So I’ve heard from many that archangels doesn’t serve Yahweh and that they’re so much older than these abrahamic religions. I can understand that and it makes sense but what I wonder is that how are they the angels in christianity and even mentioned in the bible when they aren’t really serving Yahweh or has anything to do in christianity?
I hope y’all get what I mean.
Beings similar to angels have been mentioned iin pre- Christian texts, so it’s not too difficult to conclude that they were shoehorned into the Christian mythology, considering that a lot of that particular mythology is actually stolen from other, earlier cultures.
Well, for starters, separate the actual Canaanite god, Yahweh, from the Christian egregore version. Many religions, um, borrow, from ones that came before them, and sometimes change things up, such as, turning one god into the one and only God. Yahweh himself existed long before his image was adopted into any of these religions, so it stands to reason that they did too.
Many archangels serve Yahweh most just are only aware of the well known ones and even they serve Yahweh. They simply also serve their own ideals too, angels have free will. Yahweh has always lead the heavenly host even before he was made monotheistic and Christian.
Archangel is a rank, if an Angel does not serve Yahweh they are no longer archangels. There seraphim archangels, cherubim archangels, ophanim archangels. The rank archangel is part of Yahweh’s host military ranking.
Through my own research over the years I have found that the Abrahamic faiths adopted a lot of things from Zoroastrianism. I find the parallels between them all to be interesting. (:
Here is a link that talks about the angels that are a part of Zoroastrianism: ANGELS: Zoroastrian
Another fun fact to add: Zoroastrianism is one of the world’s oldest organized religions (recorded, anyways). It actually competes with the top contender which is Hinduism.
Are you aware of the specific origins of the Archangels? (Raphael, Uriel, Michael, and Gabriel)
The earliest sources come from Jewish literature, but I want to know if they go back earlier than that.
The concept of angels seems to originate with the religion of Zoroastrianism. The Seraphim, the highest order of angels in Judaic lore, correlate with the Zoroastrian Amesha Spentas, seven divine entities said to be direct emanations of Ahura Mazda, the Divine Creator. Also, the Favrashi were said to be guardian spirits that every person had and are the equivalent of the modern day guardian angel.
Judaic lore was influenced a lot by Zoroastrianism, including the cosmology of there being three realms: heaven, earth, and hell. The stories of angels appearing before prophets to deliver messages form God also comes from Zoroastrianism, where one of the Amesha Spentas appeared before Zarathustra.
Cool. Thank you.