Author Topic: What are Angels?  (Read 133 times)

Offline cizz

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What are Angels?
« on: March 12, 2012, 03:59:06 am »
After a private conversation of searching from the "abysso" to demons we ended up with "what are the angels?" In the bible they are the ones being held responsible for the seven churches in the book of Revelations:

Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks;

So what and who are the angels?

The Greek word, aggelos which means, a messenger, envoy, one who is sent, an angel, a messenger from God

The Hebrew word, mal'ak which means, messenger, representative, the theophanic angel


Theophanic =  (theophany) a visible (but not necessarily material) manifestation of a deity to a human person



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Offline cizz

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Re: What are Angels?
« Reply #1 on: March 12, 2012, 03:54:53 pm »
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angel

Angels, in a variety of religions, are regarded as spiritual beings. They are often depicted as messengers of God in the Hebrew and Christian Bibles and the Quran. The English word angel is derived from the Greek ἄγγελος (aggelos), a translation of מלאך (mal'akh) in the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh); a similar term, ملائكة (Malāīkah), is used in the Qur'an. The Hebrew and Greek words originally meant messenger, and depending on the context may refer either to a human messenger (possibly a prophet or priest, such as Malachi, "my messenger", but also for more mundane characters, as in the Greek superscription that the Book of Malachi was written "by the hand of his messenger" (ἀγγήλου)) or to a supernatural messenger, such as the "Mal'akh YHWH," who (depending on interpretation) is either a messenger from God, an aspect of God (such as the Logos), or God Himself as the messenger (the "theophanic angel.")

The term "angel" has also been expanded to various notions of spiritual beings found in many other religious traditions. Other roles of angels include protecting and guiding human beings, and carrying out God's tasks.

The theological study of angels is known as angelology. In art, angels are often depicted with wings; perhaps reflecting the descriptions in Revelation 4:6?8 ? of the Four Living Creatures (Greek: τὰ τέσσαρα ζῷα) and the descriptions in the Hebrew Bible ? of cherubim and seraphim (the chayot in Ezekiel's Merkabah vision and the Seraphim of Isaiah). However, while cherubim and seraphim have wings in the Bible, no angel is mentioned as having wings.

Quote
...This leads Aristotle in turn to the demonstrated fact that God, glory and majesty to Him, does not do things by direct contact. God burns things by means of fire; fire is moved by the motion of the sphere; the sphere is moved by means of a disembodied intellect, these intellects being the 'angels which are near to Him', through whose mediation the spheres [planets] move... thus totally disembodied minds exist which emanate from God and are the intermediaries between God and all the bodies [objects] here in this world. ~Guide for the Perplexed II:4 and II:6:

According to Kabalah, there are four worlds and our world is the last world: the world of action (Assiyah). Angels exist in the worlds above as a 'task' of God. They are an extension of God to produce effects in this world. After an angel has completed its task, it ceases to exist. The angel is in effect the task. This is derived from the book of Genesis when Abraham meets with three angels and Lot meets with two. The task of one of the angels was to inform Abraham of his coming child. The other two were to save Lot and to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah.

« Last Edit: March 12, 2012, 04:14:08 pm by cizz »

Offline dgbygrace

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Re: What are Angels?
« Reply #2 on: March 12, 2012, 05:37:16 pm »
Interesting...I wonder where they get the idea that angels cease to exist after fulfilling their task??
The only true work of art is a human soul,
all else is but a reflection

Offline cizz

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Re: What are Angels?
« Reply #3 on: March 12, 2012, 06:51:41 pm »
Interesting...I wonder where they get the idea that angels cease to exist after fulfilling their task??

That's a great question and I did ponder on that one when I read it, if these angel are in fact "disembodied intellect" emanating or being sent out from God, then that would put us (?) as the receivers of that disembodiment (I'm thinking 'thought' form) and once received by us would that cause it to no longer exist? I ate an apple today does that apple still exist? I say yes just in a different form.

So the first thing that comes to my mind is "man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God."

I personally don't think non-exist but more to translate, transform, change...