Angelology, Knowing Your Angels



Angels are a popular image in modern culture. A lot of this popularity comes from popular culture: images of kindly messengers running around helping the underprivileged and giving those who've been through dark times a chance at redemption. This image isn't exactly a new one. The Bible has had quite a few angel tales in it. Everyone knows the story of Mother Mary and there's an entire book, Tobias to be specific, in the Old Testament where an angel pretty much sets up a guy for marriage.

But still all those Bible stories are kind of sparse compared to the whole field of literature and study that has sprung up around them. After all, the idea of angels has been around since the Old Testament and quite a few scholars, starting from Jewish tradition in the Biblical times, have taken up the opportunity to study this field of theology, calling it angelology. It might all seem hokey, but they're all pretty passionate about this stuff and it shows in the large amounts of stuff they have managed to come up with from the ancient times onwards. There are actually some pretty active angelologists around.

Of course, since angels are kind of hard to find on the ground, much of their ideas of angels come from the Bible and more fanciful sources like the Apocrypha, technically non-official books of the bible, along with more mystical sources like the Kabbala. All of those sources are mixed in with personal theories, assumptions and a few choice bits of folklore. It all seems a bit of a mish-mash of ideas, but like fine wine, the development of angelic theory has pretty much settled down through the ages to a definitive set of beliefs.

Medieval Christian theologians pretty much set down the definitive angelic hierarchy. Since they were pretty much enamored by the number three, the holy number of the trinity, these theologians divided the angels into three spheres, basing most of their beliefs from New Testament books like Ephesians and Colossians. Each sphere was then divided into another three sets. The first sphere is composed of the angels seen in the Old Testament: the Seraphim, Cherubim and the Thrones.

These angels worked to guard God's divine throne. The next sphere were governors of the heaven, making sure everything ran smoothly. They are divided into the Dominions, the Virtues, and the Powers. Finally, the last sphere dealt the most with humans, delivering messages to them and guarding them against demons: the Principalities, Archangels, and just plain Angels.

General divisions like these helped systematize the theology behind angels. It was all very serious business back then. Both the Fourth Lateran Council and the First Vatican Council each had definite things to say about angels based on the research of angelologists. Even then, study did not stop of course.Shifting on individual angels, especially the named ones in the Bible were another part of angelology.

The popular belief in seven Archangels is pretty much one of the results of these studies. The archangels, according to angelologists, were charged with the protection of nationes. Also, each had a specific name that could be used to invoke their protection: Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, Raguel, Zerachiel and Remiel. Occult imagery has co-opted some of these ideas and usually use them in magical rituals of protection.

As you can see, the study of angels can be pretty complicated. A lot of work has been put into it through the years and it's become part of modern mythology. Angels aren't just winged fellows with harps and all of this is proves that.




Comments

Rolex watches uk Rolex Air King Rolex DateJust Rolex Datejust II Rolex Day Date Rolex Day Date II Rolex Daytona Rolex Explorer Rolex GMT Rolex Milgauss Rolex Oyster Perpetual Rolex Sea Dweller Rolex Submariner Rolex Yachtmaster
répliques montres - By répliques montres - Homepage
9th February 2012 - 7:16am

louboutin
louboutin - By louboutin - Homepage
9th February 2012 - 11:35am

You are not the average blog author, man. You surely have something powerful Discount Beats By Dr Dre to contribute to the web. Such a wonderful blog. I’ll return for more
By Beats By Dre Australia - Homepage
14th February 2012 - 6:33am

reference to the scriptures where the psalmist declared "Why do you look
custom nfl jerseys - By custom nfl jerseys - Homepage
20th February 2012 - 11:33am

Like a glossy shell of a tortoise, the Michael Kors Tortoise watches

have a brown marbled design. The mixture of shades of deep brown hues make

perfect colors for fall.
Michael Kors - By Michael Kors - Homepage
23rd February 2012 - 4:38am

*Name:
*Email:
Website URL:
Title / Subject:
Hide my email
*Comments:
*
 



Menu


My Articles

Biblical Facts About Angels
Are Angels For Real?
How To Open Your Children's Eyes To The Concept Of Angels
How Mainstream Media Affected People's Views About Angels
Working For Someone Higher Than Charlie: Angels On TV And The Silver Screen
The Concept Of Angels And The Angelic Kingdom
Knowing More About Angels Through People's Stories And Experiences
Facts About Angels
Angels: Faithful Messengers Of Different Faiths
Everyday Angels
Amazing Facts About Angels
Mystic Messengers, Angels In The Bible
Why Are There Angels?
How To Find Out More About Guardian Angels
Allah's Servants: Angels In Islam
The Ideas Behind The Kingdom Of Angels
Angelology, Knowing Your Angels
What Is An Angel
Basic Ideas About The Concept Of A Guardian Angel
Angels And Religion
Your First Ideas About Guardian Angels
The Angel Connection
Hearing The Voices: Talking To Angels
Angels And Their Ranks





My Articles


Allah's Servants: Angels In Islam It maybe surprising to some but the idea of angels isn't exactly..


How To Open Your Children's Eyes To The Concept Of Angels As an adult, especially when you are a parent to a child, it will be nice to..


Amazing Facts About Angels Many people may not be aware but there are several truly amazing facts..


How To Find Out More About Guardian Angels How many times have you heard something like you don't really..



Related Videos:

Related News:

 
Angels sign reliever Jason Isringhausen - ESPN

    

Los Angeles Times

Angels sign reliever Jason Isringhausen
ESPN
The Los Angeles Angels added some depth to their bullpen Wednesday by agreeing to a minor league deal with veteran reliever Jason Isringhausen. For more news, notes and analysis of the Angels, check out Mark Saxon's blog. Isringhausen, 39, was 3-3 with ...
Angels sign reliever Jason Isringhausen to minor league dealLos Angeles Times
Angels sign veteran RHP Jason Isringhausen to minor league dealWashington Post
Angels sign Isringhausen to minor league dealSacramento Bee
MLB.com -SB Nation
all 75 news articles »



Los Angeles Angels' Bobby Abreu wants to play every day - USA TODAY

    

USA TODAY

Los Angeles Angels' Bobby Abreu wants to play every day
USA TODAY
(AP) – Los Angeles Angels manager Mike Scioscia doesn't expect Bobby Abreu to be a distraction in the clubhouse this season. By Jeff Gross, Getty Images Bobby Abreu hits .253 with eight home runs and 60 RBI last season, well below his career averages.
Bobby Abreu wants to be an everyday player or else hopes Angels will trade himWashington Post
Angels try to downplay Abreu's 'play me or trade me' demandOCRegister
Angels' Bobby Abreu looking to be traded?Yahoo! Sports (blog)
SportingNews.com -Anaheim Angels
all 79 news articles »