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“Out of the temple came the seven angels with the seven plagues. They were dressed in clean, shining linen and wore golden sashes around their chests,” Revelation 15:6 (Buursma, Manikas-Foster). In Paradise Lost, a notorious angel, Lucifer, is said to transform into a toad and whisper into Eve`s ear (Jance). The world and the Bible have contrasting perspectives on what angels look like or what is an angel`s purpose. Angels are seen as mystical creatures with halos and beautiful wings, yet, also seen as beings that glorify God endlessly. So, what does an angel really look like? Do angels even exist? Are they made up creatures in movies? The world`s perspective and the Bible`s perspective on angels do not wholly match; therefore, for Christians` spiritual assurance, Christians need to discover the true appearance and purpose of angels.
Angelology is one of the ten major categories of theology. A simple definition would say angles are bodiless, immortal spirits who are limited in knowledge and power. Yet, different religions have a much broader outlook. Such religions include, but are not limited to, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Judaism, more vague than the others, has no specific hierarchy of angels. People of the Protestant faith have generally abandoned the cult of angels. The Islam faith has four archangels: Jibrail, Mikail, Israfil, and Izrail, considered the Angel of Death. These archangels usually act in place of Allah. According to the Islam tradition, two scribe angels stay with each person. One scribe angel sits on the right and the other on the left. The angel on the right side records the good deeds of each person. The angel on the left takes notes of transgressions of the person ("Angel”).
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...eds to know the truth about angels so their spiritual relationship is not damaged or misconstrued.
Works Cited
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Work Cited
Dante, Alighieri, and Mark Musa. Dante's Inferno. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1971. Print.
Buursma, Dirk R., and Martha Manikas-Foster, eds. Men's Devotional Bible: New International Version. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Pub. House, 1993. Print.
Keathley, J. Hampton, III. "Angelology: The Doctrine of Angels." Bible.org. Bible.org, 3 June 2004. Web. 30 Nov. 2013. .
Jance, Judith A. Paradise Lost. New York: William Morrow, 2001. Print.
Raymond, Joad. Protestant Culture: Milton`s Angels. Vol. 60. N.p.: History Today, 2010. Print.
"Angel." Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia. Columbia University Press, n.d. Web. 30 Nov. 2013. .
...yne A. The HarperCollins Study Bible New Revised Standard Edition . New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1993. 1645-1722. Print.
... The New Oxford Annotated Bible with Apocrypha Revised Standard Version.(1977). New York: Oxford University Press, 1977. Nyberg, Nancy.(November 1997). Personal Interview and survey with Pastor of 1st Congregational Church of Dundee. Poole, W. Michael, D.Min., Th.D.(November 1997). Personal Interview and survey with pastor of Calvary Church of God. Strong, James.(1996). The New STRONG'S Complete Dictionary of Bible Words. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers. Tierney, Michael J.(November 1997). Personal Interview and survey with Priest from Saint Margaret Mary Catholic Parish. Unger, Merrill F.(1967). Unger's Bible handbook. Chicago: Moody Press. Weizsacker, H.I(1958). The Apostolic Age. Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications. White, R.E.O.(1960). The Biblical Doctrine of Initiation: A Theology of Baptism and Evangelism. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.
New International Version. [Colorado Springs]: Biblica, 2011. BibleGateway.com. Web. 3 Mar 2011. Accessed 22 April 2014.
In Gabriel Garcia Marquez's "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings" an angel symbolizes the unfamiliar. The angel is not just a celestial body, but a foreign body-someone who stands out as being different from the rest of society. Consequently, the angel draws attention to civilized society's reaction, ergo the community's reaction within the story when it confronts him. Using the angel as a symbol, Marquez shows how ignorance reveals the vulnerability of human nature often leading to uncivilized behaviour.
The term angel derives from a Greek translation of the Hebrew word mal'akh, which first meant "Shadow side of God," and now means messenger (Jeremiah 59). Angels as an article of faith have become an unshakeable part of our society. One in every ten popular songs involves angels in some way (Freeman 2). They appear in paintings and in museums as sculptures. Our culture is filled with angels that appear on clothing, cards, or as souvenirs, and jewelry. It would be reasonable to assume that one might find the most information about angels in the Christian bible. However , the bible only mentions three angels by name and actually contains very little information about these beings. Almost all of the information we have about angelic attributes comes from the three great Chronicles of Enoch. In these chronicles Enoch describes his journey to the ten Heavens where he saw angels in heaven's penal and punishment area, punishing sinners. His view was that hell existed in small pockets that were distributed throughout heaven. This view was not consistent with the later Church that believed heaven and hell were two separate places. Because of this, St. Jerome declared these texts apocryphal (Godwin 9). However, a lot of material from these chronicles appears in the New Testament. Though much of what we know currently about what angels are and what they do is based on misconception and myth, the concern of this paper is with the genus Angelus Occidentalis. This is the term used to describe a number of angelic species and sub-species in Judaism, Islam, and Christianity (Godwin 7). The term angel describes not only the benevolent forces of heaven but also the malevolent forces of hell. When Lucifer fell from ...
Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition Bible. Eds. Dom Bernand Orchard, Rev. R. V. Fuller. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1966. Print.
The Bible contains many stories of people having an encounter with angels. An encounter alludes to an unexpected meeting. The word “angel” is a transliteration from the Hebrew word “mal’ak” in the Old Testament (Strong’s H4397) and the Greek word “angelos” in the New Testament (Strong’s G32). Both words mean “messenger” and describes one who executes the plan and will of the person whom they serve.
Metzger, B.M. & Coogan, M.D. “The Oxford Companion to the Bible”. Oxford University Press. New York, NY. (1993). P. 806-818.
In addition, The New Testament treats the corrupt conduct of the Fallen Angels as fact, as stated in the Book of Jude 1:6; which became accepted within Judaism as a reality. Predominantly, the early Church Fathers also supported the Enochian writings. For example, Justin Martyr ascribed all evil to demons, whom he alleged to be the offspring of the angels, who fell through their lust for women; directly referencing the Enochian writings. Another Church Father named Origen (AD 186-255), which occurred as a scholar of Clement, believed that angels could embody as men. Similarly, this belief grew through time, especially among the Church Fathers, who also believed in the embodiment of evil fallen angels/demons and the warfare going on between those of the spiritual
The. “Angels and the Hierarchy of the Heavenly Lies.” Flameministers.org.
New Testament. Vol. 2. Edited by Gerhard Kittel. Translated by Geoffrey W. Bromiley. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1964.
Holy Bible: Contemporary English Version. New York: American Bible Society, 1995. Print. (BS195 .C66 1995)
Barker, Kenneth L.. Zondervan NIV study Bible: New International Version. 2008 update. ed. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 2008. Print.
It is thus that the angels will embark on their first manifestation on Earth in history. which will lead to all those cited by Milton, and the Fall of Man. Works Cited and Consulted The Bible. The Bible. The Bible Daiches, David.