——St Melito of Sardis actually wrote
Among the Syriac fragments of Melito published by Cureton is one from a work “On Faith,” which contains a remarkable christological creed, an eloquent expansion of the Regula Fidei:
The Lord Jesus Christ is acknowledged as the perfect Reason, the Word of God; who was begotten before the light; who was Creator with the Father; who was the Fashioner of man; who was all things in all; Patriarch among the patriarchs, Law in the law, Chief Priest among the priests, King among the kings, Prophet among the prophets, Archangel among the angels; He piloted Noah, conducted Abraham, was bound with Isaac, exiled with Jacob, was Captain with Moses; He foretold his own sufferings in David and the prophets; He was incarnate in the Virgin; worshipped by the Magi; He healed the lame, gave sight to the blind, was rejected by the people, condemned by Pilate, hanged upon the tree, buried in the earth, rose from the dead and appeared to the apostles, ascended to heaven; He is the Rest of the departed, the Recoverer of the lost, the Light of the blind, the Refuge of the afflicted, the Bridegroom of the Church, the Charioteer of the cherubim, the Captain of angels; God who is of God, the Son of the Father, the King for ever and ever.
https://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/hcc2.v.xv.xix.html
——“Archangel among the angels” does not mean that Jesus was a literal angel rather than God…
Of course Jesus Christ isn’t a literal, created angel. That would be silly.
——While all of these phrases…
Archangel among the angels is INCLUDED in those phrases. Melito CLEARLY means to say that it is a divine title/description/role of, Christ. That’s why he said it, dude. Yes, even Bishop Melito of Sardis saw that.
Jesus Christ took on the role of Michael the archangel, as he did with the Captain of the host (angels). He is ALSO called the angel of the Lord, the angel of God, and the angel of the covenant. Is He a LITERAL, CREATED angel? NO, of course not, because that would silly. Jesus Christ is God.
By the way, Melito’s inclusion of the role “Captain of the angels” is a direct reference to “Captain of the host (OF ANGELS), in Joshua 5.
You are clearly wrong. No doubt about it.
“Archangel among the angels” does not mean that Jesus was a literal angel rather than God, while all of these phrases:
“Creator with the Father”
“who was the Fashioner of man”
“who was all things in all”
mean He is equal to God the Father and therefore Divine.
Melito wrote plainly about Christ’s divinity: “He who fastened the universe has been fastened to a tree; the Sovereign has been insulted; the God has been murdered” (On the Passover)
Harris completely obliterated your erroneous assertions about Melito of Sardis 15 years ago: https://www.amazon.com/Jesus-God-Testament-Theos-Reference/dp/160608108X
Hebrews 1:7-8 (ESV) clearly shows that the NT authors make distinction between Jesus and angels. https://catholicproductions.com/blogs/blog/is-jesus-an-angel-hebrews-1-the-incarnation-and-jehovahs-witnesses