THE HELLENISTIC CONNECTION TO JEWISH BELIEFS ABOUT ANGELS
Abstract
This article is part 2 of a preceding one2 which suggested that Jewish beliefs about the functioning of angels originated in two threads: the unique ancient Egyptian institution of the king as the divine son of God (which includes solar worship), and the concept of the Divine Council, in which the supreme God is the king of the gods. The method of investigation involved a close reading of texts (c. 600BCE to c. 200CE) displaying marked angelological content, combined with a History of Religions methodology. Certain motifs, especially ‘throne’ and ‘sun/fire’, which were identified as characteristic of angelic functioning, were compared across a broad spectrum of texts. This article presents a similar examination of relevant texts written after the onset of Hellenism, and suggests that the intellectual abstractions of Hellenism facilitated the transition to the reception of the concept of Christ as the divine Son of God within a monotheistic framework.Downloads
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