I can't tell you anything about the Benno Barnard article because there was something wrong with the click to enlarge option on the website. So I will use this podium to ask you a question that suddenly came up in our household today. I catholicism, do people sometimes become angels after they die and go to heaven? I tend to think not, I always thought angels were a whole different species than humans. The Wikipedia says they are supernatural beings, and nothing about humans turning into angels. And the Wikipedia page about heaven cites the catechism, according to which people in heaven are for ever like god, and thus (I assume) without wings: "Those who die in God's grace and friendship and are perfectly purified live for ever with Christ. They are like God for ever, for they "see Him as he is," face to face." (Catechism of the Catholic Church ยง1023) And there is also the doctrine of Assumption of the Virgin Mary: "having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory", which implies that heaven must have some facility to support human bodies as well as souls.
The catholic encyclopedia says that angels are nothing more than intermediairies, or messengers. And that those messengers can indeed be human, but then they aren't angels from God.
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01476d.htm
So what do you think, does Gerard Reve have wings?
That's interesting. If a human can become a winged angel -assuming he qualified to go to heaven after his death-, can a human much in the same way turn into a winged demon after his arrival to hell?
Maybe as a promotion for being reaaaaly bad?
Gerard Reve may still live among his readers, and could give their words and sentences wings. Sometimes. Combined, that's still a lot of energy left. Otherwise, I don't belief in any afterlife, let alone angels.