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Angels
An angel is a spiritual (without a physical body), heavenly, or supernatural being, usually humanoid with bird-like wings, often depicted as a messenger or intermediary between God (the transcendent) and humanity (the profane) in various traditions like the Abrahamic religions. Other roles include protectors and guides for humans, such as guardian angels and servants of God. In Western belief-systems the term is often used to distinguish benevolent from malevolent intermediary beings. Emphasizing the distance between God and mankind, revelation-based belief-systems require angels to bridge the gap between the earthly and the transcendent realm. Angels play a lesser role in monistic belief-systems, since the gap is non-existent. However, angelic beings might be conceived as aid to achieve a proper relationship with the divine. Abrahamic religions describe angelic hierarchies, which vary by religion and sect. Some angels have specific names (such as Gabriel or Mich ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Angel Of The Annunciation MET DP167921
An angel is a Spirit (supernatural entity), spiritual (without a physical body), heaven, heavenly, or supernatural being, usually humanoid with Bird wing, bird-like wings, often depicted as a messenger or intermediary between God (the Transcendence (religion), transcendent) and humanity (the Profane (religion), profane) in various traditions like the Abrahamic religions. Other roles include protectors and guides for humans, such as guardian angels and servants of God. In Western religions, Western belief-systems the term is often used to distinguish Good and evil, benevolent from malevolent intermediary beings. Emphasizing the distance between God and mankind, Revelation, revelation-based belief-systems require angels to bridge the gap between the earthly and the transcendent realm. Angels play a lesser role in Monism, monistic belief-systems, since the gap is non-existent. However, angelic beings might be conceived as aid to achieve a proper relationship with the divine. Ab ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Angels In Art
Angels have appeared in works of art since early Christian art, and they have been a popular subject for Byzantine Empire, Byzantine and European paintings and sculpture. Normally given wings in art, angels are usually intended, in both Christian and Islamic art, to be beautiful, though several depictions go for more awe-inspiring or frightening attributes, notably in the depiction of the Living creatures (Bible), living creatures (which have bestial characteristics), ophanim (which are wheels) and cherubim (which have mosaic features); As a matter of theology, they are spiritual beings who do not eat or excrete and are genderless. Many historical depictions of angels may appear to the modern eye to be gendered as either male or female by their dress or actions, but until the 19th century, even the most female looking will normally lack breasts, and the figures should normally be considered as genderless. In 19th-century art, especially funerary art, this traditional convention ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fallen Angel
Fallen angels are angels who were expelled from Heaven. The literal term "fallen angel" does not appear in any Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic religious texts, but is used to describe angels cast out of heaven. Such angels are often described as corrupting humanity by teaching forbidden knowledge or by tempting them into sin. Common motifs for their expulsion are lust, pride, envy, or an attempt to usurp divinity. The earliest appearance of the concept of fallen angels may be found in Canaanite religion, Canaanite beliefs about the ''bənē hāʾĔlōhīm'' ("sons of God"), expelled from the Pantheon (religion), divine court. ''Hêlêl ben Šāḥar'' is thrown down from heaven for claiming equality with ''ʻElyōn''. Such stories were later collected in the Old Testament and appear in Pseudepigrapha, pseudepigraphic Apocalyptic literature, Jewish literature. The concept of fallen angels derives from the assumption that the "sons of God" () mentioned in Primeval history, Genesi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gabriel
In the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam), Gabriel ( ) is an archangel with the power to announce God's will to mankind, as the messenger of God. He is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament and the Quran. Many Christian traditions – including Eastern Orthodoxy, Catholicism, Lutheranism, and Anglicanism – revere Gabriel as a saint. In the Hebrew Bible, Gabriel appears to the prophet Daniel (biblical figure), Daniel to explain his visions (Daniel 8:15–26, Daniel 9, 9:21–27). The archangel also appears in the Book of Enoch and other ancient Jewish writings not preserved in Hebrew. Alongside the archangel Michael (archangel), Michael, Gabriel is described as the guardian angel of the Israelites, people of History of ancient Israel and Judah, Israel, defending it against the angels of the other peoples. In the New Testament, the Gospel of Luke relates the Annunciation, in which the angel Gabriel appears to Zechariah (New Testament figur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Guardian Angels
A guardian angel is a type of angel that is assigned to protect and guide a particular person, group or nation. Belief in tutelary beings can be traced throughout all antiquity. The idea of angels that guard over people played a major role in Ancient Judaism. In Christianity, the hierarchy of angels was extensively developed in the 5th century by Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite. The theology of angels and tutelary spirits has undergone many changes since the 5th century. The belief is that guardian angels serve to protect whichever person God assigns them to. The Memorial of the Holy Guardian Angels is celebrated on 2 October. The idea of a guardian angel is central to the 15th-century book '' The Book of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage'' by Abraham of Worms, a German Cabalist. In 1897, this book was translated into English by Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers (1854–1918), a co-founder of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, who styled the guardian angel as the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Archangel
Archangels () are the second lowest rank of angel in the Catholic hierarchy of angels, based on and put forward by Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite in the 5th or 6th century in his book ''De Coelesti Hierarchia'' (''On the Celestial Hierarchy''). The Bible itself uses the term “archangel” two times referring to the angel Michael only in the New Testament. The Bible does not mention a particular hierarchy of angels in any detail aside from this. The word is usually associated with the Abrahamic religions and many offshoots they are historically associated with. ''Archangel'' is derived from Ancient Greek, Greek (), with the Greek prefix meaning 'chief'. In Catholic theology, archangels constitute the second-lowest rank of angel; much of modernized imaging of Archangels as we have today likely stems from the etymology of their name, as well as their presentation in John Milton's ''Paradise Lost''. In many offshoots of Judaism, with the oldest text coming from Enoch 1, the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hierarchy Of Angels
In the angelology of different religions, a hierarchy of angels is a ranking system of angels. The higher ranking angels have greater power and authority than lower ones, and different ranks have differences in appearance, such as varying numbers of wings or faces. Abrahamic religions Judaism The Jewish angelic hierarchy is established in the Hebrew Bible, Talmud, Rabbinic literature, and traditional Jewish liturgy. They are categorized in different hierarchies proposed by various theologians. For example, Maimonides, in his '' Mishneh Torah'' or '' Yad ha-Chazakah: Yesodei ha-Torah'', counts ten ranks of angels. The '' Zohar'', in ''Exodus 43a'', also lists ten ranks of angels. Jacob Nazir, in his '' Maseket Atzilut'', also listed ten ranks of angels. Abraham ben Isaac of Granada, in his '' Berit Menuchah'', also listed ten ranks of angels. All of them are ranked with 1 being the highest, and all subsequent numbers being lower ranks. Christianity The most influen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael (archangel)
Michael, also called Saint Michael the Archangel, Archangel Michael and Saint Michael the Taxiarch is an archangel and the warrior of God in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. The earliest surviving mentions of his name are in third- and second-century BC Jewish works, often but not always apocalyptic, where he is the chief of the angels and archangels, and he is the guardian prince of Israel and is responsible for the care of the Israelites, people of Biblical Israel, Israel. Christianity conserved nearly all the Jewish traditions concerning him, and he is mentioned explicitly in Revelation 12:7–12, where he does battle with Satan, and in the Epistle of Jude, where the archangel and the devil dispute over the body of Moses. Old Testament and Apocrypha The Book of Enoch lists him as one of seven archangels (the remaining names are Uriel, Raguel (angel), Raguel, Raphael (archangel), Raphael, Sariel, Gabriel, and Remiel), who, in the Book of Tobit, “stand ready and ente ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Seraph
A seraph ( ; pl.: ) is a celestial or heavenly being originating in Ancient Judaism. The term plays a role in subsequent Judaism, Islam and Christianity. Tradition places seraphim in the highest rank in Christian angelology and in the fifth rank of ten in the Jewish angelic hierarchy. A seminal passage in the Book of Isaiah () used the term to describe six-winged beings that fly around the Throne of God crying " holy, holy, holy". This throne scene, with its triple invocation of holiness, profoundly influenced subsequent theology, literature and art. Its influence is frequently seen in works depicting angels, heaven and apotheosis. Seraphim are mentioned as celestial beings in the semi-canonical Book of Enoch and the canonical Book of Revelation. Origins and development In Hebrew, the word ''saraph'' means "burning", and is used seven times throughout the text of the Hebrew Bible as a noun, usually to denote " serpent", twice in the Book of Numbers, once in the B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Devil
A devil is the mythical personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conceptions of the devil can be summed up as 1) a principle of evil independent from God, 2) an aspect of God, 3) a created being turning evil (a '' fallen angel'') or 4) a symbol of human evil. Each tradition, culture, and religion with a devil in its mythos offers a different lens on manifestations of evil.Jeffrey Burton Russell, ''The Devil: Perceptions of Evil from Antiquity to Primitive Christianity'', Cornell University Press 1987 , pp. 41–75 The history of these perspectives intertwines with theology, mythology, psychiatry, art, and literature, developing independently within each of the traditions. It occurs historically in many contexts and cultures, and is given many different names— Satan (Judaism), Lucifer (Christianity), Bee ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Good And Evil
In philosophy, religion, and psychology, "good and evil" is a common dichotomy. In religions with Manichaeism, Manichaean and Abrahamic influence, evil is perceived as the dualistic cosmology, dualistic antagonistic opposite of good, in which good should prevail and evil should be defeated. Evil is often used to denote profound immorality. Evil has also been described as a supernatural force. Definitions of evil vary, as does the analysis of its motives. However, elements that are commonly associated with evil involve Balance (metaphysics), unbalanced behavior involving expediency, selfishness, ignorance, or negligence. The principal study of good and evil (or morality) is ethics, of which there are three major branches: normative ethics concerning how we ought to behave, applied ethics concerning particular moral issues, and metaethics concerning the nature of morality itself.''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'"Ethics"/ref> History and etymology Every language has a word ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Revelation
Revelation, or divine revelation, is the disclosing of some form of Religious views on truth, truth or Knowledge#Religion, knowledge through communication with a deity (god) or other supernatural entity or entities in the view of religion and theology. Types Individual revelation Thomas Aquinas believed in two types of individual revelation from God in Christianity, God, ''general revelation'' and ''special revelation''. In general revelation, God reveals himself through his creation, such that at least some truths about God can be learned by the empiricism, empirical study of Physis, nature, physics, cosmology, etc., to an individual. Special revelation is the knowledge of God and spiritual matters which can be discovered through supernatural means, such as scripture or miracles, by individuals. Direct revelation refers to communication from God to someone in particular. Though one may deduce the existence of God and some of God's attributes through general revelation, certain ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
