DEMONOLOGY

Father José Antonio Fortea

(1) - WHY DID GOD PUT DEMONS TO THE TEST

The real question is, why did God not grant all the angels the Beatific Vision from the first moment of their creation? Why did He take the chance that some of them would rebel against Him and become demons? God could have created angelic spirits and immediately given them the grace of the Beatific Vision. This was perfectly possible for His omnipotence, and it would have been perfectly just to do so. But there were some powerful reasons for testing the angels before granting them the Beatific Vision.

First, God had to give to each rational being a degree of happiness. Everyone in heaven sees God, but no one can enjoy Him to an infinite degree; this is impossible for a finite being. Each finite creature enjoys to the fullest degree possible without wanting more. A common analogy used to understand this metaphysical concept is that of a glass: God fills each glass (i.e., soul) to the rim but each glass is a specific size based on its degree of glory.

God, in His wisdom, decided that each angel would determine its degree of glory for eternity by its response to a divine test. Each angel determined its degree of happiness by the degree of generosity, love, constancy, and other virtues it displayed in the test. A spirit can grow in its faith and in its generosity toward God before it sees Him. But once admitted to the Beatific Vision, no further growth is possible–there can no longer be growth in faith where there is vision. Above all, the period of testing offered the angels the opportunity to grow in the theological virtues, and some angels would grow more in the virtue of perseverance, others in humility, others in petition, etc.

Offering a being the possibility of faith also supposes the risk that in this same being evil may flourish instead of faith. God, by giving free will to the angels and human beings, knew that freedom, once bestowed, could be used for good or evil. Of course, God could have created the cosmos in any way he liked, without any restrictions or limits. But a saint is not created; one becomes a saint through the action of grace. The gift of freedom allows for a Hitler as well as a [Saint] Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa). Once the gift of freedom has been given, consequences–good or evil–flow from every act of the will. In the material cosmos there is no spiritual good; the good of the cosmos is purely physical. Spiritual (or moral) good is qualitatively superior but necessarily requires a free choice. Thus, the appearance of moral evil in no way upset God’s plan. The possibility of evil was already part of the divine plan before the creation of thinking beings.

Finally, the most important and powerful reason for God’s granting angels the gift of freedom was for them to love. God loves His creation, and He desires to be loved in return. But love requires receptivity–it must be received freely (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1828). The same God who can create the cosmos with only an act of His will cannot create that love that is born and proven in the suffering of the faith. The love of God is not created; it must be freely given by a created being.

(2) - DO GOD AND DEMONS TALK ?

In the Scriptures, Satan speaks with God to throw in His face the sins that men commit. But this is not a real and authentic conversation. So do true conversations take place between God devil? The answer is no.

Even though both God and the devil are spiritual beings (and spiritual beings, due to their very nature, generally like to communicate among themselves), true conversations between them do not take place. This is because the devil has no interest in conversing with God, whom he hates with all his strength. Conversely, God has no interest in having a conversation with a being who continuously breathes hate against Him. God has His perfect dignity, and this is why He does not want to converse with one who only insults and blasphemes Him all the time. In short, God does not want to talk to the devil because, in reality, there is really nothing for them to talk about.

(3) - DOES GOD HATE THE DEMONS 

No. God, being perfect, is Love itself. The created world is God’s act of love, and as part of His creation, demons remain essentially good and loved by God. It is true, though, that God hates sin because it harms the perfection of His creation. Sin ultimately leads to the condemnation of those who remain unrepentant, but this does not mean God hates sinners.

This is the terrible thing: The condemned cannot ask mercy from God because they have made a definitive choice. Infinite Love acknowledges this choice made in freedom. In The Divine Comedy, Dante places the following inscription on the entrance to hell:

“Through me is the way into the woeful city;

through me is the way into eternal woe;

through me is the way among the lost people.

Justice moved my lofty maker:

the divine Power, the supreme Wisdom and the

primal Love made me. Before me were

no things created, unless eternal, and I

eternal last. Leave every hope, ye who enter!”

This inscription, though a work of literature, captures the truth that it is Love, not hate, which allows the existence of hell. Thus, one cannot plead with Love to destroy hell. God loves the demons but condemns them nevertheless. Why? Because they have chosen hell by their rebellion against Him – God is simply ratifying their choice.

As an aside, if God does not hate the demons, an exorcist cannot hate them, either. During an exorcism, a demon may say things to try and incite hatred in the exorcist or others who are present. I recall an exorcism in which a mother lost control, becoming furious and enraged with the demon that possessed her daughter. The demon, with all the calmness in the world, smiled evilly and said, “You can’t get rid of me with hate.” In the end, only the power of love defeats evil.

(4) - IS GOD'S GREATEST CREATION - LUCIFER OR THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY ?

Before this question can be answered, we have to understand that Lucifer (which means “morning star”) was the angelic name of that angel before he rebelled against God and became a demon. I say “angel” because, while most theologians consider Lucifer to be synonymous with Satan, some think that he is a demon distinct from Satan. We also take as a given that Lucifer was the highest angelic nature created by God. Having made these clarifications, we return to the question at hand.

Strictly speaking, the highest nature that God has created was that of the greatest of the angels – Lucifer. The Blessed Virgin Mary, though, became the loftiest creature through her sacrifice, her works, and the grace of God (see CCC 490-493). 

The Immaculate Conception

490 To become the mother of the Saviour, Mary "was enriched by God with gifts appropriate to such a role."132 The angel Gabriel at the moment of the annunciation salutes her as "full of grace".133 In fact, in order for Mary to be able to give the free assent of her faith to the announcement of her vocation, it was necessary that she be wholly borne by God's grace.

491 Through the centuries the Church has become ever more aware that Mary, "full of grace" through God,134 was redeemed from the moment of her conception. That is what the dogma of the Immaculate Conception confesses, as Pope Pius IX proclaimed in 1854:

The most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Saviour of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin.135

492 The "splendour of an entirely unique holiness" by which Mary is "enriched from the first instant of her conception" comes wholly from Christ: she is "redeemed, in a more exalted fashion, by reason of the merits of her Son".136 The Father blessed Mary more than any other created person "in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places" and chose her "in Christ before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless before him in love".137

493 The Fathers of the Eastern tradition call the Mother of God "the All-Holy" (Panagia), and celebrate her as "free from any stain of sin, as though fashioned by the Holy Spirit and formed as a new creature".138 By the grace of God Mary remained free of every personal sin her whole life long.

"Let it be done to me according to your word. . ."

Her exaltation was not an act of creation but of sanctification. God made Lucifer magnificent in his nature and he corrupted himself; God made Mary humble in her nature (a human being and, as such, inferior to the angels) and she sanctified herself. We can see that a sort of “inverted parallel” exists between these two figures:

-Lucifer is the most perfect creature by nature; Mary, the most perfect creature by grace .

-Lucifer corrupted himself by disobedience; Mary sanctified herself by obedience .

-Lucifer wanted to be king, refusing to serve, and in the end became nothing; Mary wanted to be nothing, desiring to serve, and in the end was crowned Queen of heaven.

There is a parallelism even in their titles – the “Angelic Star of the Morning” (Lucifer) and the “Star of the Morning of the Redemption” (Mary):

-The first star, Lucifer, fell from the angelic firmament; the second star, Mary, was elevated.

-The first star, which was spirit, fell to the earth; the second star, which was human, ascended to heaven.

-Lucifer did not want to accept the Son of God made man; the Blessed Virgin Mary welcomed Him in her womb.

-Lucifer is a spiritual being who ended up making himself worse than a beast (without ever ceasing to be spiritual); Mary is a human being that ended up becoming better than an angel (without ceasing to be human).

Now there is only one “morning star” – Mary. Not only did the first morning star fall; the second morning star shines even brighter. Mary’s radiance is much more beautiful and intense than Lucifer‘s ever was because she shines with the light of grace, not merely nature.

CITATIONS

132 LG 56.

133 Lk 1:28.

134 Lk 1:28.

135 Pius IX, Ineffabilis Deus (1854): DS 2803.

136 LG 53, 56.

137 Cf. Eph 1:3-4.

138 LG 56.

(5) - WHY DOES GOD NOT JUST ANNIHILATE THE DEMONS ?

God, in His great love, has pledged not to destroy any intelligent being He has created. Demons, by their very existence, are a manifestation of God’s justice, a proclamation that the law of God is not violated without consequence. He who violates this law deforms himself and, if he chooses not to repent of this transgression, his deformation becomes eternal. Such is the case with the demons. They are a terrifying proof of the divine order.

In a certain sense, even the demons enrich the perfect order of God’s creation. Beauty cannot be destroyed by ugliness; rather, ugliness (i.e., evil) makes us see beauty all the more by contrast. A cathedral would not be more beautiful if we took away the monstrous gargoyles adorning it. As has been said, the demons show us the justice of God, His holiness and wisdom in creating such an order. While it would have been better had sin and evil never entered creation, their presence can point the way to what is good, true, beautiful, and holy. Even a majestic cathedral, with its high towers and sculptured beauty, has its gloomy crypts.

For the demons, the centuries pass with no hope. Undoubtedly, being desperate and full of sadness, if they could commit suicide, they would do so in order to end their suffering. But, as a pure spirit, the life of a demon is indestructible. A spirit has no organs, it cannot be poisoned, and it cannot be starved. It cannot even die of sadness. No matter what is done, it will continue to exist forever. (Of course, the same holds true for human beings as well. We will exist forever – either in heaven or hell, by our free choice to obey God or reject him.)

Anyway, as has been said, even though the demons suffer for all eternity, they do not suffer at each and every moment. Even though they do not recognize it, their existence is a gift from God. And even though they fall over and over again into acts of hate, reproach, and remorse, the rest of the time they know and experience a natural existence, which is proper to their nature.

(6) - IS GOD PRESENT IN HELL ?

Yes, God is present even in hell. There is no place (or being) in which God is not present. God, the Creator of all things, maintains everything in existence and knows everything from all eternity. So demons are not freed from the presence of God even in hell. No matter how far a demon wants to draw away from God, he will always be condemned to be in the presence of God.

Even though God is in hell, the demons do not directly perceive His presence. On the contrary, they feel totally distanced from Him. God permits them to have this sensation so as not to torment them. Nevertheless, there is no place or being that can be outside the reach, sight, or power (i.e., the presence) of God.

(7) - CAN DEMONS REPENT ? 

The Catechism gives a direct answer to this question, so let’s start there. I will quote the four numbers in full, since they give an excellent summary of what we know about demons. It is located in the section discussing original sin:

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. Scripture and the Church’s Tradition see in this being a fallen angel, called “Satan” or the “devil”. 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.”

392 Scripture speaks of a sin of these angels. 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.” The devil “has sinned from the beginning”; he is “a liar and the father of lies”.

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.”

414 Satan or the devil and the other demons are fallen angels who have freely refused to serve God and his plan. Their choice against God is definitive. They try to associate man in their revolt against God.

As you can see, the Church clearly teaches that fallen angels, demons, are definitively separated from God; they cannot repent from their sin, as we can. Why is this? It has to do with their spiritual nature. In our human nature, our intelligence and will (the spiritual powers of our soul) operate through the mediations of our senses and our emotions, of time and space, of the material universe. Those limitations create room, so to speak, for us to change our minds. We often make decisions without having full knowledge or awareness of all the factors involved, and without having full freedom from emotional biases. This is not the case with angels. They are pure spirits. They are not limited by time and space, by material mediations, as we are. And so, an angel’s rebellion against God is definitive, a clear and unequivocal rejection of God’s sovereignty and goodness. There is no going back from that decision, and they would never want to go back from it.

It’s hard to grasp this difference between us and the angels. Let’s pray for an increase of the Holy Spirit’s gifts of knowledge and understanding, so we can better perceive and appreciate these truths of our faith.