The concept of Seven Archangels is found in some works of early Jewish literature and in Christianity. [1] In those texts, they are referenced as the angels who serve God directly.
The Catholic Church venerates seven archangels: in Latin Christianity three are invoked by name (Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael) while the Eastern Catholic Churches name seven. Lutheranism and Anglicanism's traditions generally recognize three to five archangels: Michael and Gabriel, as well as Raphael, Uriel and Jerahmeel.
In parts of Oriental Orthodox Christianity and Eastern Orthodox Christianity, Eight Archangels may be honoured, including Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, as well as Salathiel, Jegudiel, Barachiel, and Jeremiel (in the Coptic tradition the latter four are named as Surael, Sakakael, Sarathael, and Ananael). [1] The Eight Archangels are commemorated on the Feast of the Archangels. [2]
The term archangel itself is not found in the Hebrew Bible or the Christian Old Testament, and in the Greek New Testament the term archangel only occurs in 1 Thessalonians 4 (1 Thessalonians 4:16) and the Epistle of Jude (Jude 1:9), where it is used of Michael, who in Daniel 10 (Daniel 10:12) is called 'one of the chief princes,' and 'the great prince'. In the Septuagint, this is rendered "the great angel." [3]
The idea of seven archangels is most explicitly stated in the deuterocanonical/apocryphal Book of Tobit when Raphael reveals himself, declaring: "I am Raphael, one of the seven angels who stand in the glorious presence of the Lord, ready to serve him." (Tobit 12,15) The other two angels mentioned by name in the Bibles used by Catholics and Protestants are the archangel Michael and the angel Gabriel; Uriel is named in 2 Esdras (4:1 and 5:20) and Jerahmeel is named in 2 Esdras 4:36, a book that is regarded as canonical by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, the Georgian and Russian Orthodox Churches, [4] and falls within the Apocrypha section of the Protestant Bible used by Lutherans and Anglicans. The names of other archangels come from tradition.
Zechariah 4,10 tells about "seven rejoices" that are "the eyes of the Lord, Which scan to and from throughout the whole earth." [5] Revelation 8 (Revelation 8:2) mentions seven angels (Ancient Greek : ἀγγέλους [6] ) who "stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets." Similarly, Revelation 16 (Revelation 16:1) indicates: "and I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels (Ancient Greek : ἑπτὰ ἀγγέλοις [7] ): Go and pour out the seven bowls of the wrath of God into the earth." Lastly, Revelation 4 and Revelation 5 (Revelation 4:5) mention "seven Spirits" (Ancient Greek : τα ἑπτά Πνεύματα, transliterated into "ta hepta Pneumata", with the capital letter [8] ) – whose identity is not well specified – who are the "seven lamps of fire [that] were burning before the throne". [5]
One such tradition of archangels comes from the Old Testament biblical apocrypha, the third century BCE Book of the Watchers, [9] known as 1 Enoch or the Book of Enoch, eventually merged into the Enochic Pentateuch. [10] [11] This narrative is affiliated with the Book of Giants , which also references the great archangels [12] [13] and was made part of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church's scriptural canon. Although prevalent in Jewish and early Christian apostolic traditions and the early Christian Fathers, the Book of Enoch gradually fell from academic and religious status, and by the seventh century was rejected from the canonical scriptures of all other Christian denominations. The various surviving oral traditions recount many differing lists of archangels.[ citation needed ]
The names entered Jewish tradition during the Babylonian captivity (605 BCE). Babylonian folklore and cosmology, [14] and early Mesopotamian beliefs under the dualistic influence of Zoroastrianism, centered around anthropomorphic and zoomorphic representations of stars, planets, and constellations, including the four sons of the Sky Father carrying the Winged Sun, the throne of Wisdom. First the prophet Daniel, then authors such as Ezekiel hebraized this mythology, equating the Babylonian constellations with abstract forms held to be "sons of the gods", angels of the Lord of Israel, and heavenly animal cherubim. The 2 BC Book of the Parables (Ch XL) names the four angels accompanying the Ancient of Days, standing before the Lord of Spirits, "the voices of those upon the four sides magnifying the Lord of Glory": Michael, Raphael, Gabriel, and Phanuel.
The Book of the Watchers (Ch IX) lists the angels who in antediluvian times interceded on behalf of mankind against the rogue spirits termed "the Watchers": Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, and Uriel.
The earliest specific Christian references are in the late 5th to early 6th century: Pseudo-Dionysius gives them as Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, Camael, Jophiel, and Zadkiel. [15] In Western Christian traditions, Michael, Gabriel and Raphael are referred to as archangels. [16] Through its Byzantine tradition, however, the Catholic Church recognizes seven archangels altogether, sometimes named, sometimes unnamed other than the three mentioned above. The most mainstream Muslim view affirms Michael and Gabriel.
Lists of characters referred to as "angels" also exist in smaller religious traditions usually regarded as occultist or superstitious. A reference to seven archangels appeared in an 8th- or 9th-century talisman attributed to Auriolus, a "servant of God" in north-western Spain. He issues a prayer to "all you patriarchs Michael, Gabriel, Cecitiel, Uriel, Raphael, Ananiel, Marmoniel. [17]
In the Catholic Church, three archangels are mentioned by name in its Biblical canon: Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael. Raphael appears in the deuterocanonical Book of Tobit, where he is described as "one of the seven angels who stand ready and enter before the glory of the lord of spirits", [18] a phrase recalled in Revelation 8:2–6. Three Popes rejected to authorize veneration of the purported names of the Seven Archangels within the Roman Catholic Church: Pope Leo XII (1826–1828), [19] Pope Pius VIII (1830) and Pope Gregory XVI (1831–1832). [20] The Directory on popular piety and the Liturgy (2001) at n. 217 states that "the practice of assigning names to the Holy Angels should be discouraged, except in the case of Gabriel, Raphael and Michael whose names are contained in Holy Scripture." [21]
Some Eastern Orthodox Churches, exemplified in the Orthodox Slavonic Bible (Ostrog Bible, Elizabeth Bible, and later consequently Russian Synodal Bible), recognize as authoritative also 2 Esdras, which mentions Uriel and Jerahmeel. 2 Esdras is contained in the Apocrypha section of the Bible in both the Lutheran Churches and the Anglican Communion, which is the reason that Lutherans and Anglicans often name a fourth archangel, Uriel, as well as a fifth archangel Jerahmeel, in addition to Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael. [22] [23]
The Eastern Orthodox Church and Eastern Catholic Churches of the Byzantine tradition venerate seven to eight archangels. [1] Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, Selaphiel (Salathiel), Jegudiel (Jehudiel), Barachiel, and the eighth, Jerahmeel (Jeremiel) (The Synaxis of the Chief of the Heavenly Hosts, Archangel Michael and the Other Heavenly Bodiless Powers: Feast Day: November 8). [24]
As well as Michael, Gabriel, Raphael and Uriel, the Book of Enoch, regarded as canonical by the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, mentions (in chapter 20) Raguel, Saraqâêl, and Remiel; [25] however, apocryphal sources give instead the names Izidkiel, Hanael, and Kepharel. [26] Within the Oriental Orthodox Christian denominations, the Ethiopian Orthodox tradition names seven Archangels as Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, Raguel, Phanuel, and Remiel; [27] in the Coptic Orthodox tradition the seven to eight archangels are named as Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Suriel, Zadkiel, Sarathiel, and Ananiel, [28] [29] [30] as well as often Sakakael. [1]
In the Lutheran, as well as the Anglican and Episcopal traditions, there are three to five archangels in the calendar for September 29, the feast of St Michael and All Angels (also called Michaelmas), namely Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, [16] [31] and often also Uriel and Jerahmeel. [22] [32] [33] [34] [35] [36]
Other names derived from pseudepigrapha are Selaphiel, Jegudiel, and Raguel.
In Ismailism, there are seven cherubim, comparable to the Seven Archangels ordered to bow down before Qadar, of whom Iblis refuses. [37]
In Yazidism, there are seven archangels, named Jabra'il, Mika'il, Rafa'il (Israfil), Dadra'il, Azrail, Shamkil (Shemna'il), and Azazil, who are emanations from God entrusted with care of the creation. [38]
Various occult systems associate each archangel with one of the traditional "seven luminaries" (classical planets visible to the naked eye): the Sun, the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn; [39] but there is disagreement as to which archangel corresponds to which body.
According to Rudolf Steiner, four archangels govern the seasons: spring is Raphael, summer is Uriel, autumn is Michael, and winter is Gabriel. [40]
According to occultist Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, the Seven Archangels were a form of syncretism between different religions: they were the Chaldeans great gods, the Seven Sabian Gods, the seven Hinduist Manus and Seven Rashi, as well as the Seven Seats (Thrones) and Virtues of the Kabbalists. [41]
In the early Gnostic text On the Origin of the World , the aeon named Sophia sends seven archangels to rescue the Archon Sabaoth and bring him to the eighth heaven. [42]
The deuterocanonical books, meaning "Of, pertaining to, or constituting a second canon," collectively known as the Deuterocanon (DC), are certain books and passages considered to be canonical books of the Old Testament by the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Oriental Orthodox Churches and the Assyrian Church of the East, but which modern Jews and Protestants regard as apocrypha.
Michaelmas is a Christian festival observed in many Western Christian liturgical calendars on 29 September, and on 8 November in the Eastern Christian traditions. Michaelmas has been one of the four quarter days of the English and Irish financial, judicial, and academic year.
In the Abrahamic religions, Gabriel is an archangel with the power to announce God's will to mankind. He is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, the Quran and the Kitáb-i-Aqdas. Many Christian traditions – including Eastern Orthodoxy, Catholicism, Lutheranism, and Anglicanism – revere Gabriel as a saint.
Archangels are the second-lowest rank of angel in the Christian hierarchy of angels, put forward by Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite in the 5th or 6th century in his book De Coelesti Hierarchia. The word "archangel" itself is usually associated with the Abrahamic religions, but beings that are very similar to archangels are found in a number of other religious traditions.
The Book of Tobit, also known as the Book of Tobias, is a 3rd or early 2nd century BC work describing how God tests the faithful, responds to prayers, and protects the covenant community. It tells the story of two Israelite families, that of the blind Tobit in Nineveh and of the abandoned Sarah in Ecbatana. Tobit's son Tobias is sent to retrieve ten silver talents that Tobit once left in Rages, a town in Media; guided and aided by the angel Raphael he arrives in Ecbatana, where he meets Sarah. A demon named Asmodeus has fallen in love with her and kills anyone she intends to marry, but with the aid of Raphael the demon is exorcised and Tobias and Sarah marry, after which they return to Nineveh, where Tobit is cured of his blindness.
Many Wikipedia articles on religious topics are not yet listed on this page. If you cannot find the topic you are interested in on this page, it still may already exist; you can try to find it using the "Search" box. If you find that it exists, you can edit this page to add a link to it.
Raphael is an archangel first mentioned in the Book of Tobit and in 1 Enoch, both estimated to date from between the 3rd and 2nd century BCE. In later Jewish tradition, he became identified as one of the three heavenly visitors entertained by Abraham at the Oak of Mamre. He is not named in either the New Testament or the Quran, but later Christian tradition identified him with healing and as the angel who stirred waters in the Pool of Bethesda in John 5:2–4, and in Islam, where his name is Israfil, he is understood to be the unnamed angel of Quran 6:73, standing eternally with a trumpet to his lips, ready to announce the Day of Judgment. In Gnostic tradition, Raphael is represented on the Ophite Diagram.
Michael, also called Saint Michael the Archangel, Archangel Michael and Saint Michael the Taxiarch is an archangel in Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and the Baha'i faith. 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 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 author denounces heretics by contrasting them with Michael.
In Christianity, angels are the messengers of God.
Uriel, Auriel or Oriel is the name of one of the archangels who is mentioned in the post-exilic rabbinic tradition and in certain Christian traditions. He is well known in the Russian Orthodox tradition and in folk Catholicism and recognised in the Anglican Church as the fourth archangel. He is also well known in European esoteric medieval literature. Uriel is also known as a master of knowledge and archangel of wisdom.
Sariel is an angel mainly from Judaic tradition. Other possible versions of his name are Suriel, Suriyel, Seriel, Sauriel, Saraqael, Sarakiel, Suruel, Surufel, and Souriel.
The Hebrew name Jerahmeel, which appears several times in the Tanakh, also appears in various forms as the name of an archangel in books of the intertestamental and early Christian periods.
Ramiel is a fallen Watcher (angel). He is mentioned in Chapter 7 of the apocryphal Book of Enoch as one of the 20 Watchers that sinned and rebelled against God by mating with human women, and creating offspring called Nephilim.
Jegudiel, also known as Saint Iehudiel, is one of the seven Archangels in Eastern Orthodox tradition.
In the Bible, the term Seven Spirits of God appears four times in the Book of Revelation. The meaning of this term has been interpreted in multiple ways.
In some Judeo-Christian traditions, the Angel of the Presence / Face or Angel of his presence / face refers to an entity variously considered angelic or else identified with God himself.
Saint Michael the Archangel is referenced in the Old Testament and has been part of Christian teachings since the earliest times. In Catholic writings and traditions he acts as the defender of the Church and chief opponent of Satan, and assists people at the hour of death.
A biblical canon is a set of texts which a particular Jewish or Christian religious community regards as part of the Bible.
Articles related to Christianity include:
It is worth mentioning that St Michael's Day (21/8 November) is the feast of the seven/eight Archangels and the hosts of Holy Angels, who, as have been mentioned, are numberless