've come". And when his daughter Annie said, "Why Father, I've been here all the time", he replied, "No, Annie, not you, it's your Aunt Annie [his wife's sister, who had recently passed away] who has come for me". And he then told those present that Aunt Annie had related to him the coming birth of a granddaughter -- that she'd be a brilliant and beautiful girl (this in the days before sonograms) who'd bring great happiness to the family. Indeed, a granddaughter arrived within the year, who in her teens danced in the old Salt Lake Theater in the last performance given before it was razed, starred in about every school play in high school, graduated Summa from the U of U (Cwean, Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi), raised four splendid kids, was Supervising Family Social Worker in Los Angeles County, and has now served four post-retirement missions for the Church. Indeed she has been a joy and a strength to the family all her life. To sum up: Of course the H.G. answers prayers. This is His special charge in the Godhead. Most often, one suspects, this is done through the simple burning in the bosom which is the effect of the focussing of the Spirit of God -- the infinitely diffuse "radio beam" the Lord uses to keep in contact with His creations (and which most Christians confound with God Himself). Next, he may send one of his team of agents acting in His name to perform whatever errand -- particularly to members of succeeding generations of the family to which the guardian angel agent belongs (this probably happens more often than most of us realize). And, finally, at times, He may come Himself to carry out a particularly important mission (as when He appeared to Adam after he and Eve were driven out of the Garden. In the latter instance, for reasons the author has set forth at length in his paper The Adam God Doctrine Revisited , it was most probably Michael's brother and co-member of the Godhead Jehovah, endowed with the name title of Holy Ghost and acting in that office, who instructed Adam about the meaning of sacrifice, looking forward to Jehovah's own later mission as Messiah. A final observation: Professor Bloom, in thanking the author for his paper on Mormon Angeology, said that in preparing to write his book he'd been impressed how little had been written by Americans on angels. Other than encountering a literary treatment or two, he'd found no original gentile or jewish thought on the subject. Seems, he said, that only Mormons have made any significant contributions on this subject, as on so many other points of doctrine..