{"id":140062,"date":"2025-09-26T17:29:00","date_gmt":"2025-09-26T21:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kendallharmon.net\/?p=140062"},"modified":"2025-09-26T19:08:17","modified_gmt":"2025-09-26T23:08:17","slug":"church-times-andrew-davison-theology-matters-angels-and-archangels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kendallharmon.net\/?p=140062","title":{"rendered":"(Church Times) Andrew Davison–Theology matters: Angels and archangels"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

An angel as is well known, is a messenger. The word comes from the Greek\u00a0\u00e1ngelos\u00a0<\/em>(meaning \u201cmessenger\u201d), via the Latin\u00a0angelus<\/em>, and the Old English\u00a0engel<\/em>. The same Greek word could refer to both mundane and heavenly messengers; in Christian writing, the second association has stuck. That bridge between earthly and heavenly heralds is present in the Hebrew\u00a0malakh<\/em>, for which\u00a0\u00e1ngelos\u00a0<\/em>was used in the Greek translation of the Old Testament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other words to do with news, such as evangel <\/em>and evangelist <\/em>(both about good news), have a related Greek origin. (The eu-<\/em> part, by the way, means \u201cgood\u201d, as in \u201ceuphoria\u201d, a good feeling, and \u201ceulogy\u201d, when we speak well of someone.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From a tapestry of different scriptural texts, the Christian tradition has come up with the idea of nine ranks or \u201corders\u201d of angels, with angels at the bottom. Above them sit the archangels, a word attested twice in the New Testament (1 Thessalonians 4.16, and Jude 9, both referring to Michael). It simply means \u201cchief angel\u201d or \u201cchief messenger\u201d: arche<\/em> means \u201cchief\u201d or \u201cruler\u201d. We have the word in English via the Latin archangelus<\/em>. (Arche<\/em> can also mean \u201cbeginning\u201d, as in the opening of John\u2019s Gospel, or \u201cfirst\u201d, like the English words \u201cprinciple\u201d and \u201cprincipal\u201d, which come from the same Latin root.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The prefix arch-<\/em>, denoting something elevated, turns up in archbishop<\/em>, architect<\/em>, and archenemy<\/em>. Beyond beginning with angels and archangels, the order of the hierarchy has been contested. Following the influential anonymous fifth- or sixth- century writer (probably Syrian) known as Pseudo-Dionysius, principalities come next, from the Latin principatus<\/em> (derived from princeps<\/em>, meaning \u201cchief\u201d and translating the Greek archai<\/em>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read it all<\/a>.<\/p>

"Angel" comes from the Greek word "angelos," which means "messenger," because they are messengers of God, bringing good news and comfort to people throughout history. pic.twitter.com\/UhkXgTB9At<\/a><\/p>— Christian Culture (@Christian8Pics) October 3, 2019<\/a><\/blockquote>