Before I could finish and post Sin in Heaven: Part Two, Tranquil Thunder stole my thunder with this comment on Sin in Heaven: Part One: "If 'No evil can be conceived of in heaven,' then why did Lucifer get tossed out? How did Jesus see 'Satan fall like lightning from heaven'" (Luke 10:18)?
In Part One I concluded that those in the presence of the Divine Essence cannot sin; but, as Mr. Thunder (may I call you Tranquil) accurately quoted in his comment, I used the word "heaven". I should have thought better of the term. "Heaven" in scripture can mean the sky, outer space, or any "level" up to and including ultimate bliss in the presence of his Divine Essence. (Paul speaks of a 3rd heaven in 2Cor 12:2) In my conclusion, I am referring to the face to face encounter with God. When the scripture says that "Satan fall like lightning from heaven" or that he was "thrown down" from heaven (cf. Rev 12:7-9) it is referring to one of the former concepts, not the face-to-face vision of the Divine Essence.Concerning the angels, the Compendium to the Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us:
Satan and the other demons "were angels, created good by God. They were, however, transformed into evil because with a free and irrevocable choice they rejected God and his Kingdom, thus giving rise to the existence of hell." (74)Like Adam and Eve and their descendants, the angels "have intelligence and will"[1] and they also have choices to make. Their first choice, whether or not they would love God above all else, is clearly not unlike the one we must make in our lifetimes.
With the understanding we have gained, we can correctly conclude that God did not create the angels in the immediate presence of His Divine Essence (or beatitude), for if he had, then some could not have fallen. So, Satan and the demons have not fallen from the state of being in the abode of God; rather, they presumed upon it when they sought to ascend to it and rebelled against God (Isaiah 14:12-15). Conversely, the holy angels were granted eternal communion with God as their reward for choosing Him.
1 Catechism of the Catholic Church (1993), 330.
1 comment:
I'll let you win the "lightning round." Not that I agree, but I'll accept as a reasonable answer that perhaps Satan was tossed out of the sky (or some lower heaven).
However, your conclusion, "that those in the presence of the Divine Essence cannot sin," is problematic unless you also conclude that there is no freewill in the presence of the Divine Essence.
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