In the book, Gabriel seems to have some sort of authority to oversee what goes on on Earth (and possibly other similar-ranked angels do too):
"Any more miracles and we'll really start getting noticed by Up There," said Aziraphale. "If you really want Gabriel or someone wondering why forty policemen have gone to sleep."
There isn't really any other information given about them.
Michael, Gabriel and Raphael are all listed as patron saints of police officers, but I think my point is more that Gabriel seems to be in charge of Aziraphale :-)
Echoing what has already been said (points a post upwards), with the added idea that there may be some confusion happening about titles and job descriptions.
What I mean is, we see "angel" as meaning all of the "winged squadrons of the sky", the whole heavenly host, all the ranks of the army of light. But "Angel" with a capital letter is the lowest rank among God's celestial troops.
When considering all the esoteric lists, Principality does indeed rank above Archangel (almost all the time -- don't have my lists handy right now for exact breakdowns).
But if we talk of angels-meaning-all-of-them, and archangels-meaning-high-important-angels, *that's* probably closer to what is meant in Good Omens ....
If you want a purely historical contet, I can tell you right now that the celestial hierarchy is a total mess and no two scholars have ever agreed on a proper order, aside from the fact angels are on the very bottom. Archangels are only slightly above the angels, usually the next rung up.
However, most of the promient angels in angel lore, such as Gabriel, Michael, Raphael and Uriel are normally said to have several positions in the hierarchy ranging from archangel all the way up to seraph, so it's really just a matter of your own decision on where to put them. Gustav Davidson's book "A Dictionary of Angels" has a really good index with the different hierarchies though.
Well, if you've noticed an upswing in GO fic featuring the archangels over the last year or so, it may be because a lot of the people writing those stories belong to neutral_omens. That's an RPG we're playing in where we've decided that the four archangels (three now - Michael Fell) do have authority over Aziraphale.
Gabriel might be the most used, however, because of that line daegaer mentioned and because of Aziraphale's 2006 New Year's Resolution #5 that says, "I will try to be polite to Gabriel, no matter what the provocation." :D
Wow Didn't think I'd get such a response. =) Thanks for all the answers everyone. That, more or less, clears it up for me. and thank you zarephathcs for the book recommendation.
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"Any more miracles and we'll really start getting noticed by Up There," said Aziraphale. "If you really want Gabriel or someone wondering why forty policemen have gone to sleep."
There isn't really any other information given about them.
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What I mean is, we see "angel" as meaning all of the "winged squadrons of the sky", the whole heavenly host, all the ranks of the army of light. But "Angel" with a capital letter is the lowest rank among God's celestial troops.
When considering all the esoteric lists, Principality does indeed rank above Archangel (almost all the time -- don't have my lists handy right now for exact breakdowns).
But if we talk of angels-meaning-all-of-them, and archangels-meaning-high-important-angels, *that's* probably closer to what is meant in Good Omens ....
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However, most of the promient angels in angel lore, such as Gabriel, Michael, Raphael and Uriel are normally said to have several positions in the hierarchy ranging from archangel all the way up to seraph, so it's really just a matter of your own decision on where to put them. Gustav Davidson's book "A Dictionary of Angels" has a really good index with the different hierarchies though.
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Gabriel might be the most used, however, because of that line daegaer mentioned and because of Aziraphale's 2006 New Year's Resolution #5 that says, "I will try to be polite to Gabriel, no matter what the provocation." :D
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Didn't think I'd get such a response. =)
Thanks for all the answers everyone. That, more or less, clears it up for me.
and thank you zarephathcs for the book recommendation.
<3
Graves
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