Who was Jesus Christ?

And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.

And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

And some of them that stood by, when they heard it, said, Behold, he calleth Elias.

And one ran and filled a spunge full of vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink, saying, Let alone; let us see whether Elias will come to take him down.

And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost.

And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom.

And when the centurion, which stood over against him, saw that he so cried out, and gave up the ghost, he said, Truly this man was the Son of God.

Fact: Over 1 billion Catholics, and almost as many other Christians, believe that Jesus was the Son of God.

Fact: There are no celestials known to have been present at the Crucifixion, or to have seen Jesus after his alleged resurrection. He certainly did not appear in Heaven after the Ascension.

Fact: God has not instructed His angels to acknowledge Jesus as Messiah, or as His Son.

Fact: If Jesus is Divine, then the best, if not the only, road to Heaven lies through Him.

Fact: The opinion of the Archangels can be grouped into no less than three camps.

The first group believe that the evidence for Christ's divinity is unconvincing, and that if Jesus had been the Son of God, the Archangels would have *known*.

Michael, David, Janus, Jean, and (perhaps surprisingly) Novalis fall into this camp. They are swift to point out the shortcomings of Christianity, and the fact that dogmatic adherence to any religion, and expecially Christianity, causes humans as much harm as good. Note that not every angel share's their archangel's beliefs, although most do.

A second camp consists of those who believe that Jesus was truly sent by God. After all, Gabriel did indeed deliver the message to Mary:

" And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end."

- Luke 1:31-33

" The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God."

- Luke 1:35

Unfortunately for the Archangels, this message was delivered only to Mary, not to them - at no time during Jesus' life was he regarded by Heaven as any different from the dozens of other prophets, messiahs, and revolutionaries in Israel at the time. Gabriel repeated her message to Dominic at his request in a private conversation between them shortly after Jesus' death.

The Archangels Dominic, Laurence, Marc and Eli believe in Jesus' divinity, that he was a manifestation of God as a human being. They also believe that in the Final Battle for earth, he will return, defeat the forces of Hell, and reward those humans who follow his teachings. They do not, however, believe that any of his instructions were specifically directed at Angels, or that the Bible is divinely inspired. They certainly don't believe that every human who claims to experience God actually does so.

A third camp is undecided - if Jesus was God, and he wanted them to do anything about that fact, He would tell them about it. They are more than confident that they will recognise the Son of God if he wishes them to at any time in the future. Until then, Christianity can be treated like any other human religion. Blandine and Jordi fall into this group.

This leaves Yves and Gabriel, who bear closer inspection.

Yves knows that following the written teachings of Jesus, or for that matter the teachings of Christianity as a whole, is an imperfect road to Destiny. The same applies to any other existing religion or philosophy. Certainly many humans do find their Destinies in Christianity. As to whether Jesus is a manifestation of God, and whether he will return at any point, Yves offers no opinion, and every angel knows better than to ask.

Gabriel, in her current state, is pretty much unable to form an opinion. Even her own Servitors will not raise the matter, since the beginnings of both Christianity and Islam are extremely sensitive issues for Gabriel. After Dominic's investigation into the matter, she stated that all she knew was that her messages to Mary, Elizabeth, and others, were delivered precisely as they should have been. She had not received any instructions herself as to how Jesus ought to be treated, so she took no action.

Archangelic perspectives on Jesus:

Blandine: "He is one of the most powerful ever symbols of Hope in the minds of men, but he is still only one of many ways to approach the Symphony. What else needs to be said?"

David: "He was a human being. I expect he found his Destiny: his teachings don't give humans the strength they need, but they provide solidarity. I fear Dominic is wrong - even if Jesus was somehow divinely conceived, that doesn't make him God."

Dominic: "I made a very careful study of Jesus' life. His miracles were real. His conception was divine, and Gabriel's prophecies were genuine. His disciples truly believed in him. Heaven has not been directly informed of him because angels do not need to know everything - Jesus lived for the humans, not for us."

Eli: "Hey, he was the Son of God, he healed the sick, he taught people to love each other. Sounds like a Messiah to me. I'd follow him."

Gabriel: "My prophecies were the words of God. They were given to those who needed them, but Dominic stole them for himself as well. They are all that needs to be said, and I will *not* be forced to say more."

Janus: "Jesus? He was the new idea for a while, now he's the status quo. No one really thinks about him any more. Do I have to tell you that's bad?"

Jean: "Jesus' teachings were on the whole good, I suppose, but now they're tied up by two thousand years of Christianity. We don't know exactly what he did or didn't say or do, and we certainly don't know that he was any more holy than anyone else."

Jordi: "What do I care who humans worship? I'll bow to the Son of God when He asks, not because a book tells me to."

Laurence: "The evidence is there - Jesus fulfilled the prophecies. Gabriel may be dangerous, but she knows when God is speaking to her. That's why I believe in Him. Christ will return - He will save humans from their Fates through God's grace. That's why every human should believe in Him too. Michael's too proud to think he might not know everything, and he won't believe in anything but his own eyes. Too many angels think that way."

Marc: "I've listened to Gabriel, and Dominic, and I believe Jesus was God as a man. Unlike Laurence, though, human religion isn't my business. Sometimes I wish it was."

Michael: "Yes, Jesus was divinely conceived. He was probably a prophet, and he certainly had important things to say. But he's not the Messiah - I'd know. Jesus is not coming back to trample Satan, and as long as Laurence assumes God is going to win this War for us, we won't win it for ourselves. Laurence and Dominic are wrong, and Yves won't do anything to put them right. What does that say about Yves?"

Novalis: "Jesus was a wonderful man. Nothing more, but that should be enough for people. It should be enough for angels, too. I don't believe that God wants our worship. He just wants us to listen to what he is saying, and understand. Jesus was the same."

Yves: "What do you believe in? What is your Destiny? If Jesus is the Son of God, if he can forgive you for selfishness and wrongdoing, will you turn away from your Destiny and your beliefs?"