Angels In Late Ancient Christianity

Ellen Muehlberger explores the diverse and inventive ideas Christians held about angels in late antiquity. During the fourth and fifth centuries, Christians began experimenting with new modes of piety, adapting longstanding forms of public authority to Christian leadership and advancing novel ways of cultivating body and mind to further the progress of individual Christians. Muehlberger argues that in practicing these new modes of piety, Christians developed new ways of thinking about angels. The book begins with a detailed examination of the two most popular discourses about angels that developed in late antiquity. In the first, developed by Christians cultivating certain kinds of ascetic practices, angels were one type of being among many in a shifting universe, and their primary purpose was to guard and to guide Christians. In the other, articulated by urban Christian leaders in contest with one another, angels were morally stable characters described in the emerging canon of Scripture, available to enable readers to render Scripture coherent with emerging theological positions. Muehlberger goes on to show how these two discourses did not remain isolated in separate spheres of cultivation and contestation, but influenced one another and the wider Christian culture. She offers in-depth analysis of popular biographies written in late antiquity, of the community standards of emerging monastic communities, and of the training programs developed to prepare Christians to participate in ritual, demonstrating that new ideas about angels shaped and directed the formation of the definitive institutions of late antiquity. Angels in Late Ancient Christianity is a meticulous and thorough study of early Christian ideas about angels, but it also offers a different perspective on late ancient Christian history, arguing that angels were central rather than peripheral to the emergence of Christian institutions and Christian culture in late antiquity.

This book considers the early history of Jewish-Christian relations focussing on the fallen angels.

Ancient Angels brings together inscriptional, literary, and archaeological evidence for angels (angeloi) in Roman-era religions. The book examines Roman conceptions of angels, angel veneration, and how Christian authorities responded to this potentially heterodox aspect of Roman religion.

“A distinguished ancient historian’s elegant study of the extraordinary women who helped lay the foundations of the early Christian church” (Kirkus Reviews). According to most recorded history, women in the ancient world lived invisibly. In Band of Angels, historian Kate Cooper has pieced together their story from the few contemporary accounts that have survived. Through painstaking detective work, she renders both the past and the present in a new light. Band of Angels tells the remarkable story of how a new understanding of relationships took root in the ancient world. Women from all walks of life played an invaluable role in Christianity's rapid expansion. Their story is a testament to what unseen people can achieve, and how the power of ideas can change the world, on household at a time.

Originally presented as the author's thesis (doctoral)--Trinity College Dublin, 2011.

Over 50 per cent of Americans and over one third of British people believe that we all have a guardian angel that protects us throughout our lives. More people believe in these divine bodyguards than in global warming. It is truly astonishing how many spiritually aware people have seen or sensed an angel’s presence at a time of contemplation or hardship. Angels have been protecting us for centuries. This book explores the cultural origins of the heavenly messengers that guide and heal every one of us and reveals compelling real-life encounters with angels. The result is a fascinating insight into the world of angels and their everyday presence among us. Contents: Angels through the ages, angels in Christianity, Judaism, Islam and Kabbalism. Angel links with black magic, occultism and ancient astrology. Paganism. Angel healers: what your angel can do for you. Angel encounters: real-life stories from people around the world.

In recent years a number of New Testament scholars have argued that Jewish beliefs and traditions about the principal angel hold the key to understanding why early Christians came to make such exalted claims about Jesus of Nazareth. Jewish and early Christian traditions about the archangel Michael provide a ready test for this thesis. For Michael is very often the principal figure in Jewish and early Christian angelology. Darrell D. Hannah examines Michael traditions from the Old Testament, Jewish apocalyptic, Qumran, Philo, the Rabbis, Merkabah mysticism, the New Testament, Christian apocalyptic, the New Testament Apocrypha, and the Fathers of the second century. From this mass of literature three forms of angelic Christology are evidenced. First, some early 'orthodox' Christians developed an 'theophanic angel Christology'. That is, they interpreted Old Testament passages about the 'angel of the Lord' as 'pre-incarnate manifestations' of Christ. Secondly, some 'heretical' forms of Jewish Christianity identified Christ as an incarnation of the highest archangel. Finally, some Christians found in Jewish speculations about the Principal Angel (Michael, Metatron, Yahoel, etc.) a conceptual framework within which to place a second divine figure. Principal angel traditions, particularly those about the archangel Michael, were useful for elucidating the significance of Christ. However, 'orthodox' Christians who made use of these traditions were very careful to avoid any implication that Christ possessed an angelic nature. 'Orthodox' Christians never regarded Christ merely as an angel, not even as the angel. The Shepherd of Hermas identified Christ with Michael, but would seem to have been unique in this.

"Late Ancient Knowing explores how people in late antiquity went about knowing their world and how this knowing shaped late ancient lives. Each essay is dedicated to a single concept--'Animal,' 'Demon,' 'Countryside,' 'Christianization,' 'God'--studying the ways in which individuals and societies in this period created and interacted with visible and invisible realities. Rather than narrating late ancient history based on facts defensible in modern historical terms, these essays attempt to create histories based on what are now considered late ancient fictions, the now-discarded paradigms of late ancient thought"--Provided by publisher.