h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Angels And The Classification Thereof - A39303380
Author: Malabarista - life is a hootoo meet, old chum, come to the hootoo meet! A35703281 - U1528154

The time seemed right for this one

(*waves to GB* )

It's a bit long, but I thought it worked better as one entry than several...

Will add links as and when, as usual.

Wow! That is indepth!

I will read it thoroughly over the weekend. In the meantime, enjoy your Meet tomorrow

soliders > soldiers

Thanks. Have just run another spellcheck

(And yes it's in-depth, helped me ignore Uni w*rk all day! )

The answer to my prayers



Thanks Mala

Hi Mal,
I didn't know there were so many kinds of s, so I learned a lot from this

Although it's plenty long enough already, I just wonder whether it would benefit from inserting a few lines from hymns in the appropriate places. E.g. Under the Header, 'Cherubim and Seraphim, include the lines from the hymn, 'Holy, Holy, Holy...'

> 'cherubim and seraphim falling down before thee, which wert, and art, and evermore shall be...'

Also, in the carol, 'Oh Come, All ye faithful', there is the line, 'Sing choirs of angels'. (This actually has some meaning for me now that I've read your Entry )..

I guess it is from the words of hymns that the average person would be aware of angels and their names and orders...

Ref 'Angels in Islam' we had a Kuwaiti student who stayed with us for a year. He said he believed that he had ywo angels, one standing on each shoulder. The one on his right shoulder wrote down all the good things he did, while the one on his left shoulder wrote down all the bad things that he did. Come the Day of Judgement, his fate would depend uopn the balance of good deeds compared to bad deeds that he did in his life.

I rather approved of this pragmatic approach to life

Under 'Where have all the angels gone' I wonder if there is scope for explaining that people still doi experience angel apparitions, for example, I recall a case where angels apprently (sic) appeared to the survivors on horrific car crash. There is also the famous story of the Angel of Mons (WW1) http://www.theparanormalreport.com/the-angels-of-mons-revisited.html...

I also wonder whether, before 'The Nine Orders of Angels' you should say something about their origin.

For example, there is a school of thought that contends that God created Angels (and the spirit world) before He created the physical world.

In 'Genesis' we read, 'in the beginning God created heaven and earth'. Thus some theologians understand the word 'heaven' as meaning not the 'firmament', which was created later, but the invisible heaven, the world of angels.

St. Gregory writes about this as follows: 'As the goodness (or 'love') of God could not find satisfaction in contemplating Himself, He wished to spread this goodness ever further, so that the number of those who would enjoy it should be as great as possible (for such is the nature of the highest form of goodness) and so God first thought of the angelic heavenly powers, and thought became act, carried out by the Word and fulfilled by the Spirit. As His first creation was pleasing to Him, He then devised another world, material and visible, and a well-balanced unity between heaven and earth and that which is between them.'

Being picky/pedantic , the very first sentence:

'Everyone knows what an angel looks like - a beautiful woman with wings who guards children crossing rickety bridges, a rosy-cheeked naked infant who rings bells at Christmastime, or perhaps the souls of the dearly departed, frolicking about in white robes on the clouds and playing harps....or so says popular culture.'

The first 7 words suggest that all angels look the same, yet this is denied by the 4 examples that follow

Perhaps s'thinhg like:

Everyone knows angels look like - (s)he can be a beautiful woman with wings who guards children crossing rickety bridges, a rosy-cheeked naked infant who rings bells at Christmastime, or perhaps the soul of a dearly departed, frolicking about in white robes on the clouds and playing a harp....or so says popular culture.


I'm sure you can improve on my suggestion, but I'm sure you can see what I'm getting at.

I'll try and leave this Entry alone now until you get back from your Meet.

Hope you had a great time

Under Jewish angels you start mentioning 'G-d', without explanation. Is this because the Jews are not allowed to say His name, or something like that . Perhaps you could puut an explanation in a footnote.

Mala, I personally think that this is one of the most important entries to have been submitted to PR in quite some time. I have no critical comment to make on it at all.

Big Al, I also was unsure when I first read G-d. I am now assuming that it is a consequence of the lack of genuine vowels in Hebrew. Am I right Mala?

Hi h5r,

No, it is to do with the sensitivity with which the Jews regard God's name:

http://judaism.about.com/od/reformjudaismfaq/f/god_spelling.htm

Fine entry - well done!

Oh, please can you find a better word for 'cutesified'?

What a fantastic entry! And impressively comprehensive to boot.

On point:

... can kill just by being looked at.
... can kill just by looking [at you/one].

TRiG.

Perhaps "The traditional angel figure is that of a rosy cheeky woamn with bobbed hair and wings or a cherub or etc ?

There is a classis St Miachael subduing the Devil on Coventry Cathedral.

More later...

Actually, I'd've thought the traditional angel figures were male. Surely all Biblical and Koranic angels are male? I know the Biblical ones are (at least as generally understood), and I find it hard to imagine the Koranic ones aren't.

TRiG.

In the Bible etc angels are male, but when most people think of an angel they think of a woman. In my experience, anyway.