Angel
Angel (Greek, aggelos, “messenger”), heavenly spirit believed to be a messenger, or intermediary, between God, or the gods, and humankind. All religions are concerned with the relationship human beings have or may have with the supernatural realm. In ancient Greek religion, in Judaism and Christianity, and in Islam this relationship is thought to involve angels—divine messengers sent to humans to instruct, inform, or command them. An angel can function also as a protective guardian, as a heavenly warrior, and even as a cosmic power. Moreover, the line between a good angel and a bad angel, or demon, is sometimes unclear. Hence, angels can be broadly described as personified powers mediating between the divine and the human.
Even in its devotion to monotheism, the worship of one God, ancient Israel was able to embrace the image of a council of gods by turning all but one of them into angels who serve the one God, much as earthly courtiers serve one king. This acceptance of a belief in angels was a development made relatively easy because both lesser gods and angels could be called “sons of God”. In traditional Israelite thought, angels were assumed to have the form of human males, thus sometimes being mistaken for men.
After the period of Israel's Babylonian exile (597-538 bc), Jewish thought about angels was considerably altered and enriched. Drawing on Mesopotamian art, artists and writers began to provide wings even for the anthropomorphic angels, and an interest developed in the angels' garments, names, and relative ranks. In addition to the Mesopotamian influence, the Persian dualistic tradition added another dimension to the Jewish conception of angels by positing hostile and destructive angels who are rebellious against God. The Jewish Qumran sect, or Essenes, for example, saw the world as a battleground, the scene of a struggle between the Spirit of Truth and the Spirit of Wickedness, the latter an angelic power opposed to God called Belial.
Later developments in both Judaism and Christianity show a remarkable growth of angelic folklore, not least as the result of continuing the ancient practice of absorbing the gods of polytheistic religions by turning them into angels. Although belief in angels is amply attested in the Bible, many theologians nevertheless suggest that the concept was adopted by biblical writers both as a literary device to personify the divine presence and as a means of demoting the gods of polytheistic religions.
Drawing on the traditions of Judaism and Christianity, which were considered as authentic revelations preceding the final revelation of Muhammad, Islam developed its own hierarchy of angels. Many of these, such as the archangels Michael and Gabriel or Allah's throne bearers (a lion, an eagle, a bull, and a man), show their direct Judaeo-Christian inspiration. Pre-Islamic Arab religion was polytheistic, which may explain Islam's development of an angelic hierarchy.
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