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Anglicanism, the Church of England and Lutheranism each hold a variant, differently accounted stance toward the archangel Raphael in this atlas. Reading each account individually finds one real position, not three, held once by the Anglican family under two of its own names and once more, independently, by Lutheranism.

One Communion, Named Twice

Anglicanism's own account: "The Articles of Religion have the Church read Tobit for example of life and instruction of manners but not to establish any doctrine, and Raphael is named in no other book of the Anglican canon." The Church of England's own account: it "reads Tobit among the books appointed for lessons without founding doctrine on it, which is the whole standing Raphael has in its formularies." The Church of England is the founding member of the Anglican Communion; these two rows are one body stating one position under two of its own names, not two churches independently agreeing.

The Same Shape, Reached Independently

Lutheranism's own account arrives at the identical shape by its own separate route: Raphael "is named only in Tobit, which the Lutheran Bible prints among the Apocrypha as useful and good to read but not as a ground of doctrine, so he is present in the tradition without being taught from it." One position, an archangel who appears only in a book two Reformation-era traditions each keep on the shelf without preaching from it, held once by the Anglican family and once more by Lutheranism. Raphael is also, separately, a live convergence candidate in this atlas's own pool, formally linked to three religions, Christianity, Hermeticism and Judaism; that candidacy is untouched by this page, which anchors none of those three religions, and remains open for a future essay.

Where To Read More

• RaphaelPlanetary ArchangelsThe archangel himself; three bodies counted, reducing to one position, and a separate untouched convergence candidacy
• AnglicanismChristianityReads Tobit for example of life, not to establish doctrine; Raphael is named nowhere else in the Anglican canon
• Church of EnglandChristianityThe Anglican Communion's own founding member, stating the identical position a second time
• LutheranismChristianityReaches the same shape independently: present in the tradition without being taught from it