Editing Archdemon (section)

==Christian traditions==
Archdemons are described as the leaders of demonic hosts, just as archangels lead [[Hierarchy of angels|choirs of angels]]. Based upon the writings of [[Saint Paul]] (Col. 1:16; Eph. 1:21) the angelic court had been constructed by [[Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite]] and comprised nine orders of angels with three orders each to three hierarchies.

The first hierarchy consists of [[seraph]]im, [[cherub]]im and [[Throne (angel)|thrones]]. The second hierarchy consists of [[Domination (angel)|dominations]], [[Virtue (angel)|virtues]] and [[Power (angel)|powers]].  The third hierarchy consists of [[Principality (angel)|principalities]], [[archangel]]s and [[angel]]s.  This system of classifying angels has been accepted by the majority of Christian scholars.  However, no similar consensus has been reached on the 
[[classification of demons]].  This is largely due to the fact that, historically, the definition of what an archdemon is and the names of those demons has varied greatly over time.

One common medieval classification associate the [[seven deadly sins]] with archdemons:<ref>Encyclopædia Britannica ''The New Encyclopædia Britannica: Macropædia'' 1991 {{ISBN|978-0-852-29529-8}} page 411</ref>
* [[Lucifer]]: Pride
* [[Mammon]]: Greed
* [[Asmodeus]]: Lust
* [[Leviathan]]: Envy
* [[Beelzebub]]: Gluttony
* [[Satan]]: Wrath
* [[Belphegor]]: Sloth<ref>Encyclopedia of Demons and Demonology, By Rosemary Guiley, p. 28-29, Facts on File, 2009.</ref>

In the [[occult]] tradition, there is controversy regarding which demons should be classed as archdemons. During different ages, some demons were historically "promoted" to archdemons, others were completely forgotten, and new ones were created. In ancient [[Judaism|Jewish]] lore, many of the [[Paganism|pagan]] gods of neighboring cultures were identified as extremely pernicious demons in order to prevent Jews from worshiping them.

Therefore, the pagan deity [[Baal|Ba'al]] was reinterpreted as the archdemon [[Baal (demon)|Bael]] or [[Beelzebub]], and the pagan deity [[Astarte]] was reinterpreted as the archdemon [[Astaroth]].  These two in particular were seen as some of the worst enemies of [[God]].  By the Middle Ages, these pagan deities were no longer worshiped, so their characterizations as archdemons were no longer important, but they still persisted anyway. New archdemons were invented over time, most of them revolving around [[Satan]] and the [[Antichrist]].