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Definition: angel from Philip's Encyclopedia

(Gk. messenger) Spiritual being superior to man but inferior to God. In the Bible, angels appear as messengers and servants of God. Angels form an integral part of Judaism and Islam. Christian tradition gives a hierarchy of nine orders of angel: seraphim, cherubim, thrones, dominions (or dominations), virtues, powers, principalities, archangels, and angels.

angel

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
(ān'jӘl), [Gr.,=messenger], bodiless, immortal spirit, limited in knowledge and power, accepted in the traditional belief of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam and other religions. Angels appear frequently in the Bible, often in critical roles, e.g., visiting Abraham and Lot (Gen. 18; 19), wrestling with Jacob (Gen. 32.24–32), and guiding Tobit (Tobit 5). The Bible also speaks of guardian angels, protecting individuals or nations (Dan. 10.10–21; Mat. 18.10). In the Gospels an angel announced the Incarnation to the Virgin Mary (Luke 1), and an angel at the empty tomb revealed the Resurrection (Mat. 28.1–7). While Judaism has no fixed ordering of classes of angels, Christianity has a specific hierarchy. Codified in its classic form in the 5th cent by St. Dionysius the Areopagite , in The Celestial Hierarchy. In descending order the ranks of angels are seraphim, cherubim, thrones; dominations, virtues, powers; principalities, arch-angels, and angels. Roman Catholics and the Orthodox…
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Full text Article angel

From Word Origins
In a sense, English already had this word in Anglo-Saxon times; texts of around 950 mention englas ‘angels’. But in that form (which had a hard g ) it came directly from Latin angelus . The word we use today, with its soft g , came from Old French angele (the ‘hard g’ form survived until the 13th…
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Full text Article Angels

From Cambridge Dictionary of Christian Theology
The OT takes the presence of angels for granted. They do not enter into the kind of speculation that marks later angel-literature (e.g., where angels came from, how they relate to human beings and to God, etc.). Angels simply turn up in stories with great regularity. Although angelology became a…
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Full text Article ANGEL

From The Ashgate Encyclopedia of Literary and Cinematic Monsters
Angel by Anki King
Western theology and folklore conceive of angels as God's messengers, beings of pure spirit who may appear in human form, often with wings, to interact with humans. According to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, angels are to carry out the will of God and be extensions of that will on Earth. The…
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Full text Article ANGELS

From Encyclopedia of Jewish Folklore and Traditions
Throughout Jewish folklore—from biblical texts and kabbalistic literature to modern Jewish folktales—angels play significant roles as mediators, protectors, and divine messengers. In the early books of the Bible angels are mediators between the earthly and celestial realms. The root of the Hebrew…
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Full text Article ANGELS

From Global Dictionary of Theology
The belief in spiritual beings or spiritual powers is a prevalent notion in many cultures around the globe. The Bible affirms there are other spiritual realities that are a part of God's creation other than human beings. These spiritual beings are called angels. This article will deal with the…
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Full text Article Angels

From Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World
MOHAMMED (C. 570–C. 632) AND THE ARCHANGEL...
The word angel appears frequently in the Qurʾan, having entered the Arabic language (in pre-Islamic times) as a loan from Aramaic or Hebrew, possibly Ethiopic, indicating both Christian and Jewish cultural influences. In any case the word has always been accepted as an exact equivalent of the Greek…
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Full text Article ANGEL

From Encyclopedia of Ancient Christianity
I. Angelology - II. Iconography. The English term angel , with the respective words in the other Western languages, comes from angelus , which from the late 2nd c. (Vetus Latina , Tertull.) was adopted in Latin as a loan translation of the Greek word άγγελος. Initially these two terms expressed…
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Full text Article angel

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
(ān'jӘl), [Gr.,=messenger], bodiless, immortal spirit, limited in knowledge and power, accepted in the traditional belief of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam and other religions. Angels appear frequently in the Bible, often in critical roles, e.g., visiting Abraham and Lot (Gen. 18; 19), wrestling…
| 351 words
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Full text Article angel

From The Macquarie Dictionary
(in Judaism, Christianity and Islam) one of a class of spiritual beings, attendants of God (in Christian medieval angelology divided, according to their rank, into nine orders, ranging from highest to lowest as follows: seraphim, cherubim, thrones, dominations or dominions, virtues, powers, …
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Full text Article Angel

From Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable
1. In post-canonical and apocalyptic literature angels are grouped in different orders. The commonly used hierarchy of nine orders is that popularized by the Pseudo-Areopagite or Pseudo-Dionysius (early 5th century ad ) in his De Hierarchia Celesti (‘Celestial Hierarchies’), which arranges them in…
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