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Angelology
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 Michae ...
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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 ...
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Supernatural
Supernatural phenomena or entities are those beyond the Scientific law, laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin 'above, beyond, outside of' + 'nature'. Although the corollary term "nature" has had multiple meanings since the ancient world, the term "supernatural" emerged in the Middle Ages and did not exist in the ancient world. The supernatural is featured in folklore and religious contexts, but can also feature as an explanation in more secular contexts, as in the cases of superstitions or belief in the paranormal. The term is attributed to non-physical entity, non-physical entities, such as angels, demons, gods and ghost, spirits. It also includes claimed abilities embodied in or provided by such beings, including Magic (supernatural), magic, telekinesis, levitation (paranormal), levitation, precognition and extrasensory perception. The supernatural is hypernymic to religion. Religions are standardized supernaturalist worldviews, or at least m ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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Divine Light
In theology, divine light (also called divine radiance or divine refulgence) is an aspect of divine presence perceived as light during a theophany or vision, or represented as such in allegory or metaphor. Light has always been associated with a religious and philosophical symbolic meaning, considered a source of not only physical but metaphysical illumination, as a metaphor for the revelation of a truth hidden in the shadows. The value of light often recurs in history of philosophy, especially Neoplatonic, in the course of which it is understood both as a structural component of every being, including physical ones, and as a metaphor of spiritual light. Types and terms The term "light" has been widely used in spirituality and religion, such as: * '' An Nūr'' – Islamic term and concept, referenced in '' Surah an-Nur'' and '' Ayat an-Nur'' of the Quran. * Inner light – Christian concept often associated with Quaker doctrine. * '' Johrei'' – In various Japanese new ...
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Halo (religious Iconography)
A halo (), also called a nimbus, aureola, aureole, glory or gloriole (), is a crown of light rays, circle or disk of light that surrounds a person in works of art. The halo occurs in the iconography of many religions to indicate holy or sacred figures, and has at various periods also been used in images of rulers and heroes. In the religious art of Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, Christianity, Hinduism, and Buddhism (among other religions), sacred persons may be depicted with a halo in the form of a circular glow, or flames in Asian art, around the head or around the whole body—this last form is often called a mandorla. Halos may be shown as almost any colour or combination of colours, but are most often depicted as golden, yellow or white (when representing light) or as red (when representing flames). The earliest artistic depictions of halos were probably in Ancient Egyptian art. Ancient Mesopotamia and Persia Sumerian religious literature frequently speaks of ( in Akkad ...
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La Civiltà Cattolica
''La Civiltà Cattolica'' ( Italian for ''Catholic Civilization'') is a periodical published by the Jesuits in Rome, Italy. It has been published continuously since 1850 and is among the oldest of Catholic Italian periodicals. All of the journal's articles are the collective responsibility of the entire "college" of the magazine's writers even if published under a single author's name. It is the only one to be directly revised by the Secretariat of State of the Holy See and to receive its approval before being published. The periodical is headquartered since 1951 in the Villa Malta ( Pincian Hill) situated in Via F. Crispi, Rome. In more recent times the magazine has advocated reaching out to children, teens, and young people who use and interact with social media (Facebook, Twitter, Skype, YouTube, etc., on devices such as the iPod and iPad) to an intense degree, and find ways to foster their faith life through interior meditation, including, among other exercises, the '' Sp ...
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