Why did some of the angels fall and become devils when they were created in heaven and were so close to God? Also, why didn’t they have the opportunity to repent and be saved as we do?
To situate the questions in context, we recall that our first parents were tempted by the devil in the form of a serpent (cf Gen 3:1-7).
We know that the devil is a fallen angel, created originally with all the powers and happiness of the other angels, but who for some reason rejected God and remained separated from him forever in hell.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church says of the serpent: “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’” (Lateran Council IV (1215), DS 800; CCC 391).
You mention that the devils, or angels at the beginning, were created in heaven and very close to God.
Many people think this but it is clear that the angels, while very blessed and close to God, were not in heaven.
When a soul is in heaven, it is drawn irresistibly to the goodness and love of God and cannot reject him. It is impossible for any soul in heaven to sin.
The angels at the beginning were given many endowments from God. In the natural sphere, they were pure spirits with a very keen mind and a strong free will.
By their nature, angels are superior to all other creatures, including humans.
In the supernatural sphere, they, like Adam and Eve, were given the state of grace, which is a sharing in the divine life and the divine nature.
They were indeed very close to God, even though they were not in heaven.
They knew God and were able to love him with a knowledge and love more perfect than ours.
And of course they were called to eternal life with God in heaven.
Then why did some of the angels reject God? The answer can only be pride.
Some of the Fathers of the Church apply to the devil God’s words to a wayward Israel: “For long ago you broke your yoke and burst your bonds; and you said, ‘I will not serve’” (Jer 2:20).
Even though created with such a superior nature, some of the angels did not want to serve anyone, not even the God who had made them and blessed them so much.
John Milton, in his Paradise Lost, has the devil say: “Better to reign in hell, than serve in heaven” (I, 263).
The Catechism teaches: “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’” (Gen 3:5; CCC 392).
The devils too wanted to be like God and were cast forever into hell.
St Peter writes: “God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of deepest darkness to be kept until the judgement” (2 Pet 2:4).
Our Lord himself, speaking of those who in the last judgement will be damned, says: “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Mt 25:41).
Those who don’t believe in hell should remind themselves of these words. Devils exist and they are in hell, so there must be a hell, at least for the devils.
But why weren’t the devils given a second chance, or many chances, as we are? The answer lies in the superior understanding of the angels’ mind.
They understood perfectly from the outset the consequences of their choice were they to reject God. They knew they had only one opportunity and that their choice was irrevocable.
The Catechism says, quoting St John Damascene: “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’” (De Fide orth. 2, 4; CCC 393).
In conclusion, we should strive to be ever more humble and happy to serve God, who himself came to serve and not to be served (cf Mt 20:28).
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