Man and Mystery v05 The Supernatural by Pablo C Agsalud Jr Rev 06.pdf

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A collection of intriguing topics and fascinating stories
about the rare, the paranormal, and the strange
The Supernatural
Volume 5
Journey into the unexplained world of angels and demons.
Pablo C. Agsalud Jr.
Revision 6
Foreword
In the past, things like
television,
and words and
ideas like
advertising, capitalism, microwave
and
cancer
all seemed too strange for the ordinary
man.
As man walks towards the future, overloaded with
information, more mysteries have been solved
through the wonders of science. Although some
things remained too odd for science to reproduce
or disprove, man had placed them in the gray
areas between
truth
and
skepticism
and labeled
them with terminologies fit for the modern age.
But the truth is, as long as the strange and
unexplainable cases keep piling up, the more likely
it would seem normal or natural. Answers are
always elusive and far too fewer than questions.
And yet, behind all the wonderful and frightening
phenomena around us, it is possible that what we
call
mysterious
today won’t be too strange
tomorrow.
This book might encourage you to believe or refute
what lies beyond your own understanding.
Nonetheless, I hope it will keep you entertained
and astonished.
The content of this book remains believable for as
long as the sources and/or the references from the
specified sources exist and that the validity of the
information remains unchallenged.
Angels and Demons
The battle between good and evil continues.
Sources:
The Encyclopedia of Angels
by Rosemary Ellen Guiley
The Encyclopedia of Demons and Demonology
by Rosemary Ellen Guiley
Angels
Wikipedia.org
Angels are spiritual beings often depicted as
messengers of God in the Hebrew and Christian
Bibles along with the Quran. The English word angel
is derived from the Greek
ἄγγελος,
a translation of
ךאלמ
(mal'akh) in the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh); a
similar term,
ةكئلام
(Malāīkah), is used in the Qur'an.
The Hebrew and Greek words originally mean
messenger, and depending on the context may refer
either to a human messenger (possibly a prophet or
priest, such as Malachi, "my messenger", but also for
more mundane characters, as in the Greek
superscription that the Book of Malachi was written
"by the hand of his messenger" (ἀγγήλοσ)) or to a
supernatural messenger, such as the "Mal'akh
YHWH," who (depending on interpretation) is either
a messenger from God, an aspect of God (such as
the Logos), or God Himself as the messenger (the
"theophanic angel.")
The term "angel" has also been expanded to various notions of spiritual beings found in many
other religious traditions.
Other roles of angels include protecting and guiding human beings, and carrying out God's
tasks.
The theological study of angels is known as angelology. In art, angels are often depicted with
wings; perhaps reflecting the descriptions in Revelation 4:6-8 -- of the Four Living Creatures
(τ�½� τέσσαρα ζῷα) and the descriptions in the Hebrew Bible—of cherubim and seraphim (the
chayot in Ezekiel's Merkabah vision and the Seraphim of Isaiah). However, while cherubim and
seraphim have wings in the Bible, no angel is mentioned as having wings.
Etymology
The word angel in English is a fusion of the Old English word engel (with a hard g) and the Old
French angele. Both derive from the Latin angelus which in turn is the romanization of the
ancient Greek
ἄγγελος
(angelos), "messenger", which is related to the Greek verb
ἀγγέλλω
(angellō), meaning "bear a message, announce, bring news of" etc. The earliest form of the
word is the Mycenaean a-ke-ro attested in Linear B syllabic script.
Philosophy
Philosophically, angels are "pure contingent spirits." Philo of Alexandria identifies the angel
with the Logos as far as the angel is the immaterial voice of God. The angel is something
different than God Himself, but is conceived just as a God's instrument. According to Aristotle,
just as there is a First Mover, so, too, must there be spiritual secondary movers. Thomas
Aquinas (13th century) expands upon this in his Summa contra Gentiles and Summa
Theologica.
Judaism
The Bible uses the terms
םיהלא ךאלמ
(mal'akh Elohim; messenger of God),
הוהי ךאלמ
(mal'akh
YHWH; messenger of the Lord),
םיהלא ינב
(b'nai Elohim; sons of God) and
םישדוקה
(ha-qodeshim;
the holy ones) to refer to beings traditionally interpreted as angels. Later texts use other
terms, such as
םינוילעה
(ha'elyoneem; the upper ones).
Scholar Michael D. Coogan notes that it is only in the late books that the terms "come to mean
the benevolent semidivine beings familiar from later mythology and art." Daniel is the first
biblical figure to refer to individual angels by name, mentioning Gabriel (God's primary
messenger) in Daniel 9:21 and Michael (the holy fighter) in Daniel 10:13. These angels are
part of Daniel's apocalyptic visions and are an important part of all apocalyptic literature.
Coogan explains the development of this concept of angels: "In the postexilic period, with the
development of explicit monotheism, these divine beings—the 'sons of God' who were
members of the divine council—were in effect demoted to what are now known as 'angels',
understood as beings created by God, but immortal and thus superior to humans." This
conception of angels is best understood in contrast to demons and is often thought to be
"influenced by the ancient Persian religious tradition of Zoroastrianism, which viewed the
world as a battleground between forces of good and forces of evil, between light and
darkness." One of these "sons of God" is "the satan", a figure depicted in (among other
places) the Book of Job.
In post-Biblical Judaism, certain angels took on particular significance and developed unique
personalities and roles. Though these archangels were believed to rank among the heavenly
host, no systematic hierarchy ever developed. Metatron is considered one of the highest of the
angels in Merkabah and Kabbalist mysticism and often serves as a scribe; he is briefly
mentioned in the Talmud and figures prominently in Merkabah mystical texts. Michael, who
serves as a warrior and advocate for Israel (Daniel 10:13), is looked upon particularly fondly.
Gabriel is mentioned in the Book of Daniel (Daniel 8:15–17), the Book of Tobit, and briefly in
the Talmud, as well as in many Merkabah mystical texts. There is no evidence in Judaism for
the worship of angels, but there is evidence for the invocation and sometimes even
conjuration of angels.
Medieval Jewish philosopher Maimonides explained his view of angels in his Guide for the
Perplexed II:4 and II:6:
...This leads Aristotle in turn to the demonstrated fact that God, glory and majesty
to Him, does not do things by direct contact. God burns things by means of fire; fire is
moved by the motion of the sphere; the sphere is moved by means of a disembodied
intellect, these intellects being the 'angels which are near to Him', through whose
mediation the spheres [planets] move... thus totally disembodied minds exist which
emanate from God and are the intermediaries between God and all the bodies
[objects] here in this world.
— Guide for the Perplexed II:4, Maimonides
According to Kabalah, there are four worlds and our world is the last world: the world of action
(Assiyah). Angels exist in the worlds above as a 'task' of God. They are an extension of God to
produce effects in this world. After an angel has completed its task, it ceases to exist. The
angel is in effect the task. This is derived from the book of Genesis when Abraham meets with
three angels and Lot meets with two. The task of one of the angels was to inform Abraham of
his coming child. The other two were to save Lot and to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah.
Famous angels and their tasks:
Malachim
(translation: messengers), general word for angel
Michael
(translation: who is like God), performs God's kindness
Gabriel
(translation: the strength of God), performs acts of justice and power

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