Religion and Spirituality:Whats the difference between an archangel and an angel?
According to the Bible, angels are spirits, just as God himself is a Spirit. (Psalm 104:4; John 4:24) The angelic family is large, numbering into the millions. (Revelation 5:11) And all of them are “mighty in power.” (Psalm 103:20) Though angels are like humans in that they have personality and are given free will, they did not begin their lives as humans. The prefix “arch,” meaning “chief” or “principal,” implies that there is only one archangel, the chief angel; in the Scriptures, “archangel” is never found in the plural. First Thessalonians 4:16, in speaking of the preeminence of the archangel and the authority of his office, does so in reference to the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ: “The Lord himself will descend from heaven with a commanding call, with an archangel’s voice and with God’s trumpet, and those who are dead in union with Christ will rise first.” It is, therefore, not without significance that the only name directly associated with the word “archangel” is Michael.
