Whether the Devil Was Wicked by the Fault of His Own Will in the
First Instant of His Creation?
Objection 1: It would seem that the devil was wicked by the fault of
his own will in the first instant of his creation. For it is said of
the devil (John 8:44): "He was a murderer from the beginning."
Obj. 2: Further, according to Augustine (Gen. ad lit. i, 15), the
lack of form in the creature did not precede its formation in order
of time, but merely in order of nature. Now according to him (Gen. ad
lit. ii, 8), the "heaven," which is said to have been created in the
beginning, signifies the angelic nature while as yet not fully formed:
and when it is said that God said: "Be light made: and light was
made," we are to understand the full formation of the angel by turning
to the Word. Consequently, the nature of the angel was created, and
light was made, in the one instant. But at the same moment that light
was made, it was made distinct from "darkness," whereby the angels who
sinned are denoted. Therefore in the first instant of their creation
some of the angels were made blessed, and some sinned.
Obj. 3: Further, sin is opposed to merit. But some intellectual
nature can merit in the first instant of its creation; as the soul of
Christ, or also the good angels. Therefore the demons likewise could
sin in the first instant of their creation.
Obj. 4: Further, the angelic nature is more powerful than the
corporeal nature. But a corporeal thing begins to have its operation
in the first instant of its creation; as fire begins to move upwards
in the first instant it is produced. Therefore the angel could also
have his operation in the first instant of his creation. Now this
operation was either ordinate or inordinate. If ordinate, then, since
he had grace, he thereby merited beatitude. But with the angels the
reward follows immediately upon merit; as was said above (Q. 62, A.
5). Consequently they would have become blessed at once; and so would
never have sinned, which is false. It remains, then, that they sinned
by inordinate action in their first instant.
_On the contrary,_ It is written (Gen. 1:31): "God saw all the things
that He had made, and they were very good." But among them were also
the demons. Therefore the demons were at some time good.
_I answer that,_ Some have maintained that the demons were wicked
straightway in the first instant of their creation; not by their
nature, but by the sin of their own will; because, as soon as he was
made, the devil refused righteousness. To this opinion, as Augustine
says (De Civ. Dei xi, 13), if anyone subscribes, he does not agree
with those Manichean heretics who say that the devil's nature is evil
of itself. Since this opinion, however, is in contradiction with the
authority of Scripture--for it is said of the devil under the figure
of the prince of Babylon (Isa. 14:12): "How art thou fallen . . . O
Lucifer, who didst rise in the morning!" and it is said to the devil
in the person of the King of Tyre (Ezech. 28:13): "Thou wast in the
pleasures of the paradise of God,"--consequently, this opinion was
reasonably rejected by the masters as erroneous.
Hence others have said that the angels, in the first instant of their
creation, could have sinned, but did not. Yet this view also is
repudiated by some, because, when two operations follow one upon the
other, it seems impossible for each operation to terminate in the one
instant. Now it is clear that the angel's sin was an act subsequent to
his creation. But the term of the creative act is the angel's very
being, while the term of the sinful act is the being wicked. It seems,
then, an impossibility for the angel to have been wicked in the first
instant of his existence.
This argument, however, does not satisfy. For it holds good only in
such movements as are measured by time, and take place successively;
thus, if local movement follows a change, then the change and the
local movement cannot be terminated in the same instant. But if the
changes are instantaneous, then all at once and in the same instant
there can be a term to the first and the second change; thus in the
same instant in which the moon is lit up by the sun, the atmosphere
is lit up by the moon. Now, it is manifest that creation is
instantaneous; so also is the movement of free-will in the angels;
for, as has been already stated, they have no occasion for comparison
or discursive reasoning (Q. 58, A. 3). Consequently, there is nothing
to hinder the term of creation and of free-will from existing in the
same instant.
We must therefore reply that, on the contrary, it was impossible for
the angel to sin in the first instant by an inordinate act of
free-will. For although a thing can begin to act in the first instant
of its existence, nevertheless, that operation which begins with the
existence comes of the agent from which it drew its nature; just as
upward movement in fire comes of its productive cause. Therefore, if
there be anything which derives its nature from a defective cause,
which can be the cause of a defective action, it can in the first
instant of its existence have a defective operation; just as the leg,
which is defective from birth, through a defect in the principle of
generation, begins at once to limp. But the agent which brought the
angels into existence, namely, God, cannot be the cause of sin.
Consequently it cannot be said that the devil was wicked in the
first instant of his creation.
Reply Obj. 1: As Augustine says (De Civ. Dei xi, 15), when it is
stated that "the devil sins from the beginning," "he is not to be
thought of as sinning from the beginning wherein he was created, but
from the beginning of sin": that is to say, because he never went
back from his sin.
Reply Obj. 2: That distinction of light and darkness, whereby the
sins of the demons are understood by the term darkness, must be taken
as according to God's foreknowledge. Hence Augustine says (De Civ.
Dei xi, 15), that "He alone could discern light and darkness, Who
also could foreknow, before they fell, those who would fall."
Reply Obj. 3: All that is in merit is from God; and consequently an
angel could merit in the first instant of his creation. The same
reason does not hold good of sin; as has been said.
Reply Obj. 4: God did not distinguish between the angels before the
turning away of some of them, and the turning of others to Himself,
as Augustine says (De Civ. Dei xi, 15). Therefore, as all were
created in grace, all merited in their first instant. But some of
them at once placed an impediment to their beatitude, thereby
destroying their preceding merit; and consequently they were
deprived of the beatitude which they had merited.
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