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HISTORY AND DEFINITION
A guardian angel is a spirit that protects a particular person. The notion of "guardian angel" and his hierarchy was developed extensively during the Fifth Century by Pseudo Dionisio Aeropagita.
The contemporary orthodox belief maintains that the guardian angels protect the body and that they elevate prayers to God for us as intermediaries. The calendar of saints of the Catholic Church includes a reminder of these celestial beings, celebrated at October 2nd.
The Christians think that the guardian angels protect any person or house as a wish of God. Nevertheless, the belief that God sends a spirit to observe each individual was a common belief in the classic Greek philosophy; Plato talks about it in the Fedón, 108. In a similar way, this mention appears in the Old Testament, although it does not delineate itself with specificity.
In the book of Daniel, the angels seem to be assigned to certain countries. Enoc 100:5 - part of whose writing it is inspired by documents of the Orthodox Ethiopian Church of manifest Tewahedo- that the right men enjoy guarding angels. In Facts 12:15, it appears another reference to such belief, whereas in Mateo 18:10, Jesus explains that guardian the angels exist in order to take care of the children.
The belief that each individual soul has a guardian angel never has not been defined by the church, and therefore, is not an article of the faith. It is thought that a non-christian concept of angels come from paganism, like from Menander and Plutarch. It is also believed that another root were the Babylonians and the Assyrians. In the bible this doctrine is clearly perceivable and its development is noticeable good. In Genesis 28-29, the angels act not only like the executors of the rage of the God against the cities; in Exodus 12-13, an angel is the designated leader of the conquer of Israel. It is clear that the old testament conceived angels as the ministers of God to fulfill his orders.
But in the new testament the doctrine is indicated with greater precision. The angels are throughout the intermediaries between the God and the man; and Christ fixed a seal on the education of the Old Testament. A double aspect of the doctrine is put here before us: the small children even have guardian angels, and these same angels lose their vision to accomplish their mission. |