Angels and fallen angels

Now you may be wondering where the Devil came from.  There are a number of clues in the Bible that underpin the traditional teaching of the Church on this subject.  First of all we need to remember that God created the visible, material world and within that he created us, who are both material and spiritual beings, that is, we have a body and a soul.  However, God also created purely spiritual beings – angels.  At every Eucharist we join with the angels and indeed with everyone in Heaven in worshipping God:

“Therefore with angels and archangels,
and with all the company of heaven,
we proclaim your great and glorious name,
for ever praising you…” (11)

The clues in the Bible suggest that some of these angels, although they were good when God created them, rebelled against God (2 Peter 2:4).  These angels are led by one who is usually called Satan or the Devil.  He is the ‘prince of this world’ because his rebellious activity extends to this world. (12)  So shortly before his arrest and crucifixion, Jesus said, “…now the prince of this world is to be overthrown” (Jerusalem Bible, John 12:31).

The angels, like us, were created with free-wills.  But the Devil and the other fallen angels were too proud to love and worship God because that meant putting God first, and they were determined to put themselves first.  The end result was that there was “no longer any place for them in heaven” (Jerusalem Bible, Revelation 12:8).  When the Devil left Heaven, he came to this world to make it his kingdom.  His plan was to get the world under his control and rule it as the Lord of Evil.