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Chapter
XLII.—Guardian Angels.
“Therefore the name God is applied in
three ways:642
642 [This
remarkable chapter is peculiar to the Recognitions. The
angelology seems to be Ebionitic, rather than
Gnostic.—R.] | either
because he to whom it is given is truly God, or because he is the
servant of him who is truly; and for the honour of the sender, that his
authority may be full, he that is sent is called by the name of him who sends, as
is often done in respect of angels: for when they appear to a
man, if he is a wise and intelligent man, he asks the name of him who
appears to him, that he may acknowledge at once the honour of the sent,
and the authority of the sender. For every nation has an angel,
to whom God has committed the government of that nation; and when one
of these appears, although he be thought and called God by those over
whom he presides, yet, being asked, he does not give such testimony to
himself. For the Most High God, who alone holds the power of all
things, has divided all the nations of the earth into seventy-two
parts, and over these He hath appointed angels as princes. But to
the one among the archangels who is greatest, was committed the
government of those who, before all others, received the worship and
knowledge of the Most High God. But holy men also, as we have
said, are made gods to the wicked, as having received the power of life
and death over them, as we mentioned above with respect to Moses and
the judges. Wherefore it is also written concerning them,
‘Thou shalt not curse the gods, and thou shalt not curse the
prince of thy people.’643 Thus the
princes of the several nations are called gods. But Christ is God
of princes, who is Judge of all. Therefore neither angels, nor
men, nor any creature, can be truly gods, forasmuch as they are placed
under authority, being created and changeable: angels, for they
were not, and are; men, for they are mortal; and every creature, for it
is capable of dissolution, if only He dissolve it who made it.
And therefore He alone is the true God, who not only Himself lives, but
also bestows life upon others, which He can also take away when it
pleaseth Him.
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