At any rate, the Bible clearly reveals that the angels are under the headship of Christ (and not just fallen mankind).
St. Paul speaks of the Incarnate Word as “the head of every Principality and Power.” (Col. 2:10) & “firstborn of every creature” (Col. 1:15).
Countless references could be made to confirm this. For example, Philippians 2:10-11, “At the name of Jesus every knee should bend of those in heaven, on earth, and under the earth and every tongue should confess that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father.”
And when the Apostle maintains that the Incarnate Word is set “above every Principality and Power and Virtue and Domination— in short, above every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come. And all things He made subject under His feet, and Him He gave as head over all the Church, which indeed is His body, the completion of Him who fills all with all.” (Eph. 1:21-23; cf. Heb. 1).
...not only that (what fr maximilian wrote), but there’s a further point, here:
Principalities, Dominions, etc., as used in the bible, have traditionally been understood to refer to angels. For every earthly principality (kingdom, nation, etc.), there is held to be a Principality (an angel). Such understandings are quite ancient.
There is a phylogeny of angels, which is medieval in orgin, I believe, but which derives from much more ancient sources:
MESSENGERS OF GOD TO MAN
(lowest angels)
Guardian angels or Malakh
Archangels: Fulfill important missions to man
Virtues
Powers
Principalities
Dominations
Thrones or Ophanim
Cherubim or Chayat (having nothing to do with “Putti” the chubby children of Renaissance art)
Seraphim
(highest angels)
Please don’t take it that this is Catholic doctrine, but just that this was how the ancient Christians understood the world. Hebrew Angelology dates back many centuries before Christ; there are 10 choirs of angels in Mainomides’ (sp?) hierarchy. Some (Malakh, Archangels, Principalities, Thrones, Seraphim, Cherubim) can be directly related to ancient Christian angelology, such as Pseudo-Deinysious’s 5th century work. Others (Elohim, Sons of God) are harder to relate, and even a little challenging to post-Isaiah’s radical monotheism.