[...]... chapters are thematic and consider some characteristic features of angels: angels as messengers; angels as guardians; angels in heaven; and angels that have fallen In each case the discussion draws on the resources of the three Abrahamic religions as well as art, literature, philosophy, and human experience The final chapter argues that these stories and speculations about angels can help to illuminate... the animals of Laban’s flock to that of Jacob The Talmud also adds details to the most fam ous story of angels, the hospitality of Abraham According to the Talmud, the three angels who visited Abraham were Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael The fascination of the Essenes with the names of angels continues into the Middle Ages with an esoteric form of Judaism called Cabala (or Kabbalah), associated in particu... strangers as they are eating However, in the Quran, the strangers do not eat, and it is precisely at this point that Abraham starts to become aware that they are angels For in Islamic tradition angels do not eat 2 A Brief History of Angels The story of the hospitality of Abraham belongs to the oldest strand of religious tradition to speak about angels It is a story that is common to Jews, Christians,... tree look female, but in films they are often played by men ( John Travolta, Nicholas Cage, Denzel Washington, and Cary Grant have all played angels) Angels are acknowledged in each of the three great ‘Abra hamic’ religions Judaism, Christianity, and Islam and among Christians their appeal is broad enough to extend from Russian Orthodoxy to American Evangelical Protestant ism Those post Christian forms... word ‘angel’ for the spiritual creatures of Zoroastrianism or Hinduism Drawing parallels between angels and fravashis, amesha spentas, devas or mahadevas, is more likely to confuse us than to enlighten us These Zoroastrian and Hindu spirits do not play the same role in Zoroastrianism or Hinduism that angels play in Juda ism, Christianity, and Islam The word ‘angel’ and the 13 A Brief History of Angels. .. is most immediately striking is that angels are companions of Abraham; they occur in the stories of Abraham in the earliest forms we have It is also note worthy that the religions that claim Abraham as their father, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, all continue to tell stories of angels Jesus, in one of his parables, speaks of the poor man who dies and is ‘carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom’ (Luke... book was written much later, in the period of the Maccabean revolt (around 165 BCE) The book of Daniel marks an important stage in the development of ideas about angels It has a concept of differ ent ranks of angels and of angels appointed to watch over 5 A Brief History of Angels different cities and nations This book gives the names of two angels: Michael and Gabriel The book of Daniel was the last... 10 A Brief History of Angels A final supernatural creature, Iblis, is described in the Quran as the Devil (Shaitan) However, Iblis is not an angel but a ‘djinn’, a third kind of creature that is neither an angel nor a human being Belief in angels is one of the traditional ‘six articles of belief’ of Islam In common with Christianity and Judaism, Islam emphasizes that angels are not gods but are servants... by rabbis between 200 and 400 CE Much of it is commentary on Scripture and reflections on Jewish case law It contains a great deal about angels Like the Septuagint, the Talmud often embellishes a scriptural tale by adding one or more angels For example, when God creates a human being, the 7 A Brief History of Angels angels ask why God wishes to create such an odd creature Again, it is angels who transfer... like an angel, this is as much to do with modern Christian influence on Zoroastrianism as with ancient Zoro astrian influence on Judaism What is true for Zoroastrianism, which at least came into contact with Judaism, is even more true of Hinduism There are, in Hinduism, creatures called devas and mahadevas, who are in some ways similar to angels and archangels However, Hindu patterns of belief and practice . precisely at this point that Abraham starts to become aware that they are angels. For in Islamic tradition angels do not eat. Figure 2 For Andrei Rublev the hospitality of Abraham was also an image. what a purely spiritual creature would be like. The next four chapters are thematic and consider some characteristic features of angels: angels as messengers; angels as guardians; angels in heaven;. female, but in films they are often played by men ( John Travolta, Nicholas Cage, Denzel Washington, and Cary Grant have all played angels) . Angels are acknowledged in each of the three great ‘Abra hamic’