This collection of essays is the outcome of a collaboration instigated by three researchers based at Bergen in Norway who co-ordinated a varied group of researchers, including art historians at the Universities of Warsaw and Pretoria, to discuss and share insights into ways in which the archangel Michael has influenced church life in Africa to create, as they put it, a network of Michaelic studies.
Michael, and other angels, occupy and traverse the boundary between the transcendant divine space of heaven and the confused, immanent and immediate world of human experience. A monotheistic faith in a one creator God inevitably raises the existential question of how creator and creation can connect and communicate.
Angels, as an introductory essay shows, inhabit this space as ‘a universal category of intermediate beings’ (p. 11). Angels appear across the Middle East in different forms in both monotheistic and polytheistic forms of faith. Some have names, some acquired wings (to enable them to move between heaven and earth), some are divine messengers, some are superhuman beings. Whatever form they appear in, they have an impact on human life. Signs of their importance are shown not only in Christian iconography and stained glass windows but also in less expected places such as modern retail, with the St Michael brand popular in Marks & Spencer stores.
Africa is a good place to look in order to discover why angels matter. The roots of religion in Africa reach back into pre-Christian times with influences coming from Egyptian, Greek, Jewish and Christian traditions leading in to later forms of faith. Spirits are vividly present and active within African society where the management of both evil and benign spirits is an essential function of religious faith. In Africa, faith cannot be separated from daily life to form its own distinctive space, so much so that the concept of religion, apart from life, makes little sense. For the early Christians of Africa, Constantinople with its ecumenical councils defining faith was located at a safe distance and so the doctrinal preoccupations and credal definitions had little impact on African society and there was less attention given to intellectual forms. All this enabled angels to flourish in Africa.
The archangel Michael is mentioned in four places in the Bible. He is a supporter and protector of the Jews in the book of the prophet Daniel (Daniel x.13; xii.1); he overcomes Satan (Revelation xii.7); and is involved in an obscure dispute over the body of Moses (Jude 9). From this biblical basis comes a rich tradition of literature, a conspicuous presence in iconography and an active role in healing and overcoming evil in popular religion.
The essays in this book approach the subject of angels in radically different ways. There are four sections each of which refers to a centre of faith on the eastern side of Africa – from Egypt to Nubia to Ethiopia to South Africa; and these geographical spaces relate to different periods from the beginnings in Egypt and to contemporary experience in South Africa.
These four sections also show the different roles which Michael fulfils within the life of Christians. In Egypt, the veneration of Michael is demonstrated in a text entitled ‘The Investiture of the Archangel Michael’, which describes Michael as intercessor, minister and protector of worshippers. The earliest texts of this work date from the ninth century and show Michael's importance in apocryphal literature. His place as protector is further shown in liturgical texts which recognise and pray for Michael's action in ensuring the annual flooding of the Nile river.
Within iconography Michael is present in icons of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary. This points to his role as psychopomp, the one who conducts the soul through death into the next world. A traditional symbol of this role is the set of scales in which good deeds outweigh evil. These themes are also present in the iconography of the Nubian Church which flourished until the fifteenth century.
Michael's role as protector derives from his primordial victory over Satan. This overcoming of evil is shown in the experience of Ethiopian Christians, as they seek healing from Michael in times of illness and also to be freed from the power of spirits. A further aspect of this protection is shown in the context of the conflict between British and Afrikaner communities in South Africa from the end of the nineteenth century. The figure of Michael is claimed by both sides as both guide and protector. He appears in stained glass windows in English churches and also as an influence on Dutch memorials celebrating the Great Trek. Here the presence of the St Michael brand in shopping denotes quality and luxury – among these products being the desirable St Michael elephant soap.
The book brings together a wide range of themes and disciplines from different areas and periods. Alongside discussion of a historic text is the review of iconography, including the results of a research project on Nubian icons carried out by Polish researchers. There is a report by an anthropologist of interviews with a contemporary Ethiopian Christian, and also themes in South African society by Afrikaner scholars. This diverse set of themes is held together by general essays, which place the research into context. These describe the development of Christianity in the various regions, and also the wider traditions of who angels are and how they work.
The breadth of the discussion points to the consistency and pervasiveness of the themes through the life of the Church and the important place of Michael the Archangel in the lives of believers. Angelology, we discover, is not a remote and abstract theme of theology but is the direct experience of Christians enabling them to manage their lives and be protected from harm.
The rich set of themes suggests that there is more to come, with more contributions from other parts of the continent and other Churches to further enrich our understanding of popular faith.
