Copyright © 2006 By Doug Lawrence. All Rights Reserved.
Catechism Of The Catholic Church Reprinted With Permission.
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God’s Truth From The Catechism Of The Catholic Church – cont.
II. THE FALL OF THE ANGELS
391 Behind the disobedient choice of our first parents lurks a seductive voice, opposed to God,
which makes them fall into death out of envy.
266
Scripture and the Church's Tradition see in this being a fallen angel, called "Satan" or the
"devil"..
267
The Church teaches that Satan was at first a good angel, made by God: "The devil and the other
demons were indeed created naturally good by God, but they became evil by their own doing."
268
392 Scripture speaks of a sin of these angels.
269
This "fall" consists in the free choice of these
created spirits, who radically and irrevocably rejected God and his reign. We find a reflection of that
rebellion in the tempter's words to our first parents: "You will be like God."
270
The devil "has sinned
from the beginning"; he is "a liar and the father of lies".
271
393 It is the irrevocable character of their choice, and not a defect in the infinite divine mercy, that
makes the angels' sin unforgivable. "There is no repentance for the angels after their fall, just as
there is no repentance for men after death."
272
394 Scripture witnesses to the disastrous influence of the one Jesus calls "a murderer from the
beginning", who would even try to divert Jesus from the mission received from his Father.
273
"The
reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil."
274
In its consequences the
gravest of these works was the mendacious seduction that led man to disobey God.
395 The power of Satan is, nonetheless, not infinite. He is only a creature, powerful from the fact
that he is pure spirit, but still a creature. He cannot prevent the building up of God's reign. Although
Satan may act in the world out of hatred for God and his kingdom in Christ Jesus, and although his
action may cause grave injuries - of a spiritual nature and, indirectly, even of a physical nature- to
each man and to society, the action is permitted by divine providence which with strength and
gentleness guides human and cosmic history. It is a great mystery that providence should permit
diabolical activity, but "we know that in everything God works for good with those who love him."
275
Consult the Catechism for a list of all the source documents and citations used to prepare this section.
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