Angels-ANGELS OF THE SEVEN CHURCHES

The Book of Revelation is composed of letters that were reputedly dictations
from an angel to John of Patmos. Seven churches, each represented
by its own angel, were the center of the seven Christian communities
in the province of Asia (at that time in history—the eastern
Mediterranean was referred to as Asia). St. Jerome and many of the
Greek fathers (i.e., early leaders of the Church in the eastern Mediterranean
world), as well as other commentators, believed that the seven
angels (the guardian angels or heavenly archetypes of the seven
churches) were the designated recipients of the letters, which either
praised, reprimanded, or warned each church and its respective angel.
John describes the beings as seven stars, which follows the Semitic
correlation between stars and angels. Also interesting is that in the
Book of Revelation, and throughout the New Testament, the term
angel denotes a superterrestrial being. An ambiguity as to the meaning
of the term angel arises in this story, however. Many Latin fathers
(early leaders of the Church in the eastern Mediterranean), along
with many modern commentators, think that perhaps John meant
bishop or leader, rather than angel, as the designated recipient of the
letter to each church, for only human beings—not angels—could be
held responsible for the merits or sins of an organization. Either interpretation
is problematic, in that in the genre of apocalyptic literature,the association of angels with churches or with particular human
beings is virtually unknown.