Byzantine Angels And Demons Essay
Angels & Demons
Byzantine was founded on a pure Christianity-based background. Beginning in Rome with Emperor Constantine, he rooted his strong Christian beliefs in Constantinople, which later became known as Byzantine. Ever since the religion developed, the idea that there was a place for the saved and a place for the damned remained strong. Byzantines held a belief that the earth was part of a huge universe, with another world serving as the afterlife. The empire further raised the idea that one’s experiences during their lifetime would factor into whether they would end up in Heaven or Hell after death.
Heaven was believed to be “upper-worldly” rather than “otherworldly” due to the belief that when one looked up onto the night sky – they would usually look at the stars of the Milky Way – it was really catching a glimpse of beyond, or God’s Paradise. In between earth and Heaven, these supernatural beings were considered either angels or demons, and were able to roam with the humans. As angels …show more content…
Christian imaginations would look at the moment of death as an instantaneous contact with the other world. Death itself marked a process where the committed sins in a Byzantine citizen’s lifetime came into consideration to determine if they were going to progress to Heaven. There would be many witnesses during a death or a funeral because they were usually made public unless appointed otherwise. Saints and the popes would automatically go to Heaven because they would be expected to not have sinned. However, people who attended some funerals claimed instances of Hell on earth. Few experiences of death would explain about “possession by demons, vengeful flames…” when someone would undeniably go to Hell. According to the Byzantines, seeing flames shoot out of the coffin would mean that the deceased was descending into the ground at that moment because of the sins they
Byzantine was founded on a pure Christianity-based background. Beginning in Rome with Emperor Constantine, he rooted his strong Christian beliefs in Constantinople, which later became known as Byzantine. Ever since the religion developed, the idea that there was a place for the saved and a place for the damned remained strong. Byzantines held a belief that the earth was part of a huge universe, with another world serving as the afterlife. The empire further raised the idea that one’s experiences during their lifetime would factor into whether they would end up in Heaven or Hell after death.
Heaven was believed to be “upper-worldly” rather than “otherworldly” due to the belief that when one looked up onto the night sky – they would usually look at the stars of the Milky Way – it was really catching a glimpse of beyond, or God’s Paradise. In between earth and Heaven, these supernatural beings were considered either angels or demons, and were able to roam with the humans. As angels …show more content…
Christian imaginations would look at the moment of death as an instantaneous contact with the other world. Death itself marked a process where the committed sins in a Byzantine citizen’s lifetime came into consideration to determine if they were going to progress to Heaven. There would be many witnesses during a death or a funeral because they were usually made public unless appointed otherwise. Saints and the popes would automatically go to Heaven because they would be expected to not have sinned. However, people who attended some funerals claimed instances of Hell on earth. Few experiences of death would explain about “possession by demons, vengeful flames…” when someone would undeniably go to Hell. According to the Byzantines, seeing flames shoot out of the coffin would mean that the deceased was descending into the ground at that moment because of the sins they