Discourse on the Angels or Spirits of Empires

...stands firm; however, all the Angels who are set over the individual nations lead those who follow them of their own free will back to that very source, as to their own. Dionysius Dionysius the Areopagite, an influential early Christian theologian known for his writings on the "Celestial Hierarchy." however—as St. Maximus Maximus the Confessor, a 7th-century monk who wrote commentaries (Scholia) on Dionysius's works. teaches in the Scholia on the same passage—says that the lowest order of the heavenly powers is actually the most worthy of being called "Angels," because it is this order that reaches down to humanity; through them, divine matters are taught to men. He also says that Michael—the one chosen for the Jews—belongs to that final order of holy Angels. Similarly, Maximus believes that the visions in dreams were given to Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezzar The kings of Egypt and Babylon mentioned in the Old Testament. through Angels, and that the interpretations of those dreams were revealed through the Angels of those specific nations. Other matters of this sort can be found there, as one may see in the works of Maximus himself.

4. Origen Adamantius A foundational but controversial early Christian scholar (c. 184–253 AD). "Adamantius" means "man of steel," referring to his tireless work ethic., that great and ancient interpreter of the Scriptures and "the second teacher of the Church after the Apostles" (as Gilbert Genebrard, a Parisian theologian, calls him), is quite detailed on this subject in various places. In the Philocalia A collection of Origen's writings compiled by later Church Fathers., chapter 21, he writes as follows; first, he records the words of Celsus, a pagan philosopher, which are as follows:

"The Jews, a distinct and peculiar people, established laws for their own country, which they still carry with them today; they preserve a religion of some kind by retaining their ancestral customs, just as other nations do, each of which follows its own ancestral customs, whatever they may be. This also seems reasonable; not only because different laws occurred to different people and what was publicly decreed must be observed, but also because (as is believable) the parts of the earth were from the beginning assigned to different overseers and divided into certain prefectures, and are administered in this way, etc."

After Origen had refuted these points at length and with great effort (for the sake of the "more diligent and accurate," as he puts it), he adds the following: "And indeed it seems to me," he says, "that Celsus has heard certain more hidden things regarding the division of the earth, as if through a mist; things which the Greek—"