Sect. 160The Sin of the AngelsThe Sin of the Angels

I. The teaching of the Church and of Holy Scripture leaves no possible doubt as to the existence of a great number of wicked or unclean spirits, hardened in sin and waging war against God and men, under the command of Satan or the Devil (Matt. 12:24; John 12:31; 1 Cor. 2:6–8; Eph. 2:2, and 6:12; 1 John 3:13–14, etc.). “The great dragon was cast out, the old serpent who is called the devil and satan, who seduceth the whole world … the accuser (ὁ κατήγωρ) of our brethren who accused them before God day and night” (Apoc. 12:9, 10).

II. Although the devil and his demons are the very personification of sin, they were originally good angels. “The devil and other demons were created by God good by nature, but they became bad through their own behaviour”; cf. John 8:44, and Jude v. 6 (Fourth Council of Lateran, Cap. Firmiter). The fall of the angels probably happened soon after they were created; certainly before the fall of man.

III. From the fact that Holy Scripture describes Satan as the chief and representative of all wicked spirits, it may be inferred that the sin of the angels originated in one of them, and passed on to the remainder by example or inducement. If this be so, we must further admit that, before the fall, Satan was by nature and grace exalted high above all those angels who followed his example or his bidding. Hints are not wanting in Scripture as to Satan having been the highest of all angels, so that sin would have originated at the very summit of creation. Such hints are found in the picture of the pride and fall of earthly kings, which the Fathers mystically apply to the pride and fall of the prince of heaven (Isaias 14:12; Ezech. 28:1.sq., and 31:3 sq.). The temptation of pride may certainly have been very great in a creature of such perfection.

IV. The Church has never defined the kind of sin committed by the angels, and the early Fathers are not quite agreed upon the point. Yet following up the hints given in Scripture and the common doctrine of later Fathers and of all theologians, it must be held as theologically certain that pride was the cause of their fall. The contemplation of their natural excellence and their great likeness to God gave rise to presumption and ambition, which are but forms of pride. Most likely these angels wanted to be independent of God, and to receive honours due to God alone. St. Thomas (1, q. 63, a. 3) thinks they refused the tribute of absolutely unselfish love required by God in the supernatural order; Suarez (De Angelis, lib. vii.) is of opinion that they refused to acknowledge and to adore the Son of God in His human nature. Cf. Ecclus. 10:15; Tobias 4:14; Luke 10:18, and the above-quoted texts from Isaias and Ezechias with the interpretation of the Fathers.

V. From the nature of things, as well as from the teaching of the Fathers, the sin of the fallen angels is manifestly sin in its worst form. It proceeded from pure malice; not, as in the case of man, from ignorance and weakness. It is a direct insult to God and an open contempt of the order of grace, and hence it has the character of sin against the Holy Ghost. It is an open rebellion against God, carried out and unrelentingly persisted in with all the energy of which a pure spirit is capable. It is, lastly, an uninterrupted sin, a perpetual act, thanks to the spiritual and ever vigilant nature of the angels. For all these reasons, the pride of the angels was a sin unto death—far more than mortal sin in man, more even than final impenitence in man.

VI. The great sin of the angels was immediately punished with eternal damnation. God, granted them neither the time nor the means of repentance. Holy Writ and the formulated teaching of the Church do not directly express this doctrine; they only state the fact that at present the fallen angels are in a state of damnation, and without hope of salvation. But from 2 Pet. 2:4, and Jude 6, we understand that all the angels who prevaricated were damned; and, on the other hand, the redemption by Christ is available to man only; whence theologians rightly conclude that no hope of salvation was ever held out to these spirits, and, consequently, no time for repentance allowed them. The reason why God showed to the angels none of that mercy which He so abundantly dispenses to man must be sought in the grievous nature of their sin.

VII. The sin of the angels was immediately followed by the complete depravation and corruption of their spiritual life. The demons’ depravity consists in the obscuration of their intellect and the hardening of their will, so that mendacity and wickedness become their second nature; they are “powers of darkness and spirits of wickedness.” Their intellect is darkened by the withdrawal of all supernatural light as principle of supernatural knowledge, albeit they retain the bare knowledge of the truths revealed to them before their fall, or which they may learn by some external revelation. Then the perversity of their will influences their judgment, so as to make evil appear to them as good. The hardening of the will of the evil spirits consists in this, that the hatred of God is the impelling motive of all their actions. As the good spirits do all they do for the love of God, so the evil spirits are moved in all their actions by hatred of Him. This hatred is partly the result of the original perversity of their will, partly an effect of their resenting the punishment inflicted upon them.

VIII. Together with complete depravity, the demons received at once afflictive punishment. They were cast down into the place of torments, delivered into the chains of hell, to be reserved unto judgment (2 Pet. 2:4). The nature of this punishment will be discussed in the treatise on the Last Things. Here we only point out its two stages, viz. the ejection from heaven and the reservation for the general judgment at the end of the world. The difference between the two stages lies in this, that before the last judgment the external movements and operations of the demons are not completely impeded; just as the souls of damned men are not tied to their bodies until the day of judgment. Thus the demons still are free to find some satisfaction in the carrying out of their wicked plans against God and man, although even for this their punishment will be increased on the last day. Again: before the final judgment they are not confined to “the place of torments,” wherever that may be, but they are at liberty to move about among men on earth, or, as Scripture says in view of their spiritual nature, in the air above the earth (cf. 1 Pet. 5:8; Eph. 6:12; 2:2). Yet, wherever they are, they suffer the same torments.

IX. Revelation teaches us that God has allowed the evil spirits to carry on against Himself and His elect a war of hatred, lasting as long as the present state of the world. As God Himself and the Blessed in heaven are unassailable, man is the only object on which the demons may wreak their vengeance, by destroying in him the image and likeness of God. This war has been permitted by God in order that man may prove his fidelity to his Maker, and that the devil, overcome by weaker creatures, may be covered with greater shame. The victory of man is rendered possible and easy since he is incorporated in the mystical body of God-made-Man.

The first man was able to sin without the instigation of the devil; yet, as a matter of fact, it was to the seduction of the enemy that he gave way. Hence the sin of man is the “seed of the devil” sown in lies, and sinful men are “the sons of the devil, who is the father of lies.” With the devil as their head, all sinners constitute one moral body. The power he has over them is chiefly due to their wilful submission to his influence. On man, in the original state, the devil had but very limited power; he could only tempt man, and even that temptation was limited to external suggestions. See Suarez, De Angelis, ll. vii., viii.; St. Thomas, i. qq. 63, 64; Contra Gentes, iii. 107–109.