Hey everyone, welcome to Mythology Explained. In today’s video, we’re going to discuss the Powers,
God’s warrior angels who work to maintain order in the universe and, when needed, who are sent
forth as the tip of the spear to combat evil, defending God’s flock and destroying demons.
Alright, let’s get into it Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite is
a pseudonymous author whose works had a profound influence on Christian mysticism and theology from
the Middle Ages all the way through to today. While the angelic hierarchy isn’t delineated in
the bible, instead expounded in various forms by various theologians in extra-biblical works, these
predicated on and extrapolated from scripture, it’s fair to say that the angelic hierarchy put
forward by Pseudo-Dionysius was widely embraced by Christianity and is probably the most influential
version developed and disseminated to date. The true identity of Pseudo-Dionysius is unknown,
but his works are thought to have been written around the late 5th to early 6th century. His
pseudonym suggests he was trying to be identified with Dionysius the Areopagite, a convert of Saint
Paul mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles, but scholarly consensus holds that he was not
the historical Dionysius, hence the ‘Pseudo’ that precedes the name of this unknown author.
"The Celestial Hierarchy," Pseudo-Dionysius’s most seminal work, is a treatise that discusses the
angelic hierarchy. In it, the angelic hierarchy is described as being made up of three angelic
orders, and these three angelic orders, in turn, each comprise three angelic choirs; so, per
his conceptualization, there are three groups of three, making for a total of nine angelic choirs.
The Powers are the 6th ranked choir, so there are five choirs that rank above them. They constitute
the lowest ranked choir of the second order, beneath the Virtues, the fifth ranked choir,
and the Dominions, the fourth ranked choir. To put things in perspective, the Seraphim are the
first ranked choir and so are closest to God, and the angels are the ninth ranked and so are
the farthest away from God. Beyond proximity to the divine, there’s another continuum that
exists between the first and ninth choirs, with understanding on one end and implementation
on the other: the higher the choir, the more focused they are on understanding God’s will,
and the lower the choir, the more focused they are on implementing God’s will on earth.
In this way, the angelic hierarchy can be broken down to something like this: the first order, as
instructed by the emanations of God, understands the idea (the idea being the will of God) and
conveys this idea to the second order; the second order then creates the plan that will see the idea
brought to fruition; and the third order, having received instruction from the second order,
executes the plan so that the idea (will of God) is manifested throughout the universe.
(It should be said that conceptualizing the three angelic orders by the sequence of understanding,
planning, and executing is more of an idea that comes from Saint Thomas Aquinas
and is a notion we’ll return to later.) Pseudo-Dionysius does not provide detailed
descriptions of the roles or functions of the choirs individually, the Powers included, and the
main focus of his work is on the nature of the celestial hierarchy and the divine illumination,
both of these topics we will also return to later. Despite there being a dearth of information that
specifically speaks to the potency and purview of the Powers in Pseudo-Dionysius’ work,
he does dedicate a couple of convoluted paragraphs to them, which I will now summarize:
‘The Powers embody the orderliness of the universe, an orderliness that is simultaneously
unyielding and unrestrained. They regulate intellectual and beyond-physical-world (“supra")
power, exercising their authority responsibly, never resorting to tyranny or oppression.
The Powers are incessantly and irresistibly driven toward serving the Divine, the ultimate source of
all power. They guide and inspire the beings beneath them (subordinate choirs of angels)
in the celestial order, guiding them as much as possible so that everything they do aligns with
and reflects God's divine will and purpose.’ Beyond Pseudo-Dionysius, other renowned
theologians also contributed to what we know about the powers, and it is these who
actually inform us about the Powers being the angelic choir God uses to directly combat evil,
specifically, evil spirits, otherwise known as demons; for demons are fallen angels,
and in Christian theology, angels, whether good or bad, are considered beings of pure spirit.
For example, Saint Isadore of Seville, a scholar and theologian of the 7th century
who served as the Archbishop of Seville, Spain, has this to say about the Powers
“The Powers are those angels to which opposing forces are subject,
and hence they are named with the term Powers… because evil spirits are restrained
by their power… so that they may not do as much harm in the world as they wish.”
Seville’s description of the Powers as the holy champions who combat evil is echoed by
Saint Thomas Aquinas in his work Summa Theologica, writing, “then the “Powers,” who coerce the evil
spirits; even as evil-doers are coerced by earthly powers, as it is written in Romans 13:3-4.”
The Biblical passage referenced by Aquinas, Romans 13:3-4, says: "For rulers are not a cause of fear
for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of the authority? Do what is good,
and you will receive its commendation. For it is God’s servant for your benefit. But
if you do what is wrong, you should be afraid, for it does not bear the
sword in vain! It is God’s servant, an avenger that brings wrath on the one who does wrong."
This passage essentially conveys that rulers are divinely appointed to uphold justice and societal
welfare. They act as God's agents, rewarding virtuous actions and penalizing wrongdoing.
They wield power (as symbolized by the 'sword') with purpose and deliberation, guided by a divine
mandate to fight against evil and maintain order. Drawing parallels with the angelic Powers,
as medieval theologians often did, Romans 13 lays down the theological framework for these angels'
roles as divine warriors. The Powers, similar to the earthly rulers described in Romans 13,
carry a divine command to uphold God's law. Yet, unlike earthly rulers, their realm of influence
isn't confined to earthly affairs. They are the divine champions, unwavering in their
mission to battle evil and uphold cosmic order. Now that we’ve looked at who the Powers are
individually as a group, we’re now going see how they fit into the celestial hierarchy, beginning
with a quick overview of the three orders and nine choirs that make up the celestial hierarchy,
then redirecting our focus to the ‘Divine Illumination’, which is how God’s will is
diffused from him to the angelic choirs and, in turn, from the angelic choirs to humanity.
The first order includes the first, second, and third choirs, respectively, the Seraphim,
Cherubim, and Thrones. The Seraphim are described as the closest to God, embodying love and light
and perpetually circling God's throne in worship. The Cherubim are the keepers of
God's knowledge and wisdom. And The Thrones represent God's divine justice and authority.
The second order includes the fourth, fifth, and sixth choirs, respectively, the Dominions,
Virtues, and Powers. The Dominions regulate the duties of the angels,
ensuring that the cosmos remains in order. The Virtues are associated with miracles and
blessings. And the Powers fight against evil forces and maintain cosmic order and harmony.
The third order includes the seventh, eighth, and ninth choirs, respectively,
the Principalities, Archangels, and Angels. The Principalities oversee earthly nations
and leaders. The Archangels serve as preeminent messengers to humankind,
delivering God's most important messages. And the Angels, the lowest choir,
are involved in carrying out God's will in the world, delivering messages and protecting people.
The three orders interact with each other through the process of divine illumination, a core idea
in Pseudo-Dionysius's conceptualization of the Celestial Hierarchy. This process involves the
transmission of the divine (the emanations of God, his love, knowledge and power) from the
higher choirs to the lower choirs and then to humanity. Beginning with God, the higher order
illuminates the order below it, and so on, in a cascade of divine illumination. This process is
described as a "cascade" because, like flowing water, the divine light flows down from the
highest (God) to the highest order of angels, to the lowest order angels, and finally to humanity.
Each rank of angels receives the divine illumination according to its capacity and
position in the hierarchy. The angels of the first order (Seraphim, Cherubim, and Thrones) receive
the divine illumination most directly and in its purest form because they are closest to God.
They, in turn, pass on this illumination to the second order (Dominions, Virtues,
and Powers), who further pass it to the third order (Principalities, Archangels, and Angels).
The divine illumination thus cascades down through the ranks, with each order serving both as a
receiver of illumination from the order above and a transmitter of illumination to the order below,
with God being the ultimate source and humanity being the final destination.
Thomas Aquinas, who was greatly influenced by Pseudo-Dionysius’s works, also wrote about the
divine hierarchy, discussing how divine power emanates from God, is channeled through the
angelic hierarchy, and is finally diffused upon earth. However, where Pseudo-Dionysius was more
concerned with what divine illumination is, Aquinas expands upon the concept of Divine
Illumination by expounding on how exactly it relates to each of the three angelic orders.
According to Aquinas, each angelic order plays a unique role in implementing God's plan.
The first order exists to understand God's will, the second order exists to organize how God’s will
will be enacted, creating plans predicated on the understanding imparted to them by the first order,
and the third order exists to actually manifests God’s will on earth, carrying
out the plans created by the second order. The first order of angels (the Seraphim,
Cherubim, and Thrones) is focused on absorbing what God emanates so as to
understand his divine will, then disseminating the divine will to the second angelic order.
The second order of angels (the Dominions, Virtues, and Powers) receive God’s will from
the first order, synthesizing it into strategy. They act as celestial planners and managers. Their
role is to maintain divine order by translating the will of God, conveyed to them by the first
order, into grand, universe-governing plans that are, in turn, relayed to
the third and final order for implementation. The third order of angels (the Principalities,
Archangels, and Angels) is responsible for actually carrying out God’s will on earth.
It executes the plans put together by the second order, thereby manifesting God’s will.
And that’s it for this video. If you enjoy the content,
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