The motif of the fall of Satan and his angels can be found in Christian angelology and Christian art, and the concept of fallen angels (who, for rebelling against God, were degraded and condemned to a life of mischief or shame on earth or in a place of punishment) is widespread.[11] The Christian tradition has stories about angelic beings cast down from heaven by God, often presenting the punishment as inflicted in particular on Satan. As a result of linking this motif with the cited passage of the Book of Revelation, the casting of Satan down from heaven, which other versions of the motif present as an action of God himself, has become attributed to the archangel Michael at the conclusion of a war between two groups of angels, of whom, because of the mention of the dragons tail casting a third of the stars of heaven to the earth, one third are supposed to have been on the side of Satan, in spite of the fact that the casting down of the stars (Revelation 12:4) is recounted as occurring before the start of the war in heaven (Revelation 12:7). A number of catalysts have been proposed to explain the rebellion of the Devil. All of them essentially stem from his pride, via various means. The possible means suggested include: A refusal to bow down to mankind on the occasion of the creation of man as in the Armenian, Georgian, and Latin versions of the Life of Adam and Eve.[12] A similar view is held in Islamic tradition, in which Iblis refuses to bow down to Adam.[13] The culmination of a gradual distancing from God through use of free will (an idea of Origen of Alexandria).[14] A declaration by God that all were to be subject to his Son, the Messiah (as in Miltons Paradise Lost).[15]
Posted on: Tue, 04 Nov 2014 22:50:02 +0000
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