Angles and Demons

[watershield]

Was thinking the other day......

Christians place so much value in the Bible and look forward to going to Heaven and being with the Angles
Yet, if you read the bible the majority of the references to Angles is them killing or exacting the wrath of God upon man. Issuing threats and distroying cities.

So...what's the attraction. Why the view that angles are kind, loving, caring beings watching over the well being of man.

[createholly]

Hmm, I have no idea. I mean there is a lot of reference of Angels being sort of saviors, and watching over man, guiding them and whatnot. But I don't know if it comes from paintings or...something else. I don't think there are a lot of paintings or depictions of Angels until the Renaissance, though I might be totally wrong. It seems like that happens a lot though. Where something is full of wrath or vengeance, somewhere along the line it becomes a friend of man and tries hard to help him with his struggles on earth. The higher beings are always looking out for man. Its very weird, and a wonder no one has brought it up before.
Good brain tickler, now I want to research.

[Ebony]

Scare tactics? A lot of Christianity seems to be based on scaring the beegeebies out of people so they conform to the authority of the church.

Another thing to think about that comes from the Christian bible --- Lucifer, aka the Devil --- was an angel that fell from the grace of god and began his own crusade against the human race.

I believe there are beings, call them angels, guardians, spirit totems, that help us when we need it, guide us along our path, teach us lessons. But I don't believe these beings are malicious.

[watershield]

The idea of art is an interesting one. While oil painting seems to have been around since 650AD, not many paintings on canvas or wood have survived.
As far as I can tell, most of the paintings by Greeks, Romans and others artists right up to say 1500, were of mundane things, landscapes, local hero's, the "Gods" etc.

Round about 1500 the Renaissance started. This was the time of Di Vinci, Michaelangelo, etc. This was also a time when the Catholic Church was attempting to exert it's control over the various Kings and Queens of various nations and was looking for ways to inspire the masses to one faith. That being the Roman Catholic Church.
It was during this time that the church dictated what was art and what could be painted for public view. It's obvious that the church required an image of God, Saints, Angles and Demons that supported biblical stories and the teachings of the day.

Just another example of man manipulating information to control the masses.

So, are Demons and Angles seperate entities or are they different aspects of one being? Hard to say until you've encountered one first hand.

[kolohe]

It was pretty common for gods and goddesses to be depicted with wings and halos back in ancient Greek times. The first Christian depictions of angels were around the 4th century, initially they were human shaped with no wings or halos.

[watershield]

Yep, from what I've read, the idea of Angles with wings originated during the time of Constantine, around 319 - 330 AD.
Angles are and seem to have always been an "Abrahamic" construct. The other faith have always had a multitude of Gods and Goddesses, and angles aren't a central figure in writtings if they existed for those peoples at all.

Angles and Demons only really become a focal point in faiths of one God. LOL, can't exspect him to be every where...he needs help. So much for being omni present.

[Jen]

If you can get a copy of Angels in my Hair by Lorna Byrne then it makes a very interesting read. Lorna Byrne can see angels and has seen them since she can remember.
Has me convinced.

[createholly]

Interesting, to be able to see angels. I wonder though, do they speak to her? I mean, I want to be the last person to say she's just a crazy person, seeing as I believe in a lot of things that other people may think are crazy. I just wonder...if its really angels.
And are they angels according to the christian faith? Do angels pop up in any other faith like Islam or Judaism? And for that matter are demons unique to any one faith? I don't think demons have any one form, and may just be any sort of malevolent spirit. So then can the tuatha de danann or fey be considered demons? Can the Titans be considered demons. There are so many possible parallels my head is beginning to spin

[watershield]

The Hindu faith and Budhism both list thousands of gods and demi gods. But not one angle or demon.
They seem to be a common thread betwen the Abrahamic faiths.

[Jen]

Jan 23, 2010 11:01:24 GMT 1 createholly said:

Interesting, to be able to see angels. I wonder though, do they speak to her?

They do speak to her.
I highly recommend everyone read this book - it made me think if nothing else.

[tomas]

Jan 23, 2010 11:23:55 GMT 1 watershield said:

The Hindu faith and Budhism both list thousands of gods and demi gods. But not one angle or demon.
They seem to be a common thread betwen the Abrahamic faiths.

This has come up in recent conversation. The 'angels' have been around a lot longer than than the Abrahamic g-ds would like us to believe. It seems all religions/belief systems/mythologies have 'angels and or demons', they are just given different names.

My own personal belief is that the entities we're discussing are one of the many aspects of the Universe that we don't completely understand yet. I also believe they can be of a lot of help to us humans and on the other hand, can really deliver a nasty bite.

tomas

[watershield]

Read deeper into the Hindu faith I can see that they have Gods, demi gods and Demons....no angles.

I agree that spiritual beings have been with us since the coming of man. Interesting to see how religion attempts to define them and use them to support their teaching rather than teach what the spirits are saying.