Fallen angel

What is the difference between an angel and a god?

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• published: 13 Jul 2016
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narrated by thJR the French --TRANSCRIPT-- "There have been countless cultures in human history, many with countless gods. But Christianity, and it's parent religion, Judaism, are peculiar in their teaching that there is only one god, Jehovah, or Yahweh. This is in stark contrast from polytheistic religions such as those of ancient Greece. But though there is only one god in Judeo-Christian doctrine, Jehovah isn't the only celestial and supernatural being of great power. There are also angels, most of whom are in the service of Jehovah and act as his heavenly legion. Though these are not labelled as deities like those of so-called "pagan" religions, one would be hard-pressed to see a difference in form and function between the angels of the Christians and the gods of the Greeks. Like the gods, the angels were also the stars in the sky, as the early Jews and Christians believed the stars to be conscious beings; the host of heaven under Jehovah's command. But while Jehovah knew all their names, angels usually go unnamed in the Bible. Despite their divinity, angels are typically not glorified or given the prestige typical of gods whose names are well-known and praised. ...Or feared. Some say that the difference between an angel and a god is that angels aren't to be worshipped or even don't accept worship. But worship doesn't define a god, and there are a number of instances where angels accept worship. Others say that the difference between an angel and a god is that gods have independent personalities while angels are completely subservient to Jehovah and don't have wills of their own. But this is only the case with certain angels at certain times. Since the Jews and Christians tell similar stories to the pagan cultures around them, when monotheism is introduced later, they used angels to play the roles played by the gods in pagan myths. By doing this, the angels become independent personalities as the gods were. A common theme in ancient mythology is gods mating with humans and producing demigods as children. Early Judaism also had this tradition. Genesis 6:4 says that the elohim, the Hebrew word for gods, made wives of human women to produce demigods, giants. But when Judaism later adopts the doctrine of one god, the elohim get re-interpreted as angels instead of gods. This is shown most popularly in the book of Enoch, which the authors of the Bible draw from. By the time of the biblical letter of Jude, Genesis 6:4 had become a tradition about sinful fallen angels with independent personalities acting against the wishes of Jehovah. Which is interesting, since Genesis 6 itself doesn't seem to imply that these elohim were evil or that this act was considered something negative or forbidden. There was also a common theme in the ancient world that the different cities or nations were assigned a patron god to watch over them. The patron deity of the city of Athens, for example, was Athena, after whom Athens was said to be named. This theme of patron deities is found in Judaism as well. In the earliest manuscripts of the book of Deuteronomy it's said that the nations of the world were divided up amongst the gods. But under the one god doctrine, the patron gods are replaced by patron angels, such as in the book of Jubilees, a Judaic text. In later times, some were even uncomfortable with the notion of patron angels, so in current versions of Deuteronomy 32:8 the mention of the elohim has been removed by editors and replaced with the phrase "sons of Israel". However, the tradition of patron angels still remains in the Bible. In chapter 10 of the book of Daniel, the angel of Israel, Michael, battles the patron angel of Persia. There are many legends about wars amongst the gods. In Greek mythology, the Olympians warred with the Titans. The Titans were defeated and bound with chains in the realm of Tartarus. In Judeo-Christian mythology, there is a war amongst the angels. The book of Revelation speaks of a war in Heaven between 2 factions of angels. The victorious faction was led by Michael, and they cast the other angels out of Heaven and down to earth. In the book of Enoch, the fallen angels are bound with chains in the realm of Tartarus, which is referenced in the biblical letters of Jude and 2nd Peter. Here, the fallen angels are given the aspects of the Titan gods. The fallen angel Azazel was especially singled out as the cause of turmoil in the world because he brought knowledge from heaven to mankind such as medicine and the working of metals. Jehovah punished him for this by having him bound and cast into darkness pressed under jagged rocks. This is very similar to the Titan god, Prometheus, who also brought fire and this same knowledge from heaven to mankind. He was punished for this by Zeus by being bound to jagged rocks in darkness before Zeus set a savage bird out to eat Prometheus' liver every day..."