Angels

Angels 

in Judaic, Christian, Muslim, and several other mythologies, intermediary beings between God and people. Angels act as mediators between them. Old Testament notions about angels, which date back apparently to polytheistic beliefs and partially to Assyrian-Babylonian mythological images, were accepted in the New Testament and became one of the fundamental elements of Christian mythology. According to this mythology, angels are immortal and powerful and have knowledge of the future, although there are limits to both their power and their knowledge. Late Judaic and Christian mythologies contain concepts of “fallen angels” who are led by the devil, or Satan, and urge people to sin.

In late Judaic religion, there developed a differentiation of angels which was further developed in Christian mythology; cherubim, seraphim, and four angel princes (archangels) were distinguished. In Christian mythology, the most venerated were the archangels Michael—the leader of the heavenly host; Gabriel—the herald of God, who, according to the Gospel, informed Mary about the coming birth of Christ; Raphael—the healer; and Uriel—the angel of repentance. The function of representing people before God on Judgment Day is ascribed to the archangels. One of the founders of Christian mysticism, the Byzantine theologian Pseudo-Dionysius Areopagite (fourth century), developed a hierarchy of angels—choirs (“ranks”) of angels—by analogy with the division of Byzantine court ranks into nine orders. The higher orders of angels, to which the seraphim and cherubim belonged, were thought to stand extremely close to God; the lower, to man. Christian art initially portrayed angels in human form; toward the end of the fourth century, when the idea of angels as incorporeal beings was sanctioned, they came to be depicted with wings.

In Muslim mythology, there are four archangels (muqarrabun): Jibril, Michael, Israfil (the herald of the Day of Reckoning), and Azroel (the Archangel of Death).

A. P. KAZHDAN and M. I. ZAND