Week 5 Notes — Angels, Angelology, and the Second Temple Context

Week Five: Angels – Comprehensive Notes

• Week five overview

  • Instructor greets students and notes the mid-week milestone in week five; emphasis on internalizing key ideas through engaging delivery.
  • Reminder about the scaffolding writing assessment (major first assessment): students should review it early; some have emailed with questions.
  • Exam logistics: this is the first exam; no prior versions exist; exam draft written and under review.
  • Exam structure (current draft):
  • 15 multiple-choice questions (MCQs)
  • A short-answer section: a booklet with a paragraph response to one of 5 prompts
  • An essay component: one long essay; overall exam comprises MCQs + short answer paragraph + essay
  • Exam prompts are drawn from weekly lecture topics, readings, and PowerPoints; not random tangents or dates/names-only recollections.
  • Helpful examples used in class: e.g., a hypothetical question about vampires to illustrate linking topics like rituals and belief; the point is to connect topics from lectures to readings and lectures.
  • Students should study topics discussed in lectures, readings, and tutorials; online students should also review journal entries and materials.
  • The exam will expect understanding of topics from lectures, readings, and PowerPoints, including key figures and concepts rather than memorization of dates.
  • The instructor emphasizes that pop references (e.g., popes, dates) are not the exam focus; instead, emphasis is on concepts: e.g., Hume's view of miracles, Schleiermacher’s archaeology of language, and how these connect with later topics like angels.
  • The exam will not require memorization of popes' names or dates; but some contextual figures (e.g., Schleiermacher, Hume) and their views on miracles and the supernatural may appear.
  • Connections to broader topics: Protestant Reformation, Enlightenment, biblical/biblical criticism, and how language and religious epistemology shape understandings of miracles and the supernatural.

• Transition to today’s topic: angels

  • Angels as a shift from miracles; link to witches and the devil; ongoing thread about Western thought and the Reformation’s influence on supernatural ideas.
  • Historical shift: miracles in the Enlightenment (David Hume) vs. critiques and reinterpretations by figures like Schleiermacher (Shlomo Schliemacher in lecture): language, perception, and the natural order.
  • Key theme: the relationship between language, epistemology, and belief; how religious ideas can be reframed as linguistic or conceptual tools rather than literal entities.

• Why angels are a core topic in Western thought

  • Angels are a perennial supernatural category with broad appeal across religious and nonreligious cultures.
  • Unlike ghosts or vampires, angels do not have direct human precursors in the sense that they are not simply the transformed dead; they occupy a nonhuman heavenly category linked to God.
  • Angels intersect with other categories: humanlike messengers vs. nonhuman heavenly beings (e.g., cherubim, seraphim).
  • Angels can be depicted as male or anthropomorphic beings but also as non-human, non-anthropomorphic entities; popular culture often renders them in human form with wings, but biblical descriptions are more diverse.

• Major categories and representations of angels

  • Anthropomorphic, humanlike angels in Western art: arms, legs, wings, robes, halos; appearances persist from medieval to Renaissance to contemporary pop culture.
  • Wings and other features are not universal in biblical depictions; angels may appear as ordinary humans in some passages.
  • Cherubim: often depicted as multi-faced beings with wheels (ophanim) full of eyes; Ezekiel describes wheels within wheels with faces of a lion, ox, eagle, and human; wings common but not universal.
  • Seraphim: described in Isaiah 6 as beings with six wings (two covering their faces, two covering their feet, two flying).
  • Wheels/ophanim (eye-wheels): a striking non-anthropomorphic feature in Ezekiel’s vision.
  • Common portrayal tension: awe-inspiring and terrifying; angels can be portrayed as warlike or protective, sometimes delivering messages, sometimes acting in warfare or judgment.

• Names and biblical language: messenger function

  • The term angel in Greek is angelos, meaning “messenger.”
  • ext{angelos}
    ightarrow ext{messenger}
  • In Hebrew, the root malakh (מַלְאָךְ) also means “messenger.”
  • In the Hebrew Bible, malakh often refers to human messengers as well as angelic beings; the word is not exclusively linked to celestial beings.
  • Example narrative patterns show angels appearing to humans (often with awe or fear) and delivering divine messages or actions.

• Biblical key episodes and their angelic appearances

  • Samson (Judges 13): an angel of the Lord appears to Samson’s barren mother, predicting his birth; the angel’s appearance to Manoah’s wife is described as awe-inspiring; Manoah initially fails to recognize the visitor as an angel; the angel ascends in a flame from the sacrifice.
  • Lot and the Sodom visitations (Genesis 19): Lot perceives the visitors as holy; others in Sodom perceive them as attractive men and do not bow; a contrast between reverence and ordinary perception.
  • Zechariah (Luke 1): the angel of the Lord appears at the altar of incense; Zechariah is frightened; the angel delivers the message that Elizabeth will bear a son (John the Baptist).
  • Shepherds and Mary (New Testament): angels announce the birth of Jesus to shepherds; fear is a consistent response to angelic appearances in Luke.
  • End-time motifs (Revelation): angels as agents of eschatology, involved in the end times and cosmic events.
  • Daniel (Daniel 10): a vision of a mighty, radiant being with imagery of brightness and power; emphasizes a strong, awe-filled encounter.

• Key angelic features in biblical literature

  • Angels as agents of God who convey messages, execute divine will, or participate in cosmic events.
  • Fear response highlights the perceived power and otherness of angels.
  • Hierarchies emerge in later interpretations: archangels, seraphim, cherubim, regular angels.
  • Names and archangels: first explicit naming appears in Daniel (Gabriel and Michael); archangels become more prominent in Second Temple Judaism and Christian tradition.

• Second Temple Judaism: significance for angelology

  • Timeframe: roughly from about the 6th century BCE to 1st century CE; period of intense literary and theological development; critical for shaping later Christian and Jewish thought.
  • Angelology becomes more developed: presence of named angels (Gabriel, Michael, Raphael), archangels, and hierarchies; angelic beings feature in non-canonical texts (e.g., Tobit, Enoch, Jubilees).
  • Deuterocanonical books (included in Catholic/Orthodox Bibles but not in Protestant canons) expand angelology:
  • Tobit: introduces Raphael as a high-ranking angel.
  • Enoch and Jubilees: elaborate lists of archangels (e.g., Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, Seriel/Sariel, Raguel, Remiel).
  • Apocalypticism and messianic expectations: angels appear as intermediaries in end-times narratives; Jewish apocalyptic literature frames the imminent arrival of the Messiah.
  • The Book of Daniel: introduces named angels and a sense of hierarchy, contributing to the later Christian angelology.

• From canonical to non-canonical traditions: development of angel hierarchies

  • Archangels: concept of higher-order angels; emergence in Daniel and later Jewish/Christian literature; became central in Catholic theology.
  • Angelic hierarchies: Seraphim at the top, archangels below, regular angels at the bottom; angels serve specific roles and have varying levels of authority.
  • Raphael, Gabriel, Michael, and others gain prominence in later traditions; Enoch/Jubilees describe additional archangels not always recognized in all canons.
  • The practical distinction: some angels primarily serve earthly purposes (Messengers), others operate in the heavenly realm with responsibilities in creation and divine governance.

• Creation, origin, and nature of angels

  • Do angels preexist or are they created? Early Christian and Jewish thinkers debated their origin.
  • Consensus by the 4th century CE: God created everything, including angels (visible and invisible realities in creation).
  • Augustine’s view (and similar lines of thought from Philo): angels’ origin is tied to God’s creation, not as co-creators in a literal sense; some interpret “Let us create” as God’s speech with heavenly beings or as a theological metaphor.
  • Philosophical developments: medieval theologians (Maimonides, Aquinas) use Aristotelian and Islamic philosophical ideas to discuss angels.

• Philosophers and major developments in angelology

  • Moses Maimonides (12th c., Jewish): angels as incorporeal beings (pure intellects); sometimes described with wings in Scripture, but this is understood as metaphorical language for the limits of human understanding; angels as nonmaterial, purely spiritual beings.
  • Thomas Aquinas (13th c., Catholic): angels as pure intellects with no bodies; angels may still be described with symbolic features (e.g., wings) in Scripture, but these are linguistic tools; he integrates Aristotle with Christian theology and treats angels as real but nonmaterial beings.
  • Both thinkers emphasize nonliteral interpretation of many biblical angel descriptions; language is a means to convey truths about God and creation.
  • The broader scholastic project uses angels to explore metaphysical topics: nature of matter, form, and spirit, and the relationship between intellect and will.

• Schleiermacher and the modern reception of angels

  • Friedrich Schleiermacher (late 18th–early 19th c., German Protestant theologian): uses angels to illustrate how language mediates religious experience in the context of modern science and Enlightenment rationality.
  • View on miracles (as discussed previously in class): Schleiermacher argued that miracles are not violations of nature but expressions of a worldview where nature and the miraculous are integrated; miracles are awe-inspiring events understood through religious experience.
  • Angels as language, not doctrine: in his late-modern framework, angels serve as linguistic devices to convey religious feelings and awe rather than as literal beings with ontological status.
  • Positive and negative implications:
  • Positive: angels provide access points to religious feelings and moral sentiment; they communicate awe and religious insight.
  • Negative: guardian angels can lead to moral laxity or external protection reducing personal accountability (e.g., “the devil made me do it” vs. relying on angels for safety or virtue).
  • Theodicy and language: Schleiermacher’s framework foregrounds the idea that language and interpretation shape belief, including how we understand order, reality, and divine action.

• Guardian angels, morality, and critique

  • Medieval Christianity popularizes guardian angels as protectors of individuals morally and spiritually; angels defend against demonic temptations and physical harm.
  • Schleiermacher’s critique: belief in guardian angels can encourage moral laziness or irresponsibility, shifting accountability away from the individual.
  • The moral implication: religious belief should not excuse irresponsible or dangerous behavior; belief in angels should not diminish personal responsibility.

• Folk religion, syncretism, and belief in angels

  • Folk religion and popular piety as “the totality of beliefs and practices existing alongside official religion” (Don Yoder; 1974): folk beliefs often intersect with formal doctrine and may be syncretistic.
  • Draper and Baker on folk religion: unsystematic, informal, and largely anecdotal beliefs with miraculous intervention in daily life (illness, bereavement, personal tragedy) when formal institutions fail to provide solutions.
  • Angels fit well within folk religion: beliefs about guardian angels, protective guidance, and celestial messengers cross religious boundaries.
  • New Age and wellness movements (post-1970s): belief in guardian angels persists and expands into nontraditional spiritualities, including reincarnation, astrology, energy, crystals, and psychic phenomena; angels appear in popular wellness and self-help contexts.
  • Across religious traditions, angels persist in modern discourse, including Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox, and New Age circles; Jewish perspectives often diverge on guardian angels but still engage with broader angelic imagery.
  • Jewish perspective: some scholars note less emphasis on guardian angels; nevertheless, angelic beings remain a feature in various Jewish literatures and traditions.

• Angels in popular culture and media

  • Films and TV: It’s a Wonderful Life; Angels in the Outfield; Legion; Touched by an Angel; Left Behind; various depictions of angels in popular culture.
  • The secular and religious blending in media demonstrates how angels retain cultural resonance beyond strict doctrinal confines.

• Why belief in angels persists across cultures and time

  • Psychological appeal: guardian angels and protective beings provide a sense of security and moral guidance.
  • Narrative flexibility: angels are adaptable across diverse doctrinal contexts and can be integrated into different mythologies and worldviews.
  • Cross-cultural diffusion: ancient Near Eastern traditions, Jewish apocalypticism, and Christian and Islamic traditions all feature angelic beings; modern interpretations continue to traverse boundaries between religions and secular spirituality.
  • Draper and Baker’s synthesis: folk religion explains persistence across groups, including those with differing or even non-religious identities.
  • The role of non-human intermediaries: angels’ lack of fixed physical form (in some interpretations) allows them to function as symbolic or experiential technologies rather than fixed ontological entities.

• Contemporary takeaways and cross-topic connections

  • The angels discussion serves as a lens to explore broader themes: language vs. doctrine; miracles as interpretive categories; theodicy and the problem of evil; the role of religion in personal and public life; the relationship between formal theology and folk beliefs.
  • Interrelationships with earlier topics: how Hume’s empiricism and Enlightenment critiques influenced later theological responses; Schleiermacher’s reinterpretation of religious experience; the shift from literal to linguistic/metaphorical readings of sacred texts.
  • The study of angels intersects with philosophy of language, anthropology of religion, and the sociology of belief (folk religion, syncretism, and New Age movements).

• Key figures, terms, and concepts to remember for exams

  • Key terms: angelos (Greek) = malakh (Hebrew) = messenger
  • Cherubim and Seraphim: high-order angelic beings with distinctive iconography (Ezekiel’s wheels; Isaiah’s six-wing seraphim)
  • Archangel concept: emergence in Daniel and Second Temple literature; notable archangels include Gabriel, Michael; Raphael (in Tobit); other named angels in Enoch/Jubilees (e.g., Uriel, Raguel, Remiel)
  • Second Temple Judaism: period of intense angelology and apocalypticism that shaped later Christian and Jewish thought; non-canonical books expand angelic hierarchies
  • Maimonides: angels as incorporeal, purely intellectual beings; language of biblical descriptions as metaphorical, not literal
  • Thomas Aquinas: angels as pure intellect; wings and other attributes are symbolic; synthesis with Aristotelian philosophy
  • Schleiermacher: angels as language for religious experience; miracles as natural events interpreted religiously; guardian angels as potential moral hazard
  • Folk religion: cross-cultural, informal, syncretistic beliefs about angels; cross-sections with New Age and wellness movements

• Quick exam-tip reminders

  • You may be asked to identify the shift from literal to metaphorical readings of angelic descriptions and why scholars argue for nonliteral interpretations.
  • Expect questions about the Second Temple period’s influence on angelology and the emergence of named angels and archangels.
  • Be prepared to discuss the relationship between angelology and theodicy, creation narratives, and the pervasiveness of angels in both canonical and non-canonical texts.
  • Understand Schleiermacher’s position on miracles and angels as language and the implications for personal responsibility and religious practice.
  • Recognize how folk religion and New Age movements influence contemporary beliefs about angels and how they cross religious boundaries.

• Connection to next topic

  • We will move on to witches and witchcraft in the next session, with attention to how historical ideas about miracles, angels, and demonic forces intersect with witchcraft narratives and Reformation-era shifts in Western thought.

• Note on study approach

  • Focus on understanding topics through the weekly lectures, readings, and PowerPoints.
  • Prepare for concept-based questions rather than memorization of dates or pope names.
  • Be ready to discuss the interplay between biblical descriptions and later theological interpretations, and how language and metaphor operate in religious discourse.

• Final reminders

  • If you come across references to guardian angels in New Age or wellness contexts, differentiate between folk religion and formal doctrinal positions.
  • The exam may require synthesizing ideas from across topics: miracles, angels, theology, philosophy, and historical contexts.