Angel of God, My Guardian Dear Art Print

Angel of God, My Guardian Dear Art Print
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Angel

(1) From Greek angelos 'messenger.' In post-canonical and apocalyptic literature angels are grouped in varying orders, and the hierarchy thus constructed was adapted to Church uses by the early Christian Fathers. In his De Hierarchia Celesti the pseudo-Dionysius (early 5th century) gives the names of the nine orders; they are taken from the Old Testament, Eph. i. 21, and Col. i. 16, and are as follows: i. Seraphim, Cherubim, and Thrones, in the first circle.

ii. Dominions, Virtues, and Powers, in the second circle.

iii. Principalities, Archangels, and Angels, in the third circle.

The seven holy angels are-- Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, Chamuel, Jophiel, and Zadkiel. Michael and Gabriel are mentioned in the Bible, Raphael in the Apocrypha, and all in the apocryphal book of Enoch (viii. 2). Milton ( Paradise Lost, Bk. i. 392) gives a list of the fallen angels. Muslims say that angels were created from pure, bright gems; the genii, of fire; and man, of clay.

(2) An obsolete English coin, current from the time of Edward IV to that of Charles I, bearing the figure of the archangel Michael slaying the dragon. Its value varied from 6s. 8d. in 1465 (when first coined) to 10s. under Edward VI. It was the coin presented to persons touched for the KING'S EVIL

Peter Rubens Adam and Eve Giclee Print

Adam and Eve Giclee Print
Peter Rubens
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Adam and Eve

In the Old Testament, the first man and woman. The familiar story of their creation, sin and expulsion from the Garden of Eden is told in the first chapters of Genesis and forms the basis for Milton Paradise Lost.

Mohammedan legends add to the Bible story the tradition that--

God sent Gabriel, Michael, and Israfel one after the other to fetch, seven handfuls of earth from different depths and of different colors for the creation of Adam (thereby accounting for the varying colors of mankind) but they returned empty-handed because Earth foresaw that the creature to be made from her would rebel against God and draw down his curse on her, whereupon Azrael was sent. He executed the commission. and for that reason was appointed to separate the souls from the bodies and hence became the Angel of Death. The earth he had taken was carried into Arabia to a place between Mecca and Tayef, where it was kneaded by the angels, fashioned into human form by God, and left to dry for either forty days or forty years. It is also said that while the clay was being endowed with life and a soul, when the breath breathed by God into the nostrils had reached as far as the navel, the only half-living Adam tried to rise up and got an ugly fall for his pains.

old as Adam

Generally used as a reproof for stating as news something well known. "That's as old as Adam," it was known as far back as the days of Adam.




The Creation of Adam, c.1510 Giclee Print
, Michelangelo
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