Sullivan (religion, Illinois Wesleyan U.) investigates the relationship as portrayed in the literature of the late Second Temple and early Christian period, 200 BCE to 100 CE. A primary question he tackles is whether ancient authors equated angels with humans, as suggested by some modern scholars; he finds that the question and its answer are not only valuable in itself, but also reveal much about the emergence of Christology and early Jewish and Christian mysticism. Ultimately, he concludes that writers from the period had no trouble distinguishing between the two groups of beings. The study is modified from his May 2002 Ph.D. dissertation in theology at the University of Oxford. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)