Lucy from Little Rock Arkansas sent our website editor the following question. She asked do the Seraphim exist within Gnostic Christianity? The answer is yes, the Seraphim are recognized within Gnostic Christianity. They are noted in Gnostic scripture within the book called On the Origin of the World. Within this book they are described as being dragon shaped angels, as opposed to the more traditional angel like beings. The reason this description might differ from the traditional, is that within the theological community there is some debate about the translation of the book of Isaiah. The noun Saraph in Hebrew means "fiery flying serpent", so some scholars actually believe that Isaiah did not describe flying angels, but flying dragons or serpents. It is improbable that Isaiah meant serpents, and more likely that he simply wanted to convey the message that the Seraphim where burning with light, as opposed to dragons burning with fire.
