Angels

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Pure spirits devoted to the worship andservice of GOD. Most developed religious traditionshave a class of beings that range betweenthe human realm and the supreme God or UltimateReality. They include lesser gods, SAINTS, ancestralspirits (see ANCESTOR WORSHIP), BODHISATTVAS, andtoday even aliens from other planets. Angels areamong the most prominent, especially in monotheistic(believing in one God) religions. They arebelieved to be pure spirits created directly by Godto praise and honor him in HEAVEN and to serve ashis messengers (the word angel comes from theGreek angellos, messenger) on Earth. Angels are important in the Western religioustraditions, JUDAISM, CHRISTIANITY, and ISLAM. Herethey have several roles. A hierarchy, includingthe mighty archangels Michael, Gabriel, Raphael,and others, is believed to praise and serve God inheaven. According to ancient sources, there areranks of angels, in descending order known as Seraphim,Cherubim, Thrones, Dominations, Virtues,Powers, Principalities, Archangels, and ordinaryangels. A well-known story, hinted at in the Biblebut developed by the poet John Milton and others,says that SATAN, the devil, was once a very highangel, Lucifer (Lightbearer), but rebelled againstGod and was cast out of heaven and into hell.Second, angels are messengers of God. Archangelsand angels have performed missions forGod crucial to the central narratives of these threefaiths. In the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testamentto Christians) angels guarded the Garden of Edenafter ADAM and EVE were driven out of that garden.They visited ABRAHAM with the promise ofa son, and the prophet ISAIAH saw a six-wingedcherubim, a kind of angel, in the temple. In Christianity,it was the archangel Gabriel who visitedMARY to inform her she would become the motherof the Savior, JESUS, and angels appeared singingin the skies at the time of his birth in Bethlehem.In Islam, the same archangel, Gabriel, deliveredthe sacred scriptures, the QUR'AN to the prophetMUHAMMAD. On a more personal level, these faithshave traditionally believed that each individual hasa guardian angel who guides and protects him orher. There is some popular belief that the departedbecome angels after death, but this is not consideredorthodox.Third, angels are pictured as protectors. Greatarchangels are patrons of nations and cities; lesserangels of individuals are "guardian angels," designatedto help those persons and fend off temptationsfrom the demons.Angels have traditionally been portrayed asbeautiful human-like fi gures with wings. Theyoften appear female but are said to be sexless,although the greatest archangels are often representedas male. The wings are partly due to theinfl uence of ancient Greek and Roman art, whichpictured various spirits in this way, although someancient Hebrew angels, like the one Isaiah saw,were also winged. Historically, angels may havebeen a way to bring popular belief in many godsand spirits into harmony with belief in one God,by making them all his servants. But belief hascertainly been reinforced by accounts from numerousordinary people who report angelic help andencounters. One such account is from the foundingof the Church of Jesus Christ of LATTER-DAY SAINTS,the Mormon Church, by Joseph Smith (1805–44).Beginning in 1823, the angel Moroni is said to havevisited Smith in upstate New York, and directedhim to the golden plates containing the Book ofMormon, scriptures supplemental to the Bible inMormonism. Moroni is often portrayed atop Mormontemples.In HINDUISM and BUDDHISM, the equivalent ofangels are beautiful fi gures, apsaras or yaksas inIndia, tennin or tennyo in Japan, said to inhabitthe heavens of the gods, the Pure Land, and evenmountains and forests as playful or mysteriousspirits. Some may tempt holy men, but in their most exalted conceptualization, as in the PureLand, they represent the wonderful joy of theworld of gods and buddhas. The Taoist (see TAOISM)immortals also have some angelic characteristics,and live in beautiful places in heaven or Earthaccompanied by other worldly beings of angeliccharacter.Lately there has been a renewal of interest inangels in popular culture in the United States. Thesebeautiful beings appear to have meaning to manymoderns, just as they did for people of the past.