Types Of Angels And Demons
Angels and demons, as noted earlier, have been categorized as benevolent, malevolent, or ambivalent or neutral beings that mediate between the sacred and profane realms.
Benevolent beings
Benevolent beings, usually angels but sometimes ghosts of ancestors or other spiritual beings that have been placated by sacrifices or other rituals, assist humans in achieving a proper rapport with God, other spiritual beings, or humans’ life situations. Angels, for example, not only act as revealers of divine truths but also are believed to be efficacious in helping people to attain salvation or special graces or favours. Their primary function is to praise and serve God and do his will. This is true of angels in both Christianity and Zoroastrianism as well as in Judaism and Islam. As functional extensions of the divine will, they sometimes intervene in human affairs by rewarding the faithful and punishing the unjust or by saving the weak, who are in need of help, and destroying the wicked, who unjustly persecute their fellow creatures. In the intertestamental book of Tobit (an apocryphal, or “hidden,” book that is not accepted as canonical by Jews and Protestants), the archangel Raphael (“God Heals”), for example, helps the hero Tobias, the son of Tobit, on a journey and also reveals to him magic formulas to cure his father’s blindness and to counteract the power of the demon Asmodeus.
Angels have been described as participants in the creation and providential continuance of the cosmos. Clement of Alexandria, influenced by Hellenistic cosmology, stated that they function as the movers of the stars and control the four elements—earth, air, fire, and water. Many angels are believed to be guardians over individuals and nations. The view that there are guardian angels watching over children has been a significant belief in the popular piety of Roman Catholicism. Angels are also regarded as the conductors of the souls of the dead to the supraterrestrial world. In the procreation of humans, angels are believed to perform various services. This is especially noticeable in the instances of angels announcing the births of divine figures or special religious personages, such as Jesus and John the Baptist in the New Testament.
Though the function of angels is of primary significance, theological reflection and popular piety have placed much emphasis on the nature of angels. In early Judaism angels were conceived as beings in human form: the angel who wrestled with the patriarch Jacob, as recorded in the book of Genesis, was in the form of a man. In Judaism of the Hellenistic period (3rd century BCE to 3rd century CE), however, angels were viewed as noncorporeal spiritual beings who appeared to humans in an apparitional fashion. Their spiritual nature had been emphasized earlier by Hebrew prophets, such as Ezekiel and Isaiah, in their visionary descriptions. The cherubim and seraphim, two superior orders of angels, are described as winged creatures that guard the throne of God. The use of wings attached to various beings symbolizes their invisible and spiritual nature, a practice that can be traced back to the ancient Egyptians, who represented the battling sun-god Horus of Edfu as a winged disk. In Christian iconography the spiritual nature of angels has been almost universally represented—until the 20th century—by winged human figures. Their spirituality and, therefore, their noncorporeality led to various kinds of speculation among theologians and common people about the nature of the appearances of angels, which has been recorded in both Scripture and legends based on popular piety. Some theologians, such as St. Augustine in the 4th–5th century, stated that angels, who have ethereal bodies, may be able to assume material bodies. This problem, however, has not been solved to the satisfaction of later theologians.
Malevolent beings
Malevolent beings—demons, fallen angels, ghosts, goblins, evil spirits in nature, hybrid creatures, the daevas of Zoroastrianism, the narakas (creatures of hell) of Jainism, the oni (attendants of the gods of the underworld) in Japanese religions, and other such beings—hinder humans in achieving a proper relation with God, the spiritual realm, or human life situations. Some angels are believed to have fallen from a position of proximity to God—such as Lucifer (after his fall called Satan by early Church Fathers) in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—because of pride or for attempts to usurp the position of the Supreme Being. In their fallen condition they attempt to keep humans from gaining a right relationship with God by provoking them to sin. Some medieval scholars of demonology ascribed to a hierarchy of seven archdemons the seven deadly sins: Lucifer (Pride); Mammon (Avarice); Asmodeus (Lechery); Satan (Anger); Beelzebub (Gluttony); Leviathan (Envy); and Belphegor (Sloth). Besides tempting humans to sin, the fallen angels, or devils, were believed to cause various types of calamities, both natural and accidental. Like the demons and evil spirits of nature in nonliterate religions, the fallen angels were viewed as the agents of famine, disease, war, earthquakes, accidental deaths, and various mental or emotional disorders. Persons afflicted with mental diseases were considered to be “demon possessed.”
Though the functions of demonic figures, like those of fallen angels, is of major significance, the nature of demons has been of concern to theologians and persons infused with popular piety. Like angels, demons are regarded as spiritual, noncorporeal beings, but they have been depicted in religious iconography as hybrid creatures with horrifying characteristics or as caricatures of idols of an opposing religion. In the early church, for example, there was a belief that pagan idols were inhabited by demons. The horrifying aspects of demons have been represented in the woodcuts of medieval and Reformation artists and in the masks of shamans, medicine men, and priests of nonliterate religions—either to frighten the believer into behaving according to accepted norms or to ward off ritualistically the power of the demonic forces loose in the terrestrial or profane realm.
Ambivalent or neutral beings
Ambivalent or neutral spiritual beings are usually not found in Western religions, which usually divide the inhabitants of the cosmos into those who are either allied with or in opposition to the Supreme Being. Islam, however, classifies spiritual beings into angels (malā’ikah), demons (shāyaṭīn), and jinn (singular jinni), or genies. This last category includes spiritual beings that might be either benevolent or malevolent. According to legend, the jinn were created out of fire 2,000 years before the creation of Adam, the first human. Capable of both visibility and invisibility, a jinni could assume various forms—either animal or human—and could be either a help or a hindrance to humans. By cunning, a superior use of intellect, or magic, people might be able to manipulate a jinni for their own benefit.
Various minor nature spirits—such as the spirits of water, fire, mountains, and winds and other spirits recognized in nonliterate religions—are generally neutral, but, in order to keep them that way or to make them beneficial to humans, proper sacrifices and rituals must be performed.
Varieties Of Angels And Demons In The Religions Of The World
Intermediate beings between the sacred and profane realms assume various forms in the religions of the world: celestial and atmospheric beings; devils, demons, and evil spirits; ghosts, ghouls, and goblins; and nature spirits and fairies.
In Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
In the Western religions, which are monotheistic and view the cosmos as a tripartite universe, angels and demons are generally conceived as celestial or atmospheric spirits. In the popular piety of these religions, however, there is a widespread belief in ghosts, ghouls, goblins, demons, and evil spirits that influence humans in their terrestrial condition and activities. The celestial beings may be either benevolent or malevolent, depending on their own relationship to the Supreme Being. On the other hand, the demons and evil spirits that generally influence humans in their role as terrestrial beings (rather than in their destiny as supraterrestrial beings) are viewed in popular piety—and somewhat in theological reflection—as malevolent in intent.
Angels are generally grouped in orders of four, six, or seven in the first ranks, of which there may be several. The use of four, which symbolically implies perfection and is related to the four cardinal points, is found in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Early Zoroastrianism, much influenced by the astronomical and astrological sciences of ancient Iran, coordinated the concept of the seven known planetary spheres with its belief in the heptad (grouping of seven) of celestial beings—i.e., the amesha spentas of Ahura Mazdā: Spenta Mainyu (the Holy Spirit), Vohu Mana (Good Mind), Asha (Truth), Ārmaiti (Right Mindedness), Khshathra (Kingdom), Haurvatāt (Wholeness), and Ameretāt (Immortality). In later Zoroastrianism, though not in the Gāthās (the early hymns, believed to have been written by Zoroaster, in the Avesta, the sacred scriptures), Ahura Mazdā and Spenta Mainyu were identified with each other, and the remaining bounteous immortals were grouped in an order of six. Over against the bounteous immortals, who helped to link the spiritual and material worlds together, was the counterpart of the Holy Spirit, namely Angra Mainyu, the Evil Spirit, who later became the great adversary Ahriman (the prototype of the Jewish, Christian, and Islamic Satan), and the daevas, who were most likely gods of early Indo-Iranian religion. Allied with Angra Mainyu against Ahura Mazdā were Akōman (Evil Mind), Indrā-vāyū (Death), Saurva (a daeva of death and disease), Nāñhaithya (a daeva related to the Vedic god Nāsatya), Tauru (difficult to identify), and Zairi (the personification of haoma, the sacred drink related to the sacrifices of both ahuras and daevas). Among other demonic figures is Aēshma (violence, fury, or the aggressive impulse)—who may well be the demon Asmodeus of the book of Tobit, Āz (Concupiscence or Lust), Mithrāndruj (He Who Lies to Mithra or False Speech), Jēh (the demon Whore, created later by Ahriman to defile the human race), and many others (see also Zoroastrianism).
Angelology and demonology in Judaism became more highly developed during and after the period of the Babylonian Exile (6th–5th centuries BCE), when contacts were made with Zoroastrianism. In the Hebrew Bible, Yahweh is called the Lord of hosts. These hosts (Sabaoth) are the heavenly army that fights against the forces of evil and performs various missions, such as guarding the entrance to paradise, punishing evildoers, protecting the faithful, and revealing God’s Word to humans. Two archangels are mentioned in the canonical Hebrew Bible: Michael, the warrior leader of the heavenly hosts, and Gabriel, the heavenly messenger. Two are mentioned in the apocryphal Hebrew Bible: Raphael, God’s healer or helper (in the book of Tobit), and Uriel (Fire of God), the watcher over the world and the lowest part of hell (in II Esdras). Though these are the only four named, seven archangels are noted in Tobit 12:15. Besides the archangels, there were also other orders of angels, the cherubim and seraphim, which have been noted earlier.
Under the influence of Zoroastrianism, Satan, the adversary, probably evolved into the archdemon. Other demons included Azazel (the demon of the wilderness, incarnated in the scapegoat), Leviathan and Rahab (demons of chaos), Lilith (a female night demon), and others. To protect themselves from the powers of the demons and unclean spirits, Jews influenced by folk beliefs and customs (as with Christians later) often carried charms, amulets, and talismans inscribed with efficacious formulas (See also Judaism).
Christianity, probably influenced by the angelology of Jewish sects such as the Pharisees and Essenes as well as of the Hellenistic world, further enhanced and developed theories and beliefs in angels and demons. In the New Testament, celestial beings were grouped into seven ranks: angels, archangels, principalities, powers, virtues, dominions, and thrones. In addition to these were added the Old Testament cherubim and seraphim, which with the seven other ranks constituted the nine choirs of angels in later Christian mystical theology. Various other numbers of the orders of angels have been given by early Christian writers: four, in The Sibylline Oracles (a supposedly Jewish work that shows much Christian influence); six, in the Shepherd of Hermas, a book accepted as canonical in some local early Christian churches; and seven, in the works of Clement of Alexandria and other major theologians. In both folk piety and theology the number has generally been fixed at seven. The angels receiving most attention and veneration in Christianity were the four angels mentioned in the Old Testament and the Apocrypha. Michael became the favourite of many, and in the practice of his cult there was often some confusion with St. George, who was also a warrior figure.
Demonology experienced a renewal in Christianity that probably would have been acceptable in Zoroastrianism. Satan, the archenemy of the Christ; Lucifer, the fallen Light Bearer; and the originally Canaanite Beelzebub, the Lord of Flies (or, perhaps, Beelzebul, the Lord of Dung), mentioned by Jesus, are all devils. The concept and term devil are derived from the Zoroastrian concept of daevas and the Greek word daibolos (“slanderer” or “accuser”), which is a translation of the Jewish concept of Satan. As a singular demonic force or personification of evil, the devil’s chief activity was to tempt humans to act in such a way that they would not achieve their supraterrestrial destiny. Because demons were believed to inhabit waterless wastelands, where hungry and tired persons often had visual and auditory hallucinations, early Christian monks went into the deserts to be the vanguard of God’s army in joining battle with the tempting devils. They often recorded that the devil came to them in visions as a seductive woman, tempting them to violate their vows to keep themselves sexually pure, both physically and mentally.
During certain periods in Christian Europe, especially the Middle Ages, worship of demons and the practice of witchcraft brought about the wrath of both church and people on those suspected of practicing diabolical rites, such as the black mass. One formula from the black mass (the mass said in reverse and with an inverted crucifix on the altar) has survived in popular magic: “hocus-pocus,” an abbreviated from of “Hoc est corpus meum” (“This is my body”), the words of institution in the Eucharist, or Holy Communion. Witchcraft and sorcery have been closely associated with demonology in the thought of Christianity, especially in the West.
In the second half of the 20th century, in connection with a renewed interest in the supernatural, there was evidence of a revival of demon worship and black magic, although this was generally restricted to small cults that proved to be quite ephemeral.
Angelology and demonology in Islam are closely related to similar doctrines in Judaism and Christianity. Besides the four throne bearers of Allah, four other angels are well known: Jibrīl (Gabriel), the angel of revelation; Mīkāl (Michael), the angel of nature, providing humans with food and knowledge; ʿIzrāʾīl, the angel of death; and Isrāfīl, the angel who places the soul in the body and sounds the trumpet for the Last Judgment. Demons also contend for control of human lives, the most prominent being Iblīs (the Devil), who tempts humans, or Shayṭan, or Satan.
LINK:https://www.britannica.com/topic/angel-religion/In-the-religions-of-the-East
In the religions of the East
As noted earlier, the function of angels in Eastern religions was carried by avatars, bodhisattvas, and other such spiritual beings who were extensions of God or the sacred. Belief in demons was and is very widespread, influencing various rituals and practices to counteract the forces that are hostile to humans and nature. In Hinduism the asuras (the Zoroastrian ahuras) are the demons who oppose the devas (the gods). Both vied for the homa, or the amrita (the sacred drink that gives power), but the god Vishnu (the preserver), incarnated as a beautiful woman (Mohini), aided the gods so that they alone would drink the amrita, thus giving them power over the demons. Among the various classes of Hindu asuras (demons) are nagas (serpent demons), Ahi (the demon of drought), and Kamsa (an archdemon). Demons that afflict humans include the rakshasas, grotesque and hideous beings of various shapes who haunt cemeteries, impel people to perform foolish acts, and attack sadhus (saintly persons), and pishachas, beings who haunt places where violent deaths have occurred. Buddhists often view their demons as forces that inhibit humans from achieving nirvana (bliss or the extinction of desire). Included among such beings are Mara, an arch tempter who, with his daughters, Rati (Desire), Raga (Pleasure), and Tanha (Restlessness), attempted to dissuade Siddhārtha Gautama, the Buddha, from achieving his Enlightenment. As Mahayana (Greater Vehicle) Buddhism spread to Tibet, China, and Japan, many of the demons of the folk religions of these areas were incorporated into Buddhist beliefs. The demons of Chinese religions, the guei-shen, are manifested in all aspects of nature. Beside these nature demons there are goblins, fairies, and ghosts. Because the demons were believed to avoid light, the Chinese who were influenced by Daoism and folk religions used bonfires, firecrackers, and torches to ward off the guei. Japanese religions are similar to Chinese religions in the multiplicity of demons with which humans must contend. Among the most fearsome of the Japanese demons are the oni, evil spirits with much power, and the tengu, spirits that possess human beings and that generally must be exorcised by priests.
In nonliterate religions
The spiritual beings of nonliterate religions of Asia, Africa, Oceania, and the Americas are generally viewed as malevolent or benevolent according to circumstances rather than because of their inherent nature. Eshu, a god of the Yoruba of Nigeria, for example, is looked upon as a protective benevolent spirit as well as a spirit with an evil power that may be directed toward one’s enemies. These beings possess what is called mana (supernatural power), a Melanesian term that can be applied both to spirits and to persons of special status, such as chiefs or shamans. In nonliterate religions the spirits of nature are generally venerated in return for certain favours or to ward off catastrophes, much in the manner of the religion of ancient Rome. Ancestor gods abound, and thus the ghosts of the dead must be placated, often with the performance of elaborate rites.
Linwood FredericksenLINK:https://www.britannica.com/topic/angel-religion/In-the-religions-of-the-East
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