This paper is about “The Changing Appearance and Position of Angels”. As to why I came to this content, I was originally interested in mythology and had been researching myths and religions of various regions. Then one day I learned that there are classes of angels and that their appearance is not what people today think of. Their jobs are assigned according to their ranks, and each has its own personality. This was very shocking to me because the angels I had in mind were the winged human figures that appear in video games. Later, as I researched angels further, I found that they were far removed from the common image of angels today. Therefore, I began writing this paper to find out why they underwent such a change. The first chapter provides some explanation of angels. Many people may think, “Angels = Christianity.” In fact, they also appear in Islam and Judaism. And it is believed that angels are based on the winged human souls called “Faravahar” in Zoroastrianism. Through various periods of history, including the Babylonian captivity of the Jews, angels were passed on to Judaism and even Christianity. The hierarchy of angels is based on Pseudo-Dionysus’ (Pseudo-Dionysus) “The Theology of the Heavenly Host” and Thomas AQUINAS’ (1225~c.1274) book “Theological Compendium”. In Christianity, there are three classes of angels within each of the three major groups, for a total of nine ranks. These ranks roughly divide the positions of the angels. The most widely known of the three lower ranks would be the Ark Angels, which include angels such as Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael. It is said that the lower the rank of angels, the more often they appear near humans, and angels of the lowest rank are said to protect humans by their side. The second chapter is about how angels are different from the current image. When asked to think of an angel, many people may probably think of something like ‘a human-like figure with wings on its back,’ ‘a guardian of human affairs,’ or ‘a messenger of God’. However, angels have a variety of jobs and their appearance differs greatly from the modern image. The higher the rank of angels, the more deformed they appeared, and the more rarely they appeared in public. In particular, the top three groups, the seraphim, cherubim, and thrones, sometimes no longer took the form of human beings. Since they do not take a fixed form, they appear in public in a variety of forms. If they were to hold an altar fire close to their mouths while hiding their bodies with their wings, we would be paralyzed with fear. I examine the works in which they are depicted and why they are depicted in this way. The third chapter examines how they were transformed into the modern image of angels. Considering that the change occurred over a fairly long period of time, it was not possible to narrow it down to a single cause, but I considered various perspectives, such as ‘to make it easier to gather faith,’ ‘to showcase Renaissance techniques,’ and ‘for their value for use as characters. Other factors for the change may exist, but I consider it tremendous when a tradition that is more than 1,000 years old remains in the present day. This is what I am talking about in this essay. If you are interested, I would like you to read it.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■
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