Angels and Demons
The word angel from the Greek aggelos means messenger, in Hebrew, angels are similar to humans and Cherubim more like animals and they work for god.The origins of these beliefs probably come from ancient Persia and the religion of Zoroastrianism. The followers believed in two beings, one evil the other good, served by demons and angels respectively. The demons were called daevas, which became devil and this became entrenched in Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
By the Middle Ages Christians had developed an hierarchy of angels and fallen angels, (demons), with Satan as the first angel to fall.
Muslims followed a similar ideology; their group of evil beings are called jinn. The first jinn was called iblis, he was outcast for refusing to worship the first man, Adam, but of course he is left free to tempt humanity.
In Christianity there are nine choirs of angels, arranged here in order of importance:
- Seraphim - Seraphs were the guardians of the threshold of the Most High and later on in Christianity and Jewish lore the highest angelic order.
- Cherubim - winged angels who protected the east side of Eden to prevent humans from re-entering the garden and gaining access to the tree of life. They are second highest on the list. In Islam these beings are said to continually praise Allah.
- Thrones
- Dominations
- Virtues
- Powers - Unclean spirits/fallen angels as far as I can find out, the same as Principalities.
- Principalities - Unclean spirits/fallen angels as far as I can find out.
"If man had never fallen there would have been no opportunity of showing divine mercy. But by permitting evil, mysterious as it seems, God's works of grace, mercy, and wisdom in saving sinners have been wonderfully manifested to all his creatures. The redeeming of the church of elect sinners is the means of 'showing to principalities and powers the manifold wisdom of God' (Eph. 3:10)." From King James Bible Study Guide arranged by John Cerbus for notetab users and made into a Tree pad file by Keith Gardner who has a website at: http://www.truthbaptistchurch.valatie.ny.us
- Archangels - Gabriel, Raphael and Uriel are the best known. In Islam four Archangels are said to guard the throne of Allah, they are portrayed as a bull, an eagle, a lion and a man.
- Angels - Intermediaries between humans and God. Also often thought to be guardians of humans. Some religions believe that every human has a guardian angel.
The word demon comes form the Greek word daimon meaning supernatural being or spirit and until the advent of Christianity demons were not always considered evil though a belief in evil beings stems back to prehistoric times.
The Hebrew word ha-sata, meaning the Satan, originally referred to god's spy, who would rove around gathering information about humans. This developed into a more sinister occupation with Satan inciting trouble. Eventually he was promoted to the opposition, an idea that could have been influenced by Persian dualistic philosophy, which had opposing powers of good, Ormazd and evil, Ahriman. But in the Christian and Jewish faiths the devil is ultimately answerable to god.
The word hell is taken from the Anglo Saxon, to conceal or to cover. And in one form or another it features in most religions. It can be hot, cold, a place where souls are punished or eventually fade into non-existence, but it is usually a place for the damned.
The rite of exorcism is the process of ejecting evil spirits from people or places. In early Christianity anyone could perform one, but that changed around 250 AD when only the clergy where authorised.
Exorcism pre supposes the existence of the devil. A person possessed can have extraordinary strength, suffer from convulsions and or shout curses for no apparent reason. It is very hard to verify, as there are lots of other reasons for these types of behaviours, such as mental or physical illness.
Whatever the truths behind theses beliefs, humans are great adapters and we undoubtedly changed many ideas to suit us as our lives evolved.
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