Fallen angel

=== Catholicism ===
[[File:Detail-Isenheim-Altarpiece-Gruenewald.jpg|thumb|[[Isenheim Altarpiece]] ({{Circa|1512}}-1616), by [[Matthias Grünewald]]. Concert of Angels (detail), with [[Lucifer]] in [[Feather tights|feather costume]] and fallen angels in the background]]
[[File:Innichen Pfarrkirche St.Michael 3 - Deckenfresco Engelssturz.jpg|thumb|Frescos depicting the fall of the rebelling angels (1760), by Christoph Anton Mayr. Saint Michael Parish Church, Innichen, [[Tyrol|South Tyrol]]]]
The subject of fallen angels is covered in a number of [[catechisms]], including [[George Hay (bishop)|Rev. George Hay's]] in which he answers the question ''What was the sin by which they fell?'': "It was pride, arising from the great beauty and sublime graces which God had bestowed upon them. For, seeing themselves such glorious beings, they fell in love with themselves, and, forgetting the God that made them, wished to be on an equality with their Creator." The consequence of this fall being that, "they were immediately deprived of all their supernatural graces and heavenly beauty: they were changed from glorious angels into hideous devils; they were banished out of heaven, and condemned to the torments of hell, which was prepared to receive them."<ref>{{cite book|chapter=[[s:Works of the Right Rev. Bishop Hay of Edinburgh/Volume 1/Chapter 4|Chapter 4: On The Creation And Fall Of The Angels]]|title=Works of the Right Rev. Bishop Hay of Edinburgh|year=1871|publisher=William Blackwood and Sons|first=Rev. George|last=Hay|author-link=George Hay (bishop)}}</ref>

In terms of the history of fallen angel theology it is thought to be rooted in Enochian literature, which Christians began to reject by the third century. The sons of God came to be identified merely with righteous men, more precisely with descendants of Seth who had been seduced by women descended from Cain. The cause of evil was shifted from the [[Supernatural|superior powers]] of angels, to humans themselves, and to the very beginning of history; the expulsion of Satan and his angels on the one hand and the original sin of humans on the other hand.<ref name="Patricia Crone p. 4">Patricia Crone. The Book of Watchers in the Qurān, p. 4</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Reed|2005|p=218}}</ref> However, the Book of Watchers, which identified the sons of God with fallen angels, was not rejected by [[Syriac Christian]]s or the [[Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church]].<ref name="Patricia Crone p. 5">Patricia Crone. The Book of Watchers in the Qurān, p. 5</ref> [[Augustine of Hippo]]'s work ''[[Civitas Dei]]'' (5th century) became the major opinion of Western demonology and for the [[Catholic Church]].<ref name="ReferenceC">David L Bradnick ''Evil, Spirits, and Possession: An Emergentist Theology of the Demonic'' Brill 2017 {{ISBN|978-90-04-35061-8}} p. 39</ref> He rejected the Enochian writings and stated that the sole origin of fallen angels was the rebellion of Satan.<ref name="Heinz Schreckenberg 1992">Heinz Schreckenberg, Kurt Schubert, ''Jewish Historiography and Iconography in Early and Medieval Christianity'' (Van Gorcum, 1992, {{ISBN|978-90-232-2653-6}}), p. 253</ref><ref name="ReferenceD">David L Bradnick ''Evil, Spirits, and Possession: An Emergentist Theology of the Demonic'' Brill 2017 {{ISBN|978-90-04-35061-8}} p. 42</ref> As a result, fallen angels came to be equated with demons and depicted as non-sexual spiritual entities.<ref name="ReferenceE">Joad Raymond ''Milton's Angels: The Early-Modern Imagination'' OUP Oxford 2010 {{ISBN|978-0-19-956050-9}} p. 77</ref> The exact nature of their spiritual bodies became another topic of dispute during the Middle Ages.<ref name="ReferenceC" /> Augustine based his descriptions of demons on his perception of the [[Ancient Greek|Greek]] [[Daimon]].<ref name="ReferenceC" /> The Daimon was thought to be a spiritual being, composed of ethereal matter, a notion also used for fallen angels by Augustine.<ref name="ReferenceF">David L Bradnick ''Evil, Spirits, and Possession: An Emergentist Theology of the Demonic'' Brill 2017 {{ISBN|978-90-04-35061-8}} p. 40</ref> However, these angels received their ethereal body only after their fall.<ref name="ReferenceF" /> Later scholars tried to explain the details of their spiritual nature, asserting that the ethereal body is a mixture of fire and air, but that they are still composed of material elements. Others denied any physical relation to material elements, depicting the fallen angels as purely spiritual entities.<ref>David L Bradnick ''Evil, Spirits, and Possession: An Emergentist Theology of the Demonic'' Brill 2017 {{ISBN|978-90-04-35061-8}} p. 49</ref> But even those who believed the fallen angels had ethereal bodies did not believe that they could produce any offspring.<ref>Jeffrey Burton Russell ''Satan: The Early Christian Tradition'' Cornell University Press 1987 {{ISBN|978-0-8014-9413-0}} p. 210</ref><ref>David L Bradnick ''Evil, Spirits, and Possession: An Emergentist Theology of the Demonic'' Brill 2017 {{ISBN|978-90-04-35061-8}} p. 45</ref>

Augustine, in his ''Civitas Dei'' describes two cities (''Civitates'') distinct from each other and opposed to each other like light and darkness.<ref name="ReferenceG">Christoph Horn ''Augustinus, De civitate dei'' Oldenbourg Verlag 2010 {{ISBN|978-3-05-005040-9}} p. 158</ref> The ''earthly city'' is caused by the act of rebellion of the fallen angels and is inhabited by wicked men and demons (fallen angels) led by Satan. On the other hand, the ''heavenly city'' is inhabited by righteous men and the angels led by God.<ref name="ReferenceG" /> Although, his [[Ontology|ontological]] division into two different kingdoms shows resemblance of [[Manichaeism|Manichean]] [[dualism (philosophy)|dualism]], Augustine differs in regard of the origin and power of evil. In Augustine works, evil originates from [[Free will in theology|free will]]. Augustine always emphasized the sovereignty of God over the fallen angels.<ref>Neil Forsyth ''The Old Enemy: Satan and the Combat Myth'' Princeton University Press 1989 {{ISBN|978-0-691-01474-6}} p. 405</ref> Accordingly, the inhabitants of the earthly city can only operate within their God-given framework.<ref name="ReferenceD" /> The rebellion of angels is also a result of the God-given freedom of choice. The obedient angels are endowed with [[Grace in Christianity|grace]], giving them a deeper understanding of God's nature and the order of the cosmos. Illuminated by God-given grace, they became incapable of feeling any desire for sin. The other angels, however, are not blessed with grace, thus they remain capable of sin. After these angels decide to sin, they fall from heaven and become demons.<ref>Jeffrey Burton Russell ''Satan: The Early Christian Tradition'' Cornell University Press 1987 {{ISBN|978-0-8014-9413-0}} p. 211</ref> In Augustine's view of angels, they cannot be guilty of carnal desires since they lack flesh, but they can be guilty of sins that are rooted in spirit and intellect such as [[pride]] and [[envy]].<ref>David L Bradnick ''Evil, Spirits, and Possession: An Emergentist Theology of the Demonic'' Brill 2017 {{ISBN|978-90-04-35061-8}} p. 47</ref> However, after they have made their decision to rebel against God, they cannot turn back.<ref>Joad Raymond ''Milton's Angels: The Early-Modern Imagination'' OUP Oxford 2010 {{ISBN|978-0-19-956050-9}} p. 72</ref><ref>David L Bradnick ''Evil, Spirits, and Possession: An Emergentist Theology of the Demonic'' Brill 2017 {{ISBN|978-90-04-35061-8}} p. 44</ref> The [[Catechism of the Catholic Church]] does not take "the fall of the angels" literally,{{not in source|date=March 2024}} but as a radical and irrevocable rejection of God and his reign by some angels who, though created as good beings, [[free will|freely chose]] evil, their sin being unforgivable because of the irrevocable character of their choice, not because of any defect in infinite divine mercy.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P1C.HTM |title=Catechism of the Catholic Church, "The Fall of the Angels" (391–395) |publisher=Vatican.va |access-date=2012-07-03 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120904224955/https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P1C.HTM |archive-date=2012-09-04 }}</ref> Present-day Catholicism rejects [[Apocatastasis]], the reconciliation with God suggested by the Church Father Origen.<ref>Frank K. Flinn ''Encyclopedia of Catholicism'' Infobase Publishing 2007 {{ISBN|978-0-8160-7565-2}} p. 226</ref>